Being In-Between

I have been involved in many conversations over the course of the summer with people about growing technologies and their impact on life. 

Some of this has sprung forth because I want to use more technology in my classroom and a few of the conversations have come from listening to the radio or watching stories on the news.

It’s odd to be in between: when I was a kid, we had “computer” classes that used Turtle.  We were supposed to type in commands and make the Turtle move across the screen.  My turtle never went anywhere near where I’d wanted it to go. My sister, two years behind me in school, always had success.  It seemed that she intuitively understood how to program that Turtle to move.

I ignored all computer classes offered in school until my senior year, when for some reason, I decided to take Pascal. It killed my GPA and convinced me that computers were not usefull beyond writing papers.  I continued to ignore computer classes until Grad school where I completed Intel’s Teach to the Future Program.  Which taught me that computers were fun and maybe were useful in middle school classes.

Now, according to this story from NPR’s Marketplace (http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/07/27/PM200707278.html), little girls are using social networking sites to play house.  My students are expected to use Excel, PowerPoint and Access in third grade.  They deftly maneuver around the computer and even if they can’t articulate what they are using, they are flexible and competent.  When 5th graders are breaking through the ISD’s firewall to get onto MySpace, I know that these kids will always know more than me.

My parents’ generation is concerned that this new style of play  and interaction will prevent kids from learning how to work with each other.  My students look at me as if I have three heads when I mention that I didn’t have email until I was in graduate school. This is unfathomable to them.

Here I am, stuck in the middle again!

Living With 5 Adults

We have created a Dancer’s Commune here in north Texas.  That is what my husband calls it.  I call it crazy.

We try to share the laundry, the fridge and the living room.  I am learning a lot about myself and about these other wonderful people.  They all have such different backgrounds and we are all drawn together by our love of music and dancing.

We had a birthday last week and one more coming up soon.  Perhaps, we’ll have a house blues party! Who knows.