Tom's Diner

I am sitting
In the morning
At the diner
On the corner

I am waiting
At the counter
For the man
To pour the coffee

And he fills it
Only halfway
And before
I even argue

He is looking
Out the window
At somebody
Coming in

"It is always
Nice to see you"
Says the man
Behind the counter

To the woman
Who has come in
She is shaking
Her umbrella

And I look
The other way
As they are kissing
Their hellos

I'm pretending
Not to see them
Instead
I pour the milk

I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor

Who had died
While he was drinking
It was no one
I had heard of

And I'm turning
To the horoscope
And looking
For the funnies

When I'm feeling
Someone watching me
And so
I raise my head

There's a woman
On the outside
Looking inside
Does she see me?

No she does not
Really see me
Cause she sees
Her own reflection

And I'm trying
Not to notice
That she's hitching
Up her skirt

And while she's
Straightening her stockings
Her hair
Has gotten wet

Oh, this rain
It will continue
Through the morning
As I'm listening

To the bells
Of the cathedral
I am thinking
Of your voice...

And of the midnight picnic
Once upon a time
Before the rain began...

I finish up my coffee
It's time to catch the train

-Suzanne Vega

Resourcing, Rapport & Real-Time

I have been trying to organize my uneasy relationship with technology. Three categories keep on popping into my head:

Resourcing
This is my daily habit of collecting data for my teaching content. It may be an online list of irregular verbs organized in a more semantic way. It may mean tapping a movie script database that is amazing in scope. It's the treasure hunting and gathering. It's the chore of ubiquitous capture. Stuff in a cloud that I may use some day. "How did he know that?" a student asks. He knew that because he did his homework.

Rapport
I have been trying to have a conversation with my students and colleagues. "How was your weekend?" now performs the function of 'time to get the class started'. In class, they expect me to monologue. I try to twist it into a dialog, but the context-the room the chairs and occasion is hard to shake for a student. Email is much the same way. One way. Formalized exchanges lacking the spontaneity that would be so beneficial to the learning experience. Enter texting, twittering and all the other social networking applications that have annexed our lives. Do I dare employ these schemes to reach and converse with my students? Do they dare do the same with me? What is the net value of such endeavor?

Real-Time
How to use technology effectively in the actual 'real-time' delivery of content? Teachers have always had this as a real question for their classes. The chalkboard, the slate-these technologies are older than dirt (Actually dirt was used in the clay tablets that possibly used in the early classrooms). Since the 50s we have been using some sort of media to enhance learning. Slide projectors, filmstrips, cassette, VCRs, DVDs, SMART-boards and SMART-internet enabled classrooms are all part of the laundry list of 'modern' tools. There are real challenges to implementing these devices into the classrooms-cost is a big one, but the real challenge is not how to get the SMART-board working but how to get the teacher to be smart  in how they use these contraptions?

As I see it, looking at the use of technology in teaching in three different modes or functions: Resourcing, Rapport & Real-Time helps me organize and prioritize my efforts in becoming excellent at all three.