I believe that educators have a responsibility to encourage students and each other to continue learning and to learn from others. For this reason, I am continuously sharing how being a connected educator can bring new ideas and possibilities to the teaching profession. I started using Twitter as a learning platform a few years ago and I want to shout to the rooftops how much I have learned and how other people’s ideas have shaped my thinking on many topics.

“Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner.” (What is Personalized Learning, Jan.2017) Teachers use strategies that are intended to address learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Although personalized learning has been a educational concept for years, technology has only recently made it practical for teachers in the classroom. I am on a mission to try to demonstrate how using technology can enable a more personalized learning environment for the students in my district.

I hope to also increase teacher’s awareness of the TEA Technology Applications TEKS and theISTE standards for students. I think for many years school districts did not have the infrastructure or devices to even begin to be able to incorporate state and national technology standards in their lessons. Over the last several years government Erate funding and affordable devices like chromebooks have made it possible for even small rural schools incorporate technology into the curriculum. However, teachers got so used to ignoring the tech TEKS that when the devices came along they either didn’t understand or were unsure how to incorporate them into student learning. My challenge is to educate and demonstrate how teachers can seamlessly weave technology into lessons with becoming overwhelmed and frustrated.