Interesting Conundrum

Well, call me confounded. Or at least stunned.
The only blog posts that are getting comments here are the ones where I've expressed my uncertainty about being the Precision Teacher at my school this year. I admit to being rather surprised by this yesterday afternoon when I first discovered it.
I wasn't surprised to note that all of the comments were heavily in support of the idea behind Precision Teaching, with lots of suggestions on how I could share data, find support, and use it with the students. And, of course, I can't be annoyed, even though I would really like to be... I should probably point out, however, that the program is being used to boost fluency in students who have not passed and are at risk for not passing our state tests. I will see about 18 students every 2 days (about 6 per 90 block period, for 3 periods). I will likely work with students in groups of 3. Once students have mastered a particular weak spot, they are dismissed and return to the class they were pulled from. At that point, I look for new students to enter the program. This particular format doesn't lend itself well to most of my passions, but particularly those that involve teaching writing using technology and project-based learning. It may well be that the program works well with project-based learning in other locations; I don't know that.
I was going to use this post to specifically answer the comments that were posted, but then decided that I would sound snooty if I did that, so I won't. But, I will ask that people not post comments professing their love for precision teaching. I noted that I respect the fact that the trainer who did our session finds Precision Teaching to be one of her passions; I would like to ask for that same respect.
Thank-you.

New School Year Update

I worked this morning with my supervising principal, and the Dean of our special education department to get my schedule straight. I will be doing the Precision Teaching gig half time (3 periods per cycle; 2 on one day, and 1 on another). I have one block of Functional Academics the last period of the day every other day.
That left 3 periods... Imagine my surprise when my principal said that he, our Dean, and head principal were thinking about having me create materials and work with other teachers to integrate technology within the special education department!! I will get to spend one block, every other day, doing that exact thing.
I think it was here a few days ago (or not, as I don't see it) that I said that I didn't know of any jobs that would let me work with students, give me time to create materials, and attend conferences. I am totally happy to settle for 2 out of 3 of those, especially since I will get to attend a conference this year!
I am already looking at ways to make this work... I had thought about working with our AT person on another grant opportunity, as well as submitting a continuation grant (This Is My Life: Kicked Up!) to the Loudoun Educational Foundation (LEF). LEF was the organization that provided the grant for our digital camera project (This Is My Life: Using Digital Media To Increase Literacy Skills) in the 2006-2007 school year. We haven't decided yet, but we're looking at either podcasting or video as the addition to the project this year.
I've also been talking about my own ideas for this year, and some of the other teachers were interested.
One of the goals for my school this year is to increase the use of data collection to determine outcomes for students. I think that we could make our lives a little easier for some types of data collection if we use Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis and photo sharing. The students could respond to various prompts in blogs, thus allowing us to collect running writing samples for the whole year. They could post materials created on their wiki, and demonstrate all kinds of skills this way, and with photo sharing. Teachers benefit, because they could literally look at student work ANYWHERE, and not have to lug home 80 folders full of writing.
We may also use a wiki and blog to communicate information about Key Club to members. I offered to give space over at my classroom blog, and also on the classroom wiki.
Lastly, but certainly not least, we have received all the information from Microsoft for the Innovative Teacher Forums. I just set up my personal space on the Forum, and linked back here, and to my professional wiki.

Last Wednesday was the first day back for teachers in my district. Our students come back the Tuesday after Labor Day. I've been in this district for 3 years, and, call me strange, but I actually enjoy the way that my district structures the professional development. We spend several days in our school, and have 2 or 3 days where we have some sessions that we can choose from. This year, I have 2 sessions I'm particularly looking forward to: one is Connecting Generations, which explores (and hopefully gives us pieces of!) the new curriculum that deals with the Holocaust from USC Shoah Foundation, and the other is with John Golden, the author of 'Reading in the Reel World: Teaching Documentaries and other Nonfiction Texts. I'm excited about both of them because they reflect how I teach.
Last Saturday, I also attended the required training session for new Precision Teachers. I wish I were as excited about Precision Teaching as I am about the possibilities for the other two sessions.
The facilitator for our Precision Teaching training described it as an intervention that can be used to teach any kind of information. People who are familiar with the traditional ABA and TEACCH programs used with children with autism will recognize a lot of similarities in Precision Teaching. I won't insult anybody by saying the program is bad, and doesn't work: it does work, and works very well for some students. Our facilitator described Precision Teaching as one of her passions, and I respect that. How could I not, given that I often feel like I'm the odd one out in what I believe and in how I teach?
To continue this thought: I was surfing the web earlier this evening and looking at various materials, resources and comments for Precision Teaching. I found a lot of sites for worksheets and ways to make new worksheets, including a technology tool that I've used for years, and absolutely love: Schoolhouse Technologies worksheet generators. I've been using their products forever, and have participated in many beta testing sessions. You can even find a few of my word lists here.
But, there wasn't a whole lot in the list that excited me, and I was really worried by a few of the things I read, including a video I saw about various math education methods. There are always people who are more enthusiastic about things than others, so I need to remind myself to take some of what I saw with a grain of salt.
But, after I stopped looking at Precision Teaching materials, I went looking for something that was more, well, me. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for in a blog attached to WOW2.0.
The very first blog I read discussed using a podcast from Business Week about the future of employment and jobs. It explained that students need to understand why we want them to learn and use something, and how it fits into the real world. It seemed to insist on problem solving as a method (something a few of the more evangelistic Precision Teaching sites decried as really, really bad). This, clearly, is one of my passions...
So, how do I meet the requirement for 50% of my job this year, which requires precision teaching, and still be a teacher that integrates technology, web 2.0, and creativity? I have to do 3 periods of precision teaching, which only leaves me 2 periods of other kinds of teaching. Suggestions are welcome...