Why I'm Not Ready to "Go Back" Yet--

Yesterday after church, a friend asked me if I am all ready to "go back"--he meant, to work, to school-- I replied, "bite your tongue! I have another month!" He laughed.

I didn't. Far too many people don't understand what "summer break" means to most teachers. My mind is never that far away from what I will need to be doing; think of it as pre-planning. We don't just shut that off and fluff about all summer. I'm constantly reading, thinking, researching, etc. After this many years, I did front-load a little-- the syllabi for each of my fall classes are both done, and will only require a little minor tweaking. I still have to build the Google classrooms-- my online presence for my classes that helps keep me on track and gives the students a place to go to when they need to know what they may have missed or what is coming next. Yes, we survived quite nicely without those for a long time, but once we pivoted to the online platform exclusively during the height of the pandemic, there has been no going back. In general, I like it, though it requires about four hours each to even get the thing posted fully. This makes it possible for me to hold students fully accountable-- o, you were out-- why didn't you look on the GC? 

It's a great tool to use to post supplemental information, links to documents, photos, audio and video files, etc. It saves a lot of paper. It saves the whole "I never got one..."argument. But speaking of arguments, I'd like to argue that our students are not really what the pundits call "digital natives." The current thinking out in ed-world is that students who have grown up with computers are whizzes at navigating, and it is their preferred method of engaging in learning. 

Nope.

"We didn't have internet last night" or "I forgot my computer in my friend's car" have become this age's "the dog ate my homework." Students, by and large, do not check their email or submit their work online at home. Kids are still kids. The ones who do are the ones who would be turning in work regardless. Instead of making things easier or more streamlined, it has only layered on new/more excuses for those who honestly do not want to do school work outside of school, and certainly not when home sick or on vacation during school time (that's another post for another day). 

I think we've made ourselves entirely crazy, providing students with what we think they need. They know how to play the game, too, at least at the secondary level. They can manipulate the discussion well, and we have put ourselves into an indefensible position. The power went out? Your assignment was online? O, of course you couldn't do it. 

That is just plain bonkers.

Did you write the assignment down in your notebook? Do you have a notebook? Do you have a pen or pencil?

All of the planning, the scaffolding, the work has been placed on teachers. Students, in many cases, are not required --can't be required!-- to write anything down. They don't take notes. They are-- we have created-- passive and resistant learners. Non-learners. Why are we creating more management issues for ourselves? What is school for?

Well, the answer is, some pundit-- usually government-related-- has decided that "21st century learners" need to use computers for every damned thing they do. Yes, the "jobs of tomorrow" haven't even been thought of yet, as we are told repeatedly. Yet, the basic skills needed for any job do not include computer or digital literacy. They do require accountability, problem-solving, flexibility, creativity, and a good foundation in communication and thinking skills. Students need to be able to build schema, not just wait for the information to arrive, and they trust online sources far too readily. With the rise of AI technology, we have a huge problem on our hands-- no one has to think, right? 

Wrong. Giving the keys to the kingdom to the 'bots is something straight out of Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke. And if you are a reader, then you know what happens. It's not pretty. (HAL9000?)

So no, I'm not ready to go back to work yet. Finding new ways to reach complacent students is never easy, but now they have been told by the wide world out there that there is no reason at all to even try. AI will do it for them. My question to them is then, what can you do? 

Have a good day,

C