Serendipity35

Governor Angus King was the opening keynote speaker today. I have written about him earlier here and the statewide 1 to 1 computing project he began in Maine. He didn't spend much time on that, but gave a broader opening talk with lots of references to Friedman's The World Is Flat. I hear that book recommended again & again as a book on education. It IS a good book. It's important and it has a lot to say about education.

It's also a good example of a book that gets old fast. Not the ideas, but all the statistics (many of which King used). There was talk of a Friedman wiki version of the book that could be constantly updated. That would be interesting - but could it make money, could it be a bestseller?

There were a few a few analogies he used that I found interesting. I like it when people take things from other areas and use them to reflect on education. (One of my slide sets is evidence of that.)

He asked why Michael Jordan was such a great basketball player. talent, no doubt - but also he played all the time. He didn't go to the "basketball lab" once a week, the way some of our students in K-12 do for their computers and technology training. Personally, I would have used a baseball player, but it comes down to the same thing. The more "at bats" you have, the better your record will be. And, yes, you do need some training & practice when you're not at bat.

Our students are taking a lot of at bats and batting practice when they're not in school. they are playing (literally) with technology whenever they have some time. Are they getting the real coaching that goes with that when they are in school?

King also alluded to a favorite philosopher of his - Wayne Gretzky. Asked why he was so successful, he said that the other players skate to where the puck is, while he skates to where the puck will be. That's something I'm addressing in my presentations today - how do you as a teacher know where the puck is going to be for your students?