As I sit here, another class of seniors entering the real world after up to seven years on our campus, I find myself wondering if what we do truly prepares the youth of today for our ever changing world. Just in the last seven years, the rise in technology and the shrinking of the globe has made our standard teaching practices archaic and obsolete.
Do students still need to learn history? Yes. I firmly believe all subjects still need to be taught, but I do believe we need to not only update our methods of teaching, but also the methods by which we judge the readiness of our students to enter the big scary world we refer as Real Life.
Do I worry about all my students? Hell yes. I’ve been a teacher for 21 years, 15 at the same site and have worked as Senior class advisor for the past three. To this day, I wonder about my first students. Did they make it? Are they successful? Are they happy? Teachers, much like parents, spend many hours trying to prepare the young. However, unlike parents, after they pull their tassels from the right to the left side of that silly mortarboard cap, we rarely hear from them again.
All we can do is hope. Hope we gave them the tools they need to become not only a contributing member of society, but also to be happy in what they do.
Will I do this again next year? Of course I will. I believe in my job, in my students, in my school, and until the process is changed, in education. We all need to learn how to make our way in this world and I feel honored to be a part of that task.
connery1
