Playing With Fire
Buckle Up
Lately, I've been thinking about fire. In a recent interview, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence is, "one of the most important things that humanity is working on. It's more profound than, I don't know, electricity or fire." At first, I thought, "ELECTRICITY OR FIRE?! Does this guy realize what he's saying?" Then I thought that Pichai knows a heck of a lot more than I do about AI, so he knows exactly how it's revolutionizing the world. If its impact is on the level of electricity or fire, then buckle up, we're in for a heck of a ride.
Old School
Some teachers in the lunchroom were talking the other day about how students don't know how to tell time. The conversation went something like this, "When they sign out to go to the bathroom, they stare at the clock trying to figure out what time it is. They could have gone and come back in the time it takes them to read a clock!" Another teacher interjected, "It's terrible! Everything is so digital now."
While I have my thoughts on bathroom rules, I kept them to myself. However, I couldn't help but make the comment, "Just wait until they don't have to look at a digital clock and they just ask Google or Alexa for the time." An uproar ensued. "It's a shame!" "It's terrible!" "What's this world coming to?" You would have thought we were talking about the apocalypse. Or worse, getting rid of cursive writing!
Fire Challenge
I don't watch much television, but I am a huge fan of Survivor. One of my favorite parts of the show is when two contestants battle it out in a fire challenge to decide who gets to stay and who gets to go home. It's gripping, it's nail-biting, it's edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Why? Because not everyone knows how to make fire. If everyone knew how to do it, it wouldn't be that exciting. Survivor would have been a huge flop if it came out 10,000 years ago!
Did you ever stop to think about what it must have been like when early humans not only discovered fire, but discovered that they could harness it? Imagine being the first person to rub two sticks together to make fire. "Hey guys, check this out. This is going to revolutionize the world." Now imagine the shock of everyone else. "Holy crap! Get that away from me!" "What are you nuts?!" Do you think the first person to harness fire was shunned from the tribe? Do you think that there were people that wanted nothing to do with the revolutionizing technology?
Fast forward to 1862 when an English chemist named John Walker invented the first successful friction match (that's not a long time ago, if you think about it). Do you think that when he showed people that he could make fire with a flick of his wrist, there were some that said, "No, I'm good. Just gonna keep rubbing my sticks together." Do you think that there was a time when teachers in the lunchroom talked about kids that opted for matches over sticks? "Oh my gosh, you should see how long it takes him to start a fire with two sticks. He just sits there forever, rubbing them together. A natural brush fire will start before he gets his lit!" That's ridiculous, right? Who would sit there and rub two sticks together when you could just light a match?
Fire, Clocks, and AI
I don't know how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. I bet if I asked everyone that I know if they could light a fire by rubbing two sticks together that they don't know how to do it either. Why, because newer, better technologies came along and made the practice obsolete. And that's a good thing. So, why is it different with clocks? Why would we sit there, trying to tell the time on an analog clock when we could easily look at the digital, or better yet, just ask Google or Alexa.
Don't Miss My Point
My point here is not to say we shouldn't teach how to tell time. Obviously, it's an important skill. My point here is to look at things from a different perspective. I often hear people talking about this generation and that generation. "These millennials just don't get it!" Maybe it's not them that need to change. Maybe it's us. Maybe our instruction needs to change to meet the needs of our students, not vice versa. I find that more than telling time, students need to learn how to manage the limited time that they have to complete a task. I don't care if the clock is digital or analog, just manage it.
One final thought: while every generation has accomplished amazing feats to get us where we are today, we have dire problems that no one has been able to find solutions to yet. Those solutions are going to be solved by someone who might not be able to tell time on an analog clock. He or she might not be able to write cursive. He or she will almost definitely not be able to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together. But if they are able to discover a cure for cancer, I am not going care about any of that.
Lately, I've been thinking about fire. In a recent interview, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence is, "one of the most important things that humanity is working on. It's more profound than, I don't know, electricity or fire." At first, I thought, "ELECTRICITY OR FIRE?! Does this guy realize what he's saying?" Then I thought that Pichai knows a heck of a lot more than I do about AI, so he knows exactly how it's revolutionizing the world. If its impact is on the level of electricity or fire, then buckle up, we're in for a heck of a ride.
Old School
Some teachers in the lunchroom were talking the other day about how students don't know how to tell time. The conversation went something like this, "When they sign out to go to the bathroom, they stare at the clock trying to figure out what time it is. They could have gone and come back in the time it takes them to read a clock!" Another teacher interjected, "It's terrible! Everything is so digital now."
While I have my thoughts on bathroom rules, I kept them to myself. However, I couldn't help but make the comment, "Just wait until they don't have to look at a digital clock and they just ask Google or Alexa for the time." An uproar ensued. "It's a shame!" "It's terrible!" "What's this world coming to?" You would have thought we were talking about the apocalypse. Or worse, getting rid of cursive writing!
Fire Challenge
I don't watch much television, but I am a huge fan of Survivor. One of my favorite parts of the show is when two contestants battle it out in a fire challenge to decide who gets to stay and who gets to go home. It's gripping, it's nail-biting, it's edge-of-your-seat entertainment. Why? Because not everyone knows how to make fire. If everyone knew how to do it, it wouldn't be that exciting. Survivor would have been a huge flop if it came out 10,000 years ago!
Did you ever stop to think about what it must have been like when early humans not only discovered fire, but discovered that they could harness it? Imagine being the first person to rub two sticks together to make fire. "Hey guys, check this out. This is going to revolutionize the world." Now imagine the shock of everyone else. "Holy crap! Get that away from me!" "What are you nuts?!" Do you think the first person to harness fire was shunned from the tribe? Do you think that there were people that wanted nothing to do with the revolutionizing technology?
Fast forward to 1862 when an English chemist named John Walker invented the first successful friction match (that's not a long time ago, if you think about it). Do you think that when he showed people that he could make fire with a flick of his wrist, there were some that said, "No, I'm good. Just gonna keep rubbing my sticks together." Do you think that there was a time when teachers in the lunchroom talked about kids that opted for matches over sticks? "Oh my gosh, you should see how long it takes him to start a fire with two sticks. He just sits there forever, rubbing them together. A natural brush fire will start before he gets his lit!" That's ridiculous, right? Who would sit there and rub two sticks together when you could just light a match?
Fire, Clocks, and AI
I don't know how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. I bet if I asked everyone that I know if they could light a fire by rubbing two sticks together that they don't know how to do it either. Why, because newer, better technologies came along and made the practice obsolete. And that's a good thing. So, why is it different with clocks? Why would we sit there, trying to tell the time on an analog clock when we could easily look at the digital, or better yet, just ask Google or Alexa.
Don't Miss My Point
My point here is not to say we shouldn't teach how to tell time. Obviously, it's an important skill. My point here is to look at things from a different perspective. I often hear people talking about this generation and that generation. "These millennials just don't get it!" Maybe it's not them that need to change. Maybe it's us. Maybe our instruction needs to change to meet the needs of our students, not vice versa. I find that more than telling time, students need to learn how to manage the limited time that they have to complete a task. I don't care if the clock is digital or analog, just manage it.
One final thought: while every generation has accomplished amazing feats to get us where we are today, we have dire problems that no one has been able to find solutions to yet. Those solutions are going to be solved by someone who might not be able to tell time on an analog clock. He or she might not be able to write cursive. He or she will almost definitely not be able to light a fire by rubbing two sticks together. But if they are able to discover a cure for cancer, I am not going care about any of that.
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