Be nimble...be quick

I love Seth Godin's stuff - he states the obvious and then you say to yourself 'Why didn't I think of that?' While he writes primarily about marketing and business he is essentially a futurist, and we need to be listening.

Godin's latest blog post 'You will not be surprised' says it all about artificial intelligence. The automation of human activity is facinating. However, Seth says 'not so much'. Why?

'because it's incremental. Every time a computer takes over a job we never imagined a computer can do, it happens so gradually that by the time it's complete, we're not the slightest bit amazed. We now have computers that can play chess, read x-rays, drive down the highway at 55 miles an hour, understand our voice, scan documents for errors, do all traditional banking chores, correct our spelling, plot a route on foot or by plane, find the cheapest airfares and pick a face out of a crowd. At any time since 1970, if you went to live on a desert island for a decade, you would have been blown away by what happened when you got back. Day by day, though, human-only tasks quietly disappear. After the replacement, computers do some of these jobs better than we ever could, but, as they're evolving, we take each of these perfections and advancements for granted. It's too gradual to be awe-inspiring.'

We need to be careful we're not simply watching the story unfold. We need to be in the story ensuring we can think and act flexibly, ingenuously, ethically, nimbly and quickly.

This learning starts at home, then in school - it starts in our homes and school.

In lots of ways our school looks and feels like the primary school I went to in the '70s; and in many more ways, it looks nothing like it.

On any day I observe children using technology (both old and new) to solve problems we never heard of thirty years ago. There are Spheros for art work and directional knowledge, Edisons for measuring perimeter and area, iPads to explain everything and collaborate with their friends who are also explaining everything, Bots for spatial learning, whiteboards to draw and look at their thinking, ear buds for quiet problem solving, drones for learning careers of the future, Minecraft for mapping, history and just about everything else. Yes, nothing here that looks like the seventies.

Artificial intelligence isn't coming; it's here. Are we just going to watch it and say 'wow, that's amazing!' Or are we going to participate in its evolution? If, we are, we need to be nimble, and quick

Common courtesies, good manners - hundreds of years old but still the same

Manners matter... they are an opportunity to think generously about another person. They are used every day to make a good impression on others, and when used selflessly, can help you to feel good about yourself. No matter where you are, practicing good manners is important. Good manners (and smiles) draw people closer to you and can pave the way to solve many conflicts.

At Peregian Springs SS we teach children to use Common Courtesies or good manners explicitly and often. We believe firmly that being polite and courteous means considering how others are feeling whatever the situation is. Our Common Courtesies include greetings, polite requests and social expectations, such as being on time. It's old fashioned, you may say, to teach manners. And yes, it probably is. 

I went looking in the historical archives for the manners taught in Australian schools a century or more ago. I'm always enteretained by however much we change, there are always some things that stay the same :)

Kids love our school

I love Thursday mornings - it's when I do a school tour for families thinking of enrolling in our school. Sometimes we have lots of families complete with grandparents and younger siblings in prams and sometimes when I'm lucky it's just one parent. But no matter how big the group I love to be able to meet newcomers to our school, to have a one on one chat and be able to connect with new children who are often feeling a bit nervous.

I also love the stories new families tell about what they've heard about our school. And I always listen with trepidation when they say 'and we've heard about you'... :)

Last Thursday one gentleman told me how he was walking past the school one weekend and two boys about 13 and 14 came towards him on bikes; they were 'long haired' and up and down the guttering, and in his words 'didn't look likely they would have anything good to say about school'.

As they rode on one said to the other 'didn't you just love it there?'

'Yeah' replied the other one. 'It was ace - Peregian Springs is the best'. Our new family member was so surprised that two very unlikely looking lads would be speaking so highly of their primary school.

And it's true - our kids do love their school and every minute in it. It is such a wonderful legacy to leave children with fond memories of their first formal learning at school. Thursday mornings is often when I get to hear about it.