Integrated art, music and technology, oh my!

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My grandmother lived to be 103!  She was one of the few people who lived through the turning of two centuries since she was born in 1899.  I am in awe when I think about the changes in technology she experienced. Grandma was a teacher around the time of the first World War (without a college degree).  I wonder what her classroom looked like. A chalkboard and desks were probably about it.  I attribute Grandma’s long life to her attitude about age and life in general.  According to her, you are only as old as you think you are and for her, it was always decades younger than her chronological age.  I remember asking if I could come over for a visit one day and she said she couldn’t because she had to take coffee to “those old people” that afternoon. (Grandma took coffee and cookies to the nursing home every Tuesday afternoon and at the time I am sure most of the people there were younger than she was!)   Grandma bowled and played golf well into her 90′s and yes, she even drove until then.  Her mind was sharp and most of the time her body was also.

Just imagine what it would have been like for her to go from no phones, to phones where you had to wait for a human operator to ask you for a 3-digit number to connect you, then to dial phones, 7-digit numbers, push button phones, adding an area code to a number and then cell phones – although the only cell phone she experienced was the old “brick” that had a battery life of about 90 minutes!  What would she think now of the new cell phones that double as computers for most functions?  She would have taken it in stride and joined up with everyone else.

You see Grandma had all the 21st Century skills.  She knew how to collaborate and communicate.  She also was innovative and creative.  After living through the Great Depression she was a master at problem-solving and critically thinking through all kinds of situations.  She read voraciously and was literate in so many subjects.  She didn’t have the attitude of “I don’t have time to learn how to use that thing!”  She would never have said, “I like doing things the way I ‘m used to doing them, I don’t have time to learn a new way of doing them.”  I never would have heard from her mouth, “Learning to do that new way is just one more thing on my plate that I don’t have time for.”

These are all attitudes I have come across at times with other teachers.  I have to wonder if improving their attitude toward change would prolong their lives just as much as eating right and being physically fit.  All I do know is that even when Grandma’s body was starting to give out, her mind and attitude stayed young, right up to the end.  She always enjoyed learning something new and visiting with people.  She appreciated that she could learn from others as well as from books or television so in her own way, she developed her own PLN (personal learning network) so to speak.

This school year, think about how you can prolong your own life.  Try something new. Develop a new skill. Invest your time up front to learn a new way of doing something to save time later.  You are never alone so seek out other educators.  Renew old friends on Facebook. Find innovative professionals on Twitter to follow.  Share what you know with others.  I can’t guarantee you will live to 103 like Grandma, but I will promise that you won’t get burned out and you will stay as young as you think you are.

Grandma would have loved Twitter!

2 Responses

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1. 

   Val

   We should all have such a great attitude about life and learning!

   July 15, 2010 at 10:32 am

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1. Tweets that mention Grandma would have loved Twitter! – Integrated art, music and technology, oh my! -- Topsy.com

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Val Downing, Val Downing. Val Downing said: Nice post about living and learning by @musikmarc http://bit.ly/d1abek [...]

   July 15, 201010:58 am