First day of school … does that bring back memories? Well, if you’re a teacher, a student, or have one in the family, “memories” might not be the right word — you’re living it again. But I think you get my drift.
Married to a teacher means we get to experience first days every year. I still remember a few of my own. Being in sports meant the “first day” was different — we reported back at least a month early. Still, there was school shopping, new classes, new teachers … well, new pretty much everything.
But really, was it? Over the summer some kids had growth spurts. Others watched Pretty in Pink or Desperately Seeking Susan and suddenly had a whole new look. Deep down, though, the kid who ate paste was still the kid who ate paste. (Hey, paste didn’t taste that bad. 😄)
I was talking to a guy one day who summed it up pretty well. He said education “when we were kids” was mostly about teaching us to sit down, be quiet, face forward, and listen to authority. New education is more about getting kids to think, move around, and ask questions … and then we get frustrated when they don’t just do what we ask!
Hmmmm ….. He may have had a point.
As a history buff, the one thing I’ve learned (ha!, see what I did there?) that has stayed constant about educating kids is that it evolves.
Think back to the time of Christ. The most famous sermon ever happened outdoors. Jesus told folks to pull up a patch of grass and listen. And the kids? Boys were expected to learn and memorize large portions of the Torah — the first five books — while girls were mainly taught the practical life skills they’d need at home. Fathers carried the main responsibility for passing the Torah lessons along to their sons.
Yikes.
So, notwithstanding whatever guesswork 20 years from now might bring — first-graders arriving on hoverboards to speed-read Ulysses while solving quadratic equations on day three (you never know!) — here’s wishing an awesome school year to all the students of this generation from a guy who went through it a couple of generations ago.
Bible Verses
Questions
What did school look like when you attended ??? How do you think it’ll look in 20 years ???
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