The Bendy Straw or What Social Media Means to Me

It was ten past one on a Sunday afternoon in West Hollywood. As I sat inside La Conversation waiting for my friend to arrive, I looked around the room admiring the beautiful décor of a bygone era. I couldn’t help but daydream about what it was like in Paris during the 1920s when all of this design was considered cutting edge. My daydream came to a close as the waiter set down a glass of water with a lemon wedge on my wobbly vintage table. I quickly snapped out of my trance and unwrapped the straw he left by my glass. I peeled off the paper slowly and nearly giggled as if I found a golden ticket. A bendy straw! Oh how I love bendy straws! The simplest things bring me so much joy.

I could go on and on about how much I love bendy straws. The sheer surprise you experience when you unwrap the paper and expect to find an ordinary straw. The accordion shape the makes a funny sound when it expands and contracts. And I must say, bendy straws are the most courteous straws I’ve ever encountered. They bend any which way to accommodate the drinker. It’s almost as if they reply with, “Oh, you want to sip from this direction madam? My pleasure!”

Now you’re probably thinking, what on earth do bendy straws have to do with social media? Well, it’s these little things that we take for granted that make our lives so much easier. Of course there are some days that I curse the Internet for making life so fast-paced that I feel like I need a vacation by lunchtime. But with all due respect, the Internet has made my life as a student a heck of a lot easier. I am so thankful I don’t have to rely on Encyclopedia Britannica copies at the library in order to research a topic or write a paper. My backpack is a lot lighter when I have the option of having all my textbooks on the Kindle or iPad. Not to mention the amount of storage space available on my shelves and trees still standing.            

Social media has made it possible for the individual to become a journalist, a revolutionary, a writer, an actor, a collaborator, a virtual assistant and an autonomous student.  The Internet has made it so easy to produce content, network with colleagues and connect with people all over the world. If I want to read articles from my favorite sources I can subscribe to RSS feeds. If I want to discover new music, I can go to Pandora. Netflix and Hulu make it easy to watch documentaries and movies instantly. What about keeping in touch with friends from Australia? Thanks to Skype, I can make phone calls via the computer for free and I can see them too. Ehow and YouTube supply me with endless tutorials and step-by-step instructions on everything from how to put together a stellar power point presentation to learning the choreography of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

The information found on the Internet is helpful, but there’s also a lot of nonsense out there. I think it’s easy to get distracted or lazy about what we’re reading. It’s important that students remember that not everything on the Internet is factual and that it is crucial for educators to teach students the process of evaluating information critically and effectively. There are a lot of people out there with ill motives, so it’s important to discuss safety issues with students so they can avoid getting into dangerous situations.

Ideally, my classroom would be equipped with computers, WiFi and a webcam with a giant screen in order to video conference with other classrooms around the world. Coding should be taught in addition to mathematics and other sciences. Many of these resources are already available through online services like Codeacademy. I believe technical literacy will springboard the next generation of web entrepreneurs and future leaders.

                In today’s fast-paced world, it is not enough to know the answers. It’s imperative to know where to find the answers. Resourcefulness and the ability to adapt quickly are the skills of the future. By encouraging students to go online, teachers are engaging and challenging them in the learning process. Projects and assignments transform into a vehicle for discovery. 

The World is Flat

Thomas Friedman has a lot to say. And I agree with some of the things he advocates. Just not the reasons behind them. He states that the 19^th century belonged to Britain and the 20^th century belonged to the U.S. and he reluctantly admits that if the U.S. doesn’t get its act together then the 21^st century will belong to China. I found it ironic that he was giving a talk about globalization and how the world is flattening  and our need to change or be left behind, yet he provides such primitive reasons for us to connect further in this shrinking world. Our motivations to innovate, imagine, empower and create effective systems and inventions should not be based on competition or who’s on first. That is as narcissistic and ethnocentric as us putting an American flag on the moon. Who cares who got their first? When did it become acceptable to adopt this greedy “me-centered” mentality? I mean, isn’t it self-interest and greed that got us into a mess in the first place as a planet?

Yes, we need to be innovating. We need to value our planet, develop young minds with the tools to navigate this ever-changing landscape of technology and the world, but we need to do it out of love for our fellow man and our planet. Not out of ego, greed, and fear of being left behind. We need to innovate because our future will be brighter, our world will be more peaceful and together we will flourish as a global civilization. If we approach this era, thinking an instruction manual for an antique typewriter will be applicable to a Macbook Air… boy are we doomed to repeat history.

Friedman pleads for us to “change our leaders, not our lightbulbs.” What difference does it make to change our leaders if we are still operating in a broken system? We need to change the infrastructure and if we wait until the “right” politician gets  into office it will be too late. We need to assume leadership. Not to say government has no place in modern society. But responsible governance should start by individuals taking responsibility and leadership in their communities. Our whole framework and foundation for society needs to be rebuilt from the grassroots. It starts with one person in the village. One determined, inspired, enthusiastic individual who will assume leadership because he or she deeply cares about what the future will be like for his or her family and community. We need to take ownership of our communities instead of acting as passive participants. This extends to every level of society, most importantly education.

Our curriculum should teach process more than outcome, skills that apply to a wide variety of disciplines, and problem-solving skills through project-based instruction. The role of education now should be to teach a child how to fish and how to fish with others. With a major emphasis on the “how” and the “collaborate.”

My hope for the future is that people will open their eyes to each other’s gifts and view our neighboring countries as neighbors who we can carpool with, have BBQs with and rely on instead of neighbors we try to outshine out of insecurity and unhealthy attachment to “keeping up with the Jones’.”

Educational Philosophy

In order to become better educators, we need to become keen observers of human behavior and champions of human potential. My educational philosophy is centered in investigating the truth. We have to be aware of our students’ needs and their styles of learning. I think we should approach learning as “truth-centered” instead of “student-centered” or “teacher-centered.” By uniting teacher and student to a common vision, we can explore the truth as partners, learn and appreciate each other’s talents and faculties and adapt to find solutions together.

Living in this digital age we also need to learn how to be flexible and adapt quickly. One of the most incredible things about technology is the pace at which it evolves. There’s always a new software update or expansion pack for a video game. By the time we grow accustomed to a technology, a new innovation hits the stage and we have to embrace it or be left behind. I think we need to incorporate that rate of innovation into our classrooms. Classrooms of the future not only have to be technologically wired, teachers need to be technologically minded. We need to be able to change at a rapid pace, explore knowledge in new ways and focus on giving our students skills that could be applied to a number of subjects including the real world.

Students are constantly telling us who they are, what they’re struggling with and, if we listen carefully, what we can do to help them. Recently, I worked as a curriculum specialist at an elementary school working with students from the 1^st-6^th grade.

During a review session with the 6^th graders, one student informed me about her learning preferences. While playing the game “Around the World,” Daniela started to panic when it reached her turn. I asked the question and saw her stumbling to process my question when I knew in my heart that she knew the answer. She finally blurted out in a panicked state, “Mrs. Reyhani! Can I see the question? I can’t remember.” Unfortunately, by the time she expressed her difficulty, her classmate shouted out the answer and she lost her turn. I will never forget the look of frustration and disappointment on her face. That day I thought, what could have happened in that moment that she couldn’t answer the question. I remember writing that very same question on the board the day before and she was the first student to raise her hand with the correct answer. At that moment, I realized that Daniela needs to “see” what is being asked of her. So from that point on, I decided to experiment with different visual aids and would make sure that she could see what was being asked of her. She’s a much happier student and I’m a much happier teacher knowing that it was a matter of finding out how to speak her language and speaking it.

I think our challenge in future education is going to be of a spiritual nature. How can we set aside politics in order to provide our students with the tools necessary to succeed in this world and how can we ensure technology is used for humanity’s progress not destruction? As we’re stretching our capacities and entering a smaller, more complex and interconnected world, we need to exercise responsibility and incorporate a set of values to create a global community where our focus is on collaboration instead of competition and extinction.