Embracing Myself as an Educator- like it or not.

The last two years I have struggled with how I am seen as an educator. Not because I don't think there is a need for instructional technologists, I believe they provide a vital role in today's world of educational technology integration. I believe wholeheartedly that the skills of the instructional technologist will be a link between the past, present, and future of of education.

I'm old enough to remember no tech. I fully lived in the world of being educated preK-12 in a no tech world. I'm also old enough to remember sitting in a lab in college learning about a thing called MS dos. Unlike many of my educator friends, I decided to become an educator in my 30's after life as an accountant and stay at home mom...at that time I learned what it meant to use technology in the classroom. For me it was awkward because I was so non-prepared. And oddly my first job was to teach about computers at the high school level. Ha! And yet here I am on what has been a rollercoaster ride with a masters in instructional technology and this crazy whirlwind of championing, embracing, evangelizing, responding, reacting, predicting, developing a program of what good tech integration looks like in a school I love.

But as I said, I have struggled. The label of a tech integrationist makes some people angry or maybe more fairly "uncomfortable" with the concept. Not just at my school but in the world at large I often feel what I represent..technology in the hands of children...puts me on a battlefield. Because of this push back I've waffled back and forth between "trumpeting loudly the edtech horn" and "quietly letting my voice stay inside me and picking my battles." The spectrum that I have traversed between has left me weary. I've tried very hard to find myself and in some ways there are times I felt I have actually lost myself in the process. And here I am on the other side of the struggle. I reflect that who I am seen as and who I feel like I am often felt like a conflict.

The interesting thing is as I've felt this conflict I truly have changed. And with this change comes a bit of sadness as well. I've lost my label. In 2015 I was seen as an edtech evangelist. Sharing tidbits and thought processes on this blog about tech integration. In the last few years my blog feels more a justifying of edtech. While I believe it is important to focus on the why to aid others to see the value, I find myself focusing so much on this aspect that I often am no longer an edtech herald. So I myself am wondering if one is better than the other. Have I adjusted out of fear or wisdom? What role best serves my students? Who am I and who should I be?

Last week I was sitting in a workshop at FETC in Orlando and one of the presenters said, "When I went into consulting I thought I was entering the world of edtech consulting but I find much of what I do and lead is in regards to leadership now. Helping others be who they need to be in this industry." That resonated with me. I could totally see that. One of the hardest parts of being in the role of innovation is the disruptive value it brings to education and the fear that others might see me as the disruptor by placing the potential of change onto a person. I've learned to be thick-skinned and I celebrate small victories of acceptance. My goal forward is that the transparency I choose to adopt as an educator will keep open doors to:

• engage the school community in the exploration, discussion, and assessment of educational technology and my desire to work collaboratively across the school to leverage and expand existing efforts into an intentional program for faculty support.
• continue to herald the value of integrating technology well and be a help to those both inside and outside my school building.
• to be balanced. I realized when school started back this month and I was working with teachers regarding their project based learning units that the words "tech" had not left my mouth through half of the day. In fact, it was a teacher that asked inquisitively "but what about technology, you want us to use it right?" because she was wondering why I was doing the PBL talking, I'm sure. I had this actual weird moment where I was like "Of course, but you all look for opportunities to use it where it is needed anyway, I didn't feel the need to remind you." And it felt good. No, it felt right. There was no doubt that not only was I heralding pedagogy before technology but that I had felt that my fellow teachers were there as well. It stayed with me as a glow for the rest of the day and evening.
• to not give up when faced with discouragement. To keep on keeping on.

One Word: Perspective

Every year I try to start the new year with a word that would be helpful for me. Last year I read Start with Why by Simon Sinek and it has led me to this year's one word: Perspective.

As an educator, reading Mr. Sinek's book made me start looking at the "why's" regarding the things I do and the expectations we place at our school regarding educational technology. I am a big fan of backward planning- starting with the end goal in mind and then working out what it would take to get to the end result wanted. By asking myself "WHY" I am making sure my perspective is correct. My goal is to always ask myself "What's best for the students?" That leads me to my goal of focusing on my perspective this year. 

Sometimes I find myself in meetings and it is only natural that we start thinking about changes from our own perspective. How is this going to impact me or my classroom? It's very easy to start worrying about myself instead of keeping my perspective on the real goal: "Is this what is best for the students?" It's a slippery slope where we can find ourselves making decisions based on cost or ease of use when talking about educational technology. But the bottom line should always be "Is this what is best for our students?" 

Perspective is different based on our individual pasts and training but if I focus on a guiding question that is bigger than my own "camp" then I am both open to the perspectives of others and feel confident about what I believe due to the desire to keep my guiding questions focused on my students and not me. 

As I work towards reminding myself of the needed perspective this year, I hope my focus on others will allow me to see big pictures better. I tend to be someone that gets excited about the potential of educational technology for our students. In my past it would be fair to judge me and say that I tried to lead with technology instead of student needs. I am not that person any longer. I am quite certain that through much reading, research and soul searching I am a better instructional technologist than I have been- I have grown. It is my desire to continue on this path. So my one word for 2018 is Perspective. May I ever be mindful of not allowing the technology to displace the pedagogy nor the pedagogy to displace the person. 

Interpreting the "ISTE Standards for Educators" (Series 1 of 8)

As a member of ISTE (the International Society for Technology in Education), I appreciate the vetting process that the student, educator, and administrator standards go through to support best practice digital age educational environments. These standards focus on learning and not the tools to learn. While the standards have concrete ways to address technology integration, all of these standards are goals educators should and do have for themselves in general.

This is part one of an 8 part series that gives my views and suggestions on how educators can use these standards as a catalyst for becoming significant adopters of the digital landscape in regards to educational technology. Each of the 7 areas designated give educators agency in creating meaningful opportunities in their classroom that encourages digital skills for our students. I have quoted and requoted this statement: "65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report." With that we need to prepare students with skill sets that will transfer to any job that they might have. The ISTE Standards for Students  create a framework to make that happen but in order for that to come to fruition, there has to be an understanding of the role of the educator in this digital age. 

The following outline explains the goals of the ISTE Standards for Educators (the dates by each section is when I will be blogging about that particular standard):

• Empowered Professional

• Learner (week of 10/9/17)
• Leader (week of 10/16/17)
• Citizen (week of 10/23/17)

• Learning Catalyst
• Collaborator (week of 10/30/17)
• Designer (week of 11/6/17)
• Facilitator (week of 11/13/17)
• Analyst (week of 11/20/17)

Often when people feel they are being held to a standard they immediately hesitate or push back. It feels like another box to check, lesson to learn or reason to feel challenged. As with any standard we are striving for competency in, excellence is not immediately expected but forward motion is the key. Unlike other standards, I feel these standards empower educators in the classroom to be recognized for their stepping out of the traditional framework of teaching and walking the plank of change but instead of an awaiting group of hungry crocodiles, freedom to work with students that desire to be self-motivated learners can await. To adopt the ISTE Standards for Educators means a willingness to see cultural changes from what has been the norm in education. I can tell you from firsthand knowledge, it won't come easy. Students aren't use to having agency in their learning in the way their ISTE student standards provide. Teachers aren't use to the lack of "control" that their ISTE educator standards suggest.

I do believe these standards will be accepted and widespread in 5-10 years as the norm. If you look at the "life expectancy" and re-writes of all the ISTE standards, they change based on the norm catching up with them...and like any good goal, the finish line moves again. Right now I look at some of the above subsections and think "we just aren't there yet" or "wow, is that who we want our teachers to be?" but I believe the gauntlet is there for competency to be had. I believe the empowerment teachers would feel if they were in this type of educational culture would make them feel both needed and successful.

Often teachers worry that they will be replaced by technology but the goals of the ISTE Standards for Educators is to create opportunities for teachers to truly touch every life in a personal way by leveraging the use of technology to give more time to the teacher's and student's day. These standards encourage teachers to model what lifelong learning looks like as they learn their students and lead them. 

Semantics in the School House

Possibilities for instruction are changing in education faster than ever before. As I have said before, how we define what words mean can seem both passive and aggressive to many teachers in the same room. The connotative meaning of "technology integration" can have varying degrees of expectation associated with it from the eyes of all stakeholders- teachers, administrators, school boards, students and parents. What one teacher sees as "enough" someone else might say "it doesn't even scratch the surface." When one teacher might say "I'm equipping them with future ready skills," someone else might say "they have too much screen time in that class setting." Who is right? Is someone wrong? Or are we nit picking the semantics?

How does a school move beyond the semantics/connotations of individual ideas of what "best practice" looks like to an acceptable use profile that all stakeholders can wrap their heads around? Lately, we have been working on just that at our school. I find myself looking at sentences word by word for interpretation purposes and I'm wondering if like the Louis Armstrong song "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off," I'm digressing on tomato versus tomahto.

I do believe frameworks are important as a guide to get everyone on the same page. I also believe there is value in breaking frameworks down into smaller bite size pieces, making it easier for people to see the goals. And to be honest, the more I dig deeper into these ideas the more I realize mindset of what technology can do in a classroom has to be recognized and considered first. Articles like this one in Edtech Magazine and research like this by OECD makes me mindful of how important it is to define the tomato and tomahto as well as to teach student's balanced use inside and outside the classroom.

Balance doesn't need to happen just in the classroom regarding screen time but also personal usage. We are in a society today where people are applauded for their passion or ridiculed for it depending on what society deems as appropriate. An athlete that becomes drive to train all the time and breaks records is applauded but someone that collects things to the same level of passion is called a hoarder. Helping students navigate balance goes beyond the idea of technology, it is a shift in what we should be teaching in general. Many of the things in regards to technology are like that. Looking at this deeper lately I am seeing the ubiquitous nature of technology and how it overlaps so much of our world. Getting more people involved in the semantics seems both worthy and needed. I don't begin to think I have a lockdown on all the moving pieces.

Finding Your School's Meaningful Language

Lately, our school has been revamping, rewriting and rethinking our student/parent handbook. This has led to some really great conversations that have shown the need to open the door for even more conversations...which I feel is always a good thing. The more voices, both horizontally and vertically within, and best practice viewpoints outside your district, the better the chance to get to a place where all can either "agree on" or "agree to disagree and strategize for the common good." I'm thankful for this period of uncomfortableness and for pushback. I'm thankful to be heard and to be in community to listen to other viewpoints.

During this time of decisions within our technology department I am also dealing with a dog in a halo cone due to surgery (innovation that is a disruption to reach a future goal) and a book that is helping me sift through my thoughts on analog behaviors (our desire as a human race to use all our senses and experience realness). Lump that with having the opportunity to hear Heidi Hayes Jacobs speak at Covenant College last week on the essential question of "How can we prepare our learners for their future?" and my mind is working 90 mph at any given moment with the feeling of conflicting ideas surging through me looking for resolution. I'll be honest, I love it.

One of the things I don't do well as an instructional technologist is assuring others that I am not trying to radically change every classroom in the world. I am just so passionate about what I learn about and the future possibilities I see that I come across sometimes as being a techno-fanatic. I can guarantee you that if you don't work hand in hand with me, you probably have thought that, and as much as I have tried to temper that opinion over the last few years, I do get excited when I see tools evolve that can make a difference in education. Right now I am über excited about two things:

• Next generation chromebooks with touchscreen and the ability to run android apps.
• Paper or paper-like options for computer input that is becoming reasonably cost efficient. 

Forgive me, I digress into a potential future blog post but I share that to say, that's how my mind works. You tell me things you want to do and I am looking towards the future of what that will one day look like. I look for streamlining of tasks, blending of current good pedagogy with contemporary technology tools, and creating a culture of future readiness for our students in a world where the job they may work in does not currently exist. I do get passionate about that, sometimes to a fault.  And that is where Heidi Hayes Jacobs put into words what I sometimes fail to communicate when I am talking with teachers. She has a cut the chase type behavior that makes me envious. She very succinctly shared that pedagogy falls into 3 categories: Antiquated, Classical, and Contemporary.

I love the wording of this. Much to my chagrin, this is what I've been trying to say but I often fill the void with too many words or with too strong of words regarding contemporary. There are things that are outdated or unneeded that we need to cut in our classrooms, there are things that are enduring/essential or well done in our classroom that do not need to be done away with, and there are things that are being created or learned that we need to create in the spaces of our classrooms. Three distinct categories of pedagogy that allow us to sort, filter, and critically look at options, opportunities, growth, AND stability. 

Words matter. As we discussed these 3 words this week, we realized that defining words are important for a sense of cohesiveness. Classical doesn't mean "classical education practices" in this case. We can't allow educational buzzwords to derail us from having a growth mindset. It is my desire to become better at defining words I use and asking others about their words. Assumptions cause us to posture around each other with no moving forward. Creating a culture of safety both horizontally and vertically in a district allows people to feel comfortable to share their views, concerns, and goals. It also allows us all to get to a place where we realize that all disciplines bring value to the conversation of how to best teach students. Feeling valued doesn't mean always getting our way but that you are respected for what you bring to the table. 

As we move forward to both define what our goals are for a graduating student from our school system, we must also realize that expectations from each curricular discipline looks different due to standards, best practice, and prior experiences. Finding meaningful language helps define the culture, expectations, and future of both the educator and student subcultures within a district. Finding how to mold that language based on input from a variety within the constituency creates common vision and buy-in to best answer that essential question Heidi Hayes Jacobs started with:  "How can we prepare our learners for their future?"

Squad Goals

As we navigate technology integration at our preK-12 school we are looking at establishing a better understand of definitions and expectations.  This includes:

• Philosophy of Instruction Technology Integration
• Integration Expectations
• Instruction Standards Related to Technology
• Device Infrastructure

Most currently we have been rewriting and reassessing our philosophy statement. While this is a work in process, I'm wondering what philosophy statements have others seen that they really liked? 

I have several questions for anyone willing to discuss:

1. What could be stated better in your own district's philosophy statement? 
2. Does your district/school have a philosophy statement for technology integration?
3. Would you include the ISTE standards in your philosophy statement? Why or why not? 
4. Should a philosophy statement offer examples?
5. How should the philosophy of technology integration support the mission statement of the school. Should that be stated in the philosophy?

The following is our work in process...thoughts? 

"At Chattanooga Christian School we see technology as both a medium and a tool that can be used individually and as a society for human flourishing. It is our desire to lay the foundation for appropriate usage to mold our students into digital citizens with a biblical worldview. Technology is not a replacement for education or an end in itself, but it can be used to to enhance education and to expand that education outside the walls and timeframe of the classroom, empowering students to become lifelong learners. We are preparing our students to learn how to be motivated to leverage technology for best learning practices both now and in the future.

These opportunities are significant, but must be understood within the context of a biblical worldview. As educators, we need to model and instruct wise and discerning use of technology. Technology is rightly used in education inasmuch as it helps improve student learning, teacher effectiveness, and institutional coherence and communication.  The technology team will constantly be evaluating current tools of instruction as new innovations come available. This will happen in direct collaboration with curriculum leaders at our school to find the needed balance to best meet the needs of both students and teachers.`

Technology integration expectations (based on ISTE student standards 2016) for the student include :

• Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goal informed by the learning sciences.
• Articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
• Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
• Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
• Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
• Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
• Students cultivate and manage their digital identity and reputation and are aware of the permanence of their actions in the digital world.
• Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.
• Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using and sharing intellectual property.
• Students manage their personal data to maintain digital privacy and security and are aware of data-collection technology used to track their navigation online.
• Knowledge constructor: Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
• Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
• Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
• Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
• Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.
• Innovative Designer: Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
• Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
• Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
• Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
• Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
• Computational Thinker: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions
• Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
• Students collect data or identify relevant data sets, use digital tools to analyze them, and represent data in various ways to facilitate problem-solving and decision-making.
• Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
• Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
• Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
• Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
• Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
• Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
• Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
• Global Collaborator: Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others and working effectively in teams locally and globally.
• Students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning.
• Students use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoints.
• Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.
• Students explore local and global issues and use collaborative technologies to work with others to investigate solutions."

The Progression of our Lower School Technology Integration

This is the progression of technology integration at CCS lower school since I came on staff in January of 2004 as a part-time related arts computer teacher. We've come a long way baby!

In the last few days of the first semester of the 2003-2004 school year I was given the opportunity to speak with the teacher that was leaving the school briefly before he left for Christmas break to understand what the curriculum expectations were for the stand alone computer classes in the elementary school. In that year, students in grades 1-2 had keyboarding for 30 minutes a week and grades 3-5 had keyboarding for 40 minutes a week. The teacher often gave students the last 5-10 minutes of each class period time to play games on the computers.

After being a high school computer teacher, I decided to teach the Microsoft computer applications of Word and Powerpoint to the fourth and fifth grade students. After a few years teaching, I graduated with a Masters in Instructional Technology in 2007. The process of learning through that period really gave me a burden to help our school see the benefits of technology integration- not always technology for technology sake and not stand alone. While my main goal was always for our students to continue to improve their keyboarding speed and accuracy, I started asking the elementary teachers how I might support their curriculum with what I was doing in class. I would often contact 3rd-5th grade teachers (and it helped that I had my own girls in those grades at the time) and ask them what they were studying. Sometimes I would create web searches for our students to learn more about what they were studying in class but also learn the skill of good Internet searching. Sometimes we would type letters to people, create poems, etc that integrated with the classroom all to also learn the needed skills I was trying to give our students in computer class. It wasn’t easy- I didn’t have a curriculum map to follow and sometimes it just didn’t work but it was always my goal to integrate what I did with what the students were doing as much as possible. I wanted them to learn that technology was a tool for their learning.

To be quite honest, I always thought we were above the curve of what most elementary students were doing regarding technology. So many schools didn’t have related arts computer teachers. The lower school lab was always “shown off” during admissions walks with potential families.

In 2013 our school decided to start doing computer-based testing of our lower school students. I came in one day and was told that during second semester almost a whole quarter’s worth of instruction would now happen with me rolling an iPad cart of 30 iPads from class to class when the lab was being used for testing throughout the year. I was excited about having options for instruction and learning more about mobile learning. Supporting instruction while learning about how mobile devices are best used in the classroom happened very quickly for me and I was constantly adapting and adopting new ideas.

At the end of the 2013-2014 school year CCS had a marvelous “problem.” We needed 4 classrooms for all the kindergarten students that wanted to come to our school. The computer lab was next to the other three kindergarten classrooms. Mobile technology was becoming more pronounced in the educational arena and I was asked “can we do without a lab?” I said “yes, but let me move into a technology coach role instead of a related arts teacher.”

I am thankful for administration that trusted me on this change. In order to make the transition, we set a very rigid “you must do 2 technology-based projects a year with Julie” to our elementary teachers. Some did more, a few did less, but we started integrating. As I look back over that time I realize we were leading with tech often. It often gives me a stomach lurch compared to where we are today but I can’t figure out how we could have gotten to where we are today without setting some requirement in the beginning.

From the 2013-2014 school year until this past year that “rule” was a rule of expectation. Over the years I started off modeling instruction, co-teaching, and hand holding. Today, I am much more of a support when things go wrong, I help brainstorm new concepts, and try to be a visionary for the next steps. One of the major goals I have had regarding technology integration is that we also speak into teaching students about being appropriate digital citizens. Starting in 2013, CCS Lower School has been recognized as a Common Sense Media Digital Citizenship School because of the amount of lessons we teach our students regarding digital citizenship.

In the 2015-2016 school year, in decision with our fifth grade teachers, the fifth grade became a 1:1 required BYOT iPad grade. Deciding on one device only, instead of the BYOT of the upper school, has created tension between some of the lower and upper school. Much talk and prayer was put into that decision this school year before we announced to the second group of fifth graders which device would be required. This is an area that our fifth grade teachers and myself are constantly looking at for the greater good of our whole school and our students at that grade level.

2016-2017 brought another tremendous change to the lower school due to a grant for STEAM experiences. We were able to bring on a full time para-professional to help teachers integrate more STEAM into their classrooms. Under the direction of myself as the technology coordinator, the STEAM coordinator looks at the current integrated units, curriculum mapping, and ISTE standards for students. We create opportunities for our students to not only integrate technology in the classroom but have some computer science, robotics, and coding opportunities that support grade level curricular learning as well. In the hiring of the STEAM coordinator we also set the requirement that teachers were to work alongside her in the classroom. This is not a standalone related arts class. Much like the role of the tech coach in the beginning, our goal is for our STEAM coordinator to model and work with the teachers to help them get to the place to not only see potential ways to integrate as they are working on lessons but to feel confident in doing that themselves at some point. To see examples of what is being done regarding STEAM read our blog here http://steamtastic.blogspot.com/

In 2016-2017 the requirement for 2 technology-based projects went away. We are seeing our teachers adapting blended learning into their math curriculum using Khan Academy and Matific. We are also seeing the current 3 sets of iPad carts and one Chromebook cart being heavily utilized for our project based learning endeavors and hitting the 4 C’s of technology integration: curation, connection, consumption, and creation. Technology integration in the lower school looks more seamless than it ever has and the need for teacher expectations in usage has dramatically decreased.

2016-2017 also brings with it the opportunities to once again have “technology for technology sake” into the lower school curriculum. Due to Friday afternoon electives for fourth and fifth grade students, we have offered our students the choice to participate in becoming part of a tech support team (see blog post here on tech team), coding, and engineering a prosthetic. Second semester will bring more technology-based options for students to choose from. After school this year our STEAM coordinator has offered circuitry and robotics clubs as well.

The hardest thing I’ve had to figure out is keyboarding. Since losing the lab we have wavered between no keyboarding instruction at all to this year, keyboarding being taught one day a week in grades 4 and 5 by the classroom teacher all year, and one day a week  for grade 3 next semester being taught by the classroom teacher. This is being done from a rolling cart of chromebooks shared within the entire lower school community.

What does the future look like? I think it would be fair to say that technology is a very fluid curriculum. The past few years have proven that. Goals in my mind include:

• Continuing to find the balance needed between how much is enough and appropriate for this age level
• Continuing to teach digital citizenship to our students as a priority in instruction practices across the curriculum
• Creating growth experiences for our students regarding technology
• Finding age appropriate ways for students to search the Internet for research and images that feels safe for our students
• Continuing to assess where we are and what we want technology to do for us at our school
• Bridging the gap between lower and upper school with cohesive goals to best meet the needs of our students and teachers
• Continuing to grow the culture between curriculum and instructional technology working hand-in-hand looking for innovative solutions to educational issues

The STEAM dream with a dose of Instructional Technology

I'm at a place in the elementary school where I am seeing technology integrated more and more seamlessly every day. In the last few years it's gone from me sometimes pushing (sweetly) to get technology in the classrooms to ensure our students have exposure to technology as a learning tool to just seeing it happen where teachers find it aids their lessons. There are days I look back on and realize I was allowing technology to lead the curriculum instead of me focusing on pedagogy first- I'll blame it on being passionate about knowing it had worth. I think now it is fair to say we use technology as an instructional resource daily in the elementary school.

Over the years as we have progressed in the elementary school of incorporating technology in many different ways I have intentionally left off technology for technology sake. In this decision various gaming opportunities that have true educational benefit, coding opportunities, and robotics were put to the side as I focused on intentionally using technology for instructional purposes.

This year that has somewhat changed as we have received more funding through a generous donation from Conversant Group to grow our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) curriculum. We have begun to dream bigger. I am a firm believer in integration. I love when students can make connections to their world through the lessons they are learning in the classroom. This is happening and yet we are seeing tech for tech sake. We are now able to give our students more experiences in computer science in many ways. As I look around the classrooms I wonder which of the students might one day look back on these elementary experiences and realize that's when they knew they wanted to go into the world of computing.

I've worked so hard for us not to look like we were leading with technology that I find my self hesitant or nervous as we move forward in the direction we are going but in my heart of hearts I know this is a great step for our students. I continue to stand amazed at the way our STEAM endeavors have often seamlessly fit into our curriculum!

Ready, set, start.

As I sit here thinking about the last few days and the flurry of activity to get ready for the students to come on Wednesday I can't help to be both excited and overwhelmed. iPad carts aren't ready and not everything is up and running but plans are being made, teachers are working hard, and the love of students is evident. 

I've started this year trying to keep things in perspective in terms of the big picture. I've had some overly encouraging conversations, some amazing ego boosts both from within and outside my school community. 

I've met with and instructed some new teachers on tech integration. Would I like to have had more time? sure... But just like we should always be looking for the teachable moment with students, I will do the same to meet the needs of our teachers. 

My top goals for this start are:

1. Be intentional, timely, and helpful with my tech tip Tuesday emails to our teachers.

2.  Be positive and affirming of those I come in contact with. I plan to look for things to thank people for this year- both big and small and tell at least one person a day that they are appreciated, valued, and acknowledged in their work (students, teachers, parents...

whoever!) and maybe even let them know they are loved.

3. Keep learning and growing by trying new things that will help our students. There is a lot of new possibilities on the horizon for me to learn about this year.

4. Be timely in my responses to others and strive to see issues through the eyes of others.

My word for these next few weeks is STEADFASTNESS. According to dictionary.com the definition to this word is "sure, dependable, reliable, constant, unwavering. Steadfast, staunch, steady imply a sureness and continuousness that may be depended upon. Steadfast literally means fixed in place, but is chiefly used figuratively to indicate undeviating constancy or resolution: steadfast in one's faith." I want to be that spiritually, emotionally and physically for our school this year as I work to grow, resolve,  and adapt to a new year of learning with new people, with familiar faces, with the past to spur me through reflection, with steadfastness in mind.

10 Keys to Success in Blended Learning

This blog post originally appeared in the www.ditchthattextbook.com blog. After meeting Matt Miller at ISTE 2015 and interacting with him on Twitter, it was an honor and a privilege to say yes to his guest blogging opportunity.

The original post cane be accessed at this link: http://ditchthattextbook.com/2015/12/28/10-keys-to-success-in-blended-learning/#more-3735