I graduated from high school ten years ago. One wouldn't think things in high school have changed that much since then. Let me assure you, times have changed.
Each year as I teach The Great Gatsby I assign a monologue. I love it; students usually hate it. Because of time constraints this year, I had to quickly modify the assignment and make it be a one-draft-only-draft paper. I said "For Monday, type or handwrite a one-page monologue answering the question: what happened in chapter 8*". Well, Monday rolls around and as I call on students to present their monologues, I have a student raise his hand and ask, "I couldn't get to a computer over the weekend, so I typed my monologue on my iPod Touch. Is that okay? I can type up a copy tonight and get it to you tomorrow".
I agreed to let him present and accept the typed version the next day. And I even complimented him for overcoming obstacles to ensure that he got his homework completed. However, now as I think about it, I'm amazed. If you look at my initial directions they include "type or handwrite". So let me get this straight: instead of picking up a pen/pencil to write the monologue on a piece of paper, he typed it into his iPod Touch. Huh. Times have changed.
*I've changed the wording here to protect those who haven't read the book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment