First Days

It has been great seeing everyone back these first days of school. Doesn't take long to feel like we never left. Schedules are getting all the kinks worked out and students and staff are falling back into old routines. A couple changes we want to remember are no bags or purses are allowed in the classrooms this year and absolutely no food in the rooms unless it is given by the teacher for something special. We have new carpet in some areas and students will soon have computers with them all day. We are looking at September 22nd for our roll out celebration. We are continuing to make plans so that we are ready for that day. I am looking forward to seeing our volleyball, football and cross country teams compete this fall. Hope to see big crowds at all our events. Our students and coaches work hard to represent our school at these events; let's show them our support.

SAI Convention

I just spent the last two days with administrators from all across the state. The number of districts going 1:1 is really growing. Many sessions were related to technology. This summer has really brought the term "life-long learner" to life for me. I have spent a lot of time exploring technology and discovering how it expands my personal learning. Another term that I have heard a lot when talking about 1:1 schools is "shift of control" in the classroom. I have given a lot of thought to that phrase and here is the conclusion I have come to. In any classroom the teacher is still the most important factor to determine student success. Students are comfortable with technology; not afraid to try new things and explore but the adults have the skills to guide that learning. The teacher is not most important because they have all the answers but because they have the skills to guide students to ask the right questions, to think critically about the answers they find and to transfer that information to their lives. In my opinion it is not a "shift in control" but a "share in control" that teachers need to be comfortable with to truly make classrooms learning communities.