The Class of 2011

[intertext]

Thanks to Carla Beard, The Web English Teacher for drawing my attention to this list of things we need to remember about the mindset of students entering college with year.

The majority of our first year students were born in 1989 (and if that doesn't make you feel old...). For them, the world has certain realities. I was particularly struck by a few:

What Berlin Wall?

They have never "rolled down" a car window

Nelson Mandela has always been free

Fava beans have always been a pop culture reference

U2 has always been more than a spy plane. (shows you how long they've been going!

Tiananmen Square is associated with an Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre

Check out the whole list - it provides quite a bit of food for thought, and reminds us teachers to be careful about our cultural references. They might not be as "obvious" as we thought!

Crossposted at RealToads (yes, yet another blog)

Comments

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Rush Limbaugh -- conservative talk-radio host who coined the word feminazi and claims that torture in Abu Ghraib was equivalent to fraternity hazing.

Keating Five -- bribe-takers in a Congressional scandal.

Pete Rose played for the Phillies and the Reds. And the Expos for a little while.Then he was a manager but was thrown out ofbaseball for betting on the game.

NBA = basketball.

Eastern Airlines went out of business in 1991.

Wolf Blitzer and Katie Couric are American reporters; she's an anchorwoman.

The MagiCan was a Coke promotion.

They have no idea who Rusty Jones was or why he said “goodbye to rusty cars.” My guess is that it was a TV af campaign.

The late Cesar Chavez organized the migrant farmworkers in a long and bitter strike, during which many of us didn't eat grapes or lettuce. He is a labor hero, so his work is not often taught in schools. The other Chavez is president of Venezuela.

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Thanks for those.