Look it Up on the Internet
A great educator friend of mine who happens to be a principal (I always struggle which principle to use - but remember the one at school is my "pal") was sharing some of the struggles of teaching in this day and age.
I don't know why it hit me so suddenly, but it seemed to me that kids who have everything at their fingertips may actually be lazier because of it. As a child I remember catching hell from my father because I needed to know the score of the Yankee game as it was going on. I would call a not-so-toll-free number to find out it was 0-0 in the 3rd inning. When the phone bill came I got the "Who the hell called a 900-number seven times during the week?"
Yesterday I had a dispute with my son about who the current right-fielder with the Mariners is - "Look it up," I said. Twenty seconds later he explained that Ichiro made the move to center.
Yet what struck me about it is that a lot of the work has been removed from the equation. As recently as doing research for my second book (which is long ago now) I went to the North Collins Library (a great instiution with an inspired librarian) to search through microfilm to read about the Catholic religion. Kids don't have to do that anymore. They can find enough material to write their own book if they want to - and it happens instantly. My son is currently writing a biography of Lou Gehrig - he knows good old Lou's mother's maiden name because he clicked a button.
I asked my buddy if it was more difficult to teach kids in such an environment. "Teachers need to pay attention," he said. "They have to discern whether or not that kid is actually doing the work. It's different, and challenging, but a good teacher can make it work."
Yet are we teaching children to work hard? Just because I dug ditches and searched through microfilm does that mean my kids have to? I can't text-message - it takes me a half-an-hour to log in - "The Mets suck!" to my one buddy. I can't imagine texting as I'm driving down the road like kids today do.
I'm certainly thrilled that Al Gore invented the internet for all of us. Yet the technological advances have left us missing something haven't they? If I was so ambitious, I could spell-check this blog without every having to truly learn to spell.
What a world? Are we making it too easy? Are we removing newspapers and books from the equation? God, I hope not. Yet my 7-year-old is a lot smarter than I was at that age. His fantasy baseball team is kicking ass - and while I don't need to worry about him calling 900 numbers, my cable bill is through the freaking roof!
I don't know why it hit me so suddenly, but it seemed to me that kids who have everything at their fingertips may actually be lazier because of it. As a child I remember catching hell from my father because I needed to know the score of the Yankee game as it was going on. I would call a not-so-toll-free number to find out it was 0-0 in the 3rd inning. When the phone bill came I got the "Who the hell called a 900-number seven times during the week?"
Yesterday I had a dispute with my son about who the current right-fielder with the Mariners is - "Look it up," I said. Twenty seconds later he explained that Ichiro made the move to center.
Yet what struck me about it is that a lot of the work has been removed from the equation. As recently as doing research for my second book (which is long ago now) I went to the North Collins Library (a great instiution with an inspired librarian) to search through microfilm to read about the Catholic religion. Kids don't have to do that anymore. They can find enough material to write their own book if they want to - and it happens instantly. My son is currently writing a biography of Lou Gehrig - he knows good old Lou's mother's maiden name because he clicked a button.
I asked my buddy if it was more difficult to teach kids in such an environment. "Teachers need to pay attention," he said. "They have to discern whether or not that kid is actually doing the work. It's different, and challenging, but a good teacher can make it work."
Yet are we teaching children to work hard? Just because I dug ditches and searched through microfilm does that mean my kids have to? I can't text-message - it takes me a half-an-hour to log in - "The Mets suck!" to my one buddy. I can't imagine texting as I'm driving down the road like kids today do.
I'm certainly thrilled that Al Gore invented the internet for all of us. Yet the technological advances have left us missing something haven't they? If I was so ambitious, I could spell-check this blog without every having to truly learn to spell.
What a world? Are we making it too easy? Are we removing newspapers and books from the equation? God, I hope not. Yet my 7-year-old is a lot smarter than I was at that age. His fantasy baseball team is kicking ass - and while I don't need to worry about him calling 900 numbers, my cable bill is through the freaking roof!
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