The heart of Innovative teaching

 
While going through my "Journey of Innovative Learning and Teaching" I keep asking myself if there is such a thing as a "Sweet Spot" that represents the Heart of Innovative Teaching and Learning. Is there?
What do YOU think?  If your answer is "yes", then what is for YOU the Heart of Innovative Teaching? What do you do in you classroom that makes you feel like a real innovator?
Is your teaching guided by the TPACK framework?, Do you try to follow the SAMR model?  Do you find yourself overwhelmed trying to keep-up with technology?
We cannot keep-up with the pace of technology.  We cannot get "attached" to a "cool" new app to be innovative in our teaching.   New tools appear every day, and the ones we love or currently use, might not be available tomorrow.
The challenge for educators is not to learn the new digital technologies and incorporate them in their teaching.   Our challenge is to "let go" of our need to keep-up with technology and focus our teaching on creating a solid foundation that could be innovative with or without specific digital tools.
Going back to the TPACK idea, I see the three areas always changing but no necessarily at the same rate.   I teach Spanish, and for me the CONTENT does not change much, my PEDAGOGY is always evolving to meet my student's needs and TECHNOLOGY is that "wild piece" changing at an exponential rate and keeping things exciting.   It is the piece that is keeping me honest and pushing me to keep re-inventing myself as a teacher.
I will not attempt to keep-up with technology, but I will try my best to search, adopt and embrace the technologies that will enhance my students' learning.

Why this blog?

Why not?
We've been trying to learn languages all our lives and we're still embarrassed to hear ourselves order a meal in Spanish at a Mexican restaurant.  So far our success in the foreign language classroom has been measured by how well we can "fill-in-the blanks".
In our 21st century, where our voices can be "heard" instantly across the globe, we cannot communicate by "filling-in-the blanks".   Our language students need to be prepared for a more demanding and changing world.  We cannot settle with the traditional language classroom.  
It's time for a change, and that's exactly what I want to explore and share in this blog!☺