Feeling small
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at 06:21PM 
I love rants. I love to read them. I love to write them.
But I am not so sure I like to be the subject of them.
Rob Rubis at the Internation School of Bangkok takes me to task big time for some comments and assumptions I made in regard to the program there in response to blog posts and commentary written by the TLCs (technology and learning coordinators) at his school. Please read Rob's post. His comments and frustrations may resonate with many teacher-librarians around the world.
If you have been following the Blue Skunk at all, you know I asked why it seems that technology cooridnators seem to be reinventing the same wheel that ibrarians have been rolling for sometime, with the efforts at ISB as an example/springboard. My comments were never meant as a criticism of ISB's particular program, but as a means of exploring why this seems to be a general trend in schools around the world.
Every now and then I do something so insensitive that my 6'3" frame shrinks to about 3" tall. Once it happened when I teased a woman about how important she must be to have left her cell phone on during one of my workshops. She later apologized and told me that her husband was in the hospital doing very poorly and that was why she left the phone on. I shrunk then and I've never mentioned a ringing cell phone in my presentations since that day.
I'm feeling pretty much the same way now. Looking at a situation in the abstract, as an exemplar, as a philosophical touchstone may seem harmless to me as a writer, but it obviously touched a nerve with those commented upon at ISB. All I can do is apologize and hope that I remember the lesson and become more sensitive in the future. Behind every generality are real people.
I've always said that while we are born homo sapiens, it takes a lifetime to become human. I am still working on it.
