Time spent on communicating with others has changed the way I do business. I used to be able to use my time in planning to work on lesson development and grading. As a techer in an Alternative Cooperative Education Program, I have job coordinating duties that ensure that the student has a vocational placement in the community and that we tie the duties to the classroom. Ultimately we prepare students for entry level employment. I used to have plenty of time to visit employers and chat up the possibility of using our students in challenging jobs.

Those days are gone. I now have several committee assignments and larger curriculum development projects that pull me away from my former duties. What I find most challenging is the communication part. The school district has adopted a common curriculum. Between the English and Careers classes, I am challenged to develop lessons and protocols that are acceptable to a cohort of teachers with varying degrees of skills and abilities. Limits to technology access creates issues when we are trying to develop 21st Century Learning Skills.

Most of all, I am impatient. I can see where I'd like to go and I am not satisfied with the rate of progress.