Do
you have a question for the authors of Beyond
the Podium?
This
month's question
"I
read the chapter on Informal Learning with great interest. I work
at a busy start-up company, and there never seems to be time to
get to know my co-workers. I know some of them belong to an Online
Community, but don't know much about it. What should I expect?"
Answer:
Just
like physical counterparts, online communties have their own distinct
personalities. Some are business- oriented, with members posting
job openings, resumes and asking colleagues for advice, and others
are more informal, with postings about everything from movie reviews
to helpful software hints to essays about life, like this one from
a new father:
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From:
Chris Haddock <chaddock@enviance.com>
To: Multiple recipients of soend
<soend1@etbeach.sdsu.edu>
Subject: Flying Tackle Diplomacy
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I
used to think that once you had a kid, you were instantly
a Dad, but that's not really true. You become a Dad in steps
and stages. When you can tell a change-me cry from a feed-me
cry you're more of a parent than that happy smiling person
posing with the newborn at the hospital.
So this past Father's Day I laid low. Instead I paid my respects
to the old man, and complemented him on the way he raised
me. Before I had a squirt of my own, I thought one of the
coolest things my dad did for me was when he slammed this
kid up against a wall.
I was selling candy to go to 6th grade camp and a high school
kid stole one of my candy bars. There I was full of tears
punching and swinging at his knee caps. The kid stood there
laughing at me, when my dad charged the kid, threw his shoulder
into the kid's rib cage and sent him flying against the wall.
My Dad, my hero.
But looking back on it, I realize that was one of the easiest
days in my dad's parenting life. On what other day was he
able to let his emotions, his rage drive his actions?
As I look back and assess my parent's parenting style, I realize
that my dad earned his stripes when he supressed his emotions
and immediate actions. The hardest action to take is no action.
It is so much more difficult to watch your kid struggle and
do nothing.
I see a dad's main job as knowing when to throw in the towel.
How long do you let the kid take a metaphoric beating before
you step in? How long do you stand on the side, suppressing
you urges to coddle and protect, believing that your kid can
take care of him/herself.
Today, when we took our skinny, 12lb, six-month-old to Camp
Lord-Of-The-Flys Day Care, I realized, as the 18lb monsters
bulldozed over to him, how difficult this is going to be for
me.
If only every parenting dilemma could be solved with a flying
tackle.
--Chris
Haddock
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