Yesterday's "21st Century Skills" PD session marked milestone of sorts. While there has been much talk about using computers and technology in our classrooms, the conversations among colleagues yesterday had a different tone than anything I had previously been privy to.
About 15 people came to the session I helped facilitate. I was glad the participants came ready to think about new ways of engaging students and discuss the challenges and obstacles that stand in the way.
Among the positives:
- Discussion on how our school's filtration policies are preventing us from moving forward
- Discussion on the futility of trying to ban cell phones
- Teachers sharing anecdotes about students planning and organizing school events using facebook
- Brainstorming ways that technology can benefit our students and the challenges that come with them
- Getting to share some resources with each other (I shared Dean Shareski & Jamie Raeburn Weir).
I know there's still a long way to go with lots of obstacles to overcome, but I feel like we've finally started to have these important conversations. Let's hope we continue to move forward as a school and staff from here.
Special thanks to Dean Shareski (visit his blog) and Jamie Raeburn Weir (visit her blog) for providing the 60 second shout-outs. I believe the participants were quite impressed.
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cc licensed flickr photo shared by pfly
