Most of the time my posts are specifically about college or about tips for young adults in a paper-writing or presentation giving mode. It’s what I do and what I know. It’s been a long time since I was in high school. Reunions (plural) have already taken place apparently. I’ve missed them, sadly. They were arranged — poorly — via social networking services. It seems that attendance was well under ten percent as a result. At any rate, I’m fairly well focused on the older crowd of students. That’s not a bad thing at all. But today my focus shifts younger. Grade school young. Middle schoolers. There’s a reason for this shift (which will be explained shortly), and the reason has very little to do with me. It’s relational.
The relation is my sister. She’s just recently been hired as a teacher (something she went to school for). In this economic environment that’s a really big deal. It’s a really great thing. Having seen what caustic educational settings can be like I know one thing for certain: her classroom will be a place of warmth. When we were all chatting about her first day in the classroom with the students it occurred to me that we need more teachers like her. Not because she’s my sister, but because she’s genuinely interested in promoting their education for fields that don’t even exist. She’s inspiring the spark of learning. Technology and new communication tools aren’t just a gimmick or a something she puts up with but real tools with real consequences and opportunities and she’ll employ them well and ably. This isn’t a rant on teachers. This is just my personal experience with the future of teaching. The future (and, indeed, the present) are looking up. Do not relax, however. Support teachers.