Yes We Can!

What an exciting week this was! It was so exciting watching Election 2008 come to an end. It was exciting to listen to President-elect Barack Obama's acceptance speech. It was exciting to watch and listen to the reaction of the people. It was exciting to read and listen to the reaction of the children. It was exciting to have the political commercials and mail come to an end. It was exciting to realize the effect this election has on our nation and on the global community. It was exciting to hear "Yes We Can!" over and over.

We need to keep the "Yes We Can!" momentum going in our classrooms and in education. "There are two reasons why people learn one because someone said you can't and the other because someone said you can." according to Howard Wilson Retired NZ Principal. So let's make sure that we keep "Yes We Can!" in the forefront of our planning, teaching and learning.

Even if we have many reasons for not using technology in our classrooms - like no budget for technology, no training or time to learn technology, no administrative support, no clear way to integrate technology - we need to stop listening to the excuses and tell ourselves and each other "Yes We Can!" As Terrance E. Deal said, "If you want to make a mark you have to take a risk." So let's take that risk and figure out how to integrate technology into curriculum and to use the global resources available through the Internet to enhance and increase student learning.

As President-elect Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech, "America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment."

Photo credit: US Democratic presidential candidate Illinois Senator Barack Obama shares a fist bump with Ethan Gibbs, the five year old son of campaign communication director Robert Gibbs. (EMMANUEL DUNAD/AFP/Getty Images)