First Day of School Poem

I wrote this poem to introduce my classroom to my students.

Now

This…
This is the NOW.
Not the then, not the soon, not the past or the future,
not the could have been or the might still be
This is the NOW.

Who you are right NOW is the reason I am here.

I’m not here to talk about
what you did
how you ranked
who you don’t like
why you don’t care
That’s not why I’m here.

I’m not in the position to decide
who you’ll be
what you’ll become
where your path leads
why you will succeed
That’s not why I’m here.

I’m here for the NOW.

“OK, so…what do we do NOW?” You ask. “What is this all about?”

Well…this is not about YOU
but it’s not about ME either.
This is about US.

It’s about respect; it’s about community; it’s about caring for each other;
It’s about … oh – blah, blah, blah, blah!

You’ve heard this all before!
NOW, we’re gonna own it.

This is about moving forward
not backward, not backsliding, not backpedaling,
not back anything!

This is where we’re
responsible for our actions
AND
accountable for our choices

This is where things make sense;
where nonsense is not welcome.

This is about creating a place that has
what we need
what we want
and what we hope for

THIS IS THE NOW.

So,
let’s do this
let’s be this
let’s become this
Because no one else is gonna do this for us.

This is ME. This is YOU. But…this is really US.

And it’s time to get started.

just…

about…

NOW.

But the kids know more than we do!

I've been to a good number of meetings this year (both formal and informal) that involved discussions about the best ways to use technology with children. I really enjoy these conversations, and I'm excited about all the possibilities that the digital domain presents for teachers and students in schools. However, time and again I have heard teachers turn a phrase that disturbs me a bit, and it goes something like this: "Sometimes, I think the kids know more about technology than we do. We should be learning from them!"

Really?

I mean......really????

Okay, there are two ways to look at this, I'll admit that. On the one hand, it is fair to say that the children of this digital generation probably are a bit more acclimated to certain technologies and devices than some adults. If an adult hasn't had a chance to play with a new iPhone and a child has, then the child will have a bit more experience with the device and could therefore be considered to "know more" about iPhones than the adult.

On the other hand, just because a child has played with a device and knows a good number of its apps, that does not automatically mean that the child "knows more" about how to use that device than an adult might. I try to point this out to teachers who make the claim when I'm talking to them. A child who has played with multiple devices, has e-mailed and IMed numerous times, and who has a social networking page is not necessarily better prepared to explore ways to use that technology to create products and respond to the world than his or her teachers.

I often joke, "Just because a kid can tell me about hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches doesn't mean that I'm going to let him or her try to fix my bathroom or car." Knowledge of a tool does not trump the knowledge of how to use tools to create things. Surfing the web a lot doesn't displace a well-earned Master's degree; having your own webpage doesn't counter a decade of experience in education; and when your first impulse is to "ask Google" or "go to Wikipedia" (two of my students' common solutions), that doesn't hold up against the knowledge about how to evaluate resources and refine research.

Yes, I agree that the children of the modern world know quite a bit about technology. What they do not need are teachers who defer to that limited knowledge and are afraid of knowing less than the kids; instead, they need teachers who are ready to show them how to use those technologies to be a integral part of the world.