Why Am I in EC&I 831?

Why am I in EC & I 831 and who am I? Here goes my first try at blogging and introducing myself a bit more. First, I’m a busy guy just like all of you. I teach, take grad classes, am President of South East Cornerstone Teachers’ Assoc., and am a member of the STF Executive. My wife is the director of Sun Country Kids Club, we have two busy kids and have recently joined Dynamaxx International as an exciting new venture for our family. I thought a family photo is fitting in an introduction as you can see the three that motivate me everyday.

I’m outside of my comfort zone in 831, but I’m looking forward to learning how to better connect with other educators and the tech savvy so that I may integrate social media and the vast resources of open learning to my classroom. I have advocated for a few years now for our schools to teach students how to use technology responsibly rather than pretend that technology will go away or that we can stop it from flooding into our classrooms. However, in my current assignment- 60% construction teacher, 40% SECTA President- my focus has not been on technology and its use in teaching and learning.

I use my wireless devices daily to find information, connect with family and friends and also to support my own learning. But, how do I maximize technology and facilitate a positive and engaging experience for my students? I will return to the classroom fulltime in the fall and will be teaching grade 9 Social Studies  after a hiatus for a few years. I would like to infuse social media and open education as part of my program to help prepare my students as 21st Century Learners.  So why 831…my goal here is to gain insight into how teachers can engage in professional dialogue, resource sharing, and accessing information related to the profession to support one another and their own classrooms. My teachers’ association has seen some moderate success connecting and engaging with our membership via a website, Twitter, and Facebook. However, we need to increase our traffic to these sites and ensure that those going there are not only getting the information they need, but engaging in meaningful conversations. My goal is to build my knowledge base and technical skills related to open education. I want to use this learning to support the development of my social studies program for my students and to help engage teachers in professional dialogue.

So here it goes!  I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I will see how my first project post goes- trying some of the functions of blogging.