Reflective Synopsis - ICT's can make teaching more efficient and enhance student learning

There is nothing like enrolling in a university program to force yourself to learn new things!

Recently I have learned a lot about Information Communication Technologies (ICT's) and their potential uses in education. Many of these technologies are breaking new ground and truly cater to the needs of the 'Digital Natives' in our 21st Century Classrooms.

Interactive White Boards (IWB's) tick all the boxes in terms of student-centred learning and increased engagement. I was speaking to a Grade 3 teacher recently, and she told me that her IWB is used daily and is central to her teaching.

She gave the example of students asking questions about Japan, where she had recently been on holiday. Using the IWB she was able to pull up the world map and show the location of Japan in relation to Australia. When students showed an interest, she was quickly able to show them information about Japanese culture, food and customs.

This very simple example shows how IWB technology can make the art of teaching more student-centred by enabling the learning journey to follow the natural curiosity of the students. The teacher can answer the students' questions accurately, (see my post 'Constant Questions'), interactively and in an engaging way, whereby students direct their own learning.

IWB technology transforms the relationship between teacher and student to one where the teacher is more a facilitator or learning manager and prepared to be guided by the students in their learning. (i.e. Question 2, of Lynch's 8 Learning Management questions: Where does my learner need/want to be?).

Furthermore, the use of IWB's in the classroom shows students how to source information and determine its suitability. This is very much in line with Mode 2 learning and "The trend toward capability rather than competence". Smith & Mienszakowski (2003). In today's knowledge-rich environment students need to know how to source, identify and evaluate the quality of information to suit their purpose.

IWB's are environmentally friendly, save duplication of effort and make teaching more efficient. My post, 'Can't wait to get my hands on one of these', talks about an on-line community where teachers from around the globe share their resources.

According to Engagement Theory, Kearsley & Schneiderman (1999), "students [in order to learn effectively] must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks, and ... technology can facilitate engagement in ways which are difficult to achieve otherwise."

Interaction with others is easily achieved with the use of a Wiki in the classroom. A Wiki enables students to work collaboratively on projects, they are easily updated and can be accessed 24/7 so that students can interact, create and learn whenever they choose. Wikis are well aligned to Engagement Theory, in particular the aspects of Relate, Create and Donate. This blog post, talks about students who worked together to create a Wiki-based, online history book, which was then donated to the global audience via the Internet. Carolyne Thornton created a Wiki for an authentic purpose and here is my Cyclonic Wiki.

Another way to enhance student learning is through Blogging. Over the past 8 weeks I have grown to love my Blog and the freedom it gives me to express my ideas and share my thoughts in a public forum. This technology can do even more for the students in our classrooms, as detailed in my Blog post, 'Why let our students Blog?'

As a Primary teacher, a class Blog will be an effective pedagogical strategy as it offers an engaging way to motivate students and communicate classroom happenings with the outside world. Students can be creative, articulate their thoughts and practice their writing skills, then share them with an audience as small as the classroom or truly global in proportions. Furthermore, the audience can respond! How engaging is that!

I believe Blogs and Wikis could be Active Learning in it's finest form, as students are creating their own work, reflecting upon it, then posting it to a real world audience. Blogs and Wikis enable direct & purposeful experience and an opportunity to immediately use their knowledge, teach others and practice by doing - which according to Dale's Cone and the Learning Pyramid, are the most effective ways to retain new information.

As we all have preferred learning styles and strategies, it is important to use a diverse range of teaching strategies to engage as many learners as possible.

"We all learn differently, and we learn all of the time.

We learn in quiet reflections, in noisy leaps and in social interactions

that arouse our emotions. A wonderful characteristic of learning is that we learn when we feel secure and cosy and also when we feel challenged".

Randall Fielding - Architect

Powerpoint (PPT) is a great tool, as it can incorporate images, diagrams, charts, graphs and visual aids for the visual learners as well as written information and bullet points for the verbal learners. Animations, music and dialogue ensure that PPT presentations cater to a diverse range of learning styles. They can be easily up-dated, re-used and shared, once again making the art of teaching more efficient.

PPT presentations make an excellent introduction to a topic, an easy way to 'chunk' large volumes of information, (i.e. Dimension 2), or enable a succinct summary at the end of a lesson. Students can also learn the art of creating a PPT to communicate their message, keeping in mind some issues discussed in my post on PPT.

Other technologies that cater to a diverse range of learners are Glogs, Avatars and Claymation.

Carolyne Thornton has posted a Glog created by her 7 year old son, which shows just how creative a primary school student can be with technology. Imagine a primary school project presented in a Glog like this!

Avatars have many uses, including use as a quirky introduction or 'hook' for a lesson, as explored in my post 'Vokis are fun'.

I also love Claymation technology. A class of Grade 2 students at my son's school, so enjoyed using Claymation to create their own mini-beasts, that Claymation technology now forms part of the Grade 2 curriculum. Here is a great example of claymation used in a primary setting, created by students from Irving ISD in Texas.

Digital images (e.g. Flickr), and technologies like Picasa, Picnik and Photo Story add another dimension to learning, as students can learn to manipulate images creatively in their school work. Alicia Clarke and Sam Prior have some great ideas for using images from Flickr in the classroom. My post also has some ideas.

I am excited to be embarking on a career in the teaching profession at a time when a paradigm shift is taking place in classrooms of the 21st Century.


References:

Smith, R., Lynch, D. & Meinczakowski, . (2003). "The bachelor of learning management (BLM) in education capability", Change: Tranformations in Education, (6) (2): 23-37. Retrieved April 29, 2010 from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44465

Prensky, M. (2001), Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, From On the Horizon (NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001), retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://www.hfmboces.org/HFMDistrictServices/TechYES/PrenskyDigitalNatives.pdf

Felder, R.M. and Brent, R. (2004) The Abc's of Engineering Education: Abet, Bloom's Taxonomy, Cooperative Learning, and so on. North Carolina State University/Education Designs, Inc.Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition

Aldred, S. (2010) ICT's for Learning Design courseware(EDED20491), CQ University, Rockhampton, QLD Australia.

The Albiene Christian University Adams Centre for Teaching Excellence. (2000). Why use active learning? Retrieved on 29 april 2010 from http://www.acu.edu/cte/activelearning/whyuseal2.htm

Quote by Randall Fielding, retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://www.designshare,com/articles/1/133/fielding_light-learn-color.pdf

Kearsley, G. & Schneiderman, B. (1999) Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning. Retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm

Heath, G. (2001) Teacher Education and the New Knowledge Environment, Paper presented to the Australian Association for Educational Research Conference, Fremantle December 2001, retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://www.aare.edu.au/01pap/hea01582.htm

Marzano, R. and Pickering, D. et al, (1997), Dimensions of Learning Teachers Manual (2nd Edition), McREL.

Felder,R. & Solomon, B. () 'Learning Styles and Strategies', North Carolina State university, Retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm
Sample of claymation technology, 'Wilson's World', Irving Independant School District, Irving, Texas, USA, retrieved on 29 April 2010 from http://www.irvingisd.net/claymation/june2007/Wilsons%20World_0001.htm

A sample of fellow students' blogs I have commented on:
http://learningjourneycaro.blogspot.com/2010/04/another-glog.html

http://samanthasjourney-gdlt.blogspot.com/2010/04/school-playground.html

http://talkintoleesha.blogspot.com/2010/04/flickr.html
http://changing-ideas.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-earth.html - comment made about Chloe's great idea for using Google Earth, however my comment is not visible on her blog.

Powerpoint is a cool tool - but not without it's issues!

While studying the ICT for Learning Design coursework recently I decided to prepare a Power Point (PPT) on Aboriginal Art. I spent 2-3 hours on this presentation and - not to blow my own trumpet or anything - but it looked pretty good. I had incorporated some animation, I had used some bullet points, but not too many, my slides were interesting but not too detailed, and I had links to websites and on-line quizzes. I was pretty happy with it and felt I had incorporated all the tips I had learned about creating an effective PowerPoint.

I then hesitated when it came to publish my PowerPoint on my Blog and post it to the forum. Why was I hesitating...?

I realised I felt uneasy about it as I had copied images from several websites; and although I had referenced them throughout my PPT, and also at the end, I hadn't yet received a response to my emailed request for permission to use these images.

I hesitated a bit more...? Should I, shouldn't I? I looked up the copyright details on these websites, I considered that my PPT had been prepared for educational purposes, I had referenced it throughout and I wasn't making money from it, so surely it would be OK - wouldn't it? I talked to my husband about it (he's a lawyer and knows about this stuff)! He was quite keen that I not be sued over breach of copyright, so I decided to run it all past our trusty lecturer Scot Aldred.

To cut a long story short, I have decided not to use my beautiful PowerPoint and most definately not to post it to a public forum as there are just way too many issues to consider and too many grey areas for my comfort. At first I was annoyed over my wasted effort and the fact I would have to prepare another PPT, using up precious time I don't have! I was then given a different way to look at it.

Scot, our trusty lecturer, told me about Nulloo Yumbah, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander network attached to CQ University. Nulloo Yumbah states that one of it's goals is to "establish and maintain appropriately focused engagements with relevant communities and organisations in the promotion of CQUniversity and the services the university can provide to address community and organisational interests".

In light of this, Scot suggested that rather than a white fella teaching black fella culture and artwork, why not contact members of the local aboriginal communities and ask someone to come along and explain it all first hand? Not a bad idea I thought to myself, and so much more engaging for my students to hear it and experience it first hand.

Scot also pointed out that Aboriginal cultures around Australia are very diverse and the people and tribes who live here in Mackay have very different art and culture to those who live, for example, in Alice Springs. Anything I may teach my students about artwork from Alice Springs, on which my PowerPoint was based, may be completely irrelevant to Mackay.

This whole issue has got me thinking about Aboriginal people, the copyright associated with their artworks and their sensitivity to white fellas teaching others about Aboriginal art and culture.

On the one hand its very frustrating to think that many teachers will be put off teaching aboriginal art and culture in their classrooms because of copyright and related issues and simply put it in the too hard basket. I have also thought that these very issues will hinder the integration of aboriginal and white culture, if white teachers are not able to teach aboriginal culture in schools.

I then thought about the Queensland Government's Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA) and their guidelines for 'Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Schools'. The guidelines talk about personal and professional accountabilities for teachers (page 14) and state that, "Education Queensland employees are professionally accountable for providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives within their curriculum and pedagogical practices for both Indigenous and non-indigenous students, .... and that these Indigenous perspectives are woven into the fabric of the school environment".

In terms of my Aboriginal Art lesson - what should I therefore be considering in order to properly embed this aboriginal perspective?. Some of the issues are:

• Aboriginal people attach their sense of identity to their art and culture and are therefore sensitive about white Australians teaching it.
• White Australian's don't know or understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and art on an intimate, first-hand basis, and only know what they have read or learned second-hand.
• We white Australians are arguably ill-equipped to properly teach in these areas.

Following Scot Aldred's advice to contact Nulloo Yumbah I decided to also find out answers to the following questions:

1. Are there any local people or parents of the school who could help my students learn about local Aboriginal Art, their symbols and their meanings?
2. What help is available through local aboriginal groups and communities like Nulloo Yumba?
3. Are there any aboriginal staff members at my school or staff who have connections with the local aboriginal communities that I can tap into?
4. Can my timetable be flexible to take advantage of local aboriginal people, based on their availability?
5. Do any local aboriginal communities have resources available for use in my classroom?
6. Can a partnership with local aboriginal people be established for teaching Aboriginal Art and Culture at my school, across all year levels and on an ongoing basis?
7. Is there a partnership already in place at my school that I may be unaware of?

Re-reading these guidelines, in light of my recent PowerPoint debacle, has given me a new perspective. For a start, I can see that community partnerships with individual learning sites is really key to successfully embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives.

My initial thoughts were that issues and sensitivities surrounding white people teaching aboriginal art and culture, as descried to me by Scot, are just more barriers to overcome on the road to integration and that the situation is truly hopeless. I can now see however, that to teach Aboriginal Art and Culture and to do it justice, it needs to be taught by local people, and therefore local people need to be involved in schools either as direct employees or by way of a partnership within the school.

This in turn will bring great benefits, as the increased involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the education of our students will help to improve relationships between our cultures, build partnerships, create understanding and increase community involvement, which will ultimately aid integration. Like an exponential curve, the pace of integration may then gain momentum.

I think page 24 of the article summarizes this issue quite well. "Teachers can gain confidence to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives by recognising that their role is more one of facilitator, as opposed to being the experts".

So, over the coming weeks, I may not be showing my beautiful PowerPoint presentation, but I am hoping to do something far more interesting. That is, to facilitate my students learning by making contact with, and establishing a relationship with, a local aboriginal person who can teach my students about aboriginal art and it's symbols from a first hand, authentic and engaging point of view.


References:

'Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives', Qld Government, DETA, extracted from http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/indigenous/docs/indig-persp.pdf

Conversation with Scot Aldred, 20 April 2010, CQ University Lecturer, ICT's for Learning Design.

Deta web site: http://deta.qld.gov.au/

What to do with those constant questions?

Ever get asked those crazy questions from your kids in the car? The ones that you just cannot answer with any degree of knowledge but find yourself making up something that sounds feasible, just to get your kids to be quite? Well ... there comes an age when your child will no longer be satisfied with made up answers to life's little but important questions. That age is approximately 8 and a half.

My son James, who is 8 and a half, is now asking more and more complicated questions. Questions like "How did World War II start Mum?" and "Why did Hitler do all those horrible things Mum?", and it's no longer enough to fob him off with some made-up answer just to give myself a break! As a mother, I want to foster his natural curiosity, encourage his inquiring mind and give him accurate information, not squash his questions as though they are unimportant.

Remember this very funny advertisement...courtesy of You Tube?



Just recently I have been responding to my son's questions with, "That's a bit complicated for me to explain James - let's go home and look it up on the Internet."

Sometimes I even say, "I don't know the answer to that questions James - let's look it up together!".

I don't think there is anything wrong with admitting I don't know something, and then finding out with my son - together.

I plan to translate this to my future classrooms...

In my future classrooms I will encourage the natural curiosity of my students, even indulge them a little and look things up on the Internet when they have questions. Where this type of thing would have been too time consuming and impractical in the past, and considered an unnecessary diversion from the curriculum, it is now easily achieved with the aid of the Internet and a computer or Interactive White Board.

In my future classrooms I will admit when I don't know the answer to one of my student's questions, and then use the ICT's we have available to show them how to find out. For example, a tool like Wikipedia is a ready source of information about almost any topic under the sun, and it also contains links to related websites for students to investigate in more detail.

Isn't this the ultimate in student-centred learning?

In this article by Geraldine O'Neill and Tim McMahon, they conclude by saying that "The changing demographics of the student population and the more consumer/client-centred culture in today’s society, have provided a climate where the use of student-centred learning is thriving. The interpretation of the term ‘student-centred learning’ appears to vary between authors as some equate it with ‘active learning’, while others take a more comprehensive definition including: active learning, choice in learning, and the shift of power in the teacher-student relationship."

I can see that the use of ICT's in the classroom, as I've described above, will definately result in more active learning, student-directed learning and a change in the traditional relationship between student and teacher. While some may view this as a negative, from my point of view it's very freeing.

No longer will I, as a teacher, be expected to be the font of all knowledge; we can find things out together. No longer do I have to be wholy responsible for what my students learn; they can ask questions and guide their learning too.

To me, technologies like the Internet and the Interactive White Board offer a more interesting way to look upon teaching as a profession as we are now so fortunate to have at our disposal the most amazing tools for learning!. I'm glad I've waited until now to enter into the world of teaching.

Thanks to my friend Hazel and her latest post "Tough Questions" for inspiring this post.


References:

O'Neill.G, and McMahon.T, (2005) Student-centred learning: What does it mean for students and lecturers?, University College Dublin. Extracted from
http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/oneill-mcmahon-Tues_19th_Oct_SCL.html

Video of BigPond advertisement courtesy of You Tube

Can't wait to get my hands on one of these...

To coin a term my sister-in-law uses a lot, I think interactive white boards are "Gold". What an amazing tool to have in the classroom, and I believe an investment in this technology for all classrooms would be money well spent.

At my children's K-12 school in Mackay they are very fortunate to have Interactive White Board's (IWB's) in every classroom, from Prep upwards. The school is also working toward a Vision 2012, where all students will be learning with the latest technology on offer.

This You Tube video about IWB's, provided in our course, is evidence that both teachers and students love to use them. Yes - they require significant investment, Yes - they take time to learn and time spent experimenting, but the teachers and students can learn together.





Not only do IWB's offer many benefits in terms of student-teacher interaction, student-centred learning, active learning and increased student engagement, but they also offer additional benefits. For example, learning resources can be easily shared, such as those avaialble on 'Promethean Planet', where teachers from around the globe share their ideas and lesson plans developed for the IWB technology.

In addition, IWB technology reduces duplication of effort and offers an environmentally friendly way to teach, without the need for paper resources, photocopying and endless paper shuffling.

As this is the Year of Environmental Sustainability I reckon IWB's are the way to go! I'm sure there must be some grants and funding available out there?...

Why Let our Students Blog?

A fellow student has just shared this excellent resource for teachers at The Learning Place . It contains program information on all sorts of topics, ranging from ICT's in the classroom and why and how we should use them, to ideas on literacy, numeracy and maths. This teachertube video shows some very compelling reasons for why we should let our students Blog.



I was particularly interested in this, as I am planning to set up a class Blog for my year 6/7 class this term, and I'm hoping it will be well accepted by the school community, and perhaps even generate some more interest in using Blogs in other classrooms at my school. As the video shows, allowing students to Blog improves students' communication, literacy, ownership, enables collaboration and sharing, stimulates discussion, empowers and provides motiviation and engagement, creativity and excitement.

What a wonderful way to incorpate Active Learning and Engagement Theory into lessons. If a student can learn something new, create something (e.g. an artwork or a short story) and then donate it to the Class Blog for fellow students and the entire school community to view, this ensures that a student is given every opportunity to engage with their learning? I struggle to think of a better and easier way to achieve this level of engagement!

As shown in this brief teachertube video, setting up a classroom Blog also allows students to reflect upon what they have learned and communicate it to others, it extends the walls of the classroom to other classes within the school, the wider school community, even the world, and gives all students a voice and an audience, even those who would otherwise not be heard. For example, children with special needs or those who are simply too shy to step up and speak out. Blogging can also enable learning to take place 24/7, whenever the student feels compelled to do so.

The last line of the video sums it up very succinctly - 'Write to learn, Blog to learn'

Thanks to http://rachelboyd.blogspot.com/ for this teachertube video and to my fellow student Carolyn Thorton for sharing this information about The Learning Place.

Just been thinkin'...

I've just been thinking that images available for free from the internet, like those from Flickr, could be used by students in an engaging way in the classroom.

For example, my 5 year old daughter Caitlin is seriously into drawing and learning to write and spell words at the moment. She is in Prep. and her teachers tell me that she draws the most wonderful pictures in class and then asks them to write the stories to go with them. Here's one example of Caitlin's artwork and story telling.

The Princess Who Lost Her Key

One day a princess girl lost her key. She went through the

woods looking for her key.

Then she found a hole and someone came along and helped her dig out her key.

She put it in her door and opened it and went home and lived 'Happily Ever After'.

If a 5 year old can do this, imagine how engaging it would be for older students to relate an event that had happened during the school holidays, create a story about it and then donate this to the class or to the global audience. Yes - it's Engagement Theory with a slight twist!

How amazing for students to be able to produce their own illustrated books using images freely available from Flickr and the world wide web. They can even upload their own images for use in creating a book or short story using free software like Photo Story for Windows. Who would have thought kids could do all this.....

This technology enables so many oppportunities for creative expression and true engagement. I just have to look at my daughter to see how engaged she is when she is being creative, to know that I will be using Flickr, Photo Story and other image technologies in my future classrooms.


Talkin' to Leesha has more great ideas on how to use Flickr in the classroom - and thanks for inspiring this post Alicia.

Image: Cailtin's artwork from Arthur family photos.

Engaging students through the Arts

I've been asked by the mentor teacher at my school to design my first lesson around Art. She has given me free reign, which is both wonderful and frightening at the same time.

I have been thinking of incorporating a number of Learning areas into my lesson plan, including Art, English and SOSE and really loved this video about the Arts that was included in our coursework for the subject Pedagogical Content Knowledge. I found this video to be very moving and it really demonstrates the importance of Art in our lives and the way in which Art can enhance and engage the students in very powerful ways.

This video has inspired me to do my art lesson on Aboriginal Art, which will allow the students to explore both the style, colours and symbols of Aboriginal Art, create their own class symbols and then design individual artworks in the style of aboriginal art that tell their own personal story.

I am now searching for ways to incorporate ICT's into my lesson and will include a video and some other visuals for my students, by way of introduction. I may also create a class blog, so that each student can tell their story and display their artwork for the rest of the school to view.

I think the use of ICT's and Art in combination, is both inspiring and engaging.

Good luck planning your learning experiences.

Vokis are fun - even for big kids like me!

I have been thinking about some educational uses for Vokis, or Avatars from other sites. At first, I just thought they were a bit of fun and served no educational purpose, but as I've been working through the ICT's for Learning Design coursework I have found that I've really enjoyed viewing and listening to each of the 'Avatars' scattered throughout the course. I think they are just a bit different (for now!), and a nice visual introduction to a learning session.

I have also been thinking about how students could use them and how I could incorporate them into my lesson designs in an effective way. Here is one idea I've come up with.

To introduce a lesson about healthy eating, I could incorporate a Voki for each of the five food groups, then split the class into five groups to research the answer to the question/s posed by the Voki. See the examples below:


Get a Voki now!



Get a Voki now!

I could then use a few different Vokis to introduce group discussion about the different foods we like to eat, which food group they belong to and whether or not they are healthy for us.

For example:


Get a Voki now!

I think the students would love to both play and watch these Vokis, and they may be enough to 'hook' students into the lesson. The students could also create their own Voki and talk about a type of food and the food group it belongs to.

I like them... my kids and I had fun creating the Vokis on this page and I believe incorporating some creativity and fun play into a lesson plan is a great way to engage our learners.

In this TED video from You Tube, that was part of our coursework, Sir Ken Robinson talks about creativity and the Arts in education and how they should be given as much importance as Maths and languages. I think a little 'Voki' may go a long way in this regard!

Hot Cross Mum talks about competition

An old friend of mine from my time working in the UK has been writing her blog "Hot Cross Mum" for some time now. She normally emails me her posts so I can read them, being the non-blogger that I am. Now, I am pleased to report, I'm actually getting the hang of all this stuff! I have joined Hazel's Blog as a follower, and for the first time have visited her Blog and seen it in detail! I am impressed, particularly with all the awards she has been nominated for.

Her latest blog is for all of my student colleagues out there, particularly those who are mothers. Enjoy this post from 'Hot Cross Mum" and have a wonderful Easter break.

Natalie

Simple Truths

This is an extract from Michael J. Fox's new book, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future - Twists and Turns and Lessons Learned".

It's a really small little book and it caught my eye in the bookshop as a little holiday read!

Here it is:

A Professor stands before his class with a cardboard box. From inside he produces a large, clear, empty pickle jar, and then a series of golf ball-sized rocks, which he then drops one by one into the jar until they reach the brim.

"So?' the teacher asks. "Who thinks the jar is full?"

Hands shoot up, and a qucik scan of the room confirms unanimity - yes, it's full.

Next our of the box, a bag of sand, which the professor pours in amongst the rocks. Tiny grains cascade over, around, and in between the larger stones until there is no space left.

"Is it full now?" A show of hands and a chorus of voices responds - yes it's full.

Now the professor smiles. "But wait." Both hands dissappear into the box and re-emerge simultaneously, each holding a can of beer. The crack and his of the pop tops are drowned out by laughter in the classroom as the amber nectar popurs into the jar with the rocks and sand. Once the din of the students subsides to a collective chuckle, the professor confiently declares, "Now it's full."

"This jar represents your life," he continues. "Make sure the first ingredients are the big stuff . . . the rocks - your family, your work, your career, your passions. The rest is just sand, minutiae. It's in there. It may even be important. But it's not your first priority."

"What about the beer?" a kid in the back yells out.

"Well," comes the answer. "After everything else, you always have room for a couple of beers with friends."


Extracted from:
Fox, Michael, J. (2010) A funny thing happened on the way to the Future: Twists and turns and lessons learned, Hachette Australia 2010