Image Credit: by engin akyurt on Unsplash
by The Educator Collaborative fellow, Cathline Tanis
“Last night I dreamed I was teaching again
and I was good,
not good like now
where some days I just get through
the curriculum and smile so I won’t cry…”
—Edwin Romond, Dream Teaching
There’s something hauntingly familiar in Edwin Romond’s Dream Teaching. It captures the inner monologue many of us have on the drive home: the yearning for those magical classes where students seemed to hang on every word, when engagement felt effortless, and when our teaching felt right. But here’s the truth I’ve come to live by as a teacher who believes deeply in student growth and agency:
We cannot teach today’s students by clinging to yesterday’s dreams.
Our students are not broken or inferior or less resilient versions of those who came before. They are new and different, shaped by this new world. And as educators, we owe it to them and to ourselves to embrace this newness with open arms, with responsive strategies, and a fierce commitment to relevance.
“I mean good like I once was
when desks were full
and kids did homework
and said thank you
and asked questions because they were curious
not because they wanted points…”
Nostalgia is a powerful lure. It warms us, validates us, reminds us of why we got into teaching in the first place. But nostalgia is also a trickster. It idealizes the past and quietly undermines the present. The “good kids” we remember weren’t inherently better, they just more closely matched the systems and expectations of the time. Today’s students are no less curious or capable. They simply ask different questions in different ways.
When we compare our current students to those from decades ago, we’re not honoring either group. We’re robbing today’s learners of the opportunity to be understood on their terms and to flourish in the classroom we are building now.
The Digital Shift: Social Media, AI, and Student Identity
Today’s students are not just living in a digital world, their experiences, like ours, are shaped by it. Social media platforms influence how they communicate, form identity, and navigate relationships. While this can sometimes feel like a barrier to focus or connection, it’s also a window into how they process the world differently than the previous generation. Their constant access to information, entertainment, ideas, as well as some tenuous and some deep connections changes how they learn and how they expect to be taught. As educators, we struggle to understand these tools, not as threats, but as cultural and educational shifts. The need for media literacy, digital ethics, and creative uses of AI can help to bridge the gap between traditional academics and the world our students actually live in. The more we understand their digital reality and not judge it against yesterday’s bygone era of the analog, the more relevant and impactful our teaching can become.
“and I was excited
to hear my name called in the hall
because it was a kid
who wanted to tell me something wonderful
he wrote last night
not a kid in trouble…”
Every generation of students has taught us something valuable. Whether it’s how to adapt, how to listen better, or how to let go of practices that no longer serve learning, we have learned as much as we have taught. Today’s students are no different, though their definition of “something wonderful” may look different, it is still there.
So what do we do with their wonderful? We can lean into what this generation brings and unlock new ways of connecting, teaching, and growing together. Teaching doesn’t get easier over time, but it gets deeper when we stay open to change.
“and I felt important
because I was
not because I had papers to grade
and meetings to run
but because kids looked at me like
I could change their lives
and I believed them.”
This stanza hits me right in the heart. Because I’ve gotten that look of trust from a student. It’s a sacred moment. To truly earn that look today, we need to re-earn our relevance every year. That may mean designing classrooms where the student voice is central, learning is active, and culture matters.
I try not to measure my impact solely by test scores, though that is important in today’s educational landscape. And definitely not by compliance or students playing school well. I measure it by student agency, joy, persistence, and the moments when they surprise themselves with their own brilliance. My job is not to replicate a dream or yesterday’s student but to make this year’s and every year’s class a realization of a parent’s dream for their child.
Teaching Forward
“And when I woke
I cried
not because the dream was over
but because I remembered
it used to be real.”
Yes, this dream might have been real for many teachers and something else can be real now. Something just as meaningful, maybe even more so, can bloom in every classroom, every year. A classroom where students’ present realities shape the curriculum. A classroom where engagement is rooted in trust and relevance. A classroom where the teacher isn’t just an expert, but a guide, a co-learner, a cheerleader and a builder of bridges between generations.
So what does it look like to embrace the present?
- Use culturally responsive pedagogy: Start with students’ identities and lived experiences.
- Design for engagement, not control: Inquiry, project-based learning, and real-world relevance matter more than ever.
- Model curiosity: Let students see you learning, adapting, and even failing with grace.
- Focus on relationships: Nothing else works if they don’t feel seen.
We can’t teach in dreams but we can teach in truth. And the truth is, the students in front of us now are worthy of our best, not just our memories, but our present and our presence. I still love this poem as I did the first time I read it. I recognize the author’s gentle reminder to us to be present, to be real all while enumerating the challenges and sheer will power it takes to be a teacher. So as I enter this new school year, I plan to spend every day co-creating the classrooms and curriculum my students need today, not the one I miss from yesterday.
Read the full poem here: https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=517
