I shared recently how I’ve been working on increasing my own education through available technologies today. I’ve been focusing on taking in at least one lesson a day in various subjects. With a love of history, today I watched the first part of a series on Thomas Jefferson.

It is common knowledge today that Jefferson was well educated and influential with his knowledge. Many declared his writings as “evidencing keen intellect.” It is no wonder that he would be chosen to work on writing our nation’s Declaration of Independence; a document that not only stands the test of time but also personifies the embodiment of educational wisdom.

I was struck with how we owe all we now have at our disposal for learning because of our ancestors like Jefferson. What are we doing with it? What would they say about our education system today? What more would they teach us? I fear we’ve squandered that gift. I fear we’ve lost the very art of learning.

Today we seem to care more about buzz words, statistics, standards, etc., etc., etc. than we do about whether or not our children are succeeding at gaining wisdom and knowledge. Teachers lament receiving students who come unprepared to learn their material and they are quick to point out that they have no time to review or re-teach in order to keep up with today’s schedules and standards. These standards are a direct result of our competitive desire to prove how smart our kids are. No one bothers to take the time to see if our kids are really smart or not, they just see test scores and try to find ways to increase them. One tactic is to throw more content earlier to students. Consequently, we continually increase our expectations of mastery for a broad array of subjects before most kids are old enough to reach the bathroom sink by themselves. And how do we measure the smarts and abilities of students and educators? Why, with a brilliant “one test fits all” approach. Boy we’re smart.

So, in a time when all resources were scarce, computers didn’t exist and there were no endless lists of structured programs and legislation to govern it, the most brilliant minds of our time developed. And now that we have all those things and more we’re producing a generation capable of winning texting contests. In fact, I doubt many of them could hold a candle to the educational wisdom of their ancestors. Interesting isn’t it? And it doesn’t end there. Here’s another interesting comparison between then and now. Jefferson, who we’ve already determined was brilliant and well educated would have been doomed to fail by our ’standards’ today. According to records, he started school at age 9. I’m confident that most people would completely flip over the suggestion of not starting formal education until the age of 9 today. My son is only 8 and he’s in his fourth year of his public school career. We’re not even going to go down the preschool path.

Not only did Jefferson not begin school until the age of 9, his first five years were spent on only two subjects: language and nature. History and science weren’t added until his second school at age 14 and math, astronomy and architecture wouldn’t be introduced until he was 16. I’ve shared before how my son’s kindergarten curriculum had the subjects of data analysis, algebra and geometry. I’m sorry, but I think discrete mathematics at age 4 and 5 is ridiculous. And while my son has probably had more homework in the last 4 years than Jefferson had until he hit college, I would argue that he’s not got anything on Jefferson. None of today’s hype impresses me. I simply don’t buy in to today’s theories and beliefs on education. I think if Jefferson and his peers could talk to us to day they’d have a lot more to teach us and it would have an awful lot to do with backing up, slowing down and focusing on basic and fundamental education.

I’d wager that Jefferson didn’t feel deprived by spending his first 9 years of life free of school. Kids can’t be kids today, they’re not allowed; there isn’t time for it. How can they be when a simple playground accident is treated like an act of malicious intent or they’re supposed to understand and spell words like equivalent and metamorphic by the time they’re 8? (I didn’t make those up, those are straight off my son’s vocabulary list this week.) Our expectations are out of alignment and seriously whack.

When are we going to see there’s more to learning than we’re focused on seeing today? What I wouldn’t give to spend a few days in the same room as our forefathers; we’d have a lot to talk about.

Life gets stale…check for freshness.

My thoughts run amuck this morning on this simple word.

It all began when I opened a can of sugar from my food supply yesterday. To say it didn’t smell sweet would be an understatement. I can’t even describe the smell beyond some horrible combination of musty tin and something utterly undefinable. Stale is the only word that comes to mind. Efforts are underway to determine if the sugar is salvageable, I’m hopeful that aeration will be all that’s required. This is the second time that smells have gone wrong in a 10 can storage container for me. The first was a 72 hour emergency supply kit where even the hard candy tasted like the small bar of soap in the same container - regardless of how many layers of sealed plastic bags were used to separate items. Make no mistake, smells matter and they’re powerful too!

This is about the time my thoughts start pouring out in all directions.

I think about how many things in life go stale quickly, how many of them we remain ignorant to because we haven’t checked on them in a long while, and how many are salvageable. This list is endless. In fact, one could define my inbox today as stale. Ironically, as I’ve been thinking on the need to clear it out again for the past week, I’d read this headline this morning: “It’s time to deal with that overflowing inbox” Fate? Coincidence?

I think most everything is at risk of becoming stale. From dreams to food and everything in between, it seems we’d do well to rotate these things on a regular basis to check for freshness.

Several years ago I taught workshops for teachers on the topic of teaching with technology. The goal was to help teachers understand some of the software available to them through new computer labs so they’d be prepared to teach their students. It was a fun gig sharing what I’d learned about some of the programs.

Today, I’m grateful that I can learn with technology. I often find myself deficient of the required discipline and will power to do the things that would be most profitable with my time. For example, I love learning but I’m more inclined to spend time I could devote to the cause playing on my computer or working on some other project than I am to be diligent about pursing my study of Spanish or reading an academic book. So I’m supremely grateful for how much I can learn through audio/visual options available to me.

This week hasn’t been my best week for productivity, but I have implemented the use of technology to help me from being a complete bust. First, I spent a few days playing Spanish lessons on my computer while working on it. That was great, and while I’m no where near ready to converse, hearing the repeated basics over and over have helped a few basic words stick. I’m encouraged. Additionally, I found two wonderful shows to watch today that covered economics and science. I love that these types of educational tools are available to me. They’re easy to use and I find I learn much through them. I found the Universe episode I watched on the sun absolutely fascinating. I learned a lot I didn’t know and it fueled my desire to know more. While the national debt image and financial future of our nation is frustratingly grim, it feel good to understand more. My desire to really stick to my own goals and remain informed are rejuvenated. I was saddened by how many people interviewed couldn’t answer the most basic questions. I think it’s a sad reality of how many of us choose to live in ignorance.

If you have a moment, you may want to check these out:
The Universe
I.O.U.S.A.

It’s Saturday, and the first day of a new year. It never ceases to amaze me the simple rollover to a new year can rejuvenate the batteries with hope and aspirations for all things new, and to reflect on the year before.

2010 for me can be summed up in one word: change. I returned to the office after a 15+ year sabbatical, and realized that I’d actually honed some skills being a stay at home mom. My baby turned 8 and reached some major milestones himself, my daughter breached the teen barrier and my husband took a new job in another state. Definitely a year of change.

To any who know the details of our move, they might ask why. Why did we choose to leave a great home, great job and everything typically identified as the good life and satisfaction? I think progress sums it up. It wasn’t a decision made lightly. We took the offer because it was even better and it gave Blake the opportunity to explore the next realm of his field - mobile gaming. It was also a calculated decision that we feel can help us reach future goals. I’m a big believer that you don’t get direction until you move your feet. 2010 was a big year of moving our feet. I’m looking forward to what direction 2011 brings. I’m going to go buy some track shoes.