Sleek screens, winding wires and brilliant buttons. The classroom of tomorrow exists today, and educators are now tasked with transitioning into this new world. For some, this shift to a more digital classroom is long over due. For others everything that they have ever known has been altered in a blink of an eye, they feel like they are light years behind their colleagues and that their mind is about to burst because how is any of this possible? To the latter I say, take a breath and be open-minded.
I too, fear that I will be unable to use and understand these infinite number of programs and modes of technology effectively. But this fear of failure cannot fester, it must be replaced with the optimism, hopefulness, and perseverance that we wish to instill in our students. In order to become a tech savvy teacher, one must be open-minded to learning new skills and encountering new possibilities. Some days the Wifi will not connect, the projector will not turn on, and programs will not load and likely this will all happen within minutes. Technology can be frustrating. It will be our ability to approach each task with an open-mind, that is eager to learn from errors, that will truly make a difference in our lives and the lives of our students.
I look forward to what the future of technology holds and learning about the various programs and devices that will allow me to differentiate my instruction and better support my future students. To accomplish this, and so much more, I must start with an open-mind.
I agree that it is important for teachers to be open minded and willing to try new things out in their classroom even if they are unsure of trying it at first. I have noticed for myself that sometimes the best ideas or most creative ideas can come from exploring new things that I am not familiar with as it forces me to get outside my comfort zone. I really liked your point about being open-minded and staying calm even if it seems like everything is going wrong or you are not exactly sure what you are doing because in the end everything will end up working out and you will learn.
First: You should be a writer. I love your writing voice.
Second: My favorite and what I think is the most important thing I got from your blog post is the line “But this fear of failure cannot fester, it must be replaced with the optimism, hopefulness, and perseverance that we wish to instill in our students.” I totally agree with this. Even though I’m always going to be slightly terrified of messing up in one way or another in front of my students. I can’t let that stop me from trying new tech and passing it on to my students.