Story Prompt:  As you look back, what are the three most incredible changes you have witnessed?

I have chosen three areas of most incredible changes I have witnessed in the sixty-seven years I have lived.    These changes are sometimes for good, and at other times not so.  The changes that I have witnessed that have impacted my personal life and society, in general, are technology, responsibility, and morality.

First, Technology Changes:  As a young boy, my brothers and I worked in the sugar beet fields on the family farm in East Garland, Utah.  Early in the spring when the beets were very tender and only one to two inches tall, we took our short-handled hoes to thinning the beets so they were about six inches apart.  The equipment to plant the seeds had not been developed that planted the seeds at six inches apart automatically so they didn’t require thinning.

By the time I was in my late teen-age years, a machine had been invented that could be pulled by a tractor and would thin the beets at the required distance.  Over the years, many agricultural improvements were made to take care of much of the manual labor that was required when I was young.

The technological changes I witnessed in my chosen career as a school teacher have significantly impacted the way that I taught, and especially the manner in which I prepared my lessons.

In 1968, when I began to teach science, there were no calculators, no computers, and no software programs.

I remember that in order to simplify mathematical calculations in science, I taught my students at Mountain View, Wyoming how to use the slide rule, a device used by engineers, mathematicians, students, etc. to make calculations by sliding a center part of the “ruler” in such a way as to multiply, divide, and solve for rather detailed mathematical computations.  I continued to teach slide rule for the three years I taught at Burns, Oregon.

During the time I left public education, a hiatus of about seven years, I used an electronic typewriter made by IBM with a “bell” that contained all of the letters, numbers, and symbols.  The ball would quickly strike the paper on the carriage as it moved along.  During this time, I also became acquainted with various printing methods that were replacing the “ditto machine” that would duplicate from a master that had been produced on a typewriter making blue marks on the back of the paper.  This master could then be placed on a roller and an alcohol-based fluid would allow the transfer of the master to a new sheet of paper as a crank was turned, feeding the paper to be printed across the roller.

I remember the first calculator I owned.  I paid about $40.00 for it.  It would add, subtract, multiply, and divide by simply pushing buttons, and the numbers were transferred to a small screen above the keyboard!  Not only was it battery-operated, but it could also be used by plugging a transformer to an electrical wall socket and the other end to the calculator.

As I returned to teach in about 1978, calculators were almost common-place in some classrooms, although many math teachers would not allow use of them in tests.  The idea was that by simply using the calculators, students would not learn the process by which the math problems were solved. 

Now, I can see the wisdom in this, because few cashiers in stores can make change without the use of the “electronic cash box” that not only figures out how much the items and the bill will be, but also the exact change that needs to be returned to the customer!

I had not been teaching long in the Provo City, Utah School District before I was given the opportunity to take classes on how to use a computer, and was given one that had 4 kilobytes of memory.  The PET had a small monitor and a keyboard that would fit elementary students but would not work easily with my large fingers.  To make it work, it required that the computer language of BASIC and a DOS operating system was learned.  This was, to me, a large version of a calculator and I used it to calculate scores for students’ work and calculate grades.

While computers have become smaller and smaller with more and more memory, software programs were developed for almost any application.  Many of my students learned how to use the computer, and even though they were only in middle school, could write sophisticated programs—many made quite a sizeable sum of money doing so.

One of the next major changes was when the Video Casette (VCR) replaced the 16mm movies.  Then came the laser discs.  These contained digital images and lesson materials that could be used in teaching.  They were a shiny disk about twelve inches in diameter (I still use them for a couple of units I taught this fall.)  These were replaced by small compact discs (CDs) that were about 4 inches in diameter and they have not mostly been replaced by DVDs since they contain so much more media.

Over the years, collaboration has become more and more practical.  Using email was a rage that has become more and more simplified.  Google came on the scene.  If anyone had used a phrase like, “I need to Google to find out. . . .” just a few years ago, they would have been thought to be very strange.  The language that has come about due to technology is vastly different than the vocabulary I grew up with!

With continued use of technology, cellular phones, ipods, and other handheld devices have made it more and more difficult to teach without interruptions because some parents even “text” their students during class.  The up-side is that with knowledge developing faster than civilization can keep up with it, mankind continues to “push the envelope” in knowledge and communication.  Technology has become a two-edged sword.

Second, Responsibility:  When I began my teaching career, society was mostly an agrarian society. I taught in communities where students had been taught to work.  The work ethic carried into the classroom.  Homework was the norm.  After a lesson was taught, it was expected (and anticipated) that students would have outside homework that they needed to complete—practice that would help them learn the processes, skills, and knowledge taught.

As time has gone on, I have noticed a definite shift from expected homework to over half of the parents of the students I teach not supporting any homework, at all.  If the work isn’t done in class, it won’t get done.  In the past seven years, I have had students (particularly in the 8^th grade) who have simply refused to do class work or homework.  The work ethic is lacking for many students.  The expectation of these students is “just give me a good grade.”  Neither student nor parent could seem to care about learning.  Entitlement—something for nothing—has become more the norm that the exception.  And the idea of expressing gratitude or thanksgiving seems to be largely, a lost virtue. 

The attitude that seems to pervade is that if I want it now, I will get it now.  Instant gratification seems to have replaced the idea of working for something that is desired, and waiting until enough has been earned to buy or obtain it.

Thirdly, Morality:  Since I was a child, I have noticed a continual decline of moral behavior in the society in which I live.  An honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay seems to have been replaced with “getting pay for as little work as can be gotten by with.”  Or, stealing and having the attitude that “I’ve earned it, anyway.”

When I was growing up, the norm was a two-parent family with mother as a homemaker and father providing for the needs of the family.  Father was the bread-winner and mother was the nurturer of the children.

Today, selfishness is rampant in society!  Single parent families and same-sex partners have become a large segment of society.  Where there are two parents in the family, both are often working, pursuing their own interests, keeping their children occupied with piano lessons, sports, and other activities (almost never is homework scheduled into the scheme) to the point that there is little family interaction.  When the family is together, it is often in front of the Television or video games.  Children tell their parents what they are going to do, rather than asking what they should and can do!

The Solution:  The Constitution of the United States was inspired by Almighty God and written through men of faith.  These men were true to their convictions and established the government and freedoms of our republic.  Public schools were made available to all, in order that these freedoms would be maintained.  Society is under attack!  Our only hope is to return to the Judeo-Christian morals upon which these freedoms are based, and to worship the Lord, Jesus Christ.  This land is a choice land above all other lands, and if we (as a people) do not follow the commandments upon which the blessings of freedom are based—the very freedoms that so many of ‘the greatest generation’ have fought and died for will be lost.  We see it in the political arena where those who are responsible for the laws to maintain these freedoms only argue and cannot seem to come to agreement, or even compromise because of self-serving interests and the unwillingness of the population to “bite the bullet” and make the big course corrections that will turn the tide of our nation.  Unless greediness is overcome, some costly lessons will be given.