Welcome to the 21st Century!

I was sold a bag of lies as a child! Education is NOTHING like I watched in the Jetsons during my youth. Well, to be honest, (#tbh in the 21st century) I have encountered some educators that are nothing more than robots, as illustrated in the popular tv show.  While education has grown, some educators refuse to change. 

Teachers today are held accountable for so much more than ever.  With educational reforms like Our Nation at Risk, NCLB and now, Common Core,  the job of a teacher has grown more demanding.  Teachers are asked to develop and teach innovative curriculum, be cognizant of all manner of social concerns like bullying and dating, prepare students to take and pass paper/pencil state assessments (that, in most cases, contradict the innovative curriculum the teachers were asked to develop to begin with), be masters of student discipline, and fund their own classrooms! All of this is expected to be done on a national starting salary of $36,141 (about $8,000 less than the current national salary).  I really don't want to make this about money, though, so I won't. 

Teachers get into the profession because they LOVE to develop children and mold the future.  They want to make a difference in the world.  This profession gives them a chance to show how much they value being a lifelong learner.  There are a lot of reasons.  We do not get into this job because of the lucrative pay (darn, I brought it up again), because we love to raise other people's children, or because we love all of the "vacation time" (most teachers spend the a good amount of their time "off" in unpaid professional developments). 

Now, it's the 21st century and the world is changing.  Advancements are made in the world with the assistance of technology every second.  We are preparing students for jobs that have not even been created yet.  Teachers need to think outside the box to develop their students skills based on the community's needs.  Individualized education is more important then ever.  This is a concept that I toyed with in my classroom this year.  As much as possible, I tried to avoid archaic designed textbooks, and did my best to create curriculum that would allow my students to problem-solve and acquire knowledge that was unique and authentic.  With tools like tablets, cell phones, and various forms of social media, this was the most successful group of students I have ever taught.  They would constantly challenge common thoughts and research different perspectives and then synthesize that information into their own authentic learning.  All while guided by thought provoking questions and discussions.  The state assessment that the students took were nothing like they had been working with all year, because they were challenged to scale back their outside-the-box thinking, to show their knowledge in a 20th century way.  This is just one of the downsides to education today.  

As educators, we need to start looking at how we can best serve our students.  Textbooks and straightforward information have their place, but we need to do MORE than that to be effective.  How can we change our classrooms to lose its walls?  Schools should become a centralized building where some, not all, of the learning takes place.  Classrooms can take place in the community, not just the school building.  Doing this will also help to make the schools more green.  Students need to be able to reach educators at all times to assist their education, through various communication tools (ie Social Media).  If we are to develop lifelong learners, we need to stop limiting students' ideas and give them tools to facilitate their own learning. 

Cultural barriers can also be eliminated with the use of technology.  With various translation programs and information about other cultures at our fingertips (thank you, Google!), we are more prepared to assist students who can't speak the same languages.

Middle schools need to become the ground where core content is provided.  High schools should evolve to a place where some core content is gained and more specialized training occurs (this would reduce the amount of dropouts and ensure that more students are given tools to succeed, in my opinion as well).

With the world around us changing every second, not just teachers, but EVERYONE, has to find their own niche in the world in order to survive comfortably.  Adapt or die. Welcome to the 21st century.