My job as a teacher

Thinking a great deal about this lately. I don't get a lot of chances to do direct instruction anymore, but this month I helped teach three "digital parenting" classes for our community education department and I am preparing some sessions for the North Dakota Library Association conference coming up soon.

While it's relatively easy to amass and repeat facts, statistics, and stories, the challenge for educators who wish to make a difference is turning that information into fuel that propels those who engage to keep learning past the time they spend with the instructor.

In parenting classes, I would not, if I could, provide answers to questions like:

• How much screen time should my child have?
• Is it OK for children to have Internet access in their bedrooms?
• Is there a way for kids to know if those they meet online are who they say they are?
• Is it wrong to pirate movies, songs, art?
• How do you keep your child from being cyberbullied?
• How does one establish a positive digital footprint?

I hope the parents who attended my classes came away believing these are important enough questions that they need to keep looking for their own answers to them.

Why do your students feel compelled to answer questions on their own, for themselves - finding personal, meaningful answers?