The last few days of my summer break were spent scraping, sanding and prepping some Adirondack chairs that I built a number of years ago so that I could paint them before we get into the fall and winter seasons. Yesterday I started to cover up the primed wood with the bright white paint and the difference was remarkable. The faded, peeled wood became clean, bright and brought back my pride in making them myself.
Today was the first day of school in our district and as I walked through the halls of one of our elementary schools with the new paint, waxed floors and excited voices, for some reason I thought back to the chairs that I had just put a fresh coat of paint on. Everything seemed very new, clean and bright. Smartboards had been installed over the summer, new equipment ordered over the summer has been released from blister packs and the projects planned for last spring is starting to become a reality. It’s all very exciting.
While the excitement continues to build, I’ve started struggling with ways to systematically figure out how to help teachers continue to move forward with their integration and teaching strategies as well as identify leaders in technology use in each of the buildings I work with. I hope to give them what they need to help their students be successful in the various curricular areas. This is not the first time I’ve thought about this, but I can’t say that I’m all that closer to an answer or a process. I am, however, glad to get started with a new year and looking forward to the possibilities that it will provide. Meanwhile, my chairs need one more coat before I take them out to brave the elements once again.
