An Ex-Hippy Who Couldn't Quite Do It

I am a child of the '60s. Was consumed by the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement (applied for Conscientious Objector status for those of you who might remember it), the music, and was swept along into the make love, not war culture. Smoked my share, had a pony-tail (when it meant something), and sort of felt we were onto some Truth, with a capital T. Could never really "let go", though, to really do the hippy-thing and completely chuck the core of what I had been taught.

Time does funny things. Knocks some of the edges off along the way . . . but the essence of where I came from, my youthful education and my idealism are still part of my core.

Except I am older. My career (now approaching forty years) and life have used up some of my zing and I am slower to wrap my head around some new ways of doing things (and much quicker to forget some things.)

But I do try.

As a learner who continually thrives on making connections, I find I need to reflect back into my core - to reconnect to the Truths that have made themselves evident - and try to apply them to what is "current" (although that is already past, so I really need to apply them to the future . . . ).

It wasn't too awfully long ago that I was able to be riding the wave of the cutting edge (or at least the blade) in learning, assessment, and to some degree, technology. Because back then the three weren't so inextricably connected. As shared in Jeff Utech's recent post The Next Phase of Technology at ISB, things have happened quickly in my setting . . . and it seems that most of it has happened since I left the classroom.

Blogs, RSS, Web 2.0, Moodles, Wiki's, Facebook, Google Apps, YouTube . . . this old dog is having to learn how to fetch again. But fetching with some wisdom (I hope).

"Back in the day" for us young upstarts, it was all about "the kids" and their learning, connection, and meaning making. With our fists raised, it was "Up the establishment!"

Now, as the establishment, it is still (or again) all about "the kids" and their learning, connection, and meaning making. NCLB, indeed.

Interestingly, I just attended an EARCOS weekend workshop Pathways to Understanding: Patterns & Practices in the Learning Focused Classroom, presented by Dr. Laura Lipton. While the weekend was essentially technology free, her message is directly applicable to all these "new tricks". The catch phrase I came away with was "Learning is individually built, but socially constructed."

Like the hippy of forty years ago who couldn't quite do it, something inside of me will not let me completely "let go" of how I approach learning . . . but burning in my core is a view of the Truth in the possibility of youngsters and their learning . . . it will be my task to learn what I can, incorporate these new tools as best I can . . . and just like forty years ago, dream of the empowering possibilities.