It’s been an exciting couple of weeks at work. We’ve been busy putting together some summer PD, including our showcase event for our new 1:1 schools in our district and around the province – One-to-One Bootcamp for Teachers.

To say I am excited about what is happening in New Brunswick is an understatement. There is a real move here, a current that is growing stronger by the day, led by people who get it at the departmental level and supported by a cadre of change agents in districts and schools across the province.

We announced the One-to-One Bootcamp on Monday, and today we’ll pass 100 teachers who have registered, indicating their willingness to give up their time to start to piece together their personal story of change in their classrooms and schools. This number is exciting, but we want more (although I think my boss might be a bit nervous that we have created something we can’t manage!!). Today I sent the following email to colleagues at three schools in my district that I have worked with over the past few years (and all of whom will be involved in one-to-one initiatives next fall) and my technology mentor colleagues across the province.

Hi guys…

Next year might very well be the most exciting and important year in New Brunswick education history. The move from a traditional story of school where teachers and texts are the source of information and the audience for most student content is contained by the walls of the classroom is about to be challenged and interrupted by a new model of learning for the 21st century, a model where students can connect with information and individuals outside their classroom to create their individual stories of learning and have a global audience for their content.

SMART Boards and other technologies are powerful, but they don’t necessarily change the game.  One-to-one learning environments absolutely cry out for a new way of teaching and learning. Many teachers and students are about to embark on an exciting new journey where they will join together to learn, where the lines between “teacher” and “learner” become blurred. It a shift that is both exciting and absolutely necessary to transform our schools to places that help prepare our kids for THIER future…a future that is information-rich, digital and connected…one where individuals will work, play and learn in a global community.

I would hope that you could encourage teachers to check out the One-to-One Bootcamp for Teachers to be held in Fredericton in August.  It will not only begin to give teachers some practical ideas about what teaching in an environment where digital connectivity is ubiquitous and the student is the center of learning, but will also allow those of us who will be involved in the one-to-one movement around the province an opportunity to come together and start to build a professional / personal learning network to support a new model of learning for the 21st century.

http://1to1bootcamp.wikispaces.com

Educators across New Brunswick are invited…hope to see you there!

Yours in learning,
Jeff

You see, there’s one thing that we – as change agents for a new vision of school – need to do, and that is to promote and push new ideas and opportunities, without regret! It’s up to us to be the salespeople for our students and a new story of learning.