A Digital Day

This weekend I facilitated a workshop for nine teachers in a couple small private K-8 schools near Banks. I was more anxious about this session than most because these were teachers of children, something I've never done, I didn't know them and I really wasn't certain what they expected.

As I waited for the arrival of the students, the teachers, I noticed a coffee table type book on display on the upper shelf. It was called One Digital Day, How the Microchip is Changing our World. It wasn't fill with iPads and cell phones and robots. It was filled with pictures that appeared very routine, pigs on a farms, old women in a line in southern Africa, children in playgrounds. The pigs were being examined with computer equipment, the women were identifying themselves with fingerprints for their monthly government checks and the children were supervised by video cameras. Hundreds of pages of pictures showing how microchips affect our lives every day everywhere.

There is a balance in everything we do, such as microchips versus trees, flowers, pets and family; such as family versus work and class. Someone will someday look back and notice the thousands of hours on computers but I hope they don't ignore the calluses on my hands, the mud on my boots, and the sand dust in my lungs. But most importantly I hope they don't ignore my children, my wife, my friends, my trips to China and Africa to help with whatever I could. I hope also that someday you will be remembered for the people you know and not the day you missed class or didn't post a blog entry.