Tidbits
2 Sep
I spent the day doing laundry, packing and running some errands in preparation for our trip to Oregon tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to it!
But, in the mean time, I’ve been collecting a little list of things I wanted to write about and they aren’t coming together like I thought they might, so here they are in list form… random tidbits:
1) Have you been watching the show, What Would You Do? on ABC? I kind of like it, but I have a few complaints. On the show, they set up these scenarios where someone needs help or intervention of some sort and then they see who will step up to help. Then they act like the person that stepped up is the hero and those that didn’t are heartless jerks. I object. I’m the type to step up and yell at someone if they deserve it and everything, but some of the set ups on the show are so obviously fake sometimes people actually ask, “Is this real?” For example, when they had a Muslim woman, blind person, Latino, gay couple, etc. try to order at a restaurant, the actor that played the racist/bigot/craphead was so over the top that I don’t know if I would have believed it was real. See, the thing is, most hate is very subtle. That’s why it’s been able to stick around so long. Usually it’s something as simple as ignoring someone, or a snide look, or a joke between friends. Full frontal racism/bigotry isn’t an everyday occurrence, so I don’t blame people for not really knowing what to think/do/say. On the other hand, after the shock wore off, I really think I would go nuts on that actor. And another thing, a bunch of the situations on the show could seriously put someone in danger if they intervene. Like when there’s some domestic abuse going on in the park and people walk by. Who knows what that guy is capable of? I don’t know if I’d call the police (I hope I would), but you can’t blame someone for self-preservation. I feel like, immediately following this show, 20/20 will come on and there will be a story about some well meaning woman who tried to help a homeless man and ended up in the dumpster. And they’ll say, why would she have put herself in that situation? And then John Quinones will jump out and say, well if she hadn’t she would have been a heartless jerk!
2) At work, I like to send people emails, even if they are a few cubes down or even just a thin cloth-covered cubicle wall away. Why? Since becoming more of a technophile, I’ve become fond of asynchronous communication. That is, communication that doesn’t take place in real time. I like having an email inbox that I can respond to when I have time, a good answer, or the energy to do it. I do not like phone calls demanding an answer, one in which I often need to look up anyway. Plus, I’m much more articulate when I can sit, think, and write out my response. I like Facebook wall posts that you can choose when to respond to. Sometimes, I feel like jumping right into the conversation, sometimes I like to walk away, but I like determining which of these I will choose. I still like phone calls with family, but with friends, I kinda like text messages. It gives me time to think. It takes some immediacy out of the conversation. And since I don’t carry my phone around with me in the house, it’s nice to be able to check it when I happen to look at it and respond when necessary. When I think back to college, the days of AOL Instant Messenger (or AIM), and the 6 conversations I would hold simultaneously in 6 different boxes, each one blinking and waiting for a response, I break out in hives. So much pressure. I never turn chat on on facebook and AIM has slowly died. I couldn’t be happier. I like time to think and I think other people do to. So that’s why at work, I send emails when I could just as easily poke my head into someone else’s cube or raise my voice just a bit. I like to give them time. Maybe they’re on the phone. Maybe they’re in the middle of something. Maybe they just don’t feel like dealing with my problem right at that second. So, I send an email.
3) When I was in choir in 6th grade at St. Joe’s School, Mrs. Frey, the choir director told us that singing was praying twice. I always liked that. It seemed very efficient. Plus, I liked to sing, so in my mind, it was like being rewarded for eating ice cream. And I had a thought the other day as I wrote my blog. It was one of the more mundane posts; one of the “first I did this, then this, then this, then this, the end!” And I thought, what a bunch of crap I’m writing right now. But, then I got to thinking, and I really think there’s some value in sitting down each night and documenting my life. Not every day is profound, but as I review the day, I rethink much of what I did and sometimes I wonder why the heck I did that or what doing that says about me or means about the world. And so, I’ve decided that writing (and blogging) is thinking twice and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
4) I think I’ve discovered a learning prejudice. So, I’ve been interviewing teachers about technology and there’s a general theme that comes out which is, technology is good if students are using it to learn. It must help students learn or it should not be in school. And, as of right now, cell phones and Facebook are getting the haterade because kids aren’t learning. But really, this isn’t about learning at all because surely, kids are learning. They just aren’t learning what we want them to learn. They may not be learning our Academic Content Standards, but they are learning how to communicate, how to use technology, how to be a 7th grader, how to be a girl (or boy), how to have friends, how to make enemies, how to talk online, how this effects in person communication, etc. They are certainly learning; they just aren’t learning what we want them to learn. So, what’s so much better about learning the Academic Content Standards anyway? It sounds like we might be prejudiced toward this kind of content learning. Why not allow kids to learn what they want to learn? What are we afraid of happening if students don’t learn the 3 types of rocks? Or, maybe we aren’t giving them enough credit… maybe they would try to learn the three types of rocks (although… okay, no they wouldn’t). Who knows? I’m not saying kids don’t need guidance; they do. But when guidance starts to look more like control, and starts to inhibit the ability to think outside the box of standards-based education, I wonder if we should insist that these tools are used for a certain kind of learning only. What else could be possible with a little more freedom?
The end.



