Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Don't Just Sit There, Do Something

I just read a great blog post by Will Richardson entitled "Yeah, You've Got Problems. So Solve Them." I wanted to take this opportunity to respond and expand on this idea. In summary, the post discusses making excuses why teachers aren't using technology to its fullest extent. Often, the reasons teachers don't use the technology is less of an actual reason and more of an excuse.

History is full of successful people who have refused to let road blocks, set-backs, or nay-sayers stand in their way. They acknowledged the problem, and went through it, around it, over it, or under it on their way to success. I won't bore you with the countless stories of these people but, you know them. The point here is, that there will always be an excuse why NOT to do something, especially if that "something" is difficult or challenging. The real challenge in life is to pull yourself out of that rut and find the path to actually doing it.

I think my theme for this year will be "Why not?" If there is something I want to get accomplished, no matter how "pie-in-the-sky," my response will be, why not? There are just too many people letting life happen to them. We as educators need to adopt the "why not?" attitude more. That, I think is what separates good teachers from great teachers.