Get Ready – The Blog is Back!

Teachingfromhere.com has been quiet for the past few years. So much has happened that kept me from writing and sharing my journey and there are so many ideas bouncing through my head right now. Let us reset and have a mini-relaunch of this blog space.

But first, a sum up of the previous few years. I left the high school classroom in December 2014 and became a full-time graduate student in January 2015. In March 2017 I joined the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma as the Director of Instructional Technology. In April 2018 I successfully defended my dissertation examing the use of Twitter as professional development and a learning community space, with a focus on #oklaed. I graduated in May 2018 with a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis on Educational Technology. December 2018 was a move to Oklahoma City University as a Senior Educational Technologist. Finaly, I am happy to say that I am now back in public schools as the Executive Director of Technology and Data at Mid-Del Schools.

What’s Next?

These are crazy times right now for all of us, the Spring of 2020 showed us that technology is a critical piece in education and there is a huge equity gap here. Several schools have moved into different versions of learning management systems and are trying to figure out how to maximize student learning in those spaces. Some key questions come up:

• How can we get an internet-connected device to each student?
• What can we do to provide high-speed internet for every single student in their home?
• How do we fund these initiatives?
• What can we do to ensure that students are learning when they are not in our schools?
• How do we move away from “remote learning” to something more involved and productive?
• “Remote learning” won’t work for me, I didn’t become a teacher to do this. I want to be with my students. (Not a question but a real-life struggle for educators.)

I want to share my thoughts on these questions. I also want to continue to challenge the “way we have always done it.” If the Spring of 2020 has taught us anything, its that we must continue to incorporate technology as part of teaching and learning. At all grade levels. Yes, this is difficult, but it is a necessary conversation to have now.

There will be blog posts on gamification and using social media for professional development. Our district recently moved into Canvas and Seesaw, so there will be blog posts about those platforms. We utilize G-Suite with our students and teachers, expect some love there as well.

There will also be posts addressing other educational topics as I feel a call to action.

Its good to be back.