I had the opportunity to speak with the virtual school teacher that I will be interning with in our program. She gave me an overview of how her day works and her needs with working from home. While everyone she meets tells her how lucky she is to work from home she said that they are fooled because there are many difficulties associated. Originally desiring to work from home when children were born, the hope to be able to stay home and work with the kids isn't entirely possible. As noted in an article by the New York Times on January 3, 2008, the distractions of working at home can be countless. The teacher I'm working with takes her children to daycare in order to have a quiet time to work.
The other great difficulty she mentioned was that it is hard to step away from work when it is looming on the other side of the room. The NY Times article states "One of the hardest adjustments for those working from home is deciding when to take a break, and when to quit for the day. With the computer always beckoning and the commute measured in the time it takes to cross the living room, there’s always a reason to go back to work — or an excuse to avoid it." I am interested in seeing how the teacher I am observing juggles all of her students and her family life.
While I have spent countless classroom hours learning how to incorporate technology into my curriculum, I am looking forward to this experience where I observe how fully deliver content through technology online.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/garden/03nooffice.html?scp=3&sq=working+from+home&st=nyt
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Who wouldn't want the opportunity to work from home? Yet, how ironic that your mentor has to take her little ones to day care so she can get her work done. On few occasions (teacher workdays, son gets sick at school and can't take him home) I have had to try to get some school work done with him around...it is literally impossible. Your children demand attention, and don't want to share you with others. My mentor teacher has a child in elementary school, so she doesn't deal with that.
I keep hearing the quote in my head - "with the computer beckoning." It seems too easy to procrastinate (either doing your job or doing housework). I know I spend most of my time completing school work for grad school classes at night after my children have gone to bed. This proves difficult as well since I am tired from working all day. While thoughts loom in my head about finding a way to work from home, I also understand the need for a break - even if the break is going to work.
Prior to entering the world of education I worked from home. I did not have children at the time and there were still distractions. Neighbors that expected you to take care of accepting packages or letting a service technician in. Significant others that assumed you could run errands and so forth. It did involve alot of adjustments and time management. As a classroom teacher that drives to work and has kids to take care of I already have the problem of when to take a break . I am looking forward to learning more about how some of the virtual teachers handle the time management side.
Post a Comment