The Important Thing

With apologies and thanks to Margaret Wise Brown for the text structure:

The important thing about our Literacy and Technology Class is that we were a community of learners.
We explored various softwares like PixWriter, Co:Writer, Solo, My Own Bookshelf, Kidspiration, and Clicker.
We didn't all agree on a definition of literacy or technology.
We thought some of the readings were incredible (especially Leu's work) and some of it was inedible.
We tried out some new technologies in our personal and work lives.
Some of us got our sisters and moms and husbands and co-workers learning with us.
We didn't all like the same ACC teams or ACC donuts.
We blogged, and wiki'd, and emailed, and Nicenetted.
But the important thing about our Literacy and Technology Class is that we were a community of learners.

The Value of Making Mistakes in Tech Education

While looking for something else, I found this book, In Search of Stupidity. I'm putting it on my summer reading list. You can find a description and purchase info at Amazon.com.

It got me thinking about the Literacy and Technology class. We've developed a sense of community that enables us to take risks in trying out new technologies in class together and in our own classrooms with kids. There are many reasons this worked (including small class size, a Mac-using professor in a PC lab, every student being a veteran teacher with lots of successes in his/her past), and one of the things we've wondered aloud together about is how we can translate and transfer what we've learned and experienced to colleagues in other settings. It seems to me that the stories in this book, and our own attitudes and modeling (i.e., willingness to try new things we may not fully understand, willingness to learn from and with our students) are important components of whatever we do.

The book, by the way, chronicles 20 years of tech marketing disasters. At the book's website, is a quote, " Remember: The race goes not to the strong, nor the swift, nor more intelligent, but to the less stupid." The lesson, I think, is that if multi-billion-dollar companies can make humongous mistakes, then individual teachers have full permission to make individual missteps.

Making Do with What You Have

One of my students sent me the following email today:

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Jhn, posted th web st. my kys are not rrkng prooperrrrrrrly
i'll talk too oyou soon,
srrrrrrrry this meessageeeeeeeeeeeee is s messeeed uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup

After I finished laughing, it occurred to me that this is another fine example of making due with the technology you have, problem-solving, and getting on with things, rather than hamstringing ourselves and moaning because we don't have the latest and greatest toys.

Isobel is another example. She rounded up the old laptops with their old software and lack of internet access and has her students with disabilities writing away. Amie is another example. I had to laugh at her story about holding the wireless router just right so that she could access the internet from her trailer (hope I've got that story right).

I remember reading a study years ago (no idea the reference) which concluded that children are not in search of the best solution, only a workable solution, to most problems. We could all take a lesson.

A Grading Pet Peeve

My two youngest sons brought grades home today. They did well, but that's not the pet peeve. Here's what is: the older of the two received a grade below A in music because his behavior apparently wasn't what it should be. The pet peeve is that his music teacher doesn't grade music but rather grades behavior and calls it a music grade. She's not unique in that. Many teachers have graded my own and others' children down for not doing what they are asked when they are asked, rather than grading their content knowledge or achievement in the particular subject area. That's yet another reason that grades will be abolished when I'm in charge of the world.

Who Would You Most Like to Have a Beer With?

So, I'm listening to one of the many beer commercials during the Final Four, and I hear the question, "Who would you most like to have a beer with?" The answer, in this context, seems obvious to me (but apparently not to the advertisers): me. Then I could have two beers instead of one. Picture found here.