Two or three days ago, I received an email asking for my help. A friend had been invited to participate in two days of strategic planning with the school board in her area. Knowing that I work with children, she wanted to know if there were any speaking points I’d suggest related to the educational process. I immediately thought about the importance of technology in education. Many of the children with whom we work have limited access to tablets or other forums for connecting electronically. In this day and age, that puts them at an educational disadvantage. I know that some schools in the greater Austin area are utilizing electronic textbooks. In addition, homework assignments and learning materials are also provided electronically. On a level playing field, all things considered equal, simply negating the need to keep up with a large backpack has value. Unfortunately, the educational system it is not a level playing field if students don’t have access to the technological advantages that other students across the country share. New and improved information is being created at such a rapid pace today that students without access to the technological tools to stay abreast with the learning curve will be at a deficit in competing those familiar with the technology. I mentioned several months ago that Lilian, my fifth grade granddaughter, created the website and blog that I am currently using. I was absolutely at a loss to even begin the process. Lilian negotiated the process without having to give it a second thought. I was absolutely amazed. Did I mention she acquired those skills in her elementary school classroom in the Lake Travis School District? Speaking of questions, Did I mention that I hate it when the General (aka – my wife) is right and I’m the one found lacking? For weeks the General has provided about all the gentle redirection I could tolerate in an effort for me to realize I needed a haircut. At some level, the General is “old school” and I’m more enlightened, but she held her ground. On almost a daily basis she reminded me that I looked unkempt and unprofessional. Just for the record, I’m not making this stuff up. Nothing but the truth, so help me God! At any rate, one day last week it was extremely humid in Austin. Intermittent rain fell most of the day. As luck would have it, I had to be out of the office for a period of time. In the process, my hair got wet. It dried naturally. Sure it did! I have never thought of myself as having curly and wavy hair, but the fellow looking back at me in the mirror when I washed my hands at lunch looked really scary. I don’t know how the Gadarene demoniac mentioned in the New Testament really looked, but chances are his hair was very similar to mine. The General definitely would have described me as looking other than professional by the end of the day. Better yet, if you are at a loss to know the look to which I am referring, Google an image of Albert Einstein. How could anyone so smart look so unkempt? It baffles me. The General has never described me as smart, but she thought I should have enough sense to know that I needed to overhaul my image. I guess it is important to strike when the iron is hot. Saturday morning I asked the General if she thought I had time to get a haircut. That in itself wasn’t very smart. Even if I only had minutes left to live, she would have rationalized that at least I would look better. I arrived at the barbershop just ahead of another customer. He, too, was waiting for John (my barber) to get a haircut. As I was waiting for John to finish with the customer whose hair he was cutting when I arrived, I busied myself with my iPad. I have never taken my iPad to the barbershop before, but I didn’t know how to calculate the wait on a Saturday. As I was posturing myself in the barber chair, the fellow who had arrived just after me overheard me telling John that my wife had been on my case for weeks suggesting that I needed a haircut. John responded that I should listen to my wife more often. He, too, thought I was long overdue a haircut. I responded that I could get a new wife, but that it would ruin my retirement. Consequently, I guessed I’d need to wear my wavy gray hair a lot shorter. I was way too old to be retrained. The fellow who had come into the barbershop immediately after me, said, “I know what you mean. I’ve been married twenty-six years and I’d hate to start over.” We exchanged a few more words. At some point I noticed that the guy looked like he had just had a haircut. I wondered why he was in the barbershop. I did tell him that his hair has just enough gray to garner respect, and enough color to reflect youthfulness. I haven’t had that experience in thirty years. At some point, he commented that he was impressed with way I was negotiating my iPad earlier. He mentioned he was new to electronics, but that it was obviously a skill set he needed to learn. He said, “I’ve got two sons going to college and I have a fifth grader at home. You wouldn’t believe how different the fifth grader’s classroom experiences are in contrast to my older boys.” He went on to tell me that the elementary school issues tablets to all of their students. The textbooks are provided electronically and homework is completed then same way. I asked the name of his school district. He said he lives in Westlake in the Eanes School District. I responded that I lived in the Johnson City School District and that when my kids were in school, it was like turning the clock back fifty years. I then added, there is a lot to be said of Big Chief Tablets and Crayola’s. Did I mention I felt a lot smarter after I got my haircut? I was at least smart enough to know the guy who was getting in the barber chair as I was leaving really did NOT need a haircut. All My Best! Don
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:13:53 +0000
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