Reaching Students of the Digital Age

A couple of years ago, I heard a man speak about how
teachers are disconnected with the way students access and process information in their lives outside of school. He provided a simple example of how wrist watches are not worn by people under 20 years old. He suggested that they are outdated because they only served one function. Needless to say, I felt ancient when I looked down to see my own archaic watch fastened to my wrist.

It forced me to evaluate my own curriculum. I asked myself if I was taping into this new digital age mentality. The answer was no. Immediately I began brainstorming ways to get my students attention with information devices that they use, or want to use. The challenge was to create easy attention grabbing, digital friendly lessons, without having access to the technology.

The first assignment I created, required my students to text
message a famous figure from history. I thought, why not LOL with Einstein? I was pleased at how such a simple task of merely processing information became a
highlight in the unit. I knew that they were categorizing and grappling with the
content, but they saw it as fun.

Today, I have a portfolio of Best Practices of 21st century lesson plan tem-plates and assignments that I would like to share with fellow educators. Check my portfolio at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tony-Pavlovich-at-Instructomania/Products.