2019 One Word: Resolve

Sometimes my career feels like a battle. As an instructional technologist, I don't feel like my role has ever just been trying to help willing teachers integrate technology but also to be an evangelist or even prophet about the future of education and the impact technology can have. About this time every year,  I begin to feel a wee bit weary. I feel fatigued from having to defend educational technology which is always odd to me that this has become part of who I am.

I look back over the past few years and see a theme:
2015's one word was "Let's"
2016's one word was "Beta"
2017's one word was "Brave"
2018's one word was "Perspective"

This year as I tried to decide which one word to choose to help me as a professional, I found myself feeling less joy about what I do because of the weariness of having the same old conversations year, after year, after year. Every year, choosing one word in January gives me a sense of where I have been during this school year and a focus on where I want to be at the end of May.

So this year my one word is RESOLVE. After a year of diligently trying to look at and balance perspectives of others, I am ready to own who I am. I am an instructional technologist who currently is in the role of Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation. This year I am resolved to stand firm in sharing the virtues of educational technology with the educators, students, and parents that I come in contact with day in and day out. For me, this means that I will stand firm in touting the importance of students having the skills that support the ISTE Standards for Students for their futures.

I have been toying with the one word, "Resolve", for a few days now. This morning I felt affirmed in that word as we read the scripture from Mark 6: 1-4 in church:

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Now, I'm no Jesus but these words resonated deep within me this morning. Jesus's own family and friends in his own hometown didn't believe in him and the things he was sharing. One of the hardest things about my role is that I am often asked to speak at other schools and educational conferences but my fellow educators in the school I've been at for 15 years push back the hardest. My insecurities imagine what they say "Who is she? She was just an elementary computer teacher?" "How could she possibly think she could tell me better ways to teach my class?" "She knows nothing about my subject matter." None of those things have been said to me, mind you. Then my pride gets in the way and I'm convinced I do know best sometimes (hence the chosen word "perspective" last year to make sure I was being balanced.) 

But here I am today choosing "resolve," not to push my ways on others but to stand firm on believing I have an important role at my school to be an evangelist and prophet about the future possibilities of education. My prayer is that just like Jesus in the scriptures we read this morning, I can do it with humility (this was his second time to go to his hometown and try to reach them). I want to have the resolve to bravely share concepts and ideas based on what I have learned might be helpful regarding technology integration.

What will this look like immediately?

• Explaining the analytics data of digital testing inside Canvas and how it can benefit or students and teachers when creating assessments.
• Explaining how we are in an era that has never been before: we can now have immediate feedback after a lesson and adjust our teaching to that feedback to best meet our student needs.
• Harking the benefits of rubric-based assessing so that students can share their learning in ways other than a paper/pencil/digital assessment of questions.
• Explaining that Canvas is a learning management system that our school can "grow into"  as we consider mastery paths and learning outcomes associated with our questioning of students.

Connecting School Learning with Local Businesses...even for elementary students.

I'm thankful for Chattanooga and how it supports education in the Tennessee Valley. I'm thankful for local businesses that support the learning happening at Chattanooga Christian School. Recently we have been blessed by support from Bridge Innovate to allow our students to participate in a design thinking challenge. This is the second year that we have had a team to participate in this wonderful opportunity. This year the theme is "Transportation of the Future."

We have 6 fifth grade students that are participating in the challenge. These 6 students are using the design thinking process to dream about the future of transportation in the Chattanooga area. They have brainstormed and were broken up in groups to look at rural, urban, and waterway transportation. They have looked at feasibility at what seems like outlandish transportation of the future. They have thought about transportation from the viewpoint of the users.

As part of the design thinking process it is always good to get feedback on your idea. That's where our partnership with Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA) came into play. CCS dad, Brent Matthews, is the Director of Parking and Security for CARTA. He graciously volunteered to speak with our students and answer some questions they had about transportation in Chattanooga. After a bit of planning, Brent and I soon realized that taking a field trip to the CARTA Shuttle Park South location would be very beneficial for our students. Cue last Friday! We loaded up on a CCS bus and we went to visit not just Mr. Matthews but also CARTA Executive Director, Lisa Maragnano. The students were wowed by the board room, the huge Chattanooga image on the wall, and the swag that Mr. Matthews shared with them. 
Our students had created questions in a Google Doc and this had been shared with Mr. Matthews and Mrs. Maragnano before our visit. Mr. Matthews immediately called the meeting to order and answered the questions on the document for the students. He then gave the students time to ask more questions and share their concept ideas. They were using their brand new mini notebooks given to them by Mr. Matthews to take notes during the meeting. We ended with a brief trip upstairs in the parking garage to see one of the 20 electric cars that Chattanooga has available as part of the Green Commuter Car Sharing program.

I won't share the secrets and plans for moving forward but I am thankful for CARTA and their willingness to invest in the lower school students at Chattanooga Christian School. Team work makes the dream work. The open attitude of area businesses coming alongside our students to give them opportunities to see real world STEAM jobs is a huge positive investment in the future. Anyone that knows me knows that I am passionate about our students having STEAM opportunities in an authentic setting. Chattanooga's innovative community makes it easy for educators to tap into ways for this to happen. 

If you look at the ISTE Standards for Students or the Essential Points of the Tennessee STEM Designated School program you will see that this type of opportunity isn't just seen as a perk but as essential to next generation education. With the connectedness of today's world, it's easier than ever before to get students figuratively and literally outside of their school box. Looking for opportunities to make that happen becomes the job of the educator. Becoming a well connected educator opens the door for you to be proactive in this. 

I will leave you with this, these 6 students spent approximately 45 minutes off campus in a boardroom asking questions, there was nothing magical about this trip but the sense of excitement on the way over and the sense of accomplishment on the way back was amazing. I will continue to look for more ways to give my students more amazing.