blog stalker
I admit it, I am a total blog stalker.
I like reading the blogs of friends and acquaintances and I wonder if it is a necessarily a good thing. I tend to think it probably isn't.
Blogs - a fantastically easy way to get caught up on the details (and occassionally the minutiae) of someone's life without actually having to talk with them, see them, or really have them even know you are doing it.
Over the past few years, I have watched my little hit counter at the bottom rise steadily. One can only assume that it is probably the same group of people checking in once in awhile to see if I have written. I do the same thing to others. It is usually out of boredom.
Take today, for example. I am currently sitting in a public library in Lititz. (Go ahead Jon, giggle) I am sitting with a really nice 6th grader who, for some reason, could not make the mandatory PSSA testing for our school. So, here I am, giving the test to him. He is taking a bit longer than most kids do - not a huge deal - but as a result, I have been sitting in this seat since 9:00 this morning. It is now 2:00. Oh, and I did not bring lunch. It is amazing he can concentrate over the rumblings of my stomach.
Anyway, today is a perfect day to stalk people's blogs. And I have. Most of you have not updated - for shame - and instead I have turned to doing my own post.
Earlier today, I was reading an article in The Week about the facebook generation and how most people from the early tweens to the late twenties are rarely ever alone. What happened to the ability to disconnect from the world and escape into your own mind? How long can you go without checking facebook / email / twitter / myspace / blogs? Personally, I get antsy when I do not get a chance to check these every few hours. I get a ridiculous sense of accomplishment and, dare I say, sense of rebellion if I come home from work (on the computer, all day) and do not turn on my lappy and do not check all of these social networking devices.
The article talked about how crucial introspection (which relies on being alone) is during the "formative years" of a person's life. If you are never really alone, how can you figure out who you are? One of the questions that has always plagued me is, "Do other people think?"
That probably sounds REALLY self-absorbed and pretentious of me. But I have to wonder.
I know that I spend way too much time thinking. Don't worry - I am usually not thinking about myself! I seem to have an extremely developed ability to be unaware of myself, both to my benefit and detriment. Anyway, I think a lot and all the time. The only time I am not thinking all over the place is when I am focused on a sigular activity. Singing, writing, and lesson creation / teaching are like this for me. Also, focusing on a person if they are asking my advice or telling me something important. They block out everything else. But the rest of the time, my mind is multi-task central.
I have had the time in my past (and my present, I suppose) to really be alone and to think about things. And even when I have not exactly had the alone time, I knew how to think, and so I could sort of compartmentalize and think while occupied with other tasks. Amazing how the brain works!
But that brings me back to that question - do people think? And if kids learn to think by being alone or by doing "real time" interacting (and no, I do not mean Twitter or text message or IM or anything else)... are they limited in terms of their development?
I am not sure if it is me getting older (and wiser and I guess more presumptuous) or what... but more and more I am interacting with students who are showing me that they do not really know how to think. I ask a student if they think a bicycle wheel has radial symmetry. I have explained the concept of radial symmetry. They give me the verbal equivalent to a blank stare, then ask what page it is on. And that is merely just knowing a definition. Take it a step further - I ask a student to explain in their own words the results of Mendel's Pea Plant experiments, and they copy directly from the book. Or they detail the experiment. They cannot take the words, mull it over in their brain, and use different words to explain it. Another perfect example is asking a student to do a probability question in genetics. If 2 out of 4 children have a genetic disease, what percentage have the disease? What is the chance of the child getting the disease? I don't know, this is not math class. What?! Really?!
So it is scary... if alone-ness creates the time and frame for learning how to think inside of your own head... and children now never are alone... what will happen in the future?
It relates also to nature-deficit disorder. I remember when I was younger, my brother and I would tell my mom that we were out playing. We might be down the street playing street hockey. We might be playing man-hunt. I was just as likely to be inside of a neighbors house. Be home at dinner! That was all she needed to say or to worry about. And we would be off! We were able to interact with other kids and have that mental alone time. But now... my parent's neighborhood, where I grew up, is mostly silent. There is a little roving gang of about 3 kids that ride bikes together once in awhile. Other than that, summer sounds like birds, crickets, and, once in awhile, a dog barking. The laughter that you could once provided a constant background cacophony is now silent.
Here is what I suggest to you... and probably mostly to myself:
Next time you are "bored" or feeling "jittery" because you cannot check the interwebnet.... do one of two things:
1) call someone. Don't go check their blog - call them, ask them how they are doing. Tell them you have 10 minutes and just wanted to see how they were doing
2) think. Spend just 10 minutes thinking. How is your life going? Are you where you want to be? Do you have good friends, good family? Are you taking care of your body? What do you want to accomplish today? this year? 5 years from now? 10?
Being introspective is not a terrible thing - so long as it does not turn to selfishness and pride. I think the really terrible thing is the disconnect we really have from each other. Reading someone's blog does not make you friends. If you think I am judging you, I am not. I am just as guilty as charged. Perhaps this whole entry is really about judging myself.
Maybe it is because, sitting in this little library in Lancaster, I am actually alone. And it has given me some time to think.
I like reading the blogs of friends and acquaintances and I wonder if it is a necessarily a good thing. I tend to think it probably isn't.
Blogs - a fantastically easy way to get caught up on the details (and occassionally the minutiae) of someone's life without actually having to talk with them, see them, or really have them even know you are doing it.
Over the past few years, I have watched my little hit counter at the bottom rise steadily. One can only assume that it is probably the same group of people checking in once in awhile to see if I have written. I do the same thing to others. It is usually out of boredom.
Take today, for example. I am currently sitting in a public library in Lititz. (Go ahead Jon, giggle) I am sitting with a really nice 6th grader who, for some reason, could not make the mandatory PSSA testing for our school. So, here I am, giving the test to him. He is taking a bit longer than most kids do - not a huge deal - but as a result, I have been sitting in this seat since 9:00 this morning. It is now 2:00. Oh, and I did not bring lunch. It is amazing he can concentrate over the rumblings of my stomach.
Anyway, today is a perfect day to stalk people's blogs. And I have. Most of you have not updated - for shame - and instead I have turned to doing my own post.
Earlier today, I was reading an article in The Week about the facebook generation and how most people from the early tweens to the late twenties are rarely ever alone. What happened to the ability to disconnect from the world and escape into your own mind? How long can you go without checking facebook / email / twitter / myspace / blogs? Personally, I get antsy when I do not get a chance to check these every few hours. I get a ridiculous sense of accomplishment and, dare I say, sense of rebellion if I come home from work (on the computer, all day) and do not turn on my lappy and do not check all of these social networking devices.
The article talked about how crucial introspection (which relies on being alone) is during the "formative years" of a person's life. If you are never really alone, how can you figure out who you are? One of the questions that has always plagued me is, "Do other people think?"
That probably sounds REALLY self-absorbed and pretentious of me. But I have to wonder.
I know that I spend way too much time thinking. Don't worry - I am usually not thinking about myself! I seem to have an extremely developed ability to be unaware of myself, both to my benefit and detriment. Anyway, I think a lot and all the time. The only time I am not thinking all over the place is when I am focused on a sigular activity. Singing, writing, and lesson creation / teaching are like this for me. Also, focusing on a person if they are asking my advice or telling me something important. They block out everything else. But the rest of the time, my mind is multi-task central.
I have had the time in my past (and my present, I suppose) to really be alone and to think about things. And even when I have not exactly had the alone time, I knew how to think, and so I could sort of compartmentalize and think while occupied with other tasks. Amazing how the brain works!
But that brings me back to that question - do people think? And if kids learn to think by being alone or by doing "real time" interacting (and no, I do not mean Twitter or text message or IM or anything else)... are they limited in terms of their development?
I am not sure if it is me getting older (and wiser and I guess more presumptuous) or what... but more and more I am interacting with students who are showing me that they do not really know how to think. I ask a student if they think a bicycle wheel has radial symmetry. I have explained the concept of radial symmetry. They give me the verbal equivalent to a blank stare, then ask what page it is on. And that is merely just knowing a definition. Take it a step further - I ask a student to explain in their own words the results of Mendel's Pea Plant experiments, and they copy directly from the book. Or they detail the experiment. They cannot take the words, mull it over in their brain, and use different words to explain it. Another perfect example is asking a student to do a probability question in genetics. If 2 out of 4 children have a genetic disease, what percentage have the disease? What is the chance of the child getting the disease? I don't know, this is not math class. What?! Really?!
So it is scary... if alone-ness creates the time and frame for learning how to think inside of your own head... and children now never are alone... what will happen in the future?
It relates also to nature-deficit disorder. I remember when I was younger, my brother and I would tell my mom that we were out playing. We might be down the street playing street hockey. We might be playing man-hunt. I was just as likely to be inside of a neighbors house. Be home at dinner! That was all she needed to say or to worry about. And we would be off! We were able to interact with other kids and have that mental alone time. But now... my parent's neighborhood, where I grew up, is mostly silent. There is a little roving gang of about 3 kids that ride bikes together once in awhile. Other than that, summer sounds like birds, crickets, and, once in awhile, a dog barking. The laughter that you could once provided a constant background cacophony is now silent.
Here is what I suggest to you... and probably mostly to myself:
Next time you are "bored" or feeling "jittery" because you cannot check the interwebnet.... do one of two things:
1) call someone. Don't go check their blog - call them, ask them how they are doing. Tell them you have 10 minutes and just wanted to see how they were doing
2) think. Spend just 10 minutes thinking. How is your life going? Are you where you want to be? Do you have good friends, good family? Are you taking care of your body? What do you want to accomplish today? this year? 5 years from now? 10?
Being introspective is not a terrible thing - so long as it does not turn to selfishness and pride. I think the really terrible thing is the disconnect we really have from each other. Reading someone's blog does not make you friends. If you think I am judging you, I am not. I am just as guilty as charged. Perhaps this whole entry is really about judging myself.
Maybe it is because, sitting in this little library in Lancaster, I am actually alone. And it has given me some time to think.
posted by FireWithin at 1:50 PM
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