Thinking About Learning

I have decided to try to resurrect this blog. My original purpose was to provide commentary and think aloud about my own personal learning related to educational technology and how that meshes with the realities of our antiquated standards-based educational system. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not opposed to standards and accountability. I just think that our standards need to be updated to reflect the needs of students in our global 21^st Century culture.

The daily demands of teaching seemed to squeeze out any time to do this kind of personal growth learning/writing. Maintaining a blog for my students and parents about daily classroom activities was challenging enough time-wise, and this blog just fell by the wayside.

My professional life is taking a new turn for the coming school year, however. After 20 years of teaching (four of those in a Global Horizons classroom, a technology-centered environment), I am leaving the classroom to become a technology integration specialist. This was a very hard decision for me, because I love teaching. I had been at Red Bank for 14 years, and leaving there is like walking away from part of my family. But sometimes you just know that it’s time for a change, and there were lots of indicators that I had reached that point.

I am very excited about this career change! After spending four years living out technology integration in the classroom, I am looking forward to helping other teachers learn new ways to enhance the curriculum through the use of technology. My new work will push me to more actively pursue my own personal learning. I hope to use this blog as a forum to express what I learn on this new turn in my journey.