Earth Day was just a few weeks ago, so here’s your annual reminder to take care of our planet EVERY day!

And if you need a SUPER reminder, here’s Captain Planet and his Planeteers!

Another 1990s product has recently made a triumphant return. X-Men ’97 is receiving “rad” reviews for its continuation of character arcs and plot threads created over 30 years ago on a Saturday morning cartoon. Check out the show’s neo-retro trailer:

Confession time: While the X-Men were my “first love” among superhero comics, I didn’t pay much attention to the animated series. For one, our household TV didn’t get the Fox channel. Second, I thought the cartoon was a pale imitation of the more “authentic” comic book continuity.

I’ve consumed enough pop culture, however, to recognize that any continuity of a decades-long franchise is flimsy at best, beholden to whoever is in charge at the moment. Fans should just pick the stuff they enjoy and ignore the rest.

And now I’m enjoying this new/old cartoon with my own kids. The show captures two main draws of Marvel’s “merry mutants” in animated form:

1) Style (snazzy outfits with bonus buckles).

2) Soap opera melodrama (in a handful of episodes, we’ve already gotten deaths, births, rebirths, clones, time travel, and enough love triangles to prove the Pythagorean theorem thrice over).

Of course, one must always be careful with nostalgic viewing through ruby-quartz glasses (get it?). This applies to both entertainment and education.

Just because something evokes fond memories doesn’t mean it was flawless. We can easily forget the rough spots. In teaching, this comes up whenever you hear comments like, “Why can’t we go back to . . .?” and “Things were a lot better when . . .”

Of course, a similar hazard is ogling at the latest trend and thinking it’s all that and a bag of chips. (There’s another 90s reference for you.)

If you find yourself chasing fads, watch the following video from the Veritasium channel about “the most persistent myth” in education, namely the assumption that some new thing will revolutionize education:

There’s a third danger, particularly to veteran teachers. Anyone who’s been around education for a while will eventually experience déjà vu. That’s not surprising. Every year is an astronomical loop, back to where we started.

Hang around long enough in education, and you’ll notice hints of familiarity among “innovative” ideas. Teachers may be tempted to assume a jaded stance and grumble, “Here we go again,” or “We’ve already tried this.”

Please resist this apathetic posture. Yes, shiny school things are often simply repackaged relics. But consider the strength of something that runs through waves of reform. Maybe there’s a reason it reappears time and again. (Sort of like a phoenix?)

We’re talking about teaching here, but the same is true for the X-Men and other superheroes. How many times have classic stories and key character moments recurred over the years among different media?

Heck, as I’m writing these words, my family has been enjoying Little Women on TV. This is the 2017 “Masterpiece Theatre” version, not the movie from 2019. Or 1994. Or the four other films before those. There are other adaptations, too, like graphic novels and manga.

Multiple retellings reveal a beloved and durable tale. Whether it’s X-Men, Little Women, or classroom instruction, focus on elements that withstand the test of time and trendy tides.

This doesn’t mean sticking to a single interpretation, but rather celebrating and cultivating quality. Whether something is new or classic, deconstructed or reimagined, relevance relies on excellence.

Or rather, X-cellence!