The curiosity of the new generation by Madelynn

The curiosity of the new generation by Madelynn - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

To be teaching in the culture we have right now is often a day dream of mine. While in earlier eras the thinker was applauded and held to a higher standard, these qualities have all but disappeared from students now. If you were to observe the average third grade class today, you would experience interest in its purest form. “Why is the sky blue?”, one child will ask. “Why is the earth round?”, another questions. We, as human beings, are born with an innate sense of curiosity. However, that intrigue seems to fade over time. If you were to go into a twelfth grade class now, you would see practically no student interaction at all. Sometime in between elementary and high school, children seem to lose interest in the world. In my classroom, my goal would be to teach my pupils to think, and to hold interest in the world around them.
Though, I do tend to have biased to certain subjects, I feel my goal could be accomplished within any class. I would tell my students of the oddities of the world, of the things we cannot explain. Why does fire exist? No one really knows, and scientists can’t figure out the answer. Why does gravity exist; we know is is triggered by mass, but why? There are many questions on this earth that we as a species do not know the answers to. Asking these questions will be the first step in awaking the new thinkers of a creative generation.
The next step is to put their expanded brain to the test. I would challenge them, put them to the test with difficult material that forces them to use their brains. While making sure I keep the questions in the realm of their knowledge, I would try to make them think out of the box. With this, they can grow and this will make further material easier for them. Being able to function well under this pressure is a very important aspect to growing as a human being, and will help in both school and work environments. Challenges are one of the best ways to get students to think and to exert themselves.
Lastly, I would make sure they understand why it is important to think. To ask questions can help one's knowledge grow greatly, and curiosity is essential to excelling in school. Thinking in general will be an important skill all throughout life, and will help to solve any problems one faces. While this is skill is able to be taught later in life, teaching thinking at an early age will help the skill develop and the person can become great at it before they even leave high school. If I were to be a teacher at this time in our history, I would try to evoke what has spurred on the fight for free education since the birth of our nation.