Yes, we can!

I am a firm believer in positivity. I thrive on it. I believe it makes things happen.

Positivity is good. However, I am going to start on what you might consider to be negative. In short, technology is no longer the motivator it once was. Yes, that's right, you heard me; technology is losing its motivation factor. It used to be exciting for a class to come in and complete some activities on the class computers but this is not always the case now. However, I can see the good in this. Finally, technology can lose its Friday fun factor, its trivial place as something to keep 5D happy on a wet, Monday afternoon. Technology can find its rightful place as a part of the teaching and learning process. It can allow teachers to fulfil teaching methodologies that were previously difficult to achieve for practical reasons. Meeting the different needs of the many learners in a class can become that much more attainable. The flipped class can have many more possibilities thanks to technology. Collaboration can be enhanced through technology and what it has to offer - wikis, VLEs, padlet and blogs, for example. Technology can be used when it needs to be used and not just because it is there. We can use technology in the very best way, contextually, to improve what we do in the classroom - which of course is no longer confined to four walls.... Oh yes, we can!

 

Talking about collaboration, I want to talk about another positive. Teacher collaboration. I already know how amazing all the tweachers are out there. A quick tweet and my query can be answered not by just one respondent but by many. However, I have recently been able to enjoy collaboration closer to home in my own work place with the colleagues I work with. We are normally too busy to make time to discover fully what is going on elsewhere around the school. What good ideas there are out there. Furthermore, what joy to meet with colleagues and talk about what we CAN do. Our meetings this week, our forums on plenaries, have been rich in positivity. These were not meetings to discuss why we cannot achieve things, these were informal meetings for colleagues to say what they can do in their classrooms and to help other colleagues work out how they can adapt activities for their classroom situations. The days of moaning about why we can't achieve things are over. This is a time for positivity because negativity is poison - it needs to be dumped outside the school gates.

This is a time for "yes, we can!"