When I first started teaching, I had a long conversation with my parents. Both of them taught for long, successful careers. I talked about the new challenges for getting kids through school, ready for college: computer literacy and modern pressures to excel. The crux of the conversation was that the overall expectations for students are the same as they were when I was in high school. You need to be able to write well, do at least applied simple mathematical and graphing functions, and think about what you’re arguing and why.

Common core has less required information, at least in the science disciplines that I teach. Some of the required curriculum is enhanced by the use of technology: it’s easier to see Milankovitch cycles using an animation model rather than using physical models with globes, etc. The cycles are very long and precession and nutation are slight compared to the scale of the universe. (Milankovitch cycles are more or less new to the Earth Science curriculum.)

It’s easier for students to get sidetracked by technology and miss the important message or significant skill taught in a lesson. There’s so much available information on the internet. It’s so much easier for students to find poor-quality information. So teaching critical thinking can be really challenging in the modern world.