KP's Teacher Tales #22: I'm Still Hip
The other day I was called the “hip” teacher on staff.
For what seemed a long time I was the youngest teacher at my school. That definitely isn’t the case anymore. So, my student’s reassurances that I am fresh and cool still (they wanted me to judge the meme costume competition) made me wonder how much longer I have in this role.
I think it’s my public Instagram account that keeps me relevant, but as Facebook is now the “old people” social media platform, I question Instagram’s lasting power. Will I change with the times? What trends will I subscribe to, and which ones am I going to just not get?
This year during one of our professional development days we listened to a webinar delivered by Dr. Shimi Kang regarding development, technology, and computation skills. One of the things that was interesting was her explanation of why students engage in seemingly ridiculous behavior, like the Tide Pod Challenge.
She said that the teenage brain is geared towards risk taking, novelty seeking, and peer admiration. Obviously, teenagers can engage in these things in both positive and negative ways. Eating a tide pod is a pretty negative way of getting a hit of dopamine in your brain, but if we look at the teenage brain at least we can kind of justify the behavior.
Still seems like an experiment in Darwinism but, whatever.
Another thing that I struggle to relate to is the obsessive behavior kids have over celebrities. But, then I remember what I was like in middle and high school and my intense love for Orlando Bloom. All the hormones.
One of the things that Dr. Kang said was that social media is not social bonding. I somewhat disagree with this. Though I don’t think online connections can replace IRL ones, I do believe that in cases of students feeling disconnected from their surrounding peers, their online friendships are the lifelines that keep them going. As someone who engages in social media and has online friendships, I can understand students feeling more connected to their online life then their real one, especially if they struggle with bullying or fitting in.
As I work at an all-girls school (though that’s changing! I’ll write a blog post about that later) beauty trends are inescapable. I don’t have a hard time keeping up with these, so much as find it interesting how things ebb and flow. For example, when I was in high school, low rise jeans were the thing. I would have never been caught in high waist pants, but truly I hated having to hike up my jeans all the time, or worry about bending over. Now, jeans are much more reasonable. So, that’s nice. But 18 year old Kim would have laughed at the fashions of today.
As I work in a high school atmosphere, toys aren’t so much something I encounter, though right now students are really enjoying the new Harry Potter game. Which is fine, because Harry Potter will forever be something I can appreciate.
I guess that’s it! If you could comment on some of the trends you encounter or see kids/teens engaging in I would love to have a conversation about them!
My last two Teacher Tale posts can be found here:
KP’s Teacher Tales #21: Meme Day
KP’s Teacher Tales #20: Dress Up Days
Yo-yo Mania in 1999 was my jam. I missed the boat on pokemon. I still call things "rad" and "wicked" -- which I think dates me.
I don't know what a DJ Khaled is -- or what any of the fashion trends are. Torn jeans and plaid shirts never go out of style, because as I understand it, it was always fringe (ba dum tssss) fashion anyways.
I like to think that todays kids are more accepting / tolerant of others though -- which is to be expected considering how connected everyone is -- I think this is a trend worth keeping.
I hear people say that kids are dumber than ever -- but kids have always been stupid, and so are most adults I encounter -- so it's not saying much.
@mstafford rad and wicked will always be wicked and rad.
I like what you're saying about acceptance and tolerance. I would agree. Things that my peers would have never accepted just "are" now. There will always be cruelty, but it's nice to see the trend (at least in this part of the world) moving towards acceptance.
I think the "dumber" comment is ridiculous. I see the work load my students are expected to balance, and the fact that more people have university degrees than ever, now and I say PAH to that.
Can you still do any sick tricks with your yo-yo?
Oh you mentioned Harry Potter... I like this post by default.
I'm guessing that we're fairly close in age, and I distinctly remember my locker in 8th grade being covered in Orlando Bloom and being far more excited than was reasonable when I was gifted a life sized Legolas cut out the following year.
Who's idea was low rise jeans anyway? Had to have been a man... was the thong straps pulled up on the hips a thing in your area too or did I just get lucky?
As for todays trends, 'dabbing' is it? Not the get you high kind, the dance kind, and that weird straight arm hip move-y dancy thing perplex me... my nephews walk around doing them all of the time and all I can think is my goodness you look dumb* and you know, fidget spinners.
I don't personally see how eating tide pods is any dumber than huffing spray paint and I saw plenty of my peers do that without the promise of reward center activation from social media likes. Not that I'm encouraging eating tide pods, just saying that's a silly reason to say this generation is dumber than any before it. Little more self-centered and entitled... maybe, but not dumber.
Last but not least I also have to disagree with Dr. Kang. For kids that are isolated by their peers for whatever reasons (or isolate themselves) those connections are invaluable... Even for kids with healthy social groups online interaction can be social bonding, take 15 year old Accio for example... I had a great group of friends that I spent a good amount of physical time with, and an outer circle as well that I'd really only see in school or on random occasions and I feel that our online activities reinforced our 'real-world' friendships. Though this was before the 'good shot' illusion really took hold.
Unfortunately the thong thing was a definite trend in my neck of the woods. I'm horrified, now.
Fidget spinners are stupid, but did you ever encounter pogs? Whoever got those to be popular was a marketing genius.
So much Orlando in my locker. I saw him speak once in adulthood and it made my 13 year old self so incredibly happy.
I do remember pogs yeah hahaha I had so many of them and I still don't know what they even are, like what are you supposed to do with them? I always just used them like mini Frisbees XD
Pokemon though, let me tell you that one I knew how to play. I was right in that perfect age group when it hit the US
I used to write all the Pokémon down during the Pokémon rap.