My Second Life

Shanghia Pre Conference Session on 9/7/08

So I made it through the first week of school and was feeling pretty warn out from all the action.  I was looking forward to just relaxing on Sunday with my wife and catching the NY Jets and Brett Faivre.  Then, as I went to Dawn’s computer, I couldn’t resist the urge to check my new twitter account.  LIke most of you reading this, I have that problem sometimes.  It was all over after that.  I had read David Warlick and Jeff Utech’s last post on twitter about a Second Life meeting this morning.  I immediately clicked these links and was teleported into my new life.  I had tried second life a few times and just couldn’t seem to get the hang of it.  Most of the time I had too much going on to focus on this.  I have to say, if it wasn’t for my twitter account I may not have made it there that morning.    For almost two hours I relaxed on a bean bag and listened to ohter chat about this upcoming conference.  At the same time, we (the audience) carried on a live conversation through text.   This experience for me will continue to drive my passion for the way we look at teaching and learing.  I felt surrounded that day by pure genious.  In my entire educational career I was never more engaged in listening, then I was at this time.  Some critics believe that these sort of spaces are not going to play a role in the education of our students.  Folks, the time is now.  We must reshape decision making, reshape policies and restructure our schools to provide an educational system that is relevent to the future needs of our children.  Our children are bored!  Get them engaged.  Teachers…are you on sites like Classroom 2.0 to get new ideas.  Are you contributing to this conversation or are you just living within the walls of your classroom.   Join groups that share a common interest.  I dont care if they are school related or not.  Get a grasp on the New Web.  Create your own learning and do it through a digital community.

Back to School

With each new school year I become more and more anxious and excited for a new set of learning opportunities.   When I say learning, I refer to my one on one interactions and digital interactions with my fellow administrators, teachers and of course our students.  On a much larger scale, I am have a renewed committment to extending my own global network.   

I guess I was never a good learner as a child, or for that matter until I nearly graduated college.  I can remember the day my brother (who was more tech savy than me) came to my rescue as I prepared to present my research to my science professors.  At that time, the Internet was weak, limited and unreliable.  Software applications like PowerPoint and Excel were barely being used in our school, and if I had a few $’s and an inside scoop, I would have made millions off a company called Google. 

This experience was a game changer for me.  It started to re-shape my future and certainly lead me to develop a new belief system for teaching and learning.  After many years, I am a bit upset that I was never able to experience this through my K-12 academic career, but thanks to my brother and many other educational leaders who have inspired me, I am grateful to dedicate my entire life to reaching both teachers and students. 

I recently met with my new teaching staff in my district and we talked about the future needs of our students.  We spoke about the year 2022 and the year 2042.  2022, represented the year that today’s Kindegartners would graduate.  2042, is the year that they would have to work until, in order to collect a full pension.  My game changing experience came at the most important time in my history (perhaps the most important of everyone’s). This was 1999 and the Internet was nothing like it is today.  I guess I never thanked him for this, but I definitely will.

So, what do I want to do this year?  First of all, I am going to be a new dad!  I can’t wait!  But with this added responsibility, I will be more focused then ever before.  As I approach my practice, my decisions are made for various reasons, but most of all, what would I want to see for my child?  Are our school meeting the needs of the 2022 graduate? Are we giving the teachers the tools to facilitiate these learning experiences?   Are teachers ready to do this?  Is the school system or community ready for this? There are so many more questions, to which I don’t have the answers.   I am very excited about tomorrow (1st day of school).  I can’t wait to work with my fellow administrators to develop new models for teaching and learning. 

This year, we are going to increase our critical mass of web 2.0 users and re-think the way we approach teaching and learning for today’s teacher and today’s student!

Should We Be Teaching Web 2.0?

I can remember the first time I used the Internet for research.  I can remember the first time I connected with others and created my new network for learning.  That was back in the late 90′s.  It was an empowering experience as I looked into the crystal ball of what my career in education would be. Luckily at that time I had a nice computer (at that time it has 1gig hard drive and about 32mb or ram) with lightning speed Internet access of my 56k modem.  The bottom line is that it completely changed they way I saw myself in this world.  This was truly an empowering experience that all students should be able to go through.  Do you think we are meeting the needs of the 21st century learner through our current instructional practices?  This is a great presentation that I found on Slideshare.

Frontline: Growing Up Online by PBS

This post is going to be short and sweet!  Frontline: Growing Up Online by PBS.  Perhaps you can share this with the non-believers! It tells both stories…what conclusions do you have now?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

 

GOT THOUGHTS? 

 

Happy New Year

Well, another year has flown by, and now a moment to think about all that has happend.  Sometime in the winter of this year (around January or February) I decided I wasnt getting enough fulfillment out of my tech position at the time.  Luckily, the doors started to open, and I landed in my opinion, the best experience a job could provide me.  I am fortunate to work with a fantastic crew of people who are true team players and are dedicated to changing the way we practice teaching and learning.   As I look back on this last year and the many conversations with family, friends and colleqgues, I continue to be excited about all the opportunties I will have to learn with each of you.  This continues to be an exciting journey.   Best wishes for a wonderful new year!

See you in 08′….