This article describes what it was like for the sixth graders at Still Middle school to pretend like it was 1983, technology-wise. I was in kindergarten in 1983 and I can remember clearly only one thing about that year. My teacher's hair. She had the most wonderful long hair that she put into a new style EVERY DAY, but I digress.
Cell phones didn't exist and we certainly did not have the internet back then and we were limited local network television. My twin brother and I did invest our savings in aNintendo gaming system around 1990 but it didn't hold our attention for too long.
Today I still struggle with the distractions of technology, even now I am on my laptop, with the t.v. going, the dog having given up on her afternoon walk, and dinner showing no sign of making itself. What are we getting done here? In the article one student is quoted as beingreintroduced to "old hobbies like reading and drawing" during the experiment. Oh yeah, I used to do that!
This article arrived in my inbox right in the middle of my thinking about how to self-monitor the use of my time. I've decided to start simple, with a pretty wipey board that I can use to track my 'technology-vs-old hobbies' time at home.
Do you want to make a Pretty Wipey Time-Monitor Board? Here's how I did it:
1) Grab a cheap frame from target or a flea market or if you are anything like me,
from you closet that you keep promising yourself you'll organize.
2) Find some pretty paper at paper source, or *that closet, or you can even use the
pretty green paper that came with the flowers you got last week.
note: make sure the paper isn't too dark or busy and therefore distracting
3) Cut the paper to size and voila(!) you have a pretty wipey board.
Now all you need is a dry erase marker. I also used a Sharpie (a girl's best friend)
You can make a chart of sorts - calculate hours per day for each
or you can make more of a symbols system like this 1 heart= 1 hour
OR 
Each person in the house could have a board and you can even put a nice quote at the bottom!
When you have gotten a good idea of your use of time you can begin using this board as a project board. I've also been meaning to create a project board. What took me so long?
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