Who Knew?

Why do I love my little blog so much? Why do I check on it every day? Why is there always a list of drafts to consider, reject, polish, or publish?

Apparently, this blog has answered a need for me, a need of which I wasn't aware. I need to write, and I need to write for a purpose. I save all the papers I write, but they languish on the dusty shelves of my computer, forgotten and forlorn. Some of those papers would probably love to meet each other; they have a lot in common. They could present a compelling collection of thoughts if they were brought together, but they are trapped in their separate folders.

A blog offers a different forum for writing, one that demands attention and allows cohesion. Maintaining and refining my thoughts through this blog encourages a self-motivated discipline that I have not previously enjoyed.

The Lost Art of Classroom Conversation

Okay, so Dave posed a question that I have been pondering...and pondering...and pondering.

It's time to move from the pondering stance to the writing stage. (I love to let thoughts "cook" in my brain, but if I never actually pull them out of the oven, they really start to smell.) So I'll put on my writing potholders and see if this thing's done yet.

Dave asked: Does technology assist conversation or activity? Or both? Or neither? He framed his question in the context of the growing tendency of teachers to substitute activity for conversation within and beyond the classroom.

First of all, I agree with the assertion that teachers do tend to replace conversation with activity. It is rare to see an authentic, sustained, meaningful conversation or discussion in a classroom.

Conversation is disappearing as an instructional tool for several reasons. First, conversation is not part of the assessment process. If it can't be captured as an indication of student growth and added to an assessment folder, its chances for survival in the classroom will rapidly decrease.

There is also the perception that conversation is simply a waste of time. Most teachers seem to feel that there is more value in students busily filling in a worksheet than engaging in meaningful dialogue.

A third reason for the decline of conversation in the classroom involves a lack of training. Teachers are not taught to see the value in conversation or to foster such discussions. If they don't know how to do it, or why to do it, they probably won't attempt to do it.

Okay, I have only dealt with one small part of Dave's question. I need to think about the rest of it. Back to pondering...

Overcome fear.

Behold wonder!

~ Aeschylus

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;

the real tragedy of life is when adults are afraid of the light.

~ Plato

Fear of Trying

I often think of this class as I head down the mountain late on Wednesday nights. As I pass under the parkway overpass, I always glance to my right, to the beautiful valley that stretches into the dark. That dark, vast valley symbolizes my feelings about trying new technologies. I used to fear the gaping void between my limited knowledge and the untapped potential of technology. Now rather than concentrating on the apparent endlessness of the unknown, I find myself focusing on the few lights that dot the valley. Each light is a challenge I have met, a usefulness of technology that I have discovered and appreciate. There still aren't many lights shining, but each one holds the promise of future success and new discoveries. For that, I am grateful.

Only the flexibly creative person can really manage the future - only the one who can face novelty with confidence and without fear. ~ Abraham Maslow

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not by strength but by perseverance.
H. Jackson Brown

Bridges and Barriers

I have thought a great deal about Dave’s discussion of the different pencils we use to communicate. He explained that there are three times in which individuals with typical abilities must divert attention from the task of expression to the mechanical operation of some technological tool or method. Holding a pencil is the first hurdle to cross. When a child becomes confident and able in this task, he or she picks up a pencil and begins to write without a thought about holding the pencil correctly. This task is now automatic, requiring no further conscious attention. Similar challenges include writing in cursive and using a keyboard efficiently. After these tasks are learned and automatized, the individual can use them with very little effort or attention.

So, the person with typical abilities experiences only three times in which he or she must struggle with a tool or a method to produce written communication. I have the luxury of using a variety of tools for expressing myself based on mood and availability. However, the different pencils for students with special needs are not used on a whim; they are a matter of necessity. While I can use numerous tools to express myself, the choices available to a student with special needs are fewer and more crucial.

It is encouraging to learn about the different pencils available through assistive technology. It is important to realize, however, that no matter how innovative the tool, no matter how striking the results that may be gained from these assistive technologies, these tools will never completely free the learner with special needs from his or her limitations. The technology is their bridge to greater abilities, but the barrier is still – and always – there.

You with the Still Soul

Maybe you have a still soul
that goes murmurless
like water in the deep of rivers;

And perchance you wander
silent amid the din
of the world's grinding barter
like one journeying in strange lands.

You, too, with the still soul,
have your mission,
for beneath the dashing, noisy waves
must ever run the silent waters
that give the tide its course.

Max Ehrmann

A Reminder to Celebrate Even the Small Things

Hold fast to stars...
hold fast to the elusive,
the intangible, the never to be had.

For stars fall from heaven sometimes,
and kings are born in barns,
and miracles rise out of small things.

Why Blog?

Blogging offers an antidote to the fragmented isolation too often imposed by the demands and conditions of our world.

It allows us to come together (at my convenience and at yours) to discuss the day, the nature of literacy, the use of technology, the joys of teaching and learning, poetry, chicken stew... whatever is on our minds.

It gives us a chance to ponder the big questions and complain about the pet peeves.

It is communication, and it can be conversation.

The following passage is from Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, by Margaret J. Wheatley

I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation....What would it feel like to be listening to each other again about what disturbs and troubles us? About what gives us energy and hope? About our yearnings, our fears, our prayers, our children?

Human conversation is the most ancient and easiest way to cultivate the conditions for change--personal change, community and organizational change, planetary change. If we can sit together and talk about what's important to us, we begin to come alive. We share what we see, what we feel, and we listen to what others see and feel.

For as long as we've been around as humans, as wandering bands of nomads or cave dwellers, we have sat together and shared experiences. We've painted images on rock walls, recounted dreams and visions, told stories of the day, and generally felt comforted to be in the world together. When the world became fearsome, we came together. When the world called us to explore its edges, we journeyed together. Whatever we did, we did it together.

I hope we can reclaim conversation as our route back to each other, and as the path forward to a hopeful future. It only requires imagination and courage and faith. These are qualities possessed by everyone. Now is the time to exercise them to their fullest.

~ Margaret J. Wheatley

You never step into the same river twice.

~ Anonymous