11. ❝ Moving On

Something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it. What could it be? Most of my graduate students were Generation Ys (aka Millennials)… born after 1982, raised in a digital world. Slogging through various credentials and degree programs at the end of their long workdays made it difficult for them to focus. The cares and worries of their days came with them every week. Their commutes, their own course preparations and classroom management challenges, and their responsibilities at home hung around them like Marley’s chains in Dickens’ Christmas Carol. For any teacher, it’s a problem. All students are difficult to focus, no matter what their age. I had decades of experience, but it wasn’t helping. Things weren’t going well.Written by Anne Ayers Koch. Find more of Anne's writing on Substack.Edited and produced by Geoff Koch and Amanda BarrancoMORETo counter the distracted hum and glazed looks, I filled a large easel at the front of the room with “presenting questions” to jumpstart the evening. Written in careful cursive, I reasoned the sheets would become part of the class record and help them remember what we were doing. As weeks passed, the room walls filled with topics from earlier sessions. It was like living inside a house with walls of grace, looping Palmer writing. It seemed like a good idea—sort of like “dinner special” easels in restaurant waiting areas. It wasn’t working. Students rummaged in their backpacks, pulled out papers, laptops, books, talked to each other, or gazed at the clock, willing it to advance. The same few people opened every discussion. Midway through the term, a 30-something middle school history teacher approached me as I was putting the finishing touches on my easel questions. Twisting his hands, he lowered his eyes. Gesturing at the sheet behind me, I beamed, “Hi Mark. Would you like to add something?”Shoulders hunched, he sighed. “Some of us can’t read your handwriting.” He rushed on, “We only print or keyboard. We didn’t learn cursive.” I’m not sure which of us was more embarrassed. Get full access to River Journeys at anneayerskoch.substack.com/subscribe