Wednesday, February 11, 2015

There and Back Again: Educon 2.7 Part 2

Thoughts that evolved out of Educon:

I'm changing the name of my blog.  Mrs. Irvin's Tech Page is now Learning Spaces  Learning Journey, because it seriously is a journey!   I haven't decided if there is an end to this journey. It just keeps on going.

I decided to take the "Tech" out of the name just like I need to take the "tech" out of my goals.  I don't like my title as Technology Teacher.  I'm not teaching technology.  I'm teaching students and teachers to learn and think and use the technology as if it were a pencil, pen or paintbrush.

This whole idea had me thinking, "is this new?"  For years we in the tech world have been saying it's a tool not to be taught.  Just as we wouldn't think about teaching how to use a pencil or when to use a pencil or what type of pencil to use.

So why are we still discussing how to get tech integrated into our classrooms? I feel like we are squandering precious time talking about it.  What are we doing about it?

Here's what I've been doing:

  • working with teachers who are interested and available to meet - There are some teachers who invite me into their planning time and classrooms. I happily accept those invitations.  There are some teachers who have told me they do not want me at their planning time, so I do not work with them.  It's quite simple.
  • taking baby steps - starting with something small - Each time I work with a teacher, I encourage them to pick just one thing to try during our time together.  I don't want them feeling overwhelmed. We keep it simple.
  • celebrating the successes no matter the size - a teacher uses google forms to collect information from students - YAY! A teacher instructs students to create tutorial videos about studying, upload them to their google drives and share with teacher and me - YAY!  No success is too small to share and celebrate

What are you doing to promote tech integration in classrooms?  What steps are you taking to help colleagues meet with success?



"Technology needs to be like oxygen - ubiquitous, necessary and invisible." - Chris Lehmann

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