Educational Skydiving

You are more likely to behave yourself into new ways of thinking than thinking yourself into new ways of behaving. -Michael Fullan

Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down. -Kobi Yamada

Thanks to my Personal Learning Network for sharing these quotes with me. I always learn so much from the people I work with.

As I read these quotes and discussed them with colleagues, I began thinking about how quickly things are changing around us. Our model of careful and thoughtful deliberation before making decisions is not practical anymore. We need to change first and consider the implications as we go.

Consider the first quote. We spend so much time TALKING about what technology means for education, but little time DOING the things that create actual change. Maybe it is time for us to start doing and see what happens. If we start using the technology, our thinking will follow. We will find the connections to curriculum and education. This is scary, but it works. When I started as a teacher, I didn't know about technology. I just started trying things. Slowly but surely, I learned how to use the tools, learned how they impacted my students, and learned why they are so essential.

This is hard for me. I am a ponderer, a thinker. I visit items many times before buying them. I consider ideas from many sides before forming an opinion. But sometimes, jumping in is the better road. Consider the second quote. How much more can we accomplish, how much sooner can we reach our goal, how much more can we learn from the mistakes we will undoubtedly make, if we are willing to leap first and figure out where and how we will land as we go.

Photo from: http://atlanticschoolofskydiving.com/images/ramdompics/6way.jpg

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