Our New Generation

As a young elementary student in the late 90s and early 2000s, I experienced a classroom unique to that of my parents before me, and my grandparents before them.  I experienced 9/11 when I was in the fourth grade.  "Computer class" was new to the school.  On our early, bulky iMacs, my dad taught my fifth grade classroom how to make simple websites complete with bright backgrounds, tacky graphics, and links to quizzes and other websites.  In 7th grade, our grade participated in Challenge Day, an early introduction to themes revolving around social justice: attacking racism, sexism, and homophobia.

The classroom that I can expect my children to learn in will probably be a far cry from my own experiences in the classroom.  And though it is difficult to predict when the next political uprising or major cultural shift will occur, there are themes and patterns we can anticipate for our future classrooms. Technology is increasing at an exponential rate, and children starting in fourth and fifth grade have smartphones in hand, and Instagram at the ready.  Major political and cultural figures are publicly confronting discrimination, bigotry, and phobia that exists in our society through avenues like Twitter.   We live in a globalizing, expanding world, replete with a constant flow of information and connecting technologies.

What are the implications for our classrooms? How do we incorporate technology in a way that is safe, productive, and innovative?  How do we teach future students to understand, interact, and engage with one another in thoughtful ways?  How do we prepare students for a globalized, unknowable future?  As a future teacher, these are the questions and ideas that are important and provocative in thinking about how to structure the classroom for our new generation of students.