We left off last year with celebration events for all of our teams. Many things stood out from those gatherings: risk-taking is built on trust, possibility thinking and time to ruminate, ideas start from what we know (a launch page), integration of purposeful technologies requires focused play, assessment is not an afterthought, articulating clear goals and process with students offer a stronger chance at connected learning, explicitly sharing the learning offer opportunities normally not experienced by teachers (eg. standing in front of peers). None of these are new. In each instance, what rose to the top was the consistency of story.<\/p>\n
Story plays a valuable role in both grounding a culture (as in the discoveries in Sheila’s class) as well as generating ideas and connections in others (as in Carlene’s or Vicky\u2019s story). They tug at emotional heartstrings. Some may question the need for blogging as another \u201cadd on\u201d. I will suggest however, as Clay Shirky put it, \u201cOur ability to connect with one another is transforming the media for organized sharing\u2026\u201d
\nOur conscious use of blogging or sharing digitally allow our stories to fly to others outside of our brick-and-mortar walls; they invite conversation and grow ideas. ![\"imagineercollage640\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.sd41.bc.ca\/learningtech\/files\/2015\/08\/imagineercollage640-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>They are not meant to end with us but spark connected thoughts and creativity, going deeper and broader.<\/p>\n