Here in the realm of the 21st Century, we are being evermore led and launched into the use of technology. Whether we are ready or not, our children are “Digital Natives,” and if we aren’t careful and aware, we are not going to even be able to speak their language, let alone keep up with what they are capable of! I once heard someone explain it like this … “Teaching a child how to use technology, is like teaching a fish how to swim from outside of the bowl.” A funny image we can agree, but there is some truth to it too. Coming from a district where one-to-one technology was the norm and expectation, I can say that there are wonderful things you can do to open the world to your students. In that same breath, I will admit that technology in the classroom is only as effective as what you are using it for. It is still the teachers – the conversations that they inspire, that set the tone of what is to be learned. And tone, I must say, is something that I have been immeasurably impressed with here at Westlake. There is a poster in one of our hallways that reads, “Prayer: The world’s greatest wireless connection.” I must agree that regardless of what methods we use, no matter how encroaching technology may seem … we can find comfort that the primary posture here, will always be prayer. When walking around in the morning, it is such a delight to see and 
hear and feel that children are immediately “plugging in, “ and they are attuning themselves to the channel of God. Often when roaming the halls at 8:30, you will hear a list of requests being jotted on the board, or you might very well hear the hushed, reverent tones of prayers themselves. So though our hearts may feel anxious as technology floods our lives, remember that Philippians 4:6 calls us to, “Not be anxious about anything.” Know well that it is by, “Prayer and petition,” that your children are growing here with God. Technology is a tool, but I’m certain that here at least, our foundation is on The Rock.
Educationally yours,
Raquel Harris
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