While, I really enjoy blogging for Techlearning.com, I tend to wonder if I am just continuing to preach to the choir sometimes. As the school year winds down, I am in the process of reflecting upon my work this past year and planning for next year. I am pretty happy with my work overall, but I am also very aware of my need to think "differently" in many ways. Perhaps I need a whole new sermon.
While I know that I am making a very positive impact on our students, faculty and community, I also know that my impact is limited in many regards because there are just too many other factors and hurdles to overcome that are way beyond my control. To blatantly keep this blog theme going, I can only take care of my own congregation so to speak...
I look at writing for Techlearning.com and my own blog as a component of my "official" job. As a tech facilitator, my responsibility is to help our teachers and students utilize technology better and more efficiently as an educational tool. I believe it is my responsiblity to help our distict get a better return on our "tech-investment". Perhaps I am saying that it is my responsibility to lead my flock to the promise land. (*** feel free to groan because of the theme as needed but don't give up on me now...)
Listen, I know I am already part of the tech education choir so I want to know more about ways that I can evangelize the non-believers? My passion for impacting and changing education can be overwhelming for some and over the top for others. One has to be very careful as it is a fine line between preaching and leading sometimes. Yes, I know it is about asking good "questions". I know it is about "modeling". I know... but ... well ... maybe I don't know...
While I go to conference after conference and read post after post from the most amazing educators, I tend to wonder how much impact people really have in their own backyards. Are they sometimes overemphasizing their impact or evangelizing their message a little too much? Isn't it easy to preach to the choir? Isn't it easy to have your followers agree with your message? How easy is it to make change in your own backyard?
This leads me to my burning question that I have for all of you who are part of the tech education choir, "Are you a prophet in your own backyard?". How have you approached change in your district? What is your basic sermon for your flock? How have you gone about evangelizing the non-believers? What has been most successful for you? Is it the elevator speech? Is it modeling? Is it asking great questions?
Wait a minute...
Is there something else? Maybe it is me and I need to think differently as I first mentioned... Maybe my message ... or our message is being lost because of how we think. Maybe we need to come down from our pulpits and rethink our sermon? Maybe the "religious" and "preaching" metaphor only go so far... Maybe... just maybe ... I am the non-believer...
Once again, I ask you, "Are you a prophet in your own backyard?"
by Scott Meech (Crossposted at SMeech.net)
