Sharing Technology Peripherals

In this digital age, we are surrounded by new toys under the Christmas tree.  What should we play with first?  Come Christmas morning, we run downstairs and are amazed at all the glossy paper and bows under the tree.  And as each child has a preference for a certain toy, teachers have preferences for certain peripherals in their classrooms.  As I read the multitude of blogs about this subject, I continue to learn about my colleagues favorite toys.

Here's what I'd like to see implemented at more schools: show and tell.  My daughter does it every Monday in her Kindergarten class.   After each Monday, she spends the next week looking for the next perfect thing to share with her classmates.  How amazing would it be if you had one professional development day or even five minutes of your next department meeting to share your favorite toy under the Christmas tree this year? 

Imagine a room full of educators sharing their favorite ways of incorporating technology and ways they connect the technology to learning in their classroom.  Recently I attended a fantastic student leadership conference run by the JUMP Foundation!  Among the many things I learned that weekend from Justin Bedard and Josh Morris, one saying keeps running through my mind: "All the experts are in the room".  So here's my professional Christmas wish: I would love to see administrators give teachers more time to connect and share.  Let's look at the tools we have, and visualize best practice for these tools before we acquire anything new.  All the experts are in the room, now let's have some time for some good old fashioned show and tell.

The above image can be found at: http://ippaonline.com/ippa/?m=20060