What's It All About?

Summer is half over; I'm newly retired but still dreaming about schools. A friend, five years into her retirement, told me these dreams will probably continue for awhile. I'm sure she's right because she knows a lot of things. Recently, she shared an experience with me that was not only awesome but also exemplifies exactly why we went into the teaching profession. What happened to, or for, her makes me so proud of my friend (let's call her Jane) and of all the good teachers I have known!

Jane worked in an economically depressed urban area for almost four decades. She loved her students and often confided her concerns to me. Students had emotional problems, uninvolved parents, poor nutrition, lagging skills. The school had security issues, overcrowded classrooms, lacked supplies, and even had some burnt out teachers. Not Jane. She seemed to work harder to compensate for all the deficiencies around her. She got more degrees, matured, and continued to love her students and give them the best educational and experiential foundation she could provide. Jane prepared her classes for field trips, photographed their school adventures, amassed collections of ideas and activities, and shared her love and knowledge before gifting her students to their next teacher.

Over the years, Jane saw many programs come and go in her urban school system. Some were good and some were... not. She went "with the flow" but fought for the things she knew were most important for her students. After decades of hard work and emotion, Jane thought it was time to retire from her profession. She was proud of the work she'd done, the things she'd accomplished, and her school was sad to see her go. Jane's story doesn't sound so unusual, does it? She's a true and dedicated professional. Most of us who are or were teachers probably recognize something of ourselves in Jane.

Now, enter the awesome magic that all of us wish for and only some of us actually experience. A group of Jane's students found each other on Facebook. Let's hear it for social media! Their class was one in the early years of Jane's career but their love of that time together and Jane's impact on their lives was never forgotten. Using Facebook, these students arranged a reunion. Several of them called Jane to make sure she welcomed the idea. Of course she did! After crying over their touching memories they decided on a date. There were young (?) men and women at the reunion. (Jane remarked that they were all older now than she was when she taught them!) Their own careers and lives had taken diverse paths, from the military to plumbing, but they all shared a love for Jane and for their time in her classroom. Some of their classmates took wrong turns and were remembered with sadness. But this core of people were changed by their teacher. They were changed by her love for them and her love for teaching them. They reveled in the photograph album Jane had preserved from so long ago. They even took photos of the photos so they could keep their remembrances alive and vivid. Jane made a difference in their lives and now they were making a difference in hers.

For every Jane in education there are many more of us who won't experience a fond reunion with students. Deep in our hearts, though, we must know that we touched many lives in good ways and we are remembered fondly for doing so. Let's all celebrate the "Jane Moment," students and teachers alike. It's what teaching is all about.

End Of An Era

Wow! I can't believe I haven't been opinionated since last December! That's not entirely true, but I surely let work and family situations get in the way of writing. And now we're at the end of another school year, a very poignant period for me. This is the last June of my teaching career.

For 25 and a half years, most of it spent in a computer lab, I have watched kindergarten students grow up and their tech skills develop from grade to grade. From Atari to Apple IIgs to colorful iMac to elegant Intel iMac, our computers have grown up as well! I still remember early years when first graders lined up with sentence strips so we could demonstrate how the "delete" key works! Children definitely come to school with many more technology skills in the 21st century! Our first Apple, the only one we had, was connected to a telephone modem and we "chatted" with other schools by text only. We even "met" Rosa Parks! It was an old fashioned system for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. How amazing it is to have Skype, Twitter, and blogs at our fingertips in 2010!

In my present day computer lab I have a shelf filled with digital cameras that have come and gone as the technology changed. I like to think my own skills and understanding of technology tools have evolved over the past quarter century, rather than going extinct along with those cameras. I know so much more about how children learn; I've lived through so many curriculum revisions! There are endless lists of projects and activities; some of those were one-hit wonders and some have become perennial favorites. The workshops and conferences probably number well over a hundred. I've attended, I've presented, I've evaluated, I've received professional development credits. More importantly, I've been inspired and rejuvenated. I can't say enough about a good conference! The colleagues have come and gone. A few have been with me all along, but not many. The younger teachers are poised to assume responsibility for maintaining the school's balance of friendship and academics. They are a wonderful group of teachers and administrators and I'll miss them as they continue the adventure that is education.

In the next few months I'll have to come up with a new name for this blog. I'm sure I'll still be "Mad About Technology" and I'll probably do some sort of teaching in less formal settings. You can't change a person's interests or talents overnight, and I'm not sure I want to change mine. New opportunities are welcome, but for now I'll hold onto the skills and lessons I've learned in the last 25 years and see how they can be put to use in my changed world. Maybe I can learn a few more as I forge ahead.

I just came from the movie theatre, having experienced "Precious." This film, based on the book "Push" by Sapphire, is devastating yet inspirational. It is hard to believe that anyone who lived through the physical and emotional torture of the heroine could survive, let alone flourish.

Precious Jones endures verbal and physical abuse yet has the courage to keep searching for herself. And she finds, within, a young woman of strength, a loving mother, a literate person, and happiness. Education and learning are the keys to unlocking her future and sealing away as much of her past as is humanly possible. As a teacher, Sapphire's story shows us the importance of an individual in changing the world. The teacher believes in her student and continually supports her efforts, often providing spiritual and physical shelter while pushing Precious to higher levels of achievement. It is the support of her individual teacher that helps Precious to learn to love herself and keep expecting more of herself. It is Precious' individual strength that pushes her to learn how to read, to love and raise her two children, to become a part of the society that shunned her but now must appreciate her gifts and her worth.

This time of year people look for or remember miracles. We search for meaning in our lives and new ways to move forward for the next year. We make resolutions that we hope will improve our own lives and the circumstances that surround others. I think it is the best time to remember the importance of the individual. One individual can make a difference; imagine what many individuals can do!

A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

21st Century Tools.. for Everyone?

This isn't about equity of access to technology. Not that equity isn't a very important issue, because it is. Rather, this post is about whether or not everyone should be using current technologies in their daily life. I love getting new ideas from Tweets. It's enjoyable to keep this online journal called my blog, even if I'm the only one who reads it. Living day to day without access to Google or another good search engine is torture. Contributing to other people's wikis and blogs is something I don't think twice about and I do it almost daily. Creating wikis and blogs for my students seems essential. I'm envious of my own kids' smart phones and look forward to getting one. Google docs and sites have saved my life! I'm a member of professional Nings and understand how valuable it is to collaborate. This year my school has begun video conferencing and it's very exciting to plan virtual field trips to museums, zoos, and other classrooms.

All that being said, I do see friends and colleagues who are afraid of this maze of tools. They are truly afraid they'll get lost in the middle and not be able to find what they value in their lives in the process of "upgrading" how they live. There is a hesitancy that is more than just fear of learning new technologies or a time management concern. There is an overarching question: "Do I really need to ... (fill in the blank with a Web 2.0 tool or tech toy)? What's wrong with the way I do things now?"

My first impulse is always to steer people in the direction of a technology device or web application that can open their world. Sometimes their response is skepticism rather than welcoming the exposure. I've heard people say they are perfectly happy keeping their ideas and notes on paper; why use a blog or a wiki? I've heard that email is fine for keeping in touch; why would they want to join a Ning or open a Twitter account? I can counter with something about expanding their community and reaching more people, or allowing lots of individuals to comment and share ideas simultaneously. But, there are email groups and 'reply to all' does work. What is it that makes a Wiki better than that?

I am still in a cellphone world without texting. Most people under 25 would tell me that email is too old fashioned. Texting is essential to them. Yet I am resistant. Am I afraid to get into the maze, too? I'm blaming it on the cost, for now. I think I'll have to do a little more soul searching before I recommend the next technology tool to anyone else!


P.S. - Great blog post on social media burnout and how to avoid it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am most thankful for my wonderful family and my challenging and engaging job. Technology has given us many gifts to be thankful for, too. What would we do without smart phones, digital cameras, email, and blogs?! Every day there's another wonderful tool being introduced or improved and these tools enrich our lives by bringing us closer, helping us understand one another, and giving us a means to help others.

This weekend I tried out a quiz-making tool at "Studiyo.com" With any luck, I'll be able to embed my first project right here so you can try out my Thanksgiving Quiz. Enjoy! And, most of all, enjoy all the blessings around you, technological and otherwise.

Cuddle Up With A Good Book?

It's been awhile since I posted something new and, rest assured I have been immersed in all things technological. But, I feel the need to stray a bit. A recent New Yorker article about the teen publishing industry has been resonating in my head, and not in a good way. Then I saw a USA Today report that told of a New England boarding school replacing its library with a "fully digital collection," including 65 Kindles that would circulate like books. The two articles collided in my brain and the resulting thoughts and concerns demanded this blog post!

Rebecca Mead's excellent article entitled, "The Gossip Mill," details the methods used by Alloy Entertainment's mostly successful publishing efforts, aimed at teens and tweens. The products can only loosely be called books, in my opinion. Rather, they are cobbled together (in the words of my dear friend Joan) from multiple ideas thrown around in large group meetings. The "author" of each title is dependent upon what many minds think will sell, might have a future life on TV or in the movies, and "kids want to read." This last requirement is like saying the U.S. Department of Agriculture should issue a Food Pyramid dominated by fast food fries and burgers because that's what kids want to eat. Okay, that's too extreme. After all, a company is allowed to make money on its products, even if the products aren't really good for the consumers. Reading a bad book isn't going to make anyone sick, is it? Well, I suppose a steady diet of horror books and sexy lit might confuse the moral and ethical real life behavior of a tween... That's what they want, so is that what they should be given?

Not in my opinion. I've seen too many elementary school aged children exhibiting advanced sophistication with diminished emotional maturity for handling it. Third graders sneaking into bathrooms to put on makeup; third and fourth graders talking seriously about boyfriends and dating; cyberbullies in fourth and fifth grade attacking vulnerable classmates thereby excluding them from the social world that none of them is really ready to inhabit. I wouldn't give these children a vampire book for tweens any more than I'd take them to an R-rated movie or feed them a steady diet of marshmallows. How did this world of Barbie dolls for pre-schoolers get started? Will it be possible to change this trend and let children experience childhood before becoming mini-adults?

The bottom line for Alloy, and other companies like them, is they make money from poorly constructed and conceived products if they create a bigger demand for them. It's much more difficult to write a good book for a ten-year-old than it is to take a teen romance, or better yet, a teen vampire love story and alter it for a ten-year-old reading level. It's NOT better for the reader, though. Alloy et al have not stopped writers from publishing some excellent books. School Library Journal reviews loads of them and libraries buy them. It's the job of responsible adults to make sure this literature is the mainstay of a child's diet, not just the snack.

Now let's cuddle up with an e-book! At the outset, let me say that I am a strong supporter of electronic books and readers, like the Kindle, for many purposes. My son uses his for commuting because he can take many books and documents with him, all in one small container that's easy to read. My father uses one because his arthritic hands don't allow him to hold large books but his mind wants to read them. (A Kindle enabled Dad to finish reading "Truman" even though he couldn't hold a 1,000 page book.) Travelers love e-book readers for obvious reasons. Packing a suitcase full of books is just not practical. I can't wait for one of these devices to have color on its "pages" so guidebooks and maps will look authentic! But it's hard to cuddle up with this technology. I still prefer the printed book if I'm getting comfy in a chair or reading in bed. Holding the last book in the Harry Potter series was difficult (it's large!) but there was a satisfaction in knowing that I got my copy the night it came out and I could suffer under the weight of it as Harry and friends were suffering under their terrible burdens. I enjoy seeing sets of books lined up on the shelf. I love thumbing through a bird identification guide and reading colorful picture books to my granchildren. E-books have their value and their place, but should a school library have ONLY e-readers because regular books cost more than electronic ones? Should children not learn the pleasure of cuddling up with a good book? I don't think so. The bottom line shouldn't be "What will it cost?" It should be "What is a book's value. What is the emotional or intellectual cost to the reader who can't recognize and find a good book to read?"

Great slideshow from Sacha Chua. Web 2.0 is actually here... to help!

A Teacher's Guide To Web 2.0 at School

View more documents from Sacha Chua.