The Technology Journey Has Just Begun!

 It's July and school is about to begin.  I can just smell the new crayons, scented markers, and freshly sharpened pencils.  There's nothing like brand new school supplies!  As Hannah begins a new year at Texas A&M   I wonder about all the education classes she will be taking.  One question I always ask her is if she will take classes about using technology in the classroom. She assures me using technology is a top priority in her education classes.  I have to laugh about my technolgy class when I was at A&M.  We learned how to use the filmstrip projector, thread the film projector, use the ditto machine, and overhead projector.  Boy have things changed!  We now have the ITSE standards tht help guide coaches, administrators, and teachers along their technology journey.  I have to stop and reflect where I am in my digital age journey.  When I first started my digital age journey I had no vison.  Now I participate and help implement a shared vision with teachers.  My vision is still not "20/20", but with each training it becomes more in focus.  As far as assisting teachers in learning more technology I am still a little uncomfortable especially when the teacher is more knowledgeable than I am.  However, I do feel that I can have a conversation with a teacher about using technology for higher order thinking skills.  I feel like I can help the teacher with their learning environments and classroom management when using technology. I can give them ideas and things to think about when they start their technology lessons.   I am not to the point where I can give technology in-services, but I am starting to become more comfortable using various technology when giving professional development.  It's very simple technology demonstrations, but I am using them.  I am working on using technology to communicate.  I am expanding my horizons with Twitter, Blogging, and having a web page.  I still need to work on learning new technology.  It sometimes becomes overwhelming to me and I don't use it enough to become proficent in it. I look forward to continuing on my digital leadership journey.  I have a long way to go, but with each digital age leadership academy and professional development I travel just a little farther on my digital age journey."

"Any growth requires a temporaty loss of security"  Madeline Hunter

"Teaching in the Internet age means we must teach tomorrow's skills today." Jennifer Fleming