The comfort of a warm blanket

A thought struck me as I was watching "Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown" with my children the other day.  Actually, a couple thoughts struck me but we can get into that in a bit.

As I look at my own practices at home, work and school, I find myself looking at my own "warm blankets"...things I do over and over because they are comfortable, familiar, unchallenging...They are my own safety net, just as Linus' blue blanket is his.  I think it would be safe to say that we all have our warm blankets.

What are yours?

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation to a large audience about Social Media in Schools.  I have to admit...this is not my specialty.  As Principal J will tell you I am a "lurker"--someone who reads Twitter but doesn't tweet.  I am working on it, though.

We discussed, as part of the presentation, some transitions our society is experiencing currently.  The major transition that we, as educators and parents, face is that this generation of student, particularly at the elementary level, understand technology inherently.  They understand how and when to use technology to accomplish objectives and they understand what technology or device to use.  They are able to use it with little to no instruction.  They are able to create, build and share with technology as second nature, as an extension.  To my children as well as those I work with in districts, technology is NOT a tool, but an aspect of life.

So as I (we) race to "integrate" technology into our curriculum, or align technology standards, or define 21st Century skills, our children and students already have technology INFUSED into their lives.  Tremendous difference...integrate vs. infuse.

The bulk of my presentation focused on HOW to use SM tools in small and large ways with students and staff, how to facilitate creativity and sharing, how to think outside of our normal "box", how to even put down the warm blankets that we are familiar with and use every year to develop a new set of skills or lessons that encourage students to take responsibility and accountability for their own education, how to be proactive instead of reactive.

I am beginning to understand that "integrating" technology is the blue blanket I have held onto for the last several years, a mantra for a world which passed me by when I wasn't looking, a way to label a destination that has moved.  

When my 10 year old tells me he wants to make a website and a blog, I know I missed something important. 

So, as I put aside my inner "Linus", here are some ideas to get started:

1.  Experiment with a "Flipped" education.
2.  Have your students create their own e-portfolio (wiki) for your class...this works at all ages
3.  Try one or more of these ideas!
4.  Follow other professionals on Twitter...LOTS of good ideas out there.
5.  Make your own blog.

Please post ideas you have or want to try...always more out there.