Picture a classroom. In some increasingly modern schools, you might be surprised how things have changed.
Many schools still operate on the old models of textbooks and paper homework. But as we move forward into the future, some more innovative classrooms are adapting with the times.
More and more, educators are realizing that traditional curriculums don't always prepare kids for the challenges of the modern world.
Photo by StockSnap/Pixabay.
Slowly but surely, classrooms are beginning to change. And the results are interesting, to say the least: Coding is becoming as important as calculus. Environmental justice, sustainability, and intersectional politics have started to be incorporated into history class. Many educators are now looking to update their teaching methods to compensate for how society is changing.
In other words: Innovation in education is the future. And schools are finding lots of ways to work it in.
Some schools have begun innovating their approach by assigning projects that tackle lessons from multiple subjects. Instead of doing math problems and writing biology reports, a teacher might ask kids to plan, design, and execute a sustainable vegetable garden, like at Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx. As students measure out plots of land and pick out the optimal crops for their garden, they learn not just about algebra and biology, but also about nutrition, sustainability, and food justice — all pressing issues in the real world today.
Photo by K-State Research and Extension/Flickr.
But some educators still struggle with the reality that whatever hard skills they imbue, no matter how cutting-edge they seem at the time, they might be outdated by the time graduation rolls around. How do educators prepare kids to do well in a future that they can’t predict?
For many schools, the answer has been an unusual one: teach entrepreneurship.
You may think of entrepreneurship as the training that students need to open their own businesses, which isn't necessarily a goal all kids have. But entrepreneurship includes tons of individual lessons and life skills that will help kids adapt to changing environments in any industry.
One such curriculum, launched by the National Federation of Independent Business' Young Entrepreneur Foundation, is broken into three parts: foundations of business theory, developing business ideas, and the logistics of running a business. However, graduates of similar courses say it taught them much more than that.
Photo by Negative Space/Pexels.
"[It] taught me how to create something from nothing," says Anthony Halmon, a graduate of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship program. "I learned that I can create my own opportunities and I can be an innovator."
And when kids use their skills to start their own businesses, everyone benefits.
Though students don't have to go on to become startup founders, many want to do just that. A 2011 Gallup survey indicated that 45% of pre-college students polled said they planned to start their own business — a decision that has positive effects on the individual and on society as a whole.
This outside-the-box thinking taught in entrepreneurship classes has benefits, especially for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, where training in overcoming obstacles can benefit them as they’re often granted fewer opportunities than people from more affluent backgrounds.
Photo by Kaique Rocha/Pexels.
It also shows promise when it comes to increasing social justice and stimulating lower-income economies, as high school graduates with entrepreneurship skills are more likely to find and take advantage of local business opportunities.
For those who become entrepreneurs, the flexibility that comes with creating one’s own business could have great implications for women and parents. Not only does an entrepreneurship class stand to benefit kids in the present, it could also equip them for brighter futures.
At schools already implementing entrepreneurship programs, the reviews are glowing.
Some schools might be hesitant to try out a pilot program in entrepreneurship, but the proof is in the positive results that early adopters are already beginning to see.
Kempsville High School in Virginia tried out an entrepreneurship academy, and students, parents, and teachers all agreed that it had positive outcomes for everyone involved, whether or not the kids intended to start a business.
“No matter what you do in life, you have to sell yourself,” academy leader Meghan Timlin told local newspaper The Virginia Pilot. “We’re going to give you that set of skills.”
It might be time for more schools to consider adding entrepreneurship to the course list.
It's become evident that there's really no way to predict what the world will look like even a few years down the line. If there's a subject that can teach kids how to create opportunity out of uncertainty, that's something worth exploring.
When we educate a class of innovators, we invigorate society with a whole generation of fresh ideas, plans, and solutions to problems. And that's something we can all look forward to.
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.