Educating Innovatively

When I began teaching in 1997 I was shocked when I was approached to provide professional development for my district on using computers in the classroom. I was surprised because I was a first-year teacher and couldn’t imagine that I was the person the school district would select as best suited to teach other teachers how to use effectively use technology in the classroom. Paul Reese was the technology coordinator for the district at that time and informed me that I was one of the few teachers he knew of that was putting technology tools to use in the classroom and he promised me I had a lot to offer. I realize now the importance of a leader and mentor to see more in you then you see in yourself and am happy that I took him up on the challenge. That year I taught teachers how to create class websites, publish historical newspapers and travel brochures to support social studies instruction, actively watch video to support content area instruction, use excel to support math and more.

I realized that what made me the right person for the job was that I was always interested in trying out new technologies and learning new things to make teaching and learning more exciting. In a “World is Flat,” “Whole New Mind,” “Change or Die,” climate that we are teaching in, I’ve found my ability to Adapt or Become Irrelevant not only useful, but necessary. If you're reading this, I imagine you either are or are open to being the same way. As such, I am anxious to share the technology tools that I love and use with others.

These are the my current can't-live without tools.
1) Wikispaces
2) Google Docs
3) Skype

These are three tools in which I use as more of a consumer than a producer and want to begin using more actively.
1) NING
2) Twitter
3) UStream

You can learn more about these tools at The Innovative Educator wiki where you’ll find the url, description, tips, and information on learning to use each tool. I know there are many other innovative educators out there. I invite you to share your favorite tools and those you want to begin using more actively.