EdTechTrek

My two sons both went through their Buzz Lightyear phase and could be seen shouting as they jumped off of the sofa, “To infinity and beyond!” Are our students aspiring to the same?

Finding that balance between school knowledge/skills and knowledge/skills that we need once we leave school is not easy. No doubt, a democratic educated citizenry needs a core base of common knowledge and skills. However, are we preparing kids to be successful AT school, or are we preparing kids to be successful once they leave school?

Imagine if Buzz Lightyear uttered the exclamation of “To the next room, and the next!” Or, “To math, then to spelling!” I am so thankful for the dedicated and visionary teachers out there who are helping their students every day to reach beyond the classroom and the walls of the school to infinite ways of knowing, learning, and collaborating… beyond our own school experiences to experiences that will truly prepare them to be ready to jump in to “real world” learning and working. After all, we best remember those school experiences that meant something to us - that challenged us, that excited us, that allowed us to use our “school skills” in relevant and authentic ways, that involved a real audience… So, I say, “To infinity and beyond” with new meaning today in this highly connected and flattened world. The opportunities to achieve this are so great they are dripping… Let’s not let our students dry up on the vine.

Okay, this is just plain fun.An ex-teacher in the UK has invented an “untippable” chair for classroom use. The problem used to drive him crazy, as many teachers can identify with, I’m sure. The article reports that there are upwards of 7,000 pupils a year hospitalized in the UK as a result of chair-related accidents - of which 70% are related to rocking backwards in the chair.The “Max” chair cannot be rocked more than 5 cm off the ground. Here is a practical application of technology if I ever saw one. What a great physics/math lesson it would make, too!What is most interesting is reading all of the posted comments in response to the article. We have pro-rockers, anti-rockers, pro-safety, anti-coddlers, pro-fitness balls, anti-sedentary learning, pro-restrainters, pro-danger, pro-engaging teaching, “it never happened to me and I did it all through school!”, “rocking helps develop balance and muscle strength”, and the best of all, “Let the kids rock”.Who would have thought that opinions on this matter were so diverse and so passionate. And that’s my point. If we give folks the opportunity to express themselves in relevant ways, they will. As teachers, if we can combine relevancy with meaning-making (which is missing in this example, of course!), we have the workings of powerful learning. Ask yourself how relevant your lessons are to the lives and passions of your students. You might be surprised. Just don’t fall off your chair