This is the first of a series of posts that I am writing based on prompts from my Integration of Information and Computer Technology in the Classroom Part 2 course.

Looking Back…

Looking waaaaaayy back, I remember when, as a pre-teen, I swore off typing and computers all together.  Imagine a pre-teen today shunning technology?  It seems laughable!

In my previous career, I recall an assistant showing me graphs that she made with Excel.  I was blown away.  From then on, my attitude became, if I know what is possible, I can learn it (or at least try)! By the time I entered teachers’ college in 2006, I was a fairly adept Photoshop user (despite a lack of talent in the visual arts) and, thanks to having seen a PhotoStory created by a guest lecturer, I jumped in to my student teaching by creating one with the students to document our learning.

Fast forward and I have integrated technology in various ways in my intermediate classroom (at a time when bringing tech into the classroom doubled as a workout since it was so bulky and heavy), when I was a JK-6 itinerant teacher on a cart, when I worked in a (far-flung) portable, and when I found myself back inside a school with chromebooks, projectors, laptops, etc…  My practice evolved from Smart Notebook and Comic Life to blogging, GSuite, and dabbling in the flipped classroom environment.

In my most recent position as an Early Years/French as a Second Language Instructional Coach, I have integrated technology in a number of ways, including:

• Delivering professional development by Google Classroom;
• Using Google Forms to gather information about educators’ interests for professional development;
• Collaborating with colleagues by using Google Drive, Docs and Slides to create shared resources;
• Using Google Forms to gather feedback from session participants;
• Using my iPad to photograph action plan/exit cards from participants so that they could take them with them and we (the presenters) could have a record of what was most impactful about our sessions and what participants intended to implement in their classrooms.

Every year and in every teaching situation, I have refined what I did in years before, and added new ways of integrating technology.  As the girl who swore off typing and computers, I’m pretty proud of that.

I have only been in my current role since September (and left on a parental leave in April). I don’t yet know how my practice will evolve when I return to this role in November 2017, but I will be looking to see what is possible, so that I can learn it and give it a try.

Looking Ahead…

I joined Twitter in 2009 and it was amazing connecting with so many thoughtful educators!  However, I was one of those junkies who read everything those I followed were tweeting and blogging about. That worked well when I was younger and only has one kid, but eventually, I ended up cutting Twitter out of my life instead of finding a balance.

I started a classroom blog back in 2011 and it became my new online love.  Through my blog I made great connections with my students and their families and my blogs serve as documentation of my previous years of teaching. However, a few years ago we went on a work-to-rule-type strike, and I had to reduce my blogging to a bare minimum.  When we returned from strike action, I realized that my blogging muscles had gotten lazy.  In truth, I never returned to blogging with the same frequency as I had during those pre-strike years and I abandoned this professional musings blog completely, except for AQ-related posts.

Moving forward, my pedagogical goals are related to engaging with and growing my PLN by returning to Twitter and blogging in meaningful and sustainable ways.  I look forward to learning from other educators and being held accountable!