Tom Johnson, or should I say John Spencer is a lover of metaphors. Where I appreciate the usefulness of metaphors in our language, I am not sure I could read or write with them to the degree that Mr. Spencer (Johnson) does. I am more of a "say what you mean" type of person but I think my preference is more a result of not having the degree of talent in my writing as Mr. Spencer.
Here are 4 of the latest posts from his blog:
As you can see there is a recurring theme here: pencils. Not pencils, really because thats the metaphor. Anyway, we all know by now that Mr. Spencer is discussing how computers can and do influence your students and your classroom, and how the tools or "medium" you choose can have a severe affect on the learning that occurs. Today we have access to an immeasurable amount of tools, however using them all may not be the right decision. Even with computer access, sometimes we need to remember that there is a brain inside our heads that works. The teacher and his or her class should not be defined by the computer. It should be used as a tool to facilitate learning. We have a multitude of issues in a classroom that cannot be addressed by the computer. In Mr. Spencer's case, he is an 8th grade teacher dealing with the identity crisis of the middle school "tween". As Mr. Spencer describes to his audience stories about his adventures in pencil integration, we get much more of a story of a teacher that loves his job and his students and tries to pass on a little of his knowledge so that maybe someone else can learn from his experience.
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