Marooned No More

I grew up in a very small town.  I graduated with 112 people.  Most of us had known one another since age 5 or 6.  As connected as we were, we were marooned, in a sense, in our rural area.  There was great homogeneity and astoundingly little diversity.  I dreamt of leaving, seeing the world, and then returning to teach here. I first travelled overseas during George W. Bush’s tenure.  I learned quickly, on my first trip (to Eastern Turkey), that the world’s citizenry was acutely aware of what was happening in our country.  I was taken aback at how interested they were…and at how perplexing they found our behavior on the international stage.  I, truly, had no idea how interconnected the globe already was.  I had a deeply naïve point of view about America’s role in the world. After that eye-opening trip to Turkey, I moved overseas and travelled at every opportunity.  Each experience left me feeling more and more disconnected from my small town and the views I had held sacred.  Yet, I felt more connected with a wide and eclectic bunch of people; people who sometimes validated me, but more often than not, challenged my understanding of history, politics, religion, and social issues.  My world-view changed immeasurably.  Who I am today is, in great measure, due to those experiences overseas. 

credit

So, now, I find myself back in my small town.  People here are even more marooned than they were when I was a kid.  The socio-economic status has deteriorated significantly as many of the major industries have dried up, left the area, or gone on long hiatus, periodically re-opening, only to close again. The average income here is roughly $20,000 less than the average for the rest of Washington.  I wonder what kinds of experiences the kids here have and how to bridge the deficits caused by the isolation that I perceive.   Clearly, living overseas or traveling the world is not in the cards for many people, especially the second graders I will be teaching.  

Enter our lessons on connectivism and ISTE standards on utilizing technology.  I love that the internet literally puts the world right in the classroom.  I had to leave my friends and family, and invest considerable money to be with, and learn from, people from different corners of the globe. In my experience, the best way to become truly smart, open-minded, and literate is to challenge deeply help beliefs and ideas.  One of the best ways to do this is to interact with people who do not necessarily hold those same truths.  In a rural area like mine, the kind of diversity required for this sort of experience is hard to come by.  The internet is truly the perfect solution.  

credit

Ultimately, teaching is about knowing the standards in each content area.  The ISTE standards will guide my use of technology and will help me to shape my students to be competent users of technology and members of an increasingly connected world.