I haven’t been able to contribute to Twitter discussions like I’d like, mainly because I find it terribly confusing when questions and responses are intermixed with five other comments. I haven’t found a utility that mitigates this for me. We might be better off all just jumping in an IRC chatroom somewhere.

Seriously, though, I think you have hit the nail on the head. I’m going to start meeting with my “induction teacher” in the next week or so. One of the first things I will be doing is introducing him to blogs and Twitter as a means of developing ideas, venting and just plain honing the craft.

I’m not sure what BTSA looked like in your county when you went through it, but in mine, it’s a royal waste of time. I mean c’mon, does a new teacher really need to spend a week to fill out the list of where to find resources he’ll probably never use like it is some sort of freakin’ scavenger hunt, when in the end, if he actually ever does need to use it, he’s just gonna ask the secretary where to find it anyway?

Since I’m in stats again, I’m working through this with a whole different mindset. I need to get back in the habit of thinking through project design and models.

My original problem may be that as soon as I meet someone in the control group, I try recruiting them for the experiment. Seems like that would bias the “findings.”

Related concern is that there’s a confounding variable along the lines of motivation. Is being the person who asks for help (be it on Twitter or elsewhere) going to make Allison a better teacher than someone who just does what it takes to tread water and get by? Would eventual mandates of tweeting/blogging/networking/etc end up being just as mind-numbing as BTSA etc?

Bill, Let’s not forget the ridiculous expectations that most self-employed professionals find themselves facing. I’m afraid I already understand that twenty-five years of contending with with the stress, long hours and persistent demands of freelance commercial photography will prove to be excellent training for what I know my first year, or two, or three, (…more?) will be like once I exit my secondary math education program and arrive in my classroom. The difference this time, however, is that I love the reason. Teaching will never be an art that stays in the room where it happens–it’s too important, too connected with other lives, and too energetic an experience–or it should be. Still, sleep deprivation is one brawny buzzkill, love or not.

I wouldn’t have been teaching for 14 years if I didn’t. My point is that career counseling, education preparation programs, and schools of education all seem to “forget” to mention that part of the job, which is a rude awakening to student and new teachers (rude surprise to find out what’s actually involved in a career after you’re in the last year of the program! I’ve seen this countless times with my and my fellow teachers’ student teachers. One interesting data point is that most of the ones who have realistic expectations (and a better shot at making it) come from families where one or both parents are teachers. I always recommend to Student Observers that they ask the teachers they are observing how much time they spent making or grading the lesson… they they’re almost always observing Veteran teachers, so the lessons have already been worked over until they are smooth, clearly explained, or, completely re-written several times. Trying to explain to student teachers that (as a Science teacher) I had to try 3-10 labs or lessons to get one worth keeping, which means that I’ve got a pretty full stock now , and I’m still looking for new and better ideas, which is why I read blogs like Dan’s.
Free-lance is some ways would probably be good preparation, except that now you also have the drawbacks of working for someone else as well.

This discussion makes me interested in trying out corporate life! But I am certain that this is because Dan’s example is working at Google, which is NOT typical of most corporate environments.