River

When you change your mind,

The land changes too, sculpted

And carved by water.

mph 2005

(Everyone needs a little haiku now and then.)

In Praise of Imagination

Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization.

Imagination led Columbus to discover America.

Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.

Imagination has given us the steam engine, the telephone, the talking-machine, and the automobile, for these things had to be dreamed of before they became realities.

So I believe that dreams -- daydreams, you know, with your eyes wide open and your brain machinery whizzing -- are likely to lead to the betterment of the world.

The imaginative child will become the imaginative man or woman most apt to invent, and therefore to foster, civilization.

L. Frank Baum

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge is limited.

Imagination encircles the world.

~ Albert Einstein

Reflections on the Journey

I continue to think about the success of this class. What factors have combined to create such a meaningful experience? For me, the climate of the class has played the biggest part in its success. The content, a growing and responsive curriculum, is another powerful ingredient.

Paulo Freire writes about education in which the teacher becomes "a student among students." I feel that we are enjoying this situation in our Lit/Tech class. Dave set the initial tone of the class by happily disclosing that he is learning with us. He admits to new experiences, he asks for help and advice when a student has had more success with a certain process, and he shares the frustrations he has endured in learning and using new technology. This stance was essential in establishing the climate of our class and in allowing all the class members to learn freely through successes and blunders, both of which, I believe, are necessary for authentic learning to occur.

The students nourish this supportive climate by adding their voices and understandings to the class. Multiple perspectives (and the willingness to share them) provide many avenues for learning.

For instance, Amy mentioned last night that part of her growth has been to recognize, adapt, and move beyond the limitations inherent in the melding of education and technology. This is an important part of our learning.

Important too, is the realization that some of the limitations may lie within us. Tracy explained that part of her reluctance to integrate a new technology rested in her uncertainty regarding her skills. This sentiment is certainly one to which we can all relate, and the shared understanding furthers our progress. (If Tracy, who I consider to be quite tech-savvy, sometimes feels like this, it's okay if I have those doubts too.)

The curriculum, a growing collection of tools and processes, encourages a free exploration of what works and what is less helpful. Because we represent different educational viewpoints and contexts, certain technologies will be more useful to individual members than others. Certain processes resonate more strongly with some people. The exposure to different technologies ensures that everyone will find some new gadget to stick in their toolbelts.

For me, this class has provided, through its climate and curriculum, the freedom to explore, but also the freedom to make mistakes, to discover and remedy those glitches that dot our paths.

POOF!

Since I seriously injured my blog last week, I have been thinking about the impermanence of the things that surround us. I considered first writing this reflection on an actual sheet of paper, something I could keep, hold, protect, wad, rip....whatever the contents deserved. And then I laughed at my notion of permanence; since when did paper get such a great reputation for durability? It burns, tears, degrades; it really is a fickle medium, when you think about it.

So maybe I need a chisel and a rock tablet. Wait!! That’s a LOT of work! My words would have to be extra special to warrant all that labor. I don’t think I’ve ever composed anything worthy of literally being written in stone.

So maybe that’s an important attraction of something like a blog. It is so quick and easy (most of the time!) that thoughts can fly. Words can live and die effortlessly...no blisters, no writer’s cramp. No ink stains on a left-hander’s pinky. No overflowing trash cans spilling over with paper snowballs.

So I’m not writing on paper, and I’m not carving in stone. However, I am composing this reflection in Microsoft Word, on my computer’s version of a sheet of paper. There is a comforting reassurance to its appearance and its behavior. If I get disgusted with this draft, I can virtually wad it up and throw it in the recycle bin. Then, if I experience regret at my hasty act of destruction, I can retrieve it and restore it to its original state. It will not have vanished into thin air, like the contents of my previous blog. This may be a new practice for me, at least until I recover from my case of Deletion fear.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Albert Einstein

It is important to do what you don't know how to do.

It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious.

If you know how to focus, unfocus.

If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos.

~ Carlos Castaneda