Last Thursday, I
agreed to speak with a class of twenty or so quirky 9th graders
about how “America saw its role in the world.”
And even though I’m not nearly qualified enough to speak to such a
massive question, I thought the conversation would serve everybody well, so in
I went, metaphorical flag in hand.
Within minutes, the students had bombarded me with a battery of questions
about Trump: “Is he really as bad as the news says?” and “Is America really not
interested in helping the world?” At
first, I struggled to come up with a reasonable answer, so I decided not to
try. Instead, I asked the students what
they thought, and why. This turned quickly
into a great look at media and how it drives our sense of reality. At one point, one girl pointed out that her
mom viewed everything she saw on television as true, which infuriated her
father. From there, the discussion took
off; by the end of the class, the students were clamoring to express their
thoughts on the media’s role, asking themselves whether their view of America,
as well as their own culture, was largely defined by the screens that filled
their hands throughout the day. After
class, I high-fived as many kids as I could, telling them how much I loved the
talk. And then it dawned on me: why
don’t we rely more heavily on technology to regularly connect students from
around the world? Shouldn’t students in
South Africa be able to communicate with students in America on a reasonably
consistent basis? Wouldn’t such a system
enrich learning way beyond any isolated classroom or textbook, helping them to
discover truth beyond media and screens?
The answer is a giant yes. So
that is where I would like to explore in the coming weeks. Can I pave the path to an interactive, innovative
curriculum that allows students from distant cultures to choose, analyze,
discuss, and debate various issues that interest and excite them? As an English teacher, can I rely on
multimedia devices more creatively to connect and motivate students to better
learn from one another, only serving to facilitate and guide that conversation
when necessary. Of course I can, and I
should. And so, for the next month or
so, I intend to dive into social media options that best empower students to
communicate and interact from around the world.
If I weren’t so behind the technology train, I suspect I’d be half way
there by now. No problem. I’m psyched to learn and to connect!
