A Need for FEISTY

New years always lead to reflection of previous years for me. As I look at myself, I realize in 2017 I will have been graduated from high school for 30 years...30 years?! It made me really think back to who I was in high school compared to who I am now.

Most people don't believe this but I was a quiet, under the radar student who just couldn't wait to finish high school. Nothing about high school was really fun to me. It was just something I did. When I see people now that knew me then they are amazed at my personality change over the years. I was 5'11' and 120 pounds with the nickname "Stringbean" given to me. I was tall and skinny and when they wind blew, I went with it....and so did my sense of self-esteem-it was definitely lacking. I wasn't much better in college but I did begin to feel more confident in my own skin.

Today, I see myself as feist·y

ˈfīstē/

adjective

informal

1. (of a person, typically one who is relatively small or weak) lively, determined, and courageous.

   "a feisty heroine who's more than a pretty face"

   synonyms:

   spirited, spunky, plucky, gutsy, gutty, ballsy "the part of Annie called for a just-so balance of adorable and feisty"
2. touchy and aggressive.
   "he got a bit feisty and tried to hit me"
   
   
   I wonder how I got here. How did I go from wallflower to feisty and when did it happen? And am I glad it happened? I think edtech did it to me to some extent, at least it pushed me greatly beyond where I was. Being an instructional technologist has caused me to need to stand up for technology integration in ways I never saw coming. I'll be honest, it's sometimes hard for me to separate myself from what I do, therefore I often take it personal when others say negative things about the technology integration I am a part of. I try daily to find the balance I need to prevent this but it is definitely an ongoing struggle for me. Thus...feisty Julie appears.
   
   
   I tend to be passionate about the things I believe in and am a part of. As an accountant many years ago, I had my own clients at age 21 because I was good at what I did. As a creative arts director at my church for years I pushed our team to be really remarkable in their performances. As a related arts computer teacher, I strived to integrate technology with classroom subjects before that was cool. I also taught keyboarding differently than anyone I know. I raced the kids (literally running laps around the classroom) to get them to increase their speed in typing. But none of those things made me feisty.
   
   
   Feisty came in the last 4 years as I have pushed, led, and sang the praises of the beauty of technology integration done well. Opposition is there. Having a vision to prepare our students for jobs that might not even exist today pushes me to see technology more integrated in our curriculum. Feisty comes when trying to be heard. Feisty comes when I want to show others the efficiencies and benefits of technology in education. Feisty comes when I get push back. 
   
   
   As I look at who I have been I must say that the old Julie was easier. Doing my thing, staying low, and making a difference in a classroom...but Feisty Julie is needed (balanced with some of the traits from high school Julie). As I look forward I hope to find my balance, be supportive of my school's culture, and be a difference maker in challenging others to think in different ways while not becoming hardened, hurt, or ambivalent in the process. How will I do that? Keep my eye on the prize...and in this case I believe the "prize" is graduating students equipped to make a difference by teaching them under the umbrella of the following philosophy:
   
   
   With the advancement of technology in the world we live in, CCS sees both the need and responsibility to equip our students with skills that will prepare them to critically think about the virtues and pitfalls of this medium. It is our desire to lay the foundation for appropriate usage to mold our students into digital citizens with a biblical worldview. Due to our accessibility to technology it is to be used to enhance education, expand education outside the walls and timeframe of the classroom, and empower students with skills to enhance lifelong learners.
   
   Technology is rightly used in education inasmuch as it helps improve human flourishing, student learning, teacher effectiveness, and institutional coherence and communication. As educators, we must model and instruct wise and discerning use of technology.

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."