What was school like when you went?

 

When I think of what my middle school was like back in the day and what my son’s middle school is like, times have changed tremendously! One of the biggest changes, of course, is technology.  We used to use the original desktop computer and thought it was so cool to write a DOS program that scrolled your name across the screen.  Now they use laptops, tablets and iPads.  We had a chalkboard with those dusty erasers and chalk.  My son has a white board and a smart board.  It doesn’t make you smarter, it is just a smarter device than a chalkboard!  Remember going to the library and looking things up in the Encyclopedias?  Now we just “google it.”  

My son does still have textbooks, but if he doesn’t want to carry them around, he can find the text online.  I would have loved that.  I hated carrying books around.

What about phones?  We had rotary phones at our house and school.  My son had no idea what it was when i showed him one in someone’s basement one day.  Now it’s all immediate contact.  Text, email, voice mail, smart phones- you can always reach people.

Students these days don’t really have to learn cursive anymore.  All their papers are typed.  Even in fourth grade, my son had to type his work.  He even made a Power Point presentation with all the effects for a project last year.  When I went to school, we didn’t have Microsoft Office or Power point.

Students that needed extra help had to stay after school in my day.  Now they have all kinds of resources online and Tutor companies like Ashley Tutors that provide tutoring in Maryland and all over the United States.

Ashley Tutors have all of the latest technology.  No floppy disks or chalkboards anywhere around.

What changes have you seen in schools since you went?