It was 1969 and I was a junior at Sachem High School in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. Lake Ronkonkoma is a small town on Long Island. In 1969 the Long Island Expressway didn’t quite make it there and the war in Viet Nam was raging on. As a student, I belonged to several clubs, including the “FTA” – Future Teachers of America. I was also a musician, playing the French Horn in the high school’s A Band and Orchestra, and sang alto in the A Chorus and Madrigal Group.

The road to my graduation was rather long and winding. 32 years later I returned there and finally got my degree. Along the way, I worked in a variety of places, and occupations. At age 23 I moved to Manhattan and began working in Wall Street, in the financial industry. My experience was primarily in municipal bonds; many firms were merging, departments were closing, and my last employer, Rooney, Pace, was no exception. It was 1985 when they closed the department. Shortly thereafter, I got married and moved to Westchester County.

Back to Top

I became a Mortgage Office in 1986 for First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Rochester. Essentially, this was a sales job, and I met lots of interesting people and knew them very well for 2 or 3 months at a time, while their mortgage applications were processed. It was enjoyable, profitable, and I learned a lot about this aspect of retail finance and housing. I bought my first computer in 1985, too – an IBM PC Jr. – and got right to work opening it up and adding a memory module. It didn’t even have a hard drive! A harbinger of many changes in technology and my work life, was there on my desk. And change did happen. This idyllic little existence was short-lived; my marriage dissolved three years later, the housing market crashed, my 10-year old nephew came to live me with me (for the next 2 years), and I was scrounging for income. The computer beckoned and I took to it like a duck to water, spending hours learning the operating system, software applications and upgrading my system.

Computers became an integral part of my life and work. On Saturdays I prepared invoices and briefs for my attorney to help pay my divorce bill, worked through agencies as a word processor, and segued back into a full-time job for Allmerica Financial. I started out doing case prep – in this case, personal financial planning – for one of the planners. The material had to be presented to his clients, and I created very presentable and marketable documents. This led to a position as Manager for Computer and Presentation Services. It was enjoyable, but I worked long hours. I developed a series of presentation materials for individual clients and seminars and trained my successor. I began working a contractor in the computer and graphic arts industry. There was also a big demand for PowerPoint presentations, and I was quite good at that – I literally created thousands of them. Wanting to learn more about other graphic applications, I took college courses in computer graphics while continuing per diem employment.

The year 2000 approached. It was time for change. I secured a position with a “dot.com” company as a consultant, and did corporate training for their software clients. But this industry suffered severe setbacks, and the job was short-lived. Just as things were picking up, the WTC attacks occurred. I took this as a sign to adjust my life. It was then that I decided to finish that Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. I returned to CW Post the following September and finished my degree in January of 2003.

Back to Top

Deciding to Teach

My decision to become a teacher was fueled by several factors. It was something I had always wanted to do, and the opportunity to go back to school was there. Many times, both in personal and professional endeavors, I educated people. When I was a loan officer, it was important for my clients to learn many things about the mortgage process, and understand the loan they were applying for. Adjustable rate loans were complex and applicants needed to comprehend their structure and differences to make the best choices. I conducted realtor seminars as well on the funding and appraisal process. While at Allmerica Financial and Starwood Hotels, I supported many users and often demonstrated and coached employees on how to use both proprietary and commercial software applications. I helped many friends and colleagues to set up and troubleshoot their machines.

As a corporate trainer, I learned and taught Quark Publishing System at both Reader’s Digest and AARP headquarters. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, from studying the work flow to designing lessons for particular functions. It was stimulating and exciting to be in a training room and guide people to learn new tasks. It brought me a lot of personal satisfaction too, to observe a user’s implementation, and make sure they ‘got it.’

Unemployment gave me the time and extended benefits were available, so the thought of returning to college developed into a plan. But it was computer technology that I wanted to teach, not music. Of course teaching adults and teaching children are not the same thing, but I enjoy young people, and I felt I had a lot to share. My experiences in such a variety of workplaces, I felt, gave me valuable, real world skills that high school students in particular, could benefit from. I did my research and found that NYS had a technology certification I could qualify for by completing an extra 36 credits. I already had 27 of those from the classes I took in computer graphics a few years earlier. C.W. Post College accepted my application to return under my original program and I would be able to complete my degree and get my credentials before NYS initiated numerous changes to its requirements. I was thrilled. I only needed six education credits for my degree, found another nine that would qualify for the technology component, and added chorus to my program. I graduated Cum Laude in February, 2003.

Back to Top

Personal Notes

Graduation day came in June and it was very emotional. My mother was so proud, but she could only be there in spirit, together with my dad, stepmother, my sister, Lorraine, and my good friend Yosi. It's important to mention my parents here, especially my mother. I attended her graduation, too, in 1970, from Stony Brook University. She was quite the inspiration, for me, and others, too: my mother started college the year I started high school and she became a much-admired and loved third grade teacher. Unfortunately, her life was cut short by cancer and she died at age 47. I was 25 at the time. My parent's lifetime example of love, compassion,diligence, persistence, and personal growth set a high benchmark to live up to. But of all these, it is the love they gave, and give, that sustains me. They may have had their expectations, but their goal for me and my sister, was simply that we find our own paths to happiness and fulfillment.

And change ... change is a constant, and unexpected, sudden changes present difficult challenges for all of us. Often we have no control over these changes, but we must rise to the occasion, and forge ahead to create new goals, learn new things, and absorb and sort the multiple and growing factors bombarding our everyday lives. Be prepared for change. My livelihood has shifted often, with or without my blessing, and I have learned to adapt. When the municipal bond industry was collapsing, I asked people I had working relationships with to let me 'hang my shingle' with their firm, so I could get equity licensing. That made it possible for me to broaden my skills and successfully continue in the securities industry. My sister's life got 'messy' for a while, and her son lived with me for a couple of years while he was in the 5th and 6th grade. This happened when my marriage collapsed, and though it was a significant responsibility, it was also a wonderful challenge and opportunity to experience some aspects of motherhood, as I have no children of my own. I always enjoyed spending time with Richard, and what a great time it was to be a bigger part of his life. He got to see his mother often, but I got to help him do his homework, fill in some educational gaps from attending too many different schools in a short time, and we got to know each other better. Naturally, we both grew through this experience; my ability to interact with children, comprehend some of their issues, develop strategies and affirm respect for a child's struggles were all enhanced.

Back to Top

Teaching Experience

In September of 2003 I began teaching high school at The Young Women's Leadership School on East 106th Street in Manhattan. It was difficult, but it was in an excellent environment for an inexperienced teacher. My student teaching experience was old, and off-topic. I had completed my student teaching in 1975, in elementary band and junior high school music, in a school district on Long Island. Though I did just complete one general methods class and an excellent 'foundations' course, I had lots to learn - and still do!

I was not given a traditional 5-period schedule. Rather, I was assigned to Teach Fundamental Math, Technology Electives, conduct a 10th grade advisory and consult with the Journalism Class. I had a great experience teaching there. My fundamental math class was an alternative to Math B for 11th and 12th grade students. Under direction from the Principal, Ms. Ponze, I developed a curriculum around Math in everyday life, emphasizing money issues including budgeting, using credit, investing, and primary math skills. One of the highlights of my experience there was working with the Science Department chairperson, Susan Vincent, as the Technology Advisor to Young Science Achievers competitors. Dr. Vincent had arranged a field experience in Louisiana for these students and they got down and dirty in the swamps testing a hypothesis. These girls won first prize in a large regional competition at the Liberty Science Center. I worked with the school team to format their final reports, presentations and printed poster for the competition. I also collaborated with Dr. Vincent to design an interdisciplinary science/PowerPoint project for the Marine Biology class, teaching and coaching students with their presentations. The other highlight of my week was my advisory of 10th grade girls. We met only for 25 minutes twice a week, but it was wonderful to get to know them, to help them organize things, to get out to recess with them, listen to their concerns and foibles, and guide them when possible.

Once again, things changed. I was excessed due to a large budget cut, and the day before students arrived in the Fall of 2004, was offered and accepted a position at MLK Jr. High School for Arts & Technology. This is a small school of about 400 students, with a much more problematic population than TYWLS. I have taught a full schedule of technology classes there for the past two years, including Introduction to Technology, MS Office and Introduction to Telecommunications. I was horrified my first day of school, there. The computer lab was 30 computers with four rows of desktops and a teacher's desk at one end. I could not see half my students, nor could many of them see me, except when I stood on a chair. It was a big accomplishment to facilitate the upgrade of the computer lab to a classroom, with computers arranged around the perimeter of the room, and large tables in the center for other activities.

It has been a half-horrible and half-reasonable teaching assignment. I had no curriculum. The level of rudeness and cursing by students is quite high and so many of them are predisposed to disrespectful behavior. When they get in front of a computer they immediately want to play games or music, check email, go to Sconex, a teenage community site, and look for sneakers and lyrics. I absolutely had to disable all the sound cards to cut down on distractions. When I come home from teaching, I am often drained and almost never turn on anything that creates noise. Fortunately I got to collaborate with a new English teacher, as he had technology classes to teach as well, and we jointly planned out activities for our 11th and 9th grade classes. In the second semester, my scheduled changed to four 10th grade classes, and my 11th grade class continued for the entire school year. I created a curriculum and goals that I taught to my four 10th grade classes, and my one 11th worked on some projects using MS Office. There was no technology plan for the school. I worked on one with the AP which included a grant for vocational training. I received a satisfactory rating for the year, and the Principal seemed pleased with my progress.

Back to Top

I was very excited about returning there last year, but many obstacles came up, and the last half of the year did not go well at all. I was assigned three 10th grade classes and two 11th grade classes. We got the VTEA funding which allowed us to purchase materials and curriculum for a telecommunications program leading to copper and fiber optic cabling specialist certifications - and I would have to learn that - but the order wasn't placed until February and only one unit was completed. The new lab was up, but it the computers had been re-imaged by the DOE and were no longer configured to connect to the server, the server needed to be rebuilt (not something I could do on my own), and the new Internet connection was not functional. The Internet got functional, but there was no way for me to disconnect it, I had no control over the computers, no common file repository to exchange work with students. At least my computer was functional, and I was able to project materials. One component of my 10th grade curriculum, keyboarding, uses an online program, so I rearranged the course a bit, and made a few adaptations to continue - and that was the good half of the year. In the second term, the plan called for the 10th graders to be switched into another elective, and the corresponding classes to be switched into Technology class. It didn't happen, and I wasn't informed that it wouldn't happen, until about two weeks into the Spring semester. To put things briefly, I couldn't do anything right in the eyes of my Principal last year and I received an unsatisfactory rating with the recommendation that my license to teach high school technology be revoked in New York City. I certainly had a lot of problems, but many of them were precipitated by poor management. I didn't get any help until May, and it wasn't until May 22nd that the computers and servers were finally, fully operational.

Back to Top

Teaching Goals and Aspirations

The question is, where do I go from here? My dream to work with older students to develop pragmatic and authentic learning experiences to prepare them for the workplace, is seriously compromised. Ideally, I would like to teach in an environment were collaboration was easier. I have felt particularly isolated at MLK, but did find meeting with my AP (when she finally had time) to specifically address my technology classes, very valuable. I extended enormous energies initiating new procedures and finding and adapting new curriculum, and had little time to look for other teaching opportunities. I look back at my year at TYWLS fondly. I have ideas about what I think should be taught, but they seem to be at odds with the administration. I need to be in a school that is better directed and managed, where real discussion and planning take place. I aspire to be a better teacher; I would like to be able to teach MS Office applications in the 11th or 12 grades, hand-in-hand with a business style curriculum. Working with other teachers, I would like to help integrate technology into their classrooms, and the students can learn the software that they will use at that time. I would also like to help other teachers use technology more effectively for themselves and in their classroom. To that end, I have enrolled in graduate school, where I hope to learn more about methodologies and strategies for using and teaching technology at all grade levels.

A Meaningful and Significant Vocation

My experiences with the students has been a mixed bag. But, I do like them and, overall I enjoy going to school with them. Our world is changing so rapidly. Computerized technology is everywhere and becoming continually more pervasive. Students need to learn to harness it, and not be controlled by it. The political landscape is treacherous - technology will enable both good and bad, and critical thinking skills are needed to discern and prepare for both realities. We all learn by example, too. I would hope that my example to them of a person who meets challenges diligently, with respect for others, and contributes positively to society makes a difference. The joys of connecting with young people and opening up their minds to new ideas, to grasping and molding concepts that will shape their lives is extraordinary. I advise them to be attentive, be curious, and ask questions. Our children will inherit a world that is facing major strife, indeed the habitability of our earth may be in grave danger. Teaching children is so important. The world cannot afford ignorance. The leaders of tomorrow are in today's classrooms, and they need every tool we can give them. Of course, not everyone will be a 'leader,' but everyone needs the skills, intellectually and otherwise, to find their own personal success. To be part of that learning process, to guide and assist, is most worthwhile.