“Mr. Thurmond, I look like an old man!” Estephanie shouts across the classroom, as she opens a newspaper with both hands.

Estaphanie is reading the print newspaper – for the first time  — in her tenth grade English class, where print is rich, abundant and in many forms. We have ten magazine subscriptions, months of local newspapers, and a class library of adolescent literature novels. There’s just one problem. The kids want to read digitally. On their phones. Over the web.

Each year, my students are become more digitally dependent and paper resistant.

“Scholars, today, you are going to self-select newspaper articles to read and present to the class.”

“But Mr. Thurmond, they’re all so boring,” Justin blurts out.

“What do you mean boring?” I ask.

“I like to click on stuff while I’m reading,” Jada protests.

Ah-ha. The digital reader. Print is too placid, too static, and not tactile enough for her 15-year-old fingers. Don’t they know that research indicates that students have, albeit it slightly, greater comprehension reading print? Don’t they know that their STAAR and SAT tests are on paper, at least for now. Come to think of it, my GRE was digital and I struggled with that interface, but the paper GRE was so much more of a hassle to register for online. (Insert irony  annotation here.)

Here is a generation that has grown up on digital texts and is now shunning print. How do I adapt as a teacher of 20 years? How can I change my ways – and some of theirs – to better engage my students and move them towards the high-stake, high-rigor standards that today’s education climate demands?