It's Not A "Techie" Thing

As I started putting the finishing touches on my "Global Classrooms" presentation for a PD session I was hosting Monday, I sat back and felt something wasn't right. I looked over my slides and topics and it just didn't feel....complete. I didn't have a total feeling of getting my "inner message" across.

I didn't feel accomplished at the fact that my message of using google hangouts, Skype, global projects, padlets, - so on and so forth- is NOT an EXTRA thing teachers need to do.

Using these tools in the classroom are simply just that - tools. Teachers who believe that incorporating (or adding) any of the above mentioned tools to their teaching repertoire is EXTRA work and something they need to ADD to their "To Do List," simply still have trouble accepting the changes and shifts in education today.

Todays classrooms are global. We have the beauty of throwing textbooks out the window, knocking down our walls and learning about different communities by actually talking to them!

Some look at these teachers that have blogs, are on Twitter, Instagram and collaborate with other classrooms across the globe as "techie's, keeners, geeks." Well, I am quite happy at the fact that I'm all of the above; since using social media in education and opening up your students to a world of possibilities through collaborative global projects isn't a techie thing... it's a GOOD teaching thing!

So, what's left? I added this last visual to my presentation slides:

But placed it at the beginning :)


All we need to do is start having those conversations about what good teaching looks like in 2015 (for now). And it's exactly what a lot of great teachers are doing out there..... Connecting your students to the globe to give them the best possible learning experience you can give them. It's giving them the opportunities to connect, collaborate, think critically, be creative and innovative.

To the teachers who are doing all these great things - Cheers & Salut!
To the teachers who haven't dabbled in these "techie" things just yet... let's help you get started! Don't be afraid to ask for help. We don't byte ;)
-N