Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes

What does it all mean?

Well, what it means is that it really doesn’t matter how or what I learned.  What it means is that I need to teach in a manner that will resonate with this generation of students.  They are going to acquire the same set of skills as previous generations, just in a different way.  What it means is that things I believe to be valuable may or not be to my students.  What it means is that they will learn that which is important to them.  What it means is that I need to move forward the same as my students rather than trying to get them to turn back to how things use to be.  What it means is that I need to change how I teach.  What it means is that I need to become as much a student as a teacher.  What it means is that I need to learn w/ technology along side my student because I cannot go through life making statements such as, “When I was in school…,” or “I just don’t know anything about all these gadgets,” or “I just don’t get this.”  I liked the suggestion in the book to learn alongside children.  What it means is I am going to have to learn about Facebook, texting, twitter and the like not because I want to use these tools but because that is how students communicate.

Change in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing.  This is not change just for the sake of change.  I need to remember that this change is not just to change but it has purpose.  It is not change to make my job more difficult or to drive a wedge between parents and children.  It is change to give students every advantage they could possibly have in order to fulfill their dreams.