Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thinking.

I have been thinking about what "I do" with my life and time.  I have come to the conclusion that somethings I do actually do not matter, and some things matter in the extreme.

There is a lot of "talk" about education.  Education is personal.  If  you are a person that is motivated to learn, then you will learn, against all odds.  Internal or intrinsic motivation is what makes the difference.  As a parent and as an educator, I have found that the best way for young people to succeed in life is to build internal motivation.  The question is "how do we do that?"  I don't think that we do that by giving out candy.  We now live in an entitlement society that has been created, in some cases, by our educational system.  Rewarding students for doing what is expected feeds this entitlement society.  We should be rewarding students who go above and beyond.  No one in the corporate world is rewarded for showing up at work.  A person is rewarded with a raise, when they have accomplished something that is more that just "showing up."

We are establishing beliefs in young people that they are "entitled" to have the same things that a person (from a previous generation) has gained through initiative, determination, and just plain hard work. 

I personally still believe in the American Dream, although it is dying.  The American Dream was that you could achieve on your own hard work and labor.  The dream was that you could have a good life and live free, through the fruits of your hard work and take pride in that work, because you did it, no one did it for you. We do not recognize that anymore. 

We do not teach our young people that through failure, you can develop the skills to overcome obstacles to your success.  Some of those skills would be determination, persistence, resolve, and a belief in themselves that they can overcome "road blocks."  Practice, practice, and practice some more.  No one is recruited by the NBA, NFL or other sports affiliation without putting in years of practice, without overcoming obstacles, without determination.  If schools applied the same determination and motivation that society exhibits for sports toward academics, we would see a huge improvement in our test scores.  It really doesn't matter what test you use, what matters is what you do in the classrooms every day and what happens in that student's life every day.

The classroom is where we, as educators, mold and enhance learning that has been delivered by other teachers, and most importantly, by parents.  There are some students that no matter how much we do as educators, when that student is not with us and does not have supportive parent(s), all of our work is undone. The process starts over every day. Parents are the key to a student's success.  A supportive parent is worth their weight in gold.

Reading is the one thing that anyone can do, at any age, to improve their education.  It takes practice.  When you can read and understand what you are reading the next step is to discuss your reading with others, then formulate your own ideas. . . don't let a "talking head" put words in your mouth.

Well it's for sure that one thing we don't have is a "Superbowl" for professional readers.  We say we want success for students, but are we just "talking the talk" and not "walking the walk?"