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.