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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2018)
November 2018 - EASTERN OREGON PARENT - 13 Then & Now: Transforming the job of teaching By SUZANNE KENNEDY This isn’t your mama’s classroom anymore. Frankly, it isn’t even your classroom anymore. The classroom where your kids spend most of their days in is a brave new world. It’s safe to say that most professions have changed drastically over the last 20 to 30 years, but perhaps no other affects so many people for so long as the teaching profession. Possibly the biggest change has come in the form of testing. Test- ing used to be used to see what students had learned over the course of a year. Now tests are a main focus in the class- room and only a few give teachers the informa- tion they need to help a student grow. Most are used by the state to gather data on students, schools, teachers, and school dis- tricts. They are high stakes for all involved, with little benefit going to the children. Still, with the stakes so high, schools feel pressure to spend a great deal of time practicing in order to boost scores. Gone are the days of the film projector, record player, and over- heads. Hello, Smartboards and Chromebooks! Chromebooks are limited laptops which last an average of five years of normal use; they are a staple of every classroom. They are app or inter- net only, with no ability to save anything to a hard drive. More often than not, middle and high school students turn in work to their teachers by hitting the “Turn In” button on a laptop, rather than handing in a piece of paper. Smart- boards are like chalkboards for the modern world. They can be used kind of like an overhead, but can get really interactive with their touchscreen functionality. Over the last 20 years, another change to the classroom is a large increase in the number of students who have been diagnosed with health issues. Autism, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, diabetes, etc., are really common. So not only do teachers need to be up on the latest teaching techniques, but they also need to be well versed in a host of medications and modifica- tions to help these strug- gling students survive and thrive in the classroom setting. For the younger grades (elementary and middle school), learn- ing has become highly individualized. Students are grouped by ability for reading and math, which allows teachers to fill in missing gaps that might otherwise have gone unfilled. Online math and reading programs, while far from perfect, give stu- dents a chance to work at their own level for a time during class and at home. Reading programs are structured and students may do more purposeful reading (to answer ques- tions) than reading for fun. I remember much of kindergarten being un- structured pretend play time. We had kitchens and office areas, blocks and finger paints, and most importantly, time to use them. Not so these days. Kindergar- ten now focuses on learning to read and write, and add and subtract. Painfully, even recess has dwindled down to the bare minimum. Thank- fully, some schools across America are reinstituting a longer recess or adding an extra one. They are finding that behavior is better and the kids are able to retain more of what they learn for a longer period of time. Parental involvement at school has decreased drastically, as well. Fewer mothers staying home and more single-parent families lead to Education fewer parents able to help out in the classroom on a regular basis. Teachers often struggle to get the help they need in prepping materi- als and running small groups. Veteran teachers will tell you that there is really nothing new un- der the sun. New classroom man- agement techniques and teaching strategies cycle through while they glance knowingly at each other, pull out the old files, and dust them off once again. The educational paradigm pendulum has swung from one end of the spectrum to the other more than once, and will continue along its path for at least the near future. Students still start school curious and excited, wanting to have fun and make new friends. Grammar school “young uns” want extra recess more than anything. Middle schoolers will still tell you that lunch is their favorite period. Art, music, and PE are still the best parts of the day, and nothing beats a Valentine’s Day party with treats for the whole class. Through it all, most teachers, who are constantly asked to do more with less, remain steadfast in their hope for the future, their love for students, and their pas- sion for igniting a love of learning in every soul that comes through their doors. Those of us who fear change, myself especially, would do well to keep that in mind. ________ Suzanne Kennedy is a former middle school teacher who lives in Pend- leton with her husband and four children.
