Reflection and looking forward

It has been a little over two years since my last blog post.  One of  the cool parts of a blog is that it also acts like a journal.  In five years of blogging as inspiration hit, I posted thoughts on various topics.  Looking back over those post, there is both disappointment and excitement.

Educationally, the world moves slowly. Some things have changed but so much has barely moved.

In the last few years, I  had the opportunity to lead change from the district office level.  Leading a district to be more open with communication was rewarding.  Using social media to open up conversations with some of our more vocal and hidden shareholders led to greater transparency.  School board member now actively reach out to all stake holders.  Schools regularly share daily happening and parents are interested.

We had the chance to step back from a 1:1 movement of one size fit all to a purposeful technology deployment.  Opening up our network so student devices could more easily be used was a beginning step.  Working with teachers to find out what students needed to be able to be a great student changed the view that technology was being done to them.

Was any part of change easy?  No.  It was amazing to see how fast technology used in very basic ways can become acceptable.  Technology that makes classroom management easier but takes the classroom no further than traditional means is not a great use of educational dollars for sure.

As I look back, I reflect on the changes that can be made and the changes we choose not to make.

Moving forward:

I will strive to find and share posts and thoughts that keep challenging us all.  I hope you go back and read some previous post, go to your favorite blogs and look at some of their early post and see just how much your classroom, school or district has changed.

I hope we all find renewed motivation to keep our children in mind.  They are calling from the future and hoping we fight for improvements to better help them prepare for a very exciting future.

If not now.....when