Old Ideas, New Tools, Teaching... and a Quick Thought....

Who I am: Chris Lehmann

What I do: Principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA (Opening 9/06).

What I did: Technology Coordinator / English Teacher / Girls Basketball Coach / Ultimate Coach at the Beacon School, a fantastic progressive public high school in Manhattan.

Email: chris [at] practicaltheory [dot] org.

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Comments

Gary Stager about New Year... New Challenges... New Goals... New Excitement
Tue, 31.08.2010 05:14
I may have linked to the
wrong Merrow article -
http://takingnote.learnin
gmatters.tv/?p=4433

Gary Stager about New Year... New Challenges... New Goals... New Excitement
Tue, 31.08.2010 05:05
Dear Chris:

We've had this discussion
privately, so I hope you
don't mind that I involve
the [...]

Julie Strong about New Year... New Challenges... New Goals... New Excitement
Mon, 30.08.2010 13:35
I'll be curious to see
how #5 evolves. In
independent schools we
rarely lack for parent
[...]

dcollins about New Year... New Challenges... New Goals... New Excitement
Sat, 28.08.2010 07:32
Those are great things to
look forward to! At my
alternative school, I'm
looking forward to seeing
[...]

Andrew Marcinek about New Year... New Challenges... New Goals... New Excitement
Sat, 28.08.2010 06:42
I am sure it will be very
weird vibe without your
original class in the
building, but now you
have [...]

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< This SLA Students Believe | SLA: Call For Teachers >

Saturday, February 21. 2009

Old Ideas, New Tools, Teaching... and a Quick Thought....

[This is an opening salvo....]

We do not and cannot have the oversight in our kids' lives that we once may have had -- their speed is now too great, and their reach is now far too broad. We must, therefore, be all the more proactive, rather than reactive, in the way we teach them to navigate their world -- in the ways in which we teach them to be good, kind, wise people.

[I need to play with this idea a lot more.]

Posted by Chris Lehmann in Fatherhood, General Ed at 08:44 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Comments

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Chris,

I could not agree with you more about the need to be proactive rather than reactive. This holds true for us as educators but it is also true for us as parents. As the parents of two teenagers, a high school senior (boy) and freshman (girl), I witness both as a parent and as an educator the world they live in both online and in the physical world.

Whether it be their actions online or their choices in response to great temptations in their daily world, I find that as an educator AND a parent I must know more of their worlds, model how to live in those worlds, and ask them to critically think about how they behave in those worlds. The days of "I trust you son/daughter/student" to make good choices" and sending our kids out onto the streets or the Internet without helping them understand those worlds and hold them accountable in those worlds is gone.

#1 Laura Deisley (Link) on 2009-02-21 09:38 (Reply)

A crisis in the Middle East, Montana, Mexico or Madrid is now live streaming news on a student's computer. A note passed in class is now a message on an 'open' wall viewed by hundreds or thousands of people across countless communities. An assignment for Social Studies is now an opportunity to
virtually visit another part of the world and to engage with different cultures.
We all want our children to be good, kind and wise. We all want them to understand what is important in life, and to get along with people who at first glance may seem different than those around them... And learn that many similarities bind us together.
That said, in preparing our children, we really must be proactive, forward-thinking and savvy enough to engage in a new world of digital information sharing and communication. We must help students gather, sort, analyze, and create meaning out of multiple streams of information. And we must challenge students to make morally and ethically sound decisions in the era of a Brave New World Wide Web.

#2 David Truss (Link) on 2009-02-21 09:42 (Reply)

Play with this idea more.......I thought you said pray about this idea more.....that would help more.....

#3 tim on 2009-02-21 09:50 (Reply)

Agreed Chris, a proactive approach is required. Our students, the kids, require good exemplars and direction. They have taken to MySpace, Facebook, and other publishing platforms with a passion. Educators and responsible adults need to illustrate how these publishing tools and others such as blogs can be utilised to create communities that give to society, that are productive and helpful. Collaborative communities that benefit society and not wired individualism that seemingly takes from society.

#4 John Larkin (Link) on 2009-02-21 18:40 (Reply)

In some ways, I think we are fooling ourselves. As a parent of a teen and two young adults I realize that I have been trying to have more and more control over their lives. I remember riding my bike around town as a kid with all of my friends. Now as a parent, I equip my daughter with a cell phone so she will have not have to wait more than 5 minutes in the wild after seeing a movie with friends. But still, she is connected with friends all the time via text, her laptop, and her Wii. I know I am not alone because many parents I know act like this. So why are we fooling ourselves?

#5 Dave Wells (Link) on 2009-02-22 08:04 (Reply)

I just found your blog. Good stuff! Thanks for sharing!

Please visit my blog regarding school leadership and change management.

www.jenniferspates.blogspot.com

#6 Jenn in Tenn (Link) on 2009-02-22 10:04 (Reply)

As fond as I am of computing and the students at SLA, I'm just not convinced that kids are radically different or that good teaching has changed very much over the years.

#7 Gary Stager (Link) on 2009-02-25 01:24 (Reply)

I agree, even preschool now have a pretty challenging lessons.
Parents should really be pro-active and not reactive.

#8 Power Learning 21 (Link) on 2009-03-06 14:13 (Reply)

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Old Ideas, New Tools, Teaching... and a Quick Thought....

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Saturday, February 21. 2009

Old Ideas, New Tools, Teaching... and a Quick Thought....

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