After winning the lottery to the tune of $50 million dollars, a 34 year-old electrician told the media that he had no plans to quit his job. That seems unusual. Most people dream of winning the lottery so they can have a permanent vacation.
If I won, I wouldn’t quit my job either. Here’s why.
I love teaching and I have regularly poured my own money into my classroom. Imagine what I could do with just a fraction of that jackpot.
I would turn my classroom into a completely paperless zone. I would buy every student in my class a laptop or a tablet computer. I would also get them a stylus pad so they could still do some handwriting right on their computers.
I would give them tools such as video cameras, digital cameras, electronic drums, musical instruments, samplers and drum machines, and, of course, a full DJ set.
I would have them creating short movies, podcasts, songs, stories, photo essays, and much more.
I would give them private and secure websites so they could create an online portfolio of all of their work over the course of the year.
It would be an amazing school year and one that my students surely would never forget.
I wish I had the budget to do all those things right now, but I don’t. I wish I could win the lottery so I could put some of these plans into action,. The only problem is that I never play. To me, the odds of winning seem to be so slim that it never seemed worth it to actually play regularly.
I bet last week’s winner felt the same way. He only reluctantly bought a quick-pick ticket (one where the computer randomly picks the numbers for you) after the cashier suggested he should. What a stroke of luck!
I often dream about my perfect classroom but I really don’t have any way to make it a reality, not without a bit of luck and a sudden windfall. So, perhaps I should run out and buy a ticket. After all, I can’t win if I don’t play.
2 responses to “If I Won the Lottery, I Wouldn’t Quit My Job”
Hi Chase – the thought would be nice – but the fact you're doing it anyway on a microscopic scale – but giving back as much as you can to "your kids" .. is just great news ..
Cheers Hilary
Hi Hilary,
The nature of education is changing and schools aren't keeping up. I wish I had all the high-tech gear to really engage students, but I also see how the other teachers might hate me if my class was so exclusive. Wouldn't it be nice if all classrooms were like that?
Thanks for the comment and the praise 🙂