Thinking About Learning

The year 2007 is nothing but a memory now! It was a year of many changes for the women in my family. My daughter graduated from college and began a 5 year PhD program. My sister graduated from divinity school and began a new job. It was also a year of change for me. After 20 years of teaching, I left the classroom to become a technology integration specialist. I actually love my new job, but I still feel like I’m “learning the ropes.” It has taken time to get to know a whole new faculty and to learn where they are in their comfort level/use of technology. Just today I posted an online survey for my staff about their technology needs so that I can determine what direction I need to take next.

I’ve decided that 2007 was the year of changes and that 2008 will be a year of letting go. This year my daughter will be getting married, and my son will graduate from high school and move away to college. There are some other things in my life that I need to learn to let go of as well. When I think about school, I think about some ways of thinking that I need to let go. I need to stop expecting all the teachers around me to jump on board with technology my way. Everybody has their own approach and comfort level. After a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded that I also need to let go of thinking about Web 2.0 applications in terms of “cool tools.” We were talking about what it means to have technology embedded in the curriculum as opposed to just using technology tools. I have decided to let go of the phrase “cool tools” and instead focus more on the curriculum. In keeping with that thought, instead of listing the new technology tools that I explore, I’m going to try to share some curriculum ideas and ways technology can support them.

ELA Curriculum Ideas:

• Use Shelfari to post the 2008 Children’s Book Award Nominees. Encourage students to post comments and opinions of the books online.
• Do an author study by posting multiple books by a single author on Shelfari. Have students make comments to compare books, identify common details of author’s craft, discuss favorite book and tell why.
• Videotape sample model RTI Intervention lessons to be used for training.