I spent last weekend at my alma mater. I had a great time singing old songs, walking around the campus (with its many, many new buildings), and chatting with my favorite professor!
One thing I noticed was how young the college students seemed to be. I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeonly old geezer. But it struck me that there's not that big a difference between a high school junior or senior and a college freshman or sophomore.
It got me thinking about how much students have to learn and how many skills they need to master during high school to be ready for college/real life. As a teacher, I have to help prepare my students for adulthood. Increasingly, that means helping them become literate in many forms of media and teaching them to communicate effectively using everything from a pen and paper to cell phones and podcasts. In short, I have to help them become citizens of the 21st century.
Even though they seem like they're "just kids" in a few short years they will be legal adults.
Blakely, As you get older they definitely seem younger:). I think they are definitely literate in the forms of media. I agree with you that our job is to help them become citizens of the 21st century. Which really is difficult. When you think about it elders, parent, and teachers have always taught the younger ones from their own life experiences. We do not have life experience in this new world. How then do we lead? I guess we just do the best we can.
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