DT&L Bytes
Digital Teaching and Learning @PCHS │ April 10, 2017
Innovation is a Process
As I helped prepare for some recent meetings, I was reminded of our Mission as a SILT Strand School and that we are a School of Innovative Learning and Technology. As I reflected on what it meant to be an innovative school, I was reminded of a post I had just read. I'm sharing that post here with permission from the author, George Couros. George Couros is a learner, educator and author. His blog post, "Innovate Together," is centered around a poem written for an event of his by Najwa Zebian, an author and poet.
Innovate Together
We say that necessity is the mother of invention
But we want to invent new things using
Our same old ways.
We want to innovate without recognizing that innovating
Ends with I-N-G.
To say that I want to walk is not the same as actually
Walking.
To say that I want to run is not the same as actually
Running.
To say that I want to innovate
Is not the same as innovate-ING.
To innovate, I cannot stay in one place.
I have to move.
I have to change.
I have to climb steep slopes and mountains.
I have to look closely sometimes, dissect and analyze.
And other times I have to put the world
Beneath my feet or
On top of my head to see
The bigger picture.
To innovate, I have to move.
I have to change.
But that does not mean that where I am has no value.
This place is full of knowledge that
Years have designed.
But this place is too comfortable.
Too safe.
Too familiar.
And it seems that the world around me is changing
And it's too scary to leave this place but
What if...
I took from this place what could help me feel home as I move.
The lessons I learned.
The experiences I've gathered.
The human I've become?
What if I took things
Step by step.
What if I stopped and reflected on new things
That come my way?
What if I connected what's new with what I already know?
You see, in this place of "me", this bubble of "me", there's an invisible mirror that
always reminds me of me.
What if I changed this mirror to a window?
Magic can happen because
I don't just see myself, my stories, and my experiences
I start seeing the world.
Someone else with a story, an experience, a lesson to teach me.
And another person who's afraid to leave their place, too.
And another person who feels that the weight of the world is too heavy, too.
So
What if
I extended my hand to tell someone else
"me, too".
What if
I allowed my eyes to actually see what I am looking at,
To actually understand the place of someone else.
What if
I shared my place with someone else
And they shared theirs with me.
What if
We grew together.
What if
We changed together.
What if
We carried this weight together.
Took a risk together.
What if
We innovated together.
This "what if" is a blessing and a curse
Because I can say "what if I fail?"
So
What if I fail? I will learn.
At least I will know what doesn't work and change.
What if I fall down, I will get back up.
And the strength I gain to stand back up will make
Me better.
What if I stumble? I will become resilient.
What if I break? I will rebuild myself.
What if I fail? I will have a story to tell.
I will have someone to inspire.
I will have someone to lead
By example.
The teacher next door, across the hall, or downstairs.
The student who's afraid to fall, too.
The student who's afraid of leaving their own space, too.
Or the one who feels all alone.
Because to truly teach, I must not only look at,
But also see "who" I am teaching.
The humans that I am teaching.
And to include all of these humans,
I may have to take a few steps back
To the place that they are so
We
Can walk together,
Lift this weight together
Learn together,
Change together,
Evolve together,
So that we may innovate together.
This is really our first year as a 1:1 school. We're on a journey. It's a process, one that we can walk through together.
Digital Learning Study Halls
Email Clutter
Digital Professional Learning
What can your Digital Learning Coach do for you?
- Share with you what tools we have available to you and your students
- Show you how to use the tools we have
- Push out course-specific apps to you and your students
- Co-teach with you so that you can focus on the content and I can focus on the tool and any digital issues
- Trouble-shoot issues, iPad and Desktop
- Share our Vision and what it means as we travel down the road towards making that it real
- Help you plan and reflect on lessons using digital tools
- Provide Digital Citizenship tips and resources
I'm here to serve you!
Susan Murray-Carrico, Digital Learning Coach
Email: susan.murray@asd20.org
Website: http://www.pchsdigitallearning.org/
Location: 10750 Thunder Mountain Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO, United States
Phone: 719.234.2663
Twitter: @FrauSusi