Hey you – you out there in your classroom. Remember when you were young? Remember your parents talking about the pace of change in daily life and you  rolling your eyes at what they were saying? Remember thinking “Life’s changing people and why do you keep talking about ‘when I was young’? It’s not 19__ anymore.”  When did we become those people? We’re supposed to be educating a generation to be ready for the ‘real world’ but when it comes to ‘real world’ methods and ideas we dig in our heels.

I am a language teacher and increasingly trying to offer new ways for students to do things. In my class at any one time students could be using paper, phones or computers for their work. I run classes, as many of you do, using web 2.0 tools. As an educator I use my Twitter PLN, #langchat colleagues and online sources such as Edudemic etc to find new things to challenge my learners and new ways to do them. When I share alternatives with my co-workers I find many on similar journeys. But there are a great number who offer up the same response.”Well I am not going to allow them to use  (fill in blank with program/platform etc) if I don’t know how it works.”  Even if they are assured that they don’t have to know – that their students do know- they stand firm. Why? It seems to me that a teacher who has a full-time job and is comfortable with their curriculum should be a great candidate for ‘change’, or dare I say, updating their classroom experience.

So you there sitting at your desk. Take a moment. Instead of being glad that you are retiring in X number of years so you “don’t have to learn anything new” why not see it as “I only have X years left to learn.”  Consider the challenge, the gift, of recognizing that we are in a new age. You don’t have to be an active user of the new tools yourself but can you deny your students their opportunity to learn and grow.

Can you?

Colleen