It’s always the same story with me and technology. New tech hits the scene and I scoff at it. It’s unnecessary, too flashy, too extra. The more adventurous in my circle add it to their hi-tech repertoire and I’m allowed a closer inspection. I find myself curious, despite my earlier disdain, and before long I’m enthralled with this new “thing”. Why should I be surprised that my reaction to tech in my personal life should look any different in my professional life? When our school first rolled out Canvas as our LMS, I scoffed at it. Here was one more thing to add to my already too long list of things to learn and do. I didn’t have time for this. Don’t they know I have classes to teach and lessons to plan? Then I saw several of my colleagues begin to use Canvas. Then the Digital Leadership Cadre started. Again, I scoffed. You would think by this point in my life I would have figured out that my initial negative reaction to new things is my attempted cover for fear of failure. I apparently think I look cooler (to who exactly?) if don’t want to succeed. Then I saw several of my close coworkers join the Cadre and learn very neat and useful tools. I was hooked. My fear of all things new and flashy and “extra” was overcome by the possibilities I was ready to dive in and learn all the things! I would make modules! I would make buttons! My online learning learning space would be amazing! Students that I had struggled to reach would now have 24 hour access to learning materials! My initial explorations had more to do with making my Canvas course sleek looking and user friendly, but it was little more than a digital platform for the same old content presented in the same old way. I signed up for the Digital Leadership Cadre with the hopes of expanding my skills. I’m not sure exactly WHAT I expected when I signed up, but it wasn’t what I got. I expected to learn some new digital tools and how to incorporate those tools into my classroom. I got a complete mind shift. I think, truth be told, I’m still reeling a little from everything I’ve taken in over the last several months. So much coming so fast. Amazing and overwhelming. I’m only now beginning to reflect on my big takeaways. No matter where you are in your digital adventure, I would encourage you to spend some time reflecting on a few of the following: What does my digital space communicate? When I first began dabbling in Canvas my course was organized, but bland. Structured, but hard to navigate. Driving questions I’ve used to try to shape my Canvas page are:
What is my end goal? I want students to leave my courses knowing so much more than how to be human computers. I don’t want them to just learn how to use algorithms and formulas to solve problems. I want them to look at the world with interest and intrigue. I want them to learn how to reason their way through problems and situations, from the mundane to the complex. Questions I’ve used to try to guide me are:
Don’t be afraid to be creative. Don’t be afraid to push your students to be creative. (And quite a few of them will need pushing.) Is this student centered? When I was brutally honest with myself about the lessons I was teaching. My answer to this was often “No”. I still needed to teach the content, so then my question became “how can I make this student centered?” Saying “You need to know this to pass the test” and “You have to have this to graduate” aren’t very inspiring reasons for students.
I still feel like I need a good long while to ruminate on what I’ve learned, but I know that my classroom will be and has already been changed by what I’ve learned. Today’s thoughts come from Ms. Holly Bolt. Holly is a graduate of IUPUI and just finished her 4th year of teaching at Pike High School. She took a long and circuitous route to the profession and is happy to have found the culmination of her passions in one job. She has 4 children; the oldest of which is graduating this year and the youngest just turned 2. In her free time she enjoys knitting and sudoku.
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