A Great Remake of a Pop Song that began with much different values!

I love this! Too funny....

A Meandering on Digital Print, Printed Text, Faith, Family & Education

Last fall I fell in love with the Nook ebook reader. It wasn’t just a plain ebook reader, it was a color ebook reader with Bluetooth ability and beautifully digitized children’s books. AHHH, I finally found a way as a working mom to get away from hauling around a mountain of books to entertain not only a three year old, but my six and nine year old as well. I relayed this message to my mother who generously purchased me this beautiful piece of technology for my birthday last December. Since then we have had loads of fun as a family with this great device. It gets passed around in the car to entertain all three kids, and even my husband has been known to say “my turn!” in the car. The point is, it is versatile, compact and multi-generational.

My three kids are totally wired. They have regular access to an ipod, they know how to use my cell phone, and my three year old regularly wakes me up in the morning holding the Nook in my face saying “Read this to me mommy!” Additionally, my husband and I are pretty typical genXers. We both remember the first Apple computers, loved using Word Perfect, and learned how to complete tasks like creating a rocket ship that changes colors using Basic program language. Today we are Catholic educators interested in the leading edge of technology and what it can do to enhance the quality of programs and educational experiences that we bring to the children we work with. We see the benefits, but we also are realistic about the challenges as well. The two biggest challenges seem to be the initial cost of the equipment and then the cost of upkeep or maintenance. Additionally, it seems to evoke discussion about whether digital or print is better. I am not one who enjoys a good debate. You have your opinion and I have mine. With that in mind, I am not sure one needs to be better or can be better than the other.

This summer we moved to a new town and have been settling into our new home. What is the first thing we did after turning on our utilities -we went to the library. As a kid I remember loving the library. I loved finding a quiet corner and an interesting pile of books that I didn’t typically have access to. I even loved doing research at the library. I clearly remember learning how to search micro-fiche for articles that supported a paper that I was writing in the 8th grade. The point is, even as someone who has an innate love and understanding of modern day technology, I can still appreciate a good book - the text version. I love bookstores, libraries and coffee shops where people read the print version of the newspaper. What I found when I took my kids to the library is that they love it too. They loved getting their own library card, laying on the floor of the kids section with large stacks of books sprawled before them. My three year old cried when he could not take a train book home because it was not actually a book that could be checked out. So do we really have to pick a side? Does one really have to be better than the other?

Several weeks ago PC Magazine reported that South Korea is set to move their students to digital texts by 2014. This is a great step forward for education and should serve as challenge for U.S. schools to think seriously about this possibility. ( PC Magazine/South Korea to Dump Textbooks) This news was released only several days after the BBC reported that Pope Benedict XVI sent out his first Tweet using his iPad. (BBC/Pope Sends first Tweet using iPad) Pope John Paul II was known for his interest in communication and modern day technology and how it relates to spreading the faith. We have priests, deacons and Catholic educators blogging and tweeting (The Deacon’s Bench) and the newest bishop in Canada has been called a “pioneer in social media” with his own blog fatherdowd.net.

As a faith community in general we are becoming more wired. One has to admit that the future is taking us away from printed materials, there really is no turning back. However, that does not mean that there will not be the need or desire for us to have printed materials. We will move in the direction of digital text because it is fundamentally less expensive and more efficient to update information electronically than it is to republish it in printed text. Chances are though, that many of us will still be able to appreciate a good book in its printed version, regardless of how well we integrate the ebook and digital text into our lives.

Some comments I read on an educational technology thread were largely in support of going to ebooks in the classroom simply for the fact that new texts for the classroom can range from $75 - 150 a piece. An ebook reader is not far off that mark. Most of the commentaries on the site though in favor of moving to an ereader in the classroom, agreed that textbook publishing companies are not quite in a position yet to make this leap. More work needs to be done on being able to provide content in a way that can be supported by a multitude of user types.

While we are becoming more and more reliant on technology and digital information as a way of life - from our faith lives, to our personal lives and into our education systems - I do not believe that our basic interest in curling up with a good book made out of paper will disappear. Ebooks are part of this “wired” way of living, and the potential there is exciting in regards to what it will do for education, faith and family life. I plan on continuing to invest in great children’s literature for my Nook, but I also plan on continuing to take my children to the library on a regular basis. The world is now just a finger swipe away...just as it always has been.

Let the Children Come to Me

As the parent of three young children, and a school administrator as well, the heat has always been under my collar on Sunday mornings at church. There are many people out there, including several of my own colleagues, who believe that there is no place in church for fussy children. I have heard people close to me ask “Why don’t families split up and attend separately and keep the children at home?” I have heard another say that three and four year olds belong in the nursery.

As someone who has given my life to God and the family life-style that Catholicism promotes, these comments are bitter pills to swallow. In the world of Catholic education we acknowledge that parents are the primary educators of their children. We do so because ultimately, it is the parent’s responsibility to form their child’s soul for the kingdom of heaven. With Godparents and the education we choose for our children, we are enlisting the help and support of others so that we can equip ourselves with all of the best tools available for success in this endeavor. With this in mind, my husband and I have spent quite a bit of time reflecting on how we were raised in regards to attending Sunday Mass. Luckily we have similar experiences to draw from. We were both raised in families that attended Mass together every Sunday.

It is a well known school of thought that the best way to form the hearts and minds of our youth is to model the desired behaviors to them. If you want children to grow up compassionate, you have to give them opportunities to witness people showing compassion, and provide opportunities for them to try it themselves. With this in mind, and our own experiences to draw upon, we have long decided that we will stay together as a family on Sundays when we attend church. It is not fun at all for us to manage three children under age nine, all who are just as strong willed as we are. My friend once said to me “I don’t know why I bother getting dressed up on Sundays, what I really need to wear is a pair of sweat pants and tennis shoes!” Rarely do I personally get anything from Mass. I am worried about what others think of my children, what they think of me and how I can get them to behave in a confined space for 60 minutes. Often I find bribes spilling out of my mouth, something I am not proud of. “If you sit here quietly for one more song I will take you to the park to play!”

Both my husband and I have memories of our own poor behavior in church when we were growing up. Todd says he remembers crawling under the pews, and I vividly remember my father dragging me out of church over his shoulder as I screamed “No daddy please don’t spank me!” You who have the luxury to attend Mass as single people, retired people, married couples without children, are blessed in your own way to be able to sit in Mass with clarity and presence of mind. I am aware of your luxury and I try to keep my children quiet for your benefit. Ultimately, however, at this point in my life, attending Sunday Mass is not about me and what I get out of it. Right now it is about my three children, their souls, and what kind of people they will grow up to be.

While my husband and I are not perfect by any means, we were both raised in the Church and have both given our personal and professional lives to it. I can only hope that my own children would be moved as such to do the same. I propose that we all work together to raise the next generation of Catholics. If we are truly Catholics, this means embracing all that a Catholic lifestyle promotes, and Sunday Mass with fussy children may get us all to the Kingdom of heaven a little faster.

Summer Wind Down, Really?

So this summer I am transitioning out of one school and moving into another one-Outgoing principal and incoming assistant principal. My agreement ends with my principalship June 30th and my new agreement begins August 1st. As the days creep toward July 1st, I find that my mind is busier than ever, and I am wondering if I really will get four weeks of downtime in July.

On the way out of a school, there is the stress of constantly second guessing yourself as you prepare the files for someone new. I have asked myself a thousand times since March of this year, "was that the right decision? Could I have done that better?" These questions have come to the forefront of my mind not just because I hope that I did the best I could for the school in my short time there, but because I have been mentoring the person who will be taking my place. In the mentorship process, the questions from an outsider have been pointed, thorough and well intended. On the otherhand they also lacked the perspective of an experienced administrator - something I tried to remind myself as I felt emotion creeping into my throat after about the tenth "Why do you do it that way when you could just____ (fill in the blank)?"

So today I handed over the last few details to the new principal who will begin on July 1st. I have a huge sense of relief, but I also am a bit sad to say goodbye to a beautiful school community of which I just could not make the commute to any longer. I have been waiting for this day for months... imagining that I would be able to do a load of fun personal things with my kids, but as the time at one school has come to an end I have been busy transitioning with my new school, picking up tasks here and there that I probably don't have to volunteer for, but I am because it is the right thing to do and because it is helping me get to know "the way things really work." And as I have been slowly moving my rainboots from one pond to another, I cannot stop thinking about the school year to come.

I am thinking about Catholic Identity at my new school and how to best present that to the faculty & staff, and how to be sure not to sound too preachy, but to get the message across with a zip to the heart... I want to light the flame of passion (zeal) that I have for Catholic education in the hearts of others, and I want it to be contagious. I am gathering resources that I think I can share with the teachers, collecting a list of my favorite prayers to use through the year, lesson planning (because I will be teaching a few classes), and getting excited about growing & stretching myself professionally in a new way.

So yes, I am a bit disappointed that I won't have the time I thought I would in July, but I am also finding that the passion I have for my ministry in Catholic Education is still alive and well after 15 years! School starts in six weeks, teachers report in five and new teacher orientations begin in four. Wow! It will be here before we know it... and I am excited to spend the next few weeks preparing myself for all of it.

God Bless & Be Thankful!

Crystal

Psalm 119: 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.