Recently my daughter convinced me that texting would be a good idea. I would regularly call her on the cell phone to see what was going on, only to have her complain that I was interrupting whatever she was doing. She explained to me that expecting people to answer their phone every time it rings was unreasonable; adding that many times she is busy. She suggested that I text instead and she would reply when she had time. Old people, like me, have trouble understanding youth and their slavery to new technology. I still like to talk to people from time to time; and besides, my fingers are too big to text easily.
I agreed to text her when I just wanted to find out what was going on, trying out my new skill on New Years Eve at about 11:45. She was out with friends at a party and I texted her a “happy new year” message instead of calling like usual. Within five minutes she replied, returning the greeting and letting me know that her girlfriends also sent their regards. We now text regularly, unless it is important enough to require a conversation; and I have realized how effective and convenient this method of communication can be, especially when I don’t want to actually speak to someone.
I have known for many years that email is an effective way to contact parents. Just like most teachers, I dislike having to talk to parents. Email is a way to send and receive information without having to actually have a conversation. In the old days, when a student misbehaved in class, I would have to contact the parent by phone to discuss the problem. Many times this would take several days as we played phone tag with each other. When we finally did connect, built up frustration would often make our contact less than satisfactory. Now I just email, and wait for a reply. When I hear back from them my rule is not to reply for at least an hour, the cooling off period being an effective way to keep the “conversation” civil. It has worked quite well so far for me.
Last semester I attended a conference on using the internet in the classroom. One of the topics was using “wikis” with students. I have never used one, but a wiki appears to be a web page where students can collaborate on an assignment without being physically together. The last NSTA newsletter gave examples of how actual teachers use this technology in their classrooms. I am skeptical. A woman at the conference told the presenter that she was overworked already, and didn’t need another thing to do every day; resulting in agreement among the rest of us. I have always felt that the best way to solve problems collaboratively was to sit around a table together and work things out, face-to-face. Why students, who are physically together in the school building every day, would need to wait until they are home and apart to work “together” on a project seems to be ass-backwards; but apparently I am just another old guy who isn’t “with it.”
I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. Two days ago I texted the father of one of my tutoring students’ letting him knows that he forgot to leave me a check for the last session. I reminded him when I was coming next and let him know how much to make the check out for. It was waiting for me at my next visit, and I never had to have an awkward conversation with him about the problem, or for that matter even see him. For better or worse, technology is here to stay.
