My classroom in 25 years? Can I just start by saying that I hope I don’t have a classroom in 25 years? I mean, that’s heavy to consider still being in the same career when the average tenure for my generation (Millennials) is 4.4 years according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. However, since I’ve already doubled that length, I suppose I can imagine (just imagine) 25 years down the line.

In considering what 25 years from now might look like, I find myself reminiscing to my school life 25 years ago. Ironically, I had just finished the third grade. I spent my summer working on my times tables since my kind and caring teacher informed my mother that I had not yet memorized my 9s and 12s.

I was very lucky as a child to grow up in a nice school that had a computer lab full of Apple 2s. It was such a novelty that we got to use them once a week!

Our school’s computer teacher utilized our modern technology to teach us critical thinking skills, mathematics, history, and even grammar!

Back then, people expected the year 2015 to be even more technologically advanced than it is. While we aren’t all cruising around town on our hoverboards just yet, we have made some pretty incredible leaps.

When I started teaching 9 years ago, my ESL classroom came with a built-in 5 computer student learning station, a smartboard, and a staff computer for each staff person in the program. The room was also equipped with some lovely filing cabinets similar to these. And guess what they were full of?

No joke; I was (needless to say) shocked and dismayed. I mean, I hadn’t seen a mimeograph since I was in elementary school (25 years ago) and even then, most of my teachers were using copiers if I recall correctly.

If it’s not broken, why fix it? I am assuming that was my predecessor’s philosophy. To her I would say, “just because something isn’t broken, doesn’t mean it’s the best tool one could use.”

My, how times have changed...dramatically (and we are only looking at 7 years here). According to Moore’s law, computer processing speeds double roughly every 18 months. With such rapid advancement it is intimidating to imagine what a classroom might look like in the future.

While keeping abreast of technological advancements can be overwhelming, I believe it is critical for we educators to equip our students with the skills they will need to thrive in an ever-evolving, highly technological society.

I’m sure some things will probably be the

same in my classroom 25 years

from now.

I’ll still teach “reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.” After all, students will be writing and reading in media

that hasn’t even been invented yet.

I will still strive to instill my students with a love of reading; to know the comforting papery smell of a book that’s been a treasured friend, to feel the smoothness of the page edges…

…to know the simple pleasure of exploring different worlds, imaging fantastic creatures, or walking in someone else’s shoes, all by curling up with a good book.

I will still make them go get fresh air and

sunshine.

I know that I will still expect my kids to be good people and give them a safe place to learn what that means.

I also know that how I teach all of those things will look dramatically different because it has to. The world will not stop spinning just because I sometimes get dizzy.

Imagine the possibilities. We will be teaching our students about monumental breakthroughs in science and medicine that haven’t even happened yet, all because of the dizzying advancement of technology. We will be equipping them to do far more than we would have been able to do at their age.

I kind of feel like Aladdin when he sings to Jasmine:A whole new worldA new fantastic point of viewNo one to tell us no or where to goOr say we're only dreaming(Songwriters Alan Irwin Menken;Timothy Miles Bindon Rice; Published by WONDERLAND MUSIC COMPANY, INC.;WALT DISNEY MUSIC COMPANY)

I hope that in 25 years my classroom is still a place that teaches to the whole child, utilizing the tools and technology available to foster creativity, critical thinking, and innovation.