Why?

My "why" in this Educational Technology program is simple. I want to be a better educator for my students. I want to serve them in the best way possible whether that is in my subject area, technology, as a leader on campus or all of those things together. I believe that in order to have students who want to be lifelong learners you need to give them educators who are lifelong learners. Those educators have to be able to admit when they don't know an answer and be willing to go on a journey with the student to find that answer. Technology means that the entire world of knowledge is at a student's fingertips through keystrokes. So, is education about knowledge? It has to be more than that or a teacher's job is obsolete. So, if education isn't abut knowledge, then what is it about? It is my belief that it is about teaching students how to learn. Taking it one step further, it's about teaching students how to apply what they are learning to whatever comes their way in life. She may not use that geometry proof in her career, but she can apply the grit and tenacity she used to learn it to whatever field of study or trade that she tackles later in life. 

For me, this program awakened my sleeping lifelong learner. Early in my career, I thought that teachers kept their assignments and lessons in a file somewhere and simply reused them every year without changes. Eventually, I thought, my file would be full and I could coast through my career. I soon learned that was not the case. The best teachers were constantly looking for a new way to teach their students the concepts of their subject. Why? The content was the same. The age of the students were the same. Shouldn't the same lesson work for all of them? I soon learned the importance of keeping up with the latest content-based information was only second to keeping up with the latest ways to deliver the content. Once I started integrating technology into my lessons on a more consistent basis, not only did I see a higher level of engagement, but I noticed that students were understanding to content at a deeper level. This inspired me to learn all that I can about how to integrate technology into my classroom so that I can reach students at a new level.