Technology trends in the classroom
Geneva Unit District 304 communications coordinator Kristy Poteete-Kriegermeier certainly hit the nail on the head when she recently sent me a note about the upcoming Innovation Forum at Geneva Middle School North.
She said technology is changing so fast that it dawned on school officials that many adults have no idea how different school is today than when they were in school.
This is definitely true for those of us who are attending high school reunions with numbers like 40th, 45th or 50th in front of them. (Can you tell I just went to my 45th reunion last week?)
More importantly, it seems, adults who graduated even just a few years ago could be amazed as well. Look at how fast your smartphone changes - and then figure education in our schools is on at least a similar curve.
"Social Media Manager and Front End Developer were definitely not job titles when I was a kid," Poteete-Kriegermeier wrote. "I can only imagine what is to come."
You can interpret that to mean schools have to prepare kids for these types of jobs now and in the future.
The forum, scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 26, will feature teachers and students demonstrating coding robots, creating and directing videos, engineering with a 3-D printer and various other innovations.
Something tells me students don't have to concern themselves as much these days with whether they are walking into class with a finely sharpened No. 2 pencil. Ah, the good old days. Wasn't it fun to get up and disrupt the class by going to crank that No. 2 in the classroom pencil sharpener?
Walk to these displays:
There are plenty of fun Halloween events and things for families to do, but here's a simple one for those who like taking a walk or bike ride along the trail on the west side of the Fox River.
The backyards of some homes along the trail, heading north from the Batavia Depot toward Fabyan Forest Preserve, or vice versa, have some excellent displays.
One has a "walk like an Egyptian" theme with plenty of mummies, and another has a "boating on the Fox River" theme with skeletons paddling away. Your kids should get a kick out of it.
That was easy:
OK, so you have to cough up anywhere between $25 to $35 to recycle your old TVs, depending on their size, but that new stipulation has sure lowered the crowds at Kane County's monthly recycling events on Randall Road in St. Charles.
That means it is a snap to go through the process.
Keep that in mind for the Nov. 12 recycling day. Plenty of other electronics can be unloaded if you aren't feeling like paying to get rid of an old tube TV. Plus, this event will offer document shredding and latex paint can drop-off, which will cost a few bucks per can. But who wants that stuff cluttering up your garage or storage areas?
China Wok rules:
Before her passing, my mother-in-law spent much of her life developing the skill to spot a good deal and act on it promptly.
As such, she made a point of going to lunch at China Wok in Geneva fairly often, usually taking her grandson along.
So, in her memory, my son and I recently went to that restaurant in the Geneva Ace Hardware plaza and found it to still be quite good and reasonably priced for the lunch special.
Like most Chinese restaurants, China Wok is generous with its portions. That means my takeout will cover two meals, and I suspect that was a key factor for my mother-in-law as well.
In lunch economics, that means two meals at a few bucks each.
Litter took over:
The baby boomers among us certainly remember the anti-littering public service campaigns of the 1960s on TV, showing a Native American with tears rolling down his cheeks after watching people pitch garbage from their cars and littering a pristine countryside.
What would that Native American be doing today if he happened to spot the areas around some of the retail strips that include fast food or carryout places? Or the open fields or berms after plastic bags or cups have blown out of recycling trucks?
That fellow would be bawling his eyes out.
dheun@sbcglobal.net