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.