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Respond to the following
quote: "We live in a world that is different than it was fifty
years ago, even twenty years ago. As a result, we are teaching different
children in the classroom than in the past."
As our world changes, so do the people. If people have changed, their priorities have changed. As priorities change, parenting styles change and children are drastically different. If the children are different, then are approach to teaching has to be different. Today's children are dealing with much different issues that children 50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes!!! It is sometimes hard for me to relate to the challenges today's students deal with. I learn new things daily in my own home. Things I never dealt with growing up was social media bullying. Kids will say things online that they would not say in person. It tends to be so much more cruel than anything I ever witnessed as a kid. Technology can be a wonderful tool, but it can also be a poison in some lives. This also goes on at home most of the time so it seems so difficult to combat this at school. There has to be a balance.
DeleteToday's educators face a harder role when it comes to motivating and engaging students. I believe this is due to the amount of access students have to advanced technology, internet, and video games. If we continue using the same approach that we used 50 years ago our students will suffer from boredom and will less likely engage themselves in the learning process. Teaching use to be more catered to the average learner, but now it is our job to find creative ways to meet the needs of ALL the students in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis statement is so true. Kids, parents, teachers, coaches are all different now then back in my day. Personally, I feel like it wasn't as common to hear of abusive or divorced homes back then. I feel like everyone went to church and was taught right from wrong. Kids knew to act right or they would be in trouble by not only one person but multiple (parents, school, coaches). We were outside from sun up to sun down either playing or working.
ReplyDeleteToday is totally different. Some kids dont have parents to teach them right from wrong, take them to church, be involved in all aspects of life. They are worried about other things rather than the right things (relationships with other people beside their kids, jobs, drugs, material things, etc).
So to sum that up.. we as teachers have to adjust and adapt to this generation. Some may say "thats being soft" but I think its called being wiser!
I agree. We have students who are raising themself and younger siblings. We often wonder why they can't come to class prepared, when many of them do not know where they will get food for dinner. School is their safe place. If they are not getting the relationship aspect at home, they come to school to feel loved and safe, learning is the last thing on their mind.
DeleteWe definitely live in a different world. My parents worked, came home, and we had dinner together. Our free time was spent as a family. I found out last year that only a handful of my 92 students ever eat dinner as a family. The majority of my students get their food and head to their bedroom in isolation with their electronic devices. These kids are allowed to stay on their devices until they fall asleep. For many, that is after midnight. They are not engaging with their parents or siblings, but only with the people on the other end of their phone, game or social media. Let me repeat, this was the majority of kids in my classes. No wonder they have such short attention spans. They are constantly being entertained, and if not, they scroll on. Now add to that a child living in chaos, dysfunction, abuse, and it's no wonder there are problems.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is both a blessing and a curse. The battle we are fighting is that the electronic device is the easy way out. Just think how much extra time they have spent on it during quarantine. Kids rarely get out and play like they used to, so they lack the exercise and develop their brain and body needs to develop. They also lose their society skills when dealing with others.
DeleteAgree Paul! Not only are children not getting exercise outside and developing their body --they are not getting that great vitamin D we all need. Young people are so intrigued by technology it is stifling their creativity. We all as educators see it daily how students can not think on their own. You are so correct that many/most students do not know how to communicate orally with other people-due to hiding behind electronics. Oh, I am impressed with their knowledge of technology-but I would love for them to want to know or learn about some of the simple things in life.
DeleteI agree with the comments above as we live in a different society than we did years ago. We as educators have to learn to adapt and treat each child as their own instead of all for one. That is extremely hard for me because of the way used to do things. Years ago I would never have given a student the time to calm down and work through the problem together because it was not in my nature to do so.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this statement. Our world has changed so much...not only our world but the people in it. I remember when I was in school, we didn't hear of many people getting a divorce or children living with their grandparents.
ReplyDeleteTeachers have also had to change the way they do things in the classroom. As a teacher, I can not expect my students to sit for 55 minutes and listen to me lecture. Our classrooms need to be engaging for all students to learn, which requires an adaptive and flexible approach.
I agree Jill our world and children have changed so much from when we were in school. The learning process for children has also changed. In order to be successful with these changes our teaching approaches also have to change. If we want our students to be successful we have to adapt our teaching strategies to meet the needs of all the different learning styles and ability levels of the students in our class.
DeleteNo doubt the world is different today than it was fifty or even twenty years ago but this statement will be true fifty years from now as it would have been true fifty years ago. The point is, we are always changing and it is our job as educators to learn to adapt to the changes in our students. We were hired to teach students the way THEY learn not the way that we were taught.
ReplyDeleteGreat point. Things have always changed and always will. As teachers it is our job to educate the masses and so we must evolve as they do. Your last quote is dead on.
DeleteI agree with Zach. We are hired to teach our students so they can learn. Education has changed just over the 21 years that I have been teaching and it will continue to change in the future.
DeleteI agree so much with that last statement Coach! I am constantly having to remind myself of that because I am one of those learners that thrived from lectures. My teachers gave me the information- I took it in and I remembered it. I would always get stressed out when asked to think outside of the box. So as a teacher, my default teaching style goes back to lecture and notes because that is how I learned best. But in this generation I cannot solely teach the way I learned best- I must adapt to the learning styles of my students.
DeleteThis quote should be our school's motto. The world of education has changed just since I begun working in this illustrious field. Parents today don't parent. They let electronic devices and other easy forms of entertainment do their jobs for them because they are too busy living in their Facebook world. Children aren't developing with the structure and atmosphere they need to be successful in the ways that education used to operate. Most students today have more knowledge about electronics and the internet then I do (shocker). Now with that said, the job of a school is to educate, and so a school has to evolve with the times and so teachers and systems have to continually look to adapt and integrate new systems to meet the changing demands of the "new" student.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is absolutely correct! In my years of teaching I have seen this to be so true; students are different, parents are different, teachers are different, curriculum is different, morals and ethics are different, and our world is most definitely different. When I began teaching parents were very involved in their child's life and education. Parents use to hold their children accountable for their education and their behavior at school and in the community. Times have changed; as we see, it is no longer the child's responsibility but for some reason parents hold the teachers and administrators responsible for their child's success or misfortune. I grew up in a home that education and school were very important; however, I were to control the situation. If I talked in class, that was my fault not the teacher or other students. I was held accountable for my behavior, choices and learning. So many of our students today are not expected by parents to be accountable for anything. So what if a teacher lectured for an hour---students sat and listened and showed the teacher respect; this was what was taught at home and students were expected to abide. Today is so different-teachers are competing with so many outside influences and lack of parental involvement and support. Morals and ethics that most of us were taught at home and church are lacking in SOME of today's students. As educators, we now not only have to teach the curriculum but also parent and try to instill morals to the students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the lack of morals and ethics most of us learned by being together. Lack of parent support is also a big issue. Families stop being families. Nobody eats and plays games together. This is were we learned our manners and social skills.
DeleteI truly feel sorry for this generation and the many treasures they are missing out on.
My normal day at work starts with physically grown teenagers throwing objects at 75 mph and gradually transitions to 10 year olds who can barely tie their shoes. I would argue that the physical and mental evolution of a child working their way through middle school is as dramatic as any other time period in a persons life. It has been that way forever. When I was that age, when my parents were that age, and when my grandparents were that age, we all went through a very rapid, sometimes difficult, period of growth and development. I agree that many things have changed regarding the behavior of todays children and what it takes to reach them in the classroom. On the other hand, I think sometimes we overemphasize the differences of this generation and forget to focus on the similarities. One advantage we all have as teachers is that we have been there. Parenting has changed. Technology has advanced tremendously. Kids are still kids. I think the key is to have a balance between staying true to what works for yourself as a teacher, and adapting to current situations.
ReplyDeleteI had my response all typed out and posted it below but you bring up some thought provoking statements. We do tend to focus on the differences, rather than the similarities and those similarities just might be the key to strengthening those student/teacher relationships. Thanks Coach!
DeleteTy, I love how you compare the students. Other adults who do not teach middle school on a normal basis or come in contact with middle schoolers, do not realize the big difference between a fifth grader and an eighth grader. They change ALOT during those short four years. Middle school in itself is a traumatic time in a child's life and when you add in the outside stressors of home environment and if they have a disability it can be a very difficult time in their lives. The kids haven't changed, just the access they have to different outlets such as technology and social media.
DeleteWow - what an interesting way to think about the above statement. Being in the 8th grade bubble, I sometimes forget what drastic changes (physically, emotionally, environmental, social, etc.) both the "Andys" and the "Billys" have experienced in the last few years of their lives.
DeleteI wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I once had someone argue that things weren’t that much different, especially from a socioeconomic standpoint. They said “people were poor then, they are poor now. Teachers have been fighting poverty in the classroom forever”. I grew up in a very rural and impoverished community. But most homes had a mom and a dad. They may have been poor but school was important and parents served on the PTA, they attended parent teacher conferences. The shift has come from parents at some point in the last 30 years. Maybe technology is the culprit, the timelines certainly line up, but at some point, parents (of course not all) stopped parenting.
ReplyDelete50 years ago, It took a village to raise a child/children. Children consistently shows respect to adults and even other children, because they were taught manners at home (Thank, Please, Sorry, Excuse me etc..) Now I sometimes wonder if these children know what manners are. Some of them shows zero respect to authority figure. I think nutrition, technology and structure plays a major part of how children are now.
ReplyDeleteYes, our world today is much different than when I grew up. Would I say that children are different? I don't know... I think parenting and households have changed significantly, but I think children are still children. They want and need love, acceptance, guidance, protection, and their basic needs met.
ReplyDeleteAs teachers, we agreed to continue learning. The most important thing we can learn about is people! The world is always changing and creating new types of people and learners. Because of this, we celebrate differences and learn to adapt to them. The current generation has grown up with constant stimulation handed to them, so at school it is necessary for us to provide that in our classrooms as well if we expect to reach them. It can be tiring, but the extra work on our end makes all the difference for our students!
ReplyDeleteThe children themselves have not changed. They still need their basic needs met. However, the times have changed. The students in today's time have more access to things that can play a huge role in making their lives great or make them miserable. Social media plays a huge part in our students lives, even more so than when I was in middle school 15 years ago. The kids have the ability to either lift each other up or tear them down. This tied with the stressors of home life, lower ses, divorce rates that have skyrocketed, and grandparents raising grandkids all play a huge role in the way we have to teach today vs 50 years ago.
ReplyDeleteToday vs. 50 years ago: 50 years ago there were less broken and single parent homes. Today, single parent and broken homes make up the majority of our kids. While some kids seem function just fine, the stress from these situations still effects them during the school day. Our students today face issues at home that causes stress that they carry with them to school. We have lots of students like Billy, and we are trying to teach Billy, a student of today, as if he was a student 20 or even 50 years ago without taking into consideration the changes the world has gone through. We must adapt our way of thinking and teaching if we want to reach the "Billy" students.
ReplyDeleteDo we live in a different world that 50 years ago??Everything is different...The students, parents, teachers, behaviors and consequences are all different. I can't compare things to when I first started teaching. In my first class of 4th graders, only one child came from a broken home. Now days we have more grandparents raising children than parents. Our students are raising their brothers and sisters. We have more Billy's than 50 years ago. I still think children need the love, understanding, guidance, and a strong relationship with as many positive adults in their life.
ReplyDeleteYes we must change our approach with the times. We can’t treat each student the same. As we say, what works for one, may not work for another, and that is the challenge. To flexible without the perception of partiality.
ReplyDeleteWe are teaching different students than we were 20 or 50 years ago than I ever dreamed or imagined. I constantly have to remind myself how these children do not have what I had as a child growing up with both parents. Education was important. Church was important. Kindness was important. These things just aren't important to many. I do think some of our problems with these students come from home. It is now our responsibility as educators to take on teaching these virtues to the students in our schools.
ReplyDeleteI can tell a major difference since I was in school and that was just 15 years ago. Students attention spans seem to get worse year by year and you can’t keep their focus for any extended period of time. This has challenged me to adapt my instruction to meet the needs of all my students. Not to mention the inclusion of special needs children have made it more difficult as well. Students have become more visual learners due to the smartphone and technology era that we are in. But one thing that is worse about today’s students from back when is their lack of discipline. This is mostly in part of what they have been taught (or not taught) at home on how to respect adults and people in charge of them.
ReplyDeleteI do think that we are teaching children that are different in ways that change the way we meet their needs. The majority of the students that we have, especially by the middle school age, have had a electronic device in their hand since birth. This was not the case for me, as a child. It is amazing to watch a child navigate a computer or phone and then watch that same child struggle to cut and glue, as an 8th grade student. Although technology has been the biggest change for our students over the past 20-50 years, the love and attention that they need have not changed. If anything, they need that more now than ever.
ReplyDelete