Calvin and Hobbes ...

I believe it was in a Calvin and Hobbes comic that I read an extremely relevant discourse on knowledge.  Calvin, as always, is pontificating over the problem of knowledge and that if you know too much then decisions become more and more difficult and that the more you know the worse it gets because you know that you can't really do anything about it.  His conclusion ... ignorance is bliss!

The more I read about technology and its implication and integration with education the more I realize that I am lacking!  This can be somewhat discouraging when I realize just how far and how much I have yet to learn. Fortunately, ignorance is NOT bliss!  The more I learn, the more I realize that I can connect with people from around the world to help with my misunderstandings, the more I can literally bridge the distance between my classroom and some of our students.  This could result in discouragement or it could be liberating!  I am not alone in my journey!

Sorry, Calvin, in this case ignorance is not bliss!

Modeling

I guess if I'm asking my students to write their thoughts down regarding the learning process, then I should probably model that behavior.  This is, admittedly, something very new for me.  I've read research and heard from others that this is one way to ensure better student understanding, but I've never been able to do this effectively in the classroom.  I guess I should fully buy into this method if I expect my students to!

I tend to be somewhat of an obsessive person - right now my obsession is with Google.  I have been really impressed with what Google has to offer and am just now delving into gDocs and Chromebooks and learning all that I can about those things and, most importantly, how they tie in to education at my remote, jungle school.

I feel a burden to keep my students updated in terms of technology and how to use it creatively in the classroom.  I would love to have all my students with a device on their desks and that would somehow magically transform my classroom into the great place of learning.  The reality is that unless my classroom already is a great place of learning, the device will be wasted.  I need to remember that I set the standard in my own classroom.  I need to set that standard high and draw the students in.

I'm trying to use all things Google on my computer at work.  I haven't found a practical way to use gDocs yet because our bandwidth is very limited.  I also just end up printing the document or transferring it to place where the students can print it, so that kind of defeats the purpose.

I am, however, sharing some documents and using Calendar and Gmail way more than before.  I am enjoying the experience and encouraging my own children to think along those lines (they're a bit too small for that right now!!)

I guess what I must model is the lifelong learner model.  I love learning and that can be contagious!