How Far is Too Far?

One of the many things I am learning this year, aside from more technological applications, is how to recognize when I am overwhelming people with information or ideas. As many of us know, learning is a messy thing, with spills and fits and starts a constant part of the process.

Here is my rule of thumb, when no one in the room can finish your sentence for you on a routine, recognizable topic, then you have lost them and better slow down and refresh. Teachers and administrators have one basic thing (among many others, of course) in common: shortage of time, and I always try to plan with that in mind when presenting to either group. However, that doesn't always translate to a well-executed presentation.

My problem is that I see so much possibility for integration RIGHT NOW with my staff. It's a sense of urgency caused by in short form, the coolness factor, but in long form by the need to completely redesign the way we present material to students. Our ability to access information is unparalleled compared to any other period of history, and yet we are teaching students to access information using methodology that, although it uses technology, is based on how we researched with Dewey Decimal and note cards. The life we were prepared for is not the life we will be preparing our children for; our methods should reflect that.

When I get moving like this in a faculty meeting, what I mistake for passion and urgency, some might mistake for lunacy or might just, like the high school students in today's earlier post, tune me out as that crazy tech guy. And this is where the bulk of my learning is taking place--in that moment. Because I am forced tor respond to an obvious overshoot. I am getting better and better, but there still is a lot of room for improvement.