Thing 23 The Journey Continues

Whew, what a journey so far...

I've been very fortunate to work in a district that sends me to two major conferences every year, MAME and MACUL. Also, I attend the REMC meetings every month for professional development. I am not a new convert. I have more than a passing acquaintance with Web 2.0 tools. However, that is not the same thing as spending ten intensive weeks learning more about and experimenting with the tools myself. I spent so much time looking at this and that, my head was spinning! Some of the tasks were easy and fun, some were complicated and took a lot to get the hang of how they work. Good experience all around.

I feel much more confident in being the "go to person." I am excited about the possibilities of collaborating with classroom teachers and know just who I will approach with suggestions for implementing the new technologies. Ideally, it would be great to present at staff meetings, but based on experience, I know this is not the way to go. Much better to use the one to one approach.

Several staff from my middle school have taken the course and some great things are happening. To my knowledge, no one from my high school has participated; I will certainly promote the class. I also agree with the comments from several others that a class should be developed for administrators. They not only face different challenges, they are the ones who can push the rest of us to acquire new skills. I can't wait for the day we move beyond the nineteenth century education model across the board!