Technology Detox

You'll have to excuse my lack of posting this month. I've been on a tech-cation.

Yes, that's right. On Good Friday, I turned off my laptop, took it upstairs, and didn't open it until this morning - and that was only because I had a grant to write before tomorrow. With the exception of the occasional phone call or necessary text, I was completely unwired for nearly 10 days (I already don't watch television on a regular basis, so no TV wasn't that hard to give up). I was on a mission to go on a complete and utter technology detox.

So, why would the techKNOW teacher torture herself like that? Basically, I needed a break. Computers, iPads, responders, software, apps - so much has changed in education in the almost decade since I began teaching. Remember the "blue out" we used when we made mistakes when writing report cards? Once upon a time, the computer didn't average your grades and print it neatly out for you. All by hand, baby - well, hand and calculator. We thought we were "cool" when we hooked the little (repeat: little) television sets in our room to our computers to showcase Internet images to our classes. Who needs Jeopardy on a Smart Board when you had a rockin' one on poster board with library card pockets to hold your questions in each category? Especially when you glittered the giant JEOPARDY to make it extra snazzy? Okay, maybe that was just me.

Technology has made life easier for teachers in ways you new guys and gals will never know. It's also made our lives a deluge of passwords, programs, lost files, found files, e-mails, formatting issues, and a lot of other "tech-aches" that I don't even need to mention - you just know. The change is here to stay - technology rules. But often, with each new thing we have to do or remember in the classroom, it starts to overrule. Instead of guiding or enhancing what we do, it feels like it's beating us over the head with a yardstick.

Which is why I needed a detox. A complete and unapologetic MIA from the information superhighway. I cleaned. I cooked (and it was edible). I read. I went outside. I planned projects to work on during summer vacation, since it starts next month (!!!) I went out to eat and shop. I had conversations with friends and family face-to-face and not over a wireless device. Most importantly, I survived. My head is a lot clearer, except for the fabulous head cold I picked up when I went out to eat and shop. I'm more calm, organized, and focused. I feel a lot less stressed and a lot more...like myself.

Growing up, we didn't have a computer in our home until I was in seventh grade. Dial-up Internet...maybe a junior, senior in high school. Most of our students don't know life without it. I can entertain myself a week without technology, but can my students? Can yours? Probably not. We need to teach our students to use and utilize the digital awesomeness in their life to learn through but not lean on. If not, there's going to be a entire generation coming up the pike that's plugged into everything but life.

That being said, I just found a great app. I can't wait to share it with you. But you'll have to wait until this evening to find out all about it, because it's beautiful today - and I'm going outside.