Today's symposium is helping me to move forward in my thinking. We have to think about students responding to polls, students mousing around the big screen at the front, students incorporating FaceBook type interactions into class sites.

ELGG was the most intruiging thing that stood out from the inevitable avalance of new acronyms, funny names, and techo ideas of the first day of the Technology Lab School. That's one I'd like to pursue and incorporate into Moodle (Moodle was my "new thing" 2 years ago).

Computer conferencing choices: Skype, Wimba, Adobe Connect, Elluminate. It's likely that Mr. Tam and I will use one or more of these to stay connected to our classes while we travel during our sabbatical.

I'm more skeptical about the whole avatar thing, at least for middle school kids. But maybe I'll come around to this.

In 23 years of teaching, I've learned that it's never the right choice to gripe about these kinds of changes. I can remember in the 80s when most teachers looked down their noses at the computers that were arriving. It's always the right choice to jump in and find ways to incorporate new technologies as they come along.

And there are always more. The type of teacher that is going extinct is the old pull out the files from last year model. Every year is a new adventure. Change is permanent, and the pace always quickens.

Makes my head spin!