Going on interviews gives me the shakes.

Looking for jobs makes me a big basket case.

However, the world that this generation of elementary school students is growing up in is not the same world that I grew up is (and I am only 28).  I did not have an email account and my family did not even have a computer until I was in high school.  Cell phones did not happen until college and I only adopted text messaging this year.

Who know where technology will be when these kids are my age.  So the questions is:  Do these children need to be learning about technology in elementary school to prepare them for the future?  Some teachers (my cooperating teacher included) would say no.  But I am not so sure.  There are some wonderful learning tools out there that involve very basic computer technology.  Many of these tools are blocked by my stone-aged school district.

So what is it that I think about the technology vs. nature debate?

I think kids should be outside as much as possible.  I think that there is much to be learned from our natural world, things that computers just cannot teach us.  I also think that technology is a great way to supplement a basic education.  There are so many ways to engage students through technology.  It is a part of their world.  For example, the Many Voices for Darfur Project allowed students to collaborate, empowering them to do some amazing social justice work.  Isn’t that what school is about, empowerment?  Allowing kids to use their brains and find their voice?  I see technology as a great way to give students voice and an outlet to use it!

Here is a link I found on this website about using blogs in the classroom.

http://edublogs.org/10-ways-to-use-your-edublog-to-teach/

I know that I am, in fact, not the only one who feels this way due to a recent conversation with a fellow blogger. So, if we know that our friends, collegues, students are reading our blogs, do we (and by we I mean I) filter what I say in the hopes that I will not be judged as harshly for my insanity, sensitivity, or utter irrationality? In this vain, my goal is to be as true to myself in my writing as I can be no matter if my reader is an 80 year old, chain-smoking Frenchman with a love of edublogs, whom I’ve never met (Bonjour!) or my mother. Now can I get a “what-what?”

It started with a creation myth belonging to a culture of Pacific Northwest Native Americans.  The myth was told by a storyteller after a short discussion about what a myth was.  After the myth the students talked about gods in all their forms.  I was amazed at how insightful the kids were about diverse cultures gods.  They discussed gods taking an animal form, human form, natural force and  no form at all.  They talked about how different cultures communicated with their gods and how their beliefs evolved over time.  They even touched on the phenomenon of turning ordinary people into god-like idols that is so much a part of the culture in the US.

I  learned so much today about the power of dialogue and the curiosity of children.

Social Justice is the right of every human being to live a free, happy, safe, and productive life. Social Justice does have a place in our schools. If not there, then where? As an educator, I do not believe it is my choice, but my obligation to give my students the tools they will need to create a world in which this is possible. Empathy, skills required to have access to the dominant culture, and self-respect are instruments of social justice. I am an instrument of social justice.

These are not a set of values that I hold or try to push on my students. These are the rights of all human beings. This is what it is to be human.