Memorabilia

I’m continuing to meet teachers from across the U.S. at NCTE’s Institute for 21st Century Literacies in beautiful downtown Indianapolis. Something that struck me today is the guilt factor surrounding new literacies. Of course, there has always been guilt around reading and writing. Kids in primary grades are already status conscious about their reading. I was deep into my 20s before I realized that it is OK to abandon a book. I was forcing myself to finish any book I started, and my reading life really suffered for it.

There is no doubt that teachers are continuing to struggle with the technical aspects of all this. But I was struck today by another trend: the teachers who are guilt stricken, and are really agonizing about this. Some express that they are going to have to give up something when they start a blogging project or a wiki. Whether it’s an analytic essay assignment or a Lord of the Flies simulation, there is the feeling among some teachers that something is going to have to go when they add these new forms of communicating. Although I’m feeling an intense hunger from teachers for new ideas this week, I’m also getting the feeling that the new media are threatening the proverbial baby’s being thrown out with the bath water, which was an idiom I heard used today. It made me wonder what things should endure. It’s like the teachers are mourning a former relationship as they begin to enter a new one, and feeling guilty about keeping any mementos from a former love.