My name is Denise Krebs and I am a K-8 certified teacher.

This blog is a place for me to reflect on my learnings about 21st century education. I hope you will come and read and discuss with me. It’s such an exciting time to be involved in education! I believe the reinvention of our school system will have to include:
* Collaborating and Connecting in small groups close to home where children and adults learn together and with far away groups using technology
* Communicating – Literacy skills are more important than ever–speaking, listening, reading, and writing, as well as all the new digital literacies.
* Contributing students’ genius to a worldwide audience
* Creating – We need to say “No more!” to students growing out of their creativity as they become “educated.”
* Curating, or learning to manage the boatload of stuff in this Information age.

In my seventeenth year of teaching, I’ve been lucky enough to be in a variety of settings from first grade through eighth grade, in Arizona, California and Iowa. Since 2006, I love the world of junior high. Those bundles of energy keep me young. I teach in a small Catholic school in the heart of America, surrounded by corn and soybeans. I love the diverse assignment I have–language arts for both grades, 7th grade science and geography, 8th grade American history and a whole myriad of exploratory classes.

When I began teaching in the 80s, there was a lone Apple IIe in the faculty lounge. A teacher who was further along in using technology showed me how to use it. I made posters and typed second grade stories, printing everything on a dot-matrix printer. The world had expanded in a huge way for my students and me. No longer did I have to use the typewriter to “publish” children’s stories.

After staying home for ten years with my young daughters, I went back into teaching in the late 90s. Wow! How exciting it was to begin to more fully use technology to enhance student learning. The Intel Teach to the Future program changed my teaching, and I received a grant for a mini laptop lab for my classroom.

Now, the 21st century is the most exciting time of all to be a teacher. My students and I are learning something new every day–every moment, in fact. We are becoming digitally literate in our quickly changing world of technology. We are beginning the process of reinvention, and it feels good to be a part of it.

Please come along for the journey with me. I love to hear and discuss with others around the world. My students also have blogs, and they love to get visitors and comments there, as well. Thanks!

More About Me
Twitter – @mrsdkrebs
Classroom blogs – http://krebs.edublogs.org