ProfessorTOSA Blog

Not that I’m promising little now that school winds down and the days get longer, but with my pending child on the way (that’s two for who’s counting), I’m guessing that the technologies I’m most going to be appreciating come in the form of diapers and pacifiers. This blog may very well get some attention, but very likely, I will spend my summer a willful observer of life and not my RSS feed.

Having said this, I am currently looking back at my year and vigorously aiming forward to plan my coming year and my district’s vision of what technology needs to be/could possibly be for the next year. Exciting really, but for anyone in this dynamic area of work knows, planning for what is best practice in a year is nearly wasted time. And so, with trepidation, I have been looking back at our success in order to create goals who’s success will depend on tools that can be decided later.

This year has been very successful for my district and my work. Teachers have become willing to create and maintain websites, try podcasting, endure my varied trainings, and they have become conversant and aware of a handful of great applications that are driving educational technology and our lives in general. I’ve said it before, my district here in Solana Beach is beyond willing to adapt, and quite good at doing so, and they’re making me look pretty good with their efforts and confident that no matter how lofty we raise the bar next year, they will rise to meet it.

This year has also helped our district to approach the subject of Internet safety. My research and initial podcast on the topic alerted me to the importance and urgency to this topic, but this year, with the help of Cindy Palmer from Microsoft, we have started the conversation with our students and parents, and in conjunction with the San Diego Police Department, will be offering more information and community leadership in this area next year and those to come.

Planning for the future then, becomes the delicate balance of continuing what has been done and proven successful and continuing to read the future and respond to the demands of our curriculum, the mood swings of this technological age, and the interests of teachers. Today offered an added kudos to my planning this far. Apparently, a local university has been talking up Solana Beach and our ability to get student working with technology. The teaching program at this university talked at length about the ability for kindergarten and first grade students (as well as all other grades) to become familiar and comforatable with such things as podcasts and Garageband. GREAT! How flattering and what a wonderful support to my work this far and the work of my collegues. When planning for the coming year I could just keep on keeping on since we’ve turned a few heads, but surely we won’t. Funny, but although we admit that we have succeeded in many ways, it’s the knowledge of areas where growth is possible that continues to push us beyond doing well and restricts us from really appreciating significant praise.

More as more comes…