Goal #3: Start an Adventure

First, a little back-story...

In the fall of 2005, I was a second-year teacher, and our school librarian, Shelley, came to my classroom one day and said, "Hey, I'm going to recommend you for membership in this technology group. It's called the Master Technology Teacher Program (MTT). They meet a few times a year and teach you to integrate technology into your lessons."

Still relatively fresh out of college and eager for good professional development, I was happy to join.

MTT was led by a faculty member at our local university and a Technology in Motion representative, who taught us about different tools and what they might mean for our instruction. We'd observe classrooms in which the tools were being implemented, discuss with both the teacher and the students, play with new goodies in the afternoons, and commit to using what we'd learned and sharing at our next meeting.

I'm now in my fifth year as a member of MTT, and I know my participation in it has transformed me as a teacher more than any other professional development experience I've had. I'm brave enough to speak up at faculty meetings because of it, I've gotten to present at conferences because of it, I'm trying to develop a paperless classroom because of it... hell, I'm writing this blog because of it.

And yesterday I submitted my application to graduate school because of it. I hope to be working toward a degree in Computers and Applied Technology in the College of Education and getting to explore even further the things I've done in MTT. Let the adventure begin :)

*Note: I'll be coming back around to Goal #2 on a day when I'm feeling just a bit more brave.