A Short Conversation with... Peter Vogel

I recently discovered a website named Teachmeet New Jersey: Fresh Ideas for Education. The site introduces educators to its readers by conducting short interviews. I really like that idea so I asked a few people from my PLN to answer a few questions about education. Hopefully, we will get to know them better.

Peter Vogel

How long have you been teaching?

30+

Has your educational philosophy changed since you began teaching?

I’m not sure it has. I’ve always seen basic promise in every student. I do see many more demands on students’ time today and that inevitably is driving change in the nature and volume of at-home work.


If so, what led to this change? Was it a gradual process or a specific event?

Any change for me has been gradual, with the exception of my work with Twitter. I started on a summer day and never looked back. Although I am already passionate about the subjects I teach, the Twitter experience brought me passion for education as a whole.


Has Twitter played a role in your evolution as a teacher? If so, how?

Yes, I am much more passionate now about the “how” of teaching and also find I am fascinated by the innovation I see from teachers at the elementary level, as expressed in their tweets. Even though I teach at the grade 11/12 level it is the elementary-level followers in my PLN who are consistently interesting and supportive. However, I’m beginning to wonder if the online PLN is beginning to fizzle. In my own case I find that fewer and fewer question-containing tweets are being answered. Many times I wonder if my tweets are simply vanishing into the ether, having lived only briefly on my screen.

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