Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I Get It, I GET IT!

I get it. 
We need to "let go", and give the kids more choices. It makes their learning more authentic, which will in turn, makes it "stick." We need them to be creative problem solvers, collaborators, "thinkers." 
After 1 1/2 years in the UNI IT program, I am starting to get it. At first I was defensive, thinking to myself, "Hey! We do a great job of integrating technology at Stratford!" But the more I read, the more I hear, the more I realize, it's just not about integration. It's about the WAY we integrate it. As educators, we have difficulty with the unknown, or the direction our lesson might take us.  I now see, it's OK to not know how it's going to go the moment we step into the classroom. It's disconcerting, but it's OK.
We need to change the way we teach-because the kids have changed...OR have WE just realized that they are not robots that sit perfectly still to "receive" information? 
I have created a table of 5 examples of ways we/I integrate technology at Stratford. I see that with almost all of my technolgy integration, I need to "kick it up a notch." 
Dr. Leigh Zeitz, has helped me (albeit kicking and dragging at times) to see that we need to do more...we need to allow kids to be included as the creators in their learning......I get it.