After much deliberation and angst, we decided to enroll our daughter, Zoë, in a new school, located about 15 minutes away from our house this year. She was nervous this morning. So were we. But like all parents, we made this decision with great hopes for a school experience that will enlighten, inspire and motivate our little girl to explore, create and learn. And, like everything about parenting, this choice is another leap of faith — this time in teachers, administrators and the school community — who we don’t yet know, but whom we hope will embrace our daughter and widen her eyes to the wonders of the world around her.

As a worried parent who also cares deeply about education, and who obviously has a vested interest in educational technologies too, I have to admit, I was pretty pleased to learn that Mrs. Ryan has a classroom website, uses FaceBook to communicate with families AND is readily accessible via email. It’s not the tools that impressed me so much as the mindset driving Mrs. Ryan’s choice to deliberately integrate these technologies into her pedagogical practice. Hooray!!!! As a parent, I already feel welcomed into Zoë’s classroom knowing that her teacher will post updates, send messages, and share important information regularly, reliably and in a medium that is immediately accessible to me anywhere, any time.

And so, as I wait it out until 3:35, I may just check for updates on the classroom snack calendar schedule or on Facebook for a glimpse into my little girl’s first day of Grade 2. I’ll hope to hear about the exciting activities directly from Zoë on the way home from school…but in the meantime, I love that her classroom is already open to the world…