Keeping It Simple

I wish I had a dollar for every time a teacher told me, "I really want to use technology and be creative, but it is so overwhelming." Seriously you guys, I wouldn't be teaching or blogging; I would be living on my private island! And honestly, technology can be daunting, especially for those of us who were born before the internet. So here are a few tips for those of you who want to move toward being a 21st century educator:

1) Try one new thing. I don't care if you attempt your hand at a Google form or just create a Twitter. Try one new thing!! And then practice and play with it. You will be amazed at how user friendly most technologies are. You will also be surprised at how many people will help and support you. I saw a Tweet the other day that made my heart happy. An older lady tweeted, "I have this Twitter now...how in the world do I #hashtag???" The responses from the younger Twitter generation made my heart happy!

2) Don't be afraid to ask for help...especially from your students. I am not kidding you when I say my students teach me something new daily if not hourly. The other day a student taught me how to copy and paste text without formatting being copied and formatted also...seriously you guys...mind blown!

3) Practice, practice, practice! Let's say you finally figure out how to create and use a Google form. Every time you begin to create a quiz or worksheet for a lesson in your room, ask yourself, "Could I do this on a Google form?" If the answer is yes, go for it! The grading time it saves you is invaluable and you become much more comfortable in your skills.

4) Be willing to give up "knowledge control." As teachers, we are proud of our knowledge and what we have to share with our students. We worked hard to learn what we know. We consider ourselves experts, and we are. However, there is no one individual in the world who knows as much about Shakespeare as the reliable internet contributors as a whole. So honestly, what is better to share with our students? Our knowledge of Shakespeare or the ability to discern reliable from nonreliable internet sources?? We are still sharing our vast knowledge with our students; we are just making them thinkers instead of memorizers.

5) Do not forget what makes you a good teacher in the first place! If the one thing you know you do exceptionally well is build solid relationships with your students, do not let your learning something new get in the way. We all entered this profession for a reason, and I promise you it wasn't our typing abilities. As my friend Cullen would say, "No matter what happens, you do you!"