One to the World

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Our county has a new superintendent. His name is Dr. Eric Williams. A big initiative that he's brought to our county is One to the World. Dr. Williams comes to our county as a blogger and very active on twitter. He models what he wants to see in classrooms, which is connecting our students to the world...the real world.  Last week he shared this initiative with the school board. I attended the small informational meeting. In this presentation Dr. Williams and Dr. Breeden, Dr. Contartesi and Mr. Flynn all presented about One to the World and BYOT.  Dr. Breeden shared three examples of schools and students that were already demonstrating the ideas of One to the World. My students and I were one of those three examples. That was quite an honor! She talked about my students connecting with authors via twitter and social media and the impact that made on their learning.   Dr. Williams talked about what One to the World means. One point that really struck me was when he said it will mean, "...recapturing the joy of teaching and learning." Students will own their learning and they will be connected to the world! During the presentation, Dr. Williams asked the school board members to participate in a Todays Meet chat to help process their thoughts and share their questions. Throughout the presentation, he'd give them a graphic organizer and a purpose for listening. I almost forgot I was at the school board meeting. I was watching a teacher at work...a teacher passionate about his subject.  Dr. Williams wants teachers and students to share meaningful learning experiences that are grounded in the curriculum using all of the tools available. He wants to "get our of their way"...and let the teachers run with the technology already out there. He wants to support our students and the teachers. I am grateful to work in a county where the superintendent really gets it! Thank you for your leadership Dr. Williams! And to Dr. Breeden, Thank you for a wonderful representation of my students!