Parenting and Principaling in 2012

Written on 2:21 PM by Unknown

I'm getting a bit of a late start on my 2012 blogs, but I'm also enjoying the company of my kids who are still on winter break with me. I have been marveling at how different the world is for my children than it was for my childhood. Earlier, I was having a conversation about how much has changed since I started my teaching career. In those 14 years, I have gone from not wanting or having a cell phone to being dependent upon my iPhone to keep me organized. It feels like these things are chaning faster now than when I was a kid. I started out buying music on albums and tapes. I missed the 8-track era and started before CDs. Now, we've got all sorts of digital music available for download and this can be done right on a phone. I've seen an increase in our students who have smart phones at school. It's possible that none of our students even 6 years ago would have had a smart phone of their own and now, it's fairly frequently that I see or hear of one in our building. It's important for me as principal to be aware of that so we can find ways to benefit rather than solely detract from our school experiences with these devices. It's also important for me to know this as a dad since my daughter is in 4th grade now and already has friends who have things like a tablet or smart phone. I see so much potential for how these tools can be used in support of our students' learning, but only if we create purposeful and engaging opportunities where these things are not the end themselves. Just before winter break, my daughter was able to use an app on my wife's iPad that allowed her to create a mini-movie showing her work in a math problem and including her spoken explanation that she then emailed to her teacher. Done at home with parental supervision, this is where both where I work and where I live seem to be comfortable as school systems. I don't know how quickly that will change, but I am sure it will in time. In the meantime, I know this coming year will have more opportunities like this for my children and I hope also for my students.