Second Grade Dreams

When I was in second grade, I decided that I would go to college and study to become a teacher. This was not a whimsical notion; I pursued my goals with determination and purpose. I did all the typical things that many teens who were interested in education did in the 1970s and 80s: babysitting, Red Cross training, volunteering with Teens Against Cancer and Young Authors programs. I spent the summer between my junior and senior year at the local college library, where I studied education policy and gathered material that I would use for my high school speech competitions. I don’t remember everything I wrote for my speeches, but I’m certain that some of my conclusions would have benefited from actual teaching experience and a few more years to gain wisdom. Still, it was an excellent project that stoked my interest in educational leadership. After high school, I fulfilled my dream. I went to college and became a teacher.

Currently, I am preparing to return to teaching after some time at home with my children. I am pursuing a graduate degree in instructional technology while volunteering at a local elementary school, and I plan to work as a technology resource teacher/coach at the elementary level. My bachelors degree is in music education, and my first graduate degree is in elementary education. That’s where my education heart is, in K-5 schools. In the years between undergrad and the present, I taught in U.S. schools abroad, earned a certificate in information technology, and gained real-world IT and instructional design experience. Life in education and technology has been very interesting and challenging.

So why am I here?

This is my space to share lesson plans, tips, ideas, inspiration, challenges, and perhaps ruminate on the current and future states of technology in education. I am about the learning first; technology is a tool for learning, a means to the end. I like to geek out as much as anyone, but ultimately the technology must be the right fit for real learning to happen. By real learning, I mean learning that makes the students want to keep going even when lesson time is over, learning that inspires and keeps them talking about it for days, learning that has them tell their parents about it over dinner, learning that challenges and changes their ways of thinking, learning that inspires a second grader to say, “I want to go to college and become a teacher,” or whatever they choose.

I am a parent and an educator, and I look forward to many good conversations with readers.