Students first

I had the privilege of attending the ``Alberta Technology Leaders in Education`` conference at the Capri last night.  I truly was inspired.  The keynote talked about ideas of being connected and how the more minds working on the same problem allows for quicker and more effective solutions.  This idea, to most, is obvious however some educators don`t understand the power we truly could attain if we use the Internet and networking sites as our ``connectors``.  During the conference I was on Twitter and Facebook, not to chat with my old friends but connect with educators around the world!  I commented on ideas, tweets, and learning strategies while others commented on my comments.  This connectedness is truly an idea we should be embracing and not criticizing!  How does this look in classroom? We should be allowing students to publish their thoughts, work, and ideas in an international context.  Journals can be changed to blogs, instead of writing about a picture on paper, students could find an intriguing picture on the Internet and post a review on the website.  The ideas are endless.  One question I have been asked is, "Will this increase test scores?".  My thought is, we need to realize that test scores are not the way to judge whether or not true learning has occurred, and a scantron machine is not assessing what a students truly knows.  As an educator, I need to start listening to my students and how they learn effectively.  Worksheets do not increase learning, or even start it, however higher level thinking with actual context to the questions is where the true learning occurs.  I was called a "radical" thinker, and I am glad to be called this.  Radical is Latin for "root", and I believe we need to look back at the root of these problems and start addressing them.   I say this because we should be there for the students first and curriculum second.