A Computer in My Pocket

My son turned 9 last week. Like all parents, I remember so many things from that day and that summer. Last week I realized he was passing the half-way milestone of being at home each week. Nine years from now, he may be starting his own adventures. Completing high school, looking beyond into a world of what will be for himself. He's my second child, so I have had to come to grips with this idea and this internal conversation before.

One thing I often think about with my youngest child is that he was born just a few days before the first iPhone was released. For the eldest child we had separate music players, computers, video cameras, cameras, and internet search devices. My youngest child has spent his entire life being able to essentially put a computer in his pocket. He has always been able to look up information anywhere, play games anywhere, send notes anywhere. Furthermore, he has spent a majority of his life being able to "ask Siri" most of his questions. Sure often he gets a fractured thought or a repeat the question response, but in his reality, Siri is the being inside his device. Often I wonder what the impact of his life's perspective will be from never living a life without a computer in his pocket. Of always having "Siri" being there.

Frequently, science fiction becomes science fact. Dick Tracy had a watch he could call anyone from. So does my wife. On Star Trek, they would verbally ask "the computer" to show them things and provide ship-wide automation. Alexa, from the Amazon Echo, does that now for many "smart" homes and Siri soon will. I remember days of huge multi-function universal remotes that were hard to program but became one device to rule them all. Now a simple one button remote can do it and soon enough more devices will be like Alexa and be on all of the time. On Knight Rider, KITT frequently served as a personal guide and assistant to Michael Knight on their adventures. How long to we reach that point.

My son turned 9 last week. The iPhone turns 9 this week. In less than a decade, the fabric of how our world connects has changed dramatically. It's very clear that with the work Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple are doing in "machine learning" that we won't be waiting nine more years before we, adults and children, will have our only personal assistants to answer questions, remind us to do things, and connect us with the universe. It will happen. In my work world of education, I wonder if we are ready to adapt to the reality of these children's world not as if it were some distant idea of Isaac Asimov's but the reality of where the world will be by the time they graduate high school. We speak often of the un-Google-able question, but even those decrease in number each day. Perhaps we need to speak of what children can create, innovate, and cultivate with any piece of information being at their finger tips the instant the ask.

There is a great world ahead of us. A place where the human capacity to be creative, connect with others, and develop innovative ideas is possible. Our children will soon live in the world that I used to dream about while watching tv or reading a good book. Can we prepare this generation for life with a computer in their pocket and KITT as their companion?

This generation of elementary students is growing up with always having a computer in their pocket. The next generation may grow up only knowing self-driving cars. And with each innovation, once we let go of our fears we may realize that we are all a little better off.

Virtual Companionship

The End of the Chapter and the Beginning of the Next

During the past 40 hours, I have seen a great many events. I watched 2 graduations; more than 500 students walk past the podium. Each completing a nine year educational adventure. Each stepping forward into a new realm, a new challenge, and a new beginning. I watched a young man stand before a rabbi and choose a new religion after work, contemplation, and deliberation. I saw four young students, each pupils of mine, stand before a congregation and begin the ceremonies of B'nai Mitzvah, signifying a step into young adulthood within our faith. And, I saw a young couple prepare begin the first steps in their journey to become bride and groom.

Life is a book. Its days pages, its months and years chapters. The regularity in which the pages turn is predictable. The chapters create a flow. The contents are unpredictable. For each of the 500 children that walked past the podium. Their book, their chapters, were different. While they had the same start at kindergarten round up and the same end at middle school promotion. The chapters and pages, while predictable in time were each unique, each filled with different twists, turns, and adventures.

As I look at the 4 students preparing for their chance to lead the congregation today, I think of each of them as individuals, as learners, and as people. While close in age, they are not all the same year in school. While each child is smart in their own right, none of them have the same strengths. Some of them thrive sharing in the large group. Some of them most comfortable talking with a close friend. Some are artists, creative in nature. Some athletic, nimble and quick. Some prefer to navigate the lanes of the digital net, aptly moving through the mosaic of code and graphics. Their adventures to here, each challenging with obstacles, trials, and tribulations. With twists and turns that at times made the goal feel impossible to achieve. Each walking before the congregation ready to turn the page to the next chapter and to begin a new adventure.

I look at the young baby girl, standing before the congregation. A toddler discovering the world, embracing it, and openly saying "Hi!" A child for whom the each day the pages provide new obstacles, new discoveries, and new moments. The parents, embracing the moments, loving the discoveries, and subtly waiting for each chapter to pass so that the challenges of this stage and chapter go away and the new ones come forward.

The future bride and groom stood before the congregation with bright smiles beaming. I remember seeing the bride before. Six years earlier, the smile was the same. The hair pulled back in a pony tail. My son grabbing her had, as she, his counselor, walked him to the car. Now a teacher, a bride, a member of the community. In six years, the pages had turned, each chapter filled with ups and downs,  unexpected challenge, and plot twists. There she was, hand in hand with her future life partner ready to begin the next chapter.

Tonight, my son will stand with another student before the congregation and lead us in prayer. Each becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Each turning the page of a book. Ending one chapter and beginning another. Their ceremonies while together in time will be slightly different. Products of their own stories, their own adventures, and their own challenges. Like so many of us. June is a time in which we end one chapter and begin the next. How we choose to begin that chapter is the journey. For the graduates, the young mom and dad, the baby, the bride and groom, and the four b'nai mitzvah students each of you begin these chapters surrounded by family, friends, relatives, and mentors who love you and will support you through your choices on this journey.

King's Cross Station

May the 4th Be With You

Nearly 39 years ago, people walked into theaters awed by the grandeur of Star Wars. From the initial special effects laden shot of the rebel ship being chased by a Star Destroyer going over our heads to the Millennium Falcon escaping the Death Star, the movie grabbed our attention in ways that we had not seen before. Each time we watched, we were engaged in a 121 minute ride of awesomeness.

While Star Wars was the space-western of our time, it's appeal has transcended generations. Battlestar Galactica came and went and came and went again. Predator, Aliens, Terminator all came, all went, rinse... repeat. Star Wars was and is different than most space-westerns. Sure it's a story of grandeur, epic challenges, and good versus evil. But it is also a story of finding the best within ourselves.

The magnetism of Star Wars is the paths of the Jedi and Sith. The idea that there is more to us. Yoda extolls, "Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter." Star Wars reaches us because it recognizes that there is more unknown about human potential than is known. Each of us wants to ask what if, what could be, what may become. Furthermore, Star Wars gives us the path to get there. Obi Wan reminds us that our eyes can deceive us and to stretch out with our feelings.

Star Wars is a story of their being more in each of us than anyone would expect. Whether you are a farm boy from the desolate regions or a smuggler living from payday to payday there is more in each of us. It is a story that grabbed me as a child and grabs many of us when we are open to it. This generation's Star Wars is no different. When faced with adversity, and needing to find something special within oneself. Finn tells Han Solo, "we'll figure it out. We'll use the Force." Star Wars resonates because it talks about each of us being more than what we imagine ourselves to be. We are in the cocoon, waiting to awaken. When we reach out, what hidden talents might each of us discover. As we walk through the days of Spring, perhaps it is time that we look at each of us, our friends, our children, our students and ask what awakening may occur today.

May the 4th Be With You!

Where Would I Be Without My Filofax?

Growing up I knew phone numbers. It was important that I knew at least 15 of them. I knew my mom's work number, the house number, my friends' house numbers, and dad's work number. Seven digit numeric sequences that were paramount to my day to day functioning. Without them, I couldn't make it day to day. Socially, my world was integrated through asking my parents permission to do things and connecting to my friends. The important life aspect of this was the connection, the memorization of the phone numbers was the key to unlock the opportunity, in no way was it vital to the opportunity.

In the 20th century, business leaders were so important that they had secretaries whose sole job was to organize their day. The secretary kept track of the schedule, facilitated appointments, managed key contacts, and helped the business leader pace the day. In the 1980's, more and more business was on the move. As a result Filofax's and Franklin Covey planners rose to prominence. Inside people kept the key information of their lives. Calendars, contacts, credit cards, and meeting notes all in one place. The problem being solved was one Gary Larson put so eloquently in this Far Side cartoon:

Excuse Me - Gary Larson, The Far Side

Needing something to keep track of all of the information we need to have in life is not a new problem. It is simply a problem we are getting better at solving. The 1990 Charles Grodin-Jim Belushi movie, Taking Care of Business, was centered around the premise of what were to happen to a person if they accidentally left behind their Filofax at an airport. The antics surround an individual trying to establish his identity and another impersonating him, with a fun side story of the Cubs trying to win the World Series. The reality is remembering key information is not a new problem, our ways of coping with it are better.

Frequently I hear concerns, what would these kids do without their devices. Inside it is their lives. Their music, their messages, their contacts, and their calendars. In saying this, we are like the old criminals on a Scooby Doo episode. We are curmudgeons mistaking tool for the objective. The device, like the phone number is simply the key to the lock. The child's texts are simply a replacement for hours on the phone with their friends. Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music and Pandora have simply replaced our CD players and boom boxes. Our calendars have moved from unwieldy Chandlers that if lost our lives would be in peril to digital images that we can pull up on a phone or a watch. 

The truth is that I remember my friend's Steve's home phone number during middle school better that I know our "landline" phone number right now. If I, my wife, or my sons, lose "these devices," our key information is mostly secure, encrypted, and can instantly be pulled down from a back up or accessed by us on the web. Now we have the opportunity to instead of remembering the minute details that opened the doors to relationships, conversations, and business to focus on these interactions instead. As Jim Belushi reminds Charles Grodin after catching Mark Grace's fictional home run in the World Series, it's important to see the moment rather than working towards getting to the event.

Taking Care of Business

Products of the System

When a child is a young star athlete, they stand out. They are the ones who play soccer or basketball and dribble from one side of the field to the other and no one touches them. In football, they are the child who is the running back/linebacker moving from side to side making everything happen. In baseball, they rotate between shortstop, centerfield, and pitcher. When that child is on the mound or at the plate, you know it. There is a different sound as their pitch hits the catcher's mitt or their bat cracks as they hit the ball. At early ages they are simply better than the field.

As these athletes get older, the field thins out to be only the stars. The talent difference for the most part diminishes and we look for where the athlete fits. The system the athlete starred in now becomes a key factor in identifying both the past success and future possibilities of the athlete. Football is a great example of this. In college, many offenses play the spread offense. This is different from the NFL. As a result many quarterbacks and offensive lineman are questioned in regards to their potential in the NFL. The concern is can they transition between systems or are they simply a product of the system.

Basketball is the same way. In college you see a myriad of schemes. Syracuse's famous zone defense, the triangle offense, motion offenses, isolation offenses, the Princeton offense. Each of these schemes are very different and players that play within these systems are questioned as to whether it is the player or the system that drives the athlete to success. In the NBA, scouts and general managers look at the success of second round pick Draymond Green and question how did they miss him. The underlying question is Draymond Green a star or a product of playing in the Golden State system.

While for athletes in many sports, we often have multiple systems available to promote success and drive innovation, the same is not as true in education. Essentially, we ask each child to learn the same things at the same time. We move them through a grade-based system in which every mistake penalizes them, focusing them on achieving perfection the first time out or selecting courses at a lower level so that they will not receive as many penalties. Reshma Saujani points out in her fantastic TED talk, that this is even more true for girls than boys. We systematize our students to become risk adverse. Rewarding innovation only within a slim context of content area production.

The results are worrisome and staggering. When employers indicate the modern student isn't ready for the work force, the reality is that the modern student has worked within a system where the only goal is the minimize mistakes to maintain an acceptable level of achievement. Rarely do we cultivate a system in which children are encouraged to try new things, look at problems (not simply more questions from a textbook), and create new solutions. Rarely do we create an environment in which team success is paramount rather than individual mistake avoidance.

This week, Tesla unveiled the Model 3. An innovative electric car aimed at mass-market production. The product itself is a combination of numerous innovations. Each product Tesla has made relies on risks, creativity, out of the box thinking and team collaboration. Tesla, like Apple and Google, need workers who are not simply risk adverse, but are willing to explore, try, fail, innovate, create, and collaborate. Is our system creating these products or will our students need to rise above the system in  order to be successful? If they need to rise above the system, is it time to reconsider our work?

Think Different

The Film Room: Scientific Artistry Part II

Baseball season is around the corner. It's an amazing game. A game that appeals to those who have played, those who watch, and those who love math. For those that have played there is a certain feel, a memory, of standing in the batter's box. A moment staring down towards the pitcher, waiting, anticipating, the quick inhale as the ball comes and the energy as one unloads the bat. An insatiable sequence in which all that exists is a pitcher, yourself, and a ball hurling towards you. It is something that pulls you back towards the game whether you are 14 or 54. As an observer, there is a dramatic artistry that plays in front of you. After the initial batting sequence, this small white pellet is flung into the field. At times we see routine plays in which one sits under the ball and waits patiently for it to fall from the sky. At other times we see acrobatics as shortstops dive and flip for the ball or outfielders run as if they were gazelles streaking across the field eventually climbing the wall to grasp the ball before it lands. A play that moves from quiet stillness to dramatic exuberance in a heartbeat.

The interesting thing is that baseball offices are no longer run by former players, experts in the action, but now mathematicians. Graduates from Harvard, Yale, and Amherst. Computer nerds who run statistical models and probability. Individuals that loved the game but may not have been able to play it very well. They have charts, graphs, regression analysis, and spread diagrams. They know what area of the strike zone to swing and when to walk away. Baseball leaders, who are essentially mathematical gamblers, measuring payoffs of certain types of risks in relationship to the impact on winning. Within these models, there too is an elegance, exuberance, and energy. These are the leaders choosing rosters, guiding decisions, and facilitating the game.

Education has become full of metrics. Comparable data points in which we believe we can measure student development, teacher impact, programatic impact, and learning engagement. We create opportunities for student goals, teacher goals, administrative goals, and district goals. Measurable items that analyze change over periods of time. Metrics break things down into components and assume these pieces add up to a greater whole.

Carlos Quentin, like many baseball players, was a very analytical individual. He was constantly watching film, making adjustments, thinking about his swing. He consistently looked at metrics and was known for overthinking each at bat and each performance. Carlos constantly analyzed himself, seeking data on how much he could improve. This journey consistently had him underperforming his talent. He was known as an uptight, super focused individual. However, in 2008, as a member of the Chicago White Sox, Carlos was having a career year. It all seemed to be coming together. He was hitting .286 with 36 home runs when batting against Cliff Lee he became so frustrated with one of his swings that he punched his bat. Carlos broke his wrist, loosing the season and never regaining MVP form again.

More and more we are teaching students and teachers to focus on the metrics. It is an important, valuable, and dangerous path. A child focusing on a time-bound achievement goal may become so mechanical, that they lose the flow and ease of the product. Imagine a young reader, focusing on how many words per minute they can read. Focusing so much on speed that they lose comprehension. Imagine a teacher driven by the same words per minute metric that they don't halt the child so they can make their evaluation goal.

Metrics are becoming our film room. Ways in which we are analyzing and at times overanalyzing our practice. Metrics are valuable as they tell us about what we are seeing on the field and in the classroom, but they are only one measure of the art before us. In the end, it is the art and the game that matter, not simply the mathematical performance predictors.

The Day I Saw Courage

In the 80's we learned courage was going in face first against all odds. Courage was standing up to the impossible. All of the movies glorified it. Who couldn't remember John Rambo taking on all of the Vietnamese in Rambo: First Blood Part II, John McClane taking on German terrorists in Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard, or even Jimmy Chitwood sinking basket after basket as Hickory defeats Southbend in Hoosiers. Courage was something only amazing individuals possessed. Something that was hard to find within ourselves. Finding the courage inside was the theme of almost every movie.

As we grow up, we discover we aren't the bigger than life hero. Even though we want to be Joe and leave the drudgery of the office to go out into the wider world, we discover our realm is safe. Things happen. We find jobs, grow lives, become responsible for others, discover mortgages, bills, and taxes. Life becomes easier as we learn to play it safe. Soon the office becomes our lives and the theme music of life's dreams moseys into the sunset.

Over time we become risk averse. Less willing to share in front of others for fear of being judged. Less willing to try innovative ideas for fear of failing and losing either status or our livelihoods. Fear and desire for stability entrenches us in our status quo. Our inner creativity can often die as courage becomes an attribute of others.

However, there become times when others help us find it within ourselves. No, we aren't going to pick up the rifle and save the foreign language students from terrorists. Rather we find the courage to stand up and try something new. To share an idea. To present something you tried just yesterday. To be open and fallible with others. At our inservice yesterday, I saw teachers present ideas before their colleagues that they themselves were just exploring. New thoughts and techniques that had been tried for just the last few weeks or even few days. Individuals who had never shared before standing before their colleagues and saying, "Hey this isn't perfect, but I am liking the adventure." Sharing their risks and their students responses.

These individuals are finding the inner strength to say I have something to share. Becoming leaders in their own right. Encouraged perhaps by a colleague, a coach, or a principal. Discovering the courage to share, innovate, and create. A courage perhaps more needed and more important than one fighting a hopeless battle against all odds. A courage all of us need. In taking the risk, being fallible in front of their peers, they become the coach, the risk-taker, the encourage. Courage breeds courage. Thank you to those who took risks to share, encouraging us all to find the courage to share more.

A Courageous Thank You