A teacher and a photographer share similarities. I initially think of the quote and book title by Dan Rather, former CBS reporter and anchorman, The Camera Never Blinks. Education is similar in that the world doesn’t stop and take a break so that students can get caught up. The world, the economies, the events, the scientific pursuits, the discoveries, and the literature – none of it stops. It continues to push forward, ever faster. As if that was not enough, students have the increasingly more complex realm of personal issues with which to cope.

In the middle of this swirling hurricane of ideas and emotions is the teacher. And as a photographer, the teacher takes a moment in time and tries to make it memorable. Realistically, not every moment spent in a student’s life is going to be recalled forever. But then neither are most photographs. It is the photo that truly reveals something about the subject that becomes valued. In school, it is the lesson that truly connects the student to the world that will have worth.

In addition, the photographer tells a story with his creation. According to Daniel H. Pink in A Whole New Mind, the way our minds work allows us to remember stories, rather than random facts. The teacher, like the photographer is creating a story. If you look at the following photo and only notice the light colored dress, the military uniforms, and the tall buildings, you would have demonstrated mastery of facts, but missed the entire story of the emotional celebration of the end of World War II.

 Lessons are similar. Teachers are creating a story whether through authentic problems, or showing students how to make connection in the content. It is this “story” that students will remember long after any “fact test” has been given. It is the “story” that is the real learning.

The connection of authentic context and story is a large part of what I take away from the Integration of Technology in Schools program.

 Alfred Eisenstaedt’s image of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day in 1945. (Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt, Time-Life/Getty Images)

I began the program with the goal to use technology in a wiser fashion within my classroom. By technology, I meant computers, cameras, video, audio and web. Now as I complete the degree program, I am leaving with knowledge that technology is not simply the newest offering from Apple or Microsoft but rather a technique that mediates between us and our world. It is a tool and all tools have affordances, allowing them to do certain things.

Most importantly, I see myself with a broader vision of  purpose. I am not just the teacher; I am the designer of the lesson. While this may seem redundant to some, it has become very differentiated for me. As the designer of the lesson, I choose the most appropriate tool for the job- whether it be podcasts or paper and pencil. I am the one who orchestrates the learning, the assessment, the tools, the attitude, the setting, the information, and the success.

As the designer, I am able to weave essential skills and information (the mandated curriculum) with higher order thinking and productive software skills to create an engaging lesson that meets state and local objectives while also allowing them to view the connection between their subject matter and the application. I want them to seize the advantages of situated cognition and experience further gains across their zones of proximal development as they “play” with the concepts finding their own understanding and connections.

Finally, I want to share the excitement and effectiveness of the lesson designer model with my professional learning community and be a change agent for lesson designing that goes much further than an end of year multiple choice test.