think:lab:

A Living, Breathing Reading List

A snippet from last night's travel through the land of "Wired" magazine:

For curiosity's sake, let's imagine that every student had a subscription to "Wired" magazine for starters. Let's further assume that the month's curriculum would be 're-built' each month based on how each issue grabbed the students' attention. A truly living/breathing reading list, so to speak.

Each month, students would receive the latest issue -- delivered to the classroom itself, of course -- and spend the first day flipping through the pages in an "big idea" hunt for a great questions to pursue solo and as a group...

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A Simple Start

A snippet from the Curriculum Director's Office this afternoon:

You know, our kids already are already great at providing answers. What they need to do, however, is become great at asking the right questions. Their future depends on it.

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Seeking the Perfect Stick

Mr. Lehmann, thank you for writing the following today (as part of a much longer and more powerful piece):

But I also remember that there is nothing gained without something lost. And I miss the now. I want Jakob and Theo to be able to live enough in their moments so that they notice the details that we miss when we walk to work, headphones on, cell phone out, text-messages at the ready. Jakob is three, and when we talk or drive, he notices everything. He sees things I miss, whether it's a broken taillight of a car to the outfit that someone is wearing. He lives in his moment fully, and I miss my ability to do that.

I followed reading your piece by leaving a comment about the importance of seeking sticks in the backyard. A fraction of my response reads as follows:

Sitting here as "just a teacher" once again, I must admit that I am humbled by what I learned these past few years and the opportunity to be just one tiny voice in a stadium full of energetic chatter about what every widget and app might mean. But if I were given the choice right this second between a day in the woods with a handful of students talking life or a classroom full of front-edge technology that promises "flat" classrooms at every digital turn, I'm choosing to follow my little Beckett's footsteps...and looking (with my students) for the world's greatest stick. Without hesitation.

Continue letting Jakob and Theo lead, my friend. Keep on paying attention to what they discover along the way. And you tell that family of yours to have a brilliant weekend in the meantime.

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Forget Answers. Just Paying Attention.

I have hundreds of reasons NOT to blog (actively, 'at all', generally, on the fly,...) these days. Most of the reasons rhyme with "I'm happily working with my students" or "I'm just digging being a father and a husband" or "Fresh air ain't such a bad thing" or "It was never about the technology". Regrets are few and far between.

That being said, I may not be blogging much (save for keeping Beckett's grandparents up-to-date on the little fella's latest rocking and rolling), but I AM paying attention. A brilliant case in point: