Theme: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Recently I was engaged in a conversation with colleagues about the impact technology has had on our language and on our thinking. We all shared examples of how we now used language in a technological way; a few years ago the same language had an entirely different context. For example, I often refer to “going into default mode” when I fall back into a routine or automatic behavior. Earlier, I probably referred to this mode as “standard operating procedure.” My colleague talked about using the term “drop down box” and how just a few years ago, he was probably referring to pulling a box down off of a shelf! Today we talk about “uploading” and “downloading” when I only used to talk about “loading the dishwasher”! “My space” used to mean “you’d better not invade the immediate area around me,” and of course, now it is a common virtual location for many people and activities. “We” used to mean you and me. Now of course, with a different spelling, Wii (pronounced “we”) provides hours of virtual entertainment and exercise! By now, you get the point. The theme for this last edition of the Principal’s Office for the year is “The larger political, economic, and social context” taken from Standard 6 of the ISLLC Standards which states, “A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.”