This August I set out on another meaningful journey – a journey with its own hills and valleys. In addition to teaching a couple classes, I also took on the task of Technology Integrationist for my school district. My mission is not about technology for technology’s sake, but to enhance the learning experience for our students. I love the quote by John Dewey, "If we teach today's students as we did yesterday's, we are robbing them of tomorrow." Today’s student doesn’t look like the student of yesterday. I’ve included some of the words that describe today’s student in the word cloud above – connected, creative, experimental, knowledge hungry, global citizen, collaborator, innovator – and I could go on.
In this quest to educate the 21st century student my district is going about it in the right way - the focus is on learning. Our journey is about personalizing learning for students and embedding 21st century skills into their day-to-day learning. When I meet with other people in my state that have a similar position, they are only thinking about the technology. Being passionate about technology – I get this. It’s easy to get excited about the newest and greatest tool. I just always keep in mind that a tool is only as good as the work and/or skills that it helps us produce.
At our welcome back in-service, my school district sponsored Will Richardson (@willrich45) as our keynote speaker. His presentation focused on the implementation of 21st century skills and how the learning styles of students are changing. He was the absolute right speaker at the right time for so many educators in our district. He defined learning as wanting to learn more. Students can get information from their smart devices at any given time. Most are “connected” 24-7. As teachers we need to make a shift from knowing to learning. The web is at their fingertips and we need to adjust our teaching styles to this new student.
One of Will's other big themes was that without sharing there is no education. I really agree with that theme since I have been an avid Twitter user for the past several years. In my opinion Twitter is the single greatest professional development tool on the internet. I have learned so much from the great educators that I follow. They are part of my new Professional Learning Network (PLN). In the past we have only been consumers of education and we need to be producers. My goal is to share what I learn on this journey. I plan to write to reflect, to learn and grow both professionally and personally.
I’m excited about this journey. Like Will Richardson, I’m concerned about my own children and their education to be productive citizens in the 21st Century. The picture below of my children in Australia took many takes. Not everyone was on board at the same time. Small steps were taken and adjusted and eventually the final product worked. I expect this new journey will be similar. I expect hills and valleys, but I know that our goal is the right one and I can’t wait to enjoy the ride!
[caption id="attachment_56" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gold Coast - Australia"]
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I am excited to read about your journey!
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