Technological Change

Each week, I try to send information to you that is helpful, inspiring, or timely. Some weeks, I receive a ton of wonderful responses from teachers across the district. Sometimes we engage in our own dialogue back and forth about the subject. I have always wished we could engage in more systematic exchange around the issues presented in messages. But how to do that. . .

This week, I thought I would introduce a new tool in the weekly message arsenal. Yes, that's right, a blog. Donna Murray held my hand through the process of creating a blog and even linking it to my own Delicious account.

I will be pulling some of you kicking and screaming into the digital age. We are using a tool that will allow you to post comments about the weekly message that can be viewed by one another. Yes, this tool increases our ability to communicate quickly.

If this feels awkward to you, you are not alone. As I learned how to create this blog and my Delicious account, I felt like my brain was made of memory foam, minus the memory! Yes, it was awkward and after 2 hours, I wanted to take a nap. I had almost decided that I would rather hand write each of you.

But change is hard for all of us and I had to muddle through. It is still not comfortable for me to blog. I am learning a new format. A format that is essential to know in the digital age. It is very much like learning a different language. But all change is like this, isn't it?

We are working on our School Improvment Plans and IGPs. Both documentation of change. Both can be frustrating processes because they force us to examine what works. Why do we change our practice? The hope is to improve our results.

I tried to find some quotes to share with you about change. I first found one from Abraham Lincoln that speaks to the critical place we are in our educational system.

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew."

Think about this quote for a minute. We must rise to the occasion by thinking and acting anew. Thinking and acting in ways that are different from before. The same methods yield the same results. What are we doing differently to reach students?

Then I found this quote from Alan Cohen.

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

What practices are we holding on to that are no longer meaningful for our students? Are we empowered within our buildings to take risks and try new things?

And if those quotes weren't heavy enough, I found this one from Albert Einstein.

"Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

Change is not easy for any of us. But necessary for all of us.

What new strategies are you using in your classroom that really seem to work? I would love to hear from you. Post a comment.

You can post as anonymous if you like, so you don't have to create a google account if you don't have one. Just add your name to the bottom of the body of the post.

Thank you for all you do!