Been working these past couple of days giving workshops and helping teachers get their classroom technology ready for school starting! All across South Carolina, our crews are finishing up summer installations and getting ready for the next round of fall installations. It'll be a little quiet the next couple weeks as schools get settled into the school year rhythm. A chance for me to get caught up on projects back at the lab/warehouse to get ready for our fall series of roadshows and conferences.
By far though, I love being in the classroom; conducting workshops for teachers, helping them take that next step of integrating technology in a meaningful way for their students. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than watching a teacher create an engaging interactive lesson and present it at the end of our session! I love to see the "lights" go on and listen to all the ideas that begin to flow from the group about how to reach today's "digital natives".
Teaching today is a tremendous challenge for the 21st Century educator. They are loaded with way more stuff than just teaching anymore! They come early, stay late, just to be prepared and catch up on emails and fill out forms and more forms! Those that embrace the interactive technologies with so many online resources are finding valuable time saved! Having been in thousands of classrooms across the Carolinas and witnessing these amazing servants, I have to say, I have a lot of RESPECT for today's teacher! It is my mission to these servants to show them how to gain more time for doing what they love to do, what they were called to do; TEACH!
Do you remember your favorite teacher growing up? I had a few, but in particular, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Wilke, way up in Cold Lake, Alberta, CANADA will always come to mind. She was old school in strictness but very very passionate in giving us hands on experiences so we could be out of our seats to learn like little ones do. I'll always remember studying how heat can melt things and learning that by melting marshmallows mixed with coconut and then dipping other marshmallows in it and getting to eat it!
As school starts up, think of ways you can encourage a teacher (especially your kids'), they will appreciate it more than you may ever know!
By far though, I love being in the classroom; conducting workshops for teachers, helping them take that next step of integrating technology in a meaningful way for their students. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than watching a teacher create an engaging interactive lesson and present it at the end of our session! I love to see the "lights" go on and listen to all the ideas that begin to flow from the group about how to reach today's "digital natives".
Teaching today is a tremendous challenge for the 21st Century educator. They are loaded with way more stuff than just teaching anymore! They come early, stay late, just to be prepared and catch up on emails and fill out forms and more forms! Those that embrace the interactive technologies with so many online resources are finding valuable time saved! Having been in thousands of classrooms across the Carolinas and witnessing these amazing servants, I have to say, I have a lot of RESPECT for today's teacher! It is my mission to these servants to show them how to gain more time for doing what they love to do, what they were called to do; TEACH!
Do you remember your favorite teacher growing up? I had a few, but in particular, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Wilke, way up in Cold Lake, Alberta, CANADA will always come to mind. She was old school in strictness but very very passionate in giving us hands on experiences so we could be out of our seats to learn like little ones do. I'll always remember studying how heat can melt things and learning that by melting marshmallows mixed with coconut and then dipping other marshmallows in it and getting to eat it!
As school starts up, think of ways you can encourage a teacher (especially your kids'), they will appreciate it more than you may ever know!
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