Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious...or is it really a new type of education?

How long would it take you to type a favored phrase from Disney's Mary Poppins? Spelling must be correct. Also, you're competing against 199 others for the quickest fingers. Wait...you also have to do it on a mobile phone you may not be familiar with. Without practice and forethought, I doubt I could complete this challenge in less than 20 seconds.

If you're in the same boat as I, then let me be the first to tell you...we've been beaten by a 13 year old who completed the challenge in 15 seconds. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious helped a teen to win $25,000 and nationwide notoriety. Web articles on ABC.com are contradicting with CNN clips on what she actually had to type (whether it was the word, or the word and phrase "just the sound of it is something quite atrocious".)

Why do I bring this up? Well, it's not to make any of us to feel inadequate. I bring it to your attention as a reference, an example of where our children/students are focused.

In a meeting with a challenge course contractor I routinely work with, we had the opportunity to discuss our philosophies on classroom education’s role in learning. In reaction to the competition, he jokingly remarked "I bet she (text competition winner) can't write as fast as her thumbs work on the phone." How true is this statement? Are we providing enough to our students? Though I agree that cell phones should stay out of sight during lectures and classroom instruction, I still believe they have a place in education. I want students to experience the latest technology; however, it cannot be at the expense of information that can provide a foundation for learning. A contradiction, yes, but one I’m willing to work with.

I’m not sure that we’ll reach a point where YNTMWMTDYG (You Need To Meet With Me To Discuss Your Grade) will become part of our everyday lexicon, but I do know our students understand the text language and building upon this may be a great doorway into a learning relationship.

What if we take the skills our students have in texting and use it in the classroom? (with approval of course) Do a survey of the room and have students text in their responses. On the activities side, use texting for SGA elections or have a text competition. It’s important that learning and teachable moments occur every second of every day. Students live it. We see it. The two can meet and survive.

Blogs are proclaiming that competitions like this and television commercials like Cingular’s IDK MY BFF JILL are making us lose our written communication. It’s not lost. It’s evolving, but that’s a topic for another day.



My suggestion to you is…first, try to type supercalifragilisticexpialidocious while timing yourself. Then, sit down with a student and ask them how to do it faster. I’m sure they have a solution. Once you’ve figured that out, ask them to explain why they shorten words to single letters – the answer may surprise you. I wish you luck. IWML 2 KIT. =)