What can I do to be a visionary leader?

Change is hard for most people, but it is virtually impossible when one gets caught up in fear.  I see a culture of fear among many of my colleagues that has been created by the state’s teacher evaluation system.  This is not to say that we don’t want to be good teachers - I have never met a teacher that doesn’t want to be a great teacher - it is simply the fact that there are so many aspects to being a great teacher that it is hard to know where to begin. 

Add to this challenge that many of our current teachers grew up before the digital age, and you can understand why many of us shy away from fully integrating new technology into the classroom.  You want every minute of class time to be as productive as possible, so who wants to risk implementing a lesson where everything can be ruined by a glitch in technology?  Especially during a time when most districts have cut back on support personal.  Yet, that is exactly what we must do if we want to remain “highly effective” during the digital age.  I have had technology goals since my district required that we write them, but with all the other demands of teaching I find that I am not getting any closer to effectively using technology on a daily basis than I was two years ago.  What a perfect time to take a class that will force me to incorporate technology! 

My vision for education shifts the burden of learning to the students - where it belongs.  Currently, I work much harder than the majority of students in my classroom.  I prepare lessons, encourage students to actively engage (exhausting in itself), and wade through endless paperwork to evaluate their progress.  Students should be setting their own goals (preparing their own lessons), engaging themselves (because they find purpose in their learning) and helping to evaluate their own progress.  Each student would have their own tablet/ipad, because waiting days to get in a computer lab would be unacceptable for this type of classroom.  Class discussions could be through a blog, so that formative evaluations could be documented.  Group projects could be created through google docs, so that multiple students could be creating one project.  The role of the teacher would be as a guide, rather than content master.  This is pretty difficult under the current state standards for Social Studies - as they are very rigid in content, but I have hope that Common Core will help with this dilemma. 

TLA TAL getting started

I am very excited, yet nervous, about taking this class.  Over the last few years, I have made it a yearly goal to integrate more technology into my classroom.  What I have discovered is, that while most students are fascinated with technology, they have no idea how to use technology for learning.  Therefore, I usually know more than they do about how to use it in the classroom (and that's saying something!).  I keep trying new things and hope that this class will really be a catalyst for technology in my classroom.