Dad's Computer Rules

Vicki Davis lists her "11 Steps to Online Parental Supervision of your Children" on her (Cool Cat Teacher Blog, Sept 16, 2006, and Miguel Guhlin riffs on them here. Sensible and sensitive advice.

My list for my (now grown) son which I published in Learning Right From Wrong in the Digital Age.

Dad’s Household Computer Rules

• Do not break the law. I don’t have money for bail or fines.
• Do not invade others’ privacy (and I will respect yours).
• Do not give out ANY personal information about yourself or the family.
• Be truthful about who you say you are in online communications.
• Talk to me if anything about a website concerns or confuses you. I know that bad sites can be accessed accidentally.
• Don’t download and install software without my permission. I mean it.
• Be as smart, skeptical, and cautious online as you are elsewhere.
• Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do if I were watching you. I just might be.

If I were rewriting these today, I would add:

• Watch how much time you spend online. Too much and you'll go blinky and possibly psycho.
  

As of this writing, my son is 1) out of jail, 2) seems to have fairly decent values, and 3) hasn't been abducted by anyone.
 

Embracing you inner confusion

A teacher commented on my e-mail signature quote last week:

The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. Wendell Berry

The mention brought to mind an excellent article that appeared in the January 2005 Kappan magazine that I reread on the flight to Denver this weekend. "Embracing Confusion: What Leaders Do When They Don't Know What to Do" by Barry C. Jentz and Jerome T. Murphy.

 The article recommends strategies for leaders who encounter situations which simply catch them off guard, had the "rug pulled out" from under their feet. The authors write that we do NOT want a leader in such situations who:

• instinctively blames circumstances or other people when things go wrong;
• says he is open to input but regards any feedback as criticism and doesn't listen to others;
• hates uncertainty and opts for action even when totally confused; or
• takes a polarized view of leadership in which anything less than take-charge decision making shows abject weakness.

Jentz and Murphy go on to suggest using the 5 step RIA model in "confusing" situations:

1. Embrace your confusion.
2. Assert your need to make sense.
3. Structure the interaction.
4. Listen reflectively and learn.
5. Openly process your effort to make sense.

Most of us who work in technology and education experience confusion on nearly a daily basis. Well, at least I do. In fact I seemed to grow more confused about life in general as years go by.

Yet new challenges, problems, and even confusion certainly keep one's life and job from getting boring.  Thinking about some positive reactions to puzzling situations is healthy for both ourselves and for those with whom we work.

What do you do when you just don't know what to do? 

Comments for the ISTE leadership?

I'm in Denver  to attend the fall ISTE board meeting this weekend.  12+ hours of reports, budgets, reports, policies, reports, and way too much to snack on during these marathon sessions.

Please send me anything you would like the leadership to know about how ISTE is doing for you as a member (or potential member). What should be in the "refreshed" NETS standards? How was NECC in San Diego? How are Leading & Learning and ISTE's other publications meeting your needs? How should ISTE be using its lobbying clout? Ideas for attracting and retaining members? How is your SIG doing?

I am your voice on the board. Let me know.