Teaching like it's 1983.

We got our first computer in the home around the Christmas of 1983, when I was at the ripe old age of 3. I had learned to read on the eve of my 2nd birthday and my dad decided the next challenge would be to teach me a new skill and language - programming in a computer language called BASIC. 

My father did not order disks with pre-programmed games, or type the lines of code and save the games for me. Instead, he allowed me to identify the games I wanted to play from the monthly digest of computer programs that was delivered to our house, and taught me to type the hundreds of required lines of code, save them to 5 1/4" floppy disks, compile and troubleshoot the code before being able to play these games. 

I enjoyed the process; I learned patience and delayed gratification at an early age - however that's not all I learned. Since we were the only family in the neighborhood with a computer, I discovered that I could make the other neighborhood children, most of whom were years older play school with me, but I would always be the teacher, even though I was younger because I owned the computer. =^}

I was a voracious reader and loved learning, so my mother would buy textbooks and workbooks from the state textbook depot to keep me busy. I made copies for my "students" that came to play on the computer. 

For Christmas 1984, my favorite gift was a chalkboard with multi-colored chalk. This upped my "play school" game to a whole new level!!! I felt very authentic!

Here I am tht Christmas Morning in 1984 - probably in the middle of planning a fantastic lesson!

Now, I am a real teacher, just like I knew I would be. It strikes me that I used technology as a method to reach and engage students 30 years ago at the tender and ripe, old age of 3.

~TF

 P.S. During our most recent Bible study series, we took an inventory revealing our Spiritual gifts. My top gift - teaching. I was predestined to be a teacher - by design!