Kids+these+days

Kids these days are mostly minimalists. They want to do the least amount of work that will get them by, with a lot of the focus on producing what the teacher wants. They need to be encouraged to dig deeper and to develop real meaning and schema. Kids these days have a lot to worry about like world events, home life, getting into and paying for college, and trying to be happy in our materialistic and individualistic society. Kids these days are expected to sit still and listen and focus a lot, but the world we live in is not really conducive to these skills. These skills need to be directly addressed and developed, but kids should be given opportunities to learn in a nontraditional school environment where they get to move around more. It takes a lot to keep the attention of kids these days because they are used to a fast paced world and are constantly multitasking. Teachers should take advantage of their students' multitasking abilities and should also be aware that for some students it is very disconcerting //not// to be multitasking, so they need music, for example, to be able to sit still and focus on a test. Kids these days like to use and abuse technology. When I try to get them to put away their mp3 players during class, it's like pulling teeth! I think it would be fun to have my students take an online quiz (like one from [|this site]) to help them find out their strengths and also to help me find out the ways they learn. Also, having a blog or some sort of online community for my students to be a part of might appeal to many of them. However, it is important to remember, that even though it seems like technology is an everyday part of life for //everyone//, some of my students may not have access to computers etc.. and so I need to be sensitive to that as well.