Simon Says

Welcome to my blog and to my first post. I have been investigating ways of integrating technology into my practice as a classroom teacher and I thought I would venture into the world of blogging. I must admit that I am somewhat hesitant for a couple of reasons. First of all, although I am not a complete techno-phobe, the rapid evolution of technology does scare me a bit and the thought of having to keep up on top of the changes seems like a somewhat daunting task. Secondly, finding the time to revamp my current practices with technology integration will be difficult. I am the father of two young children (Hannah 3.5, and Brendan 18 months) and I am married to my beautiful wife Melanie who is a nurse at a long-term care facility (that’s right, a household with two people working in fields that are highly politicized especially come election time-education and health care). Melanie works 3-11 shifts and that includes four of the five days of the school week (Mon.-Thurs. or Tues.-Fri.) every week. So I must rush home to pick up the kids from the babysitters and then I am on my own most evenings to take care of the kids.

So between going to the park, dance class, making dinner etc. I am usually pretty wiped once bedtime arrives. Once the kids are in bed and I have a little down time I haven’t really much motivation to spend it working. However, I must admit that I have been spending more of that “down time” investigating technology use in the classroom and I’ve been getting excited about it. This is much in thanks to the K12 Online Conference. Thirdly, lack of access in the classroom is a stumbling block. There probably isn’t a teacher out there who has everything they want at their fingertips in the classroom, but without going into great detail I am quite limited in this regard in my school. Having said all this I believe that as teachers we cannot ignore the need for technology integration in my classroom. This is the world we live in, and this is the world our students will be working in, and we must prepare them for this. So I will take baby-steps, and I’m sure I will make some mistakes along the way, but, this is where my learning will happen.
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).