I know, I know... I'm bad at keeping up. It is still my goal to get better! This is my first blog and it takes some getting used to, that is to say, I have to get used to kicking my butt on here to blog!
So here it is. I had a recent experience with my kids that just threw me completely off my mark. Mind you, this isn't the first time this had happened, but the first time, I thought it was a fluke. :) What happened, you ask? Well let me tell you. I told my kids I was going to read them a story. *Dramatic pause* Big news right? Their reaction was... they groaned!!! Tell me now, when you were in the first grade, didn't you LOVE it when your teacher said, "Class, put your pencils away and come to the rug, I'm going to read a story." We jumped for joy! (I know, all of you just had flashbacks *wink*) So anyway, it soon dawned on me that it wasn't the actual story that threatened to bore them to tears, but rather, the presentation they thought it would take. My kids love reading; they can't wait to go to the library most days, but I guess they just thought I was going to read, well, in a boring way. These kids are surrounded by digital media, computers, television, Iphones, and Ipads. The stories they get "read" come in the form of flashy pictures, music and on-screen narration. Heaven forbid someone actually sit with them and read a book! Or at least, this is the way I took it. While I was thoroughly disheartened by their reaction to my simple statement, "I'm going to read a story," it did remind me of the dramatic way the world has changed in such a relatively short period of time. When my mother was a child, she had 3 television channels and a computer was unheard of. When I was a child, we had 60-100 TV channels, and I didn't get a "home computer" until age 12. My own son, age 9, has 200 channels of TV delight, and got his first laptop at age 6. Then, I watch a friend of mine's son, age 2, swipe his finger on an IPad like he knows exactly what he's doing, and he does!! He reaches out for mom's Ipad and says "Netflix!"
We are in a day and age where children shout "if it isn't digital, it isn't fun, or right, or good..." insert adjective of your choice. I'm not dissing or dismissing technology, (I LOVE my promethean board!) but what I am saying is that maybe we over-utilize it. It is a GREAT thing, but it's not the ONLY thing. I, for example, still get out a book, an actual book, and read to my son every night before he goes to bed, and I have since he was 3. Result? He always has at least 3 books in his book bag at all times. No lie! And he actually reads them! On his own! I actually have to make him take some out, lest he look like the hunchback of Notre Dame before age 12.
I did find myself stuck in this rut last year, partly, I'm sure, due to the fact that I was SOO excited to get my promethean board. I did EVERYTHING on it. I learned all the ins and outs, the tricks of the trade, scanned book pages, took pictures, and put it all on the promethean. I have a flipchart (many unfinished) for just about every topic I covered last year in class. This year, however, I've come to a poetic balance. I took a professional learning on foldables, did some "pinteresting" research, and have been pushed into the CCGPS, so that the results are LOTS of hands on stuff with my kids this year, and I've go to tell you, so far we've had a blast! Many of the things I was scared to try, worried it would be too much work or too difficult, wasn't actually that bad, and the kids really benefit. As I continue to kick myself into continuing this blog more diligently, I will share many of the things I have done with my kids that create amazing fun and serious learning.
What's the moral of this story? I did read my kids that story. And they loved it. ( I am... by the way, an awesome story teller *grin*) I'm still reading them stories, and I won't stop.
