PLN #6

Summary:


  In the video, “What if...” by our very own Mr. Karl Fisch, he slowly goes over the time in schools... all the way back from the 1700’s! It basically goes over how much our society depends on what we use in schools, and who believes in it, or disagrees. Mr. Fisch starts with a teachers conference in 1703, with the quote, “Students today can’t prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend on their slates, which are more expensive. What will they do when their slates break?” As the video progresses on, playing a classic piece of music, he goes through time...  telling the watcher how many times teachers tried to tell society what would happen. The video simply starts with slates and how students depend on them so much, that when they break, the students won’t know what to do. Then it moves to ink in 1815, and what will happen when the pencil breaks? 1928, The Rural American Teacher states how now even pens with dipping ink is leaving, and being replaced by fountain pens, setting them up for extravagance they aren't going to have in business. 1941, PTA Gazette, “Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of our country.” 1950, students can’t use calculators... it will make them forget  how to use the tables in the back of their books. 1980’s teacher, Math teacher from 1989, another teacher from 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, the list goes on! All these teachers coming together, one voice of a different time, all trying desperately to show who the students of america are turning into! The last quote, from Mr. Fisch himself, is him stating to his class, “Turn off and put away all cell phones, IPods, and electronic devices in class!”  That is how much our country has changed in 300 years! From worry about slates and paper, to IPods and cellphones. The last slide of the video, states something short and simple. “What if... WE HAD LISTENED?”

Response:


  The... moving, beautiful, amazing video, “What if...” by Mr. Fisch made me think. Is our society really that dependent? Do we really need all of this... junk to survive? What would happen to the world if everyones IPods stopped working? What if electricity died? What if the world went black? 300 years ago, that didn’t matter... because we weren’t so dependent. The children played in the streets, and didn't need ipods or laptops for entertainment. But as time wore on, things were invented, cars were invented. People became more lazy and didn’t walk, now they had something to take them wherever they wanted for a small price. Then phones, then cell phones, than radios, computers, do I need to continue? Our country has changed immensely, and Karl Fisch proves an amazing point. What if we had listened? How much different would our world be if we had listened and believed the teachers? I strongly agree with the point Mr. Fisch made in this video, and respect him for saying so.