AJC.com > Blogs > Get Schooled > Archives > 2006 > October > 05 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USAre All Kids “Educable”?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Beverly Hall, superintendent of the Atlanta district, gave a speech this morning at the Carter Center for her fervent supporters in the business community.
Hall said she arrived in Atlanta seven years ago to a “pervasive belief” that Atlanta kids could not do well in school. She said she intentionally avoids harping on the home lives of many Atlanta students - the abject poverty, the drugs and the absence of role models - because she doesn’t want that to become an excuse for low achievement. ‘
She urged everyone to believe in the “educability” of all students.
One other note: She said Bill Cosby called her assistant and spent 20 minutes praising Atlanta students for their good behavior during his speech earlier this week. Seniors from all schools were brought to Douglass to hear Cosby. To me, that says his message resonates.
Well, do you believe in the “educability” of all students? (Sorry I have to put that word in quotes… It’s just not a word I would normally use, though it does exist and it does fit this context…)
Comments
By Nikole
October 5, 2006 10:47 AM | Link to this
The belief that all children can learn is essentialy a requirement if you plan to be a teacher. If you don’t agree with that statement you should make a living elsewhere.
By Ernest
October 5, 2006 10:53 AM | Link to this
The mission statement for our school system is to guarantee that each learner develops individual potential and becomes a contributing citizen. The individual potential for each student is different hence the need to provide more choices in education/training options.
Yes, every child can be educated however the ‘one size fits all’ model that we have in place is causing many of our children to fall to the wayside. I don’t have the answers to what is better but I do know that status quo is failing a great number of our children.
By MMM
October 5, 2006 10:58 AM | Link to this
Certainly every child can and should learn.
Expectations matter tremendously—far more than the material circumstances or “labels” we love to apply. Expectations are also contagious, especially from adult to child.
But the cult of “self esteem” backfires if it gives empty promises that “you’re doing great” when any fool can see that no effort has been made to learn. And no one cares.
By SET
October 5, 2006 11:00 AM | Link to this
YES all students can be educated. The only variable is how it’s done and to what level.
Only certain students can be taken to higher levels such as Advanced Chemistry and Calculus. Not everyone is built for that. But there is a place for everyone and even the retarded can be taught certain things.
And virtually everyone can be taught to observe silent time, walk in single file, keep their hands to themselves and other basic things - at the end of a paddle if required.
Then we move on to appropriate dress, speech, and eventually how to pass a graduation test and start a career.
The only reason we are having the problems we are with primary and secondary education in the USA - problems that are not experienced elsewhere in the world - is that we have forgotten how to educate. We know that we produced better results in the first half of the 20th Century despite the more primitive physical plants we had at the time. Sometime after 1960 we lost the will to shape students by breaking them when they were crooked. They heal nicely when they are young.
The results speak for themselves. Look at the remedial classes now being taught at University of California. (English A) and the numbers of freshman now required to take them compared to generations ago. And our watered down SAT scores - a score from my generation equals a superior performance to anyone with the same score today.
If we had stayed the course in education the performance of our public school students would be better now than it was in 1960. Instead we babied and spoiled the students.
I believe we can educate everyone (not to college level) even the fatherless products of the underclass. The problem is our will to do so and our will to use force as needed to produce the results. The inmates and their mothers should not be running the asylum.
By teach overseas
October 5, 2006 11:37 AM | Link to this
It’s absolute idiocy to pretend that ALL kids can do ALL things EQUALLY well.
All children can learn. Well duh- that is such a non-statement. What is it that ALL children can learn? Think how low you would have to set that bar in order for no child to be left behind.
By JustMe
October 5, 2006 12:20 PM | Link to this
Well…. first we would have to agree to exclude those students that are severely disabled. Some of those really cannot learn or are extremely limited. However, I do believe that those students are a very small percentage of the population.
The other students can learn. But, they likely learn at different paces with different strengths and weaknesses. Also, it matters a great deal as to IF the student WANTS to learn. If a child has a closed mind, then they will not learn regardless.
I think that Cosby’s message addressed just that - getting the students to WANT to learn.
With all of these variables, it tickles me as a teacher how administrators and also the general public thinks that there is a “one size fits all” model to classroom teaching. It has been my experience that good teachers do the exact opposite. They vary their teaching styles and have differentiated instruction to reach many students. That is why I call teaching partially an art form. You have to consider every class unique and every student unique. There is no cookie-cutter approach.
Some school systems have strict pacing guides for the courses. Teachers are expected to be on a specific topic on a specific day. This does not address the student/class variability at all.
By b. white
October 5, 2006 12:35 PM | Link to this
The suggestion that some students are unable to be educated is not true. As a baby each child had to learn to walk and talk. Is that not education? What the problem amounts to is how many still want to learn on the level that need to be learning.
By MMM
October 5, 2006 12:38 PM | Link to this
I didn’t say that every child can and should be expected to learn the same thing at the same pace.
The negotiation of expectations can’t all come from some label-applying system or society. Choosing can produce commitment and confers a certain responsibility. This happens only if the choice is meaningful and desired by the family or child. And if it come with some social contract that requires effort and cooperation.
If the only choice is to accept something that doesn’t match what your child needs or rebell, you will have a lot of passive non-cooperative unmotivated or angry parents and the kids will follow suit.
By Erin
October 5, 2006 12:43 PM | Link to this
Of course they can learn, although some in a different way, at a different level and in different areas.
Whether they can in the schools we have is a different matter. And whether they want to? Again, a totally diffferent matter. Because like others have said, many times in many topics on this blog, one-size education does NOT fit all and the sooner the powers that be realize that, the better.
By JustMe
October 5, 2006 12:54 PM | Link to this
Erin, get this! Where I teach, the school system gave us a pacing chart (what to teach when). This means that if I happen to have a very bright class and we can move on to the next topic, I can get in trouble!!!! If an administrator walks into my room today and I am teaching tomorrows lesson per their pacing chart, I will get a “needs improvement” on my observation. How stupid is that!!!
By Jeff
October 5, 2006 01:01 PM | Link to this
CAN they learn? Most definetely. All Dem Franchise Boys had to do to teach their “dance” was put the instructions in the rap. In my experience, a black child that can’t “lean wit it, rock wit it” is a SEVERE minority.
WILL they learn? That is a choice they must make, and they must live with the consequences. Choose to learn and succeed, choose not to and failure, quite possibly in the form of death and/ or imprisonment, awaits.
Agree with Nikole though: Any teacher that does not believe a child CAN learn should leave immediately.
By Shooter
October 5, 2006 01:02 PM | Link to this
Can all teachers teach all children? In Newton Co.a teacher taught for 5 years,was teacher of the year one year, before it was discovered that he had never finished high school and never attended any institute of higher learning. Do you wonder what he could have taught our kids,I do.In Georgia we have many teachers who should not be in a classroom, child molesters,drunks, teachers who have had their own children removed by DFCS. The assistant principal told me he could predict the future,he was furious when I questioned that ability.I ask him if that was true why was he only assistant principal, at that point he ended the conferance.I think we should worry more about can the teacher teach,than can the kids learn.
By Jeff
October 5, 2006 01:04 PM | Link to this
One size CAN fit all…
Did they have differentiated instruction in the late 50’s/early 60’s (during the Space Race)? NO!!!!!!
Who landed on the moon (and who got them there)? Oh wait, that’s it… the products of American Education
By Baby Girl
October 5, 2006 01:05 PM | Link to this
If a child cannot read and comprehend, they are hampered learning anything else. Reading on a tested level has not be done for 20 some odd years.
By Political Mongrel
October 5, 2006 01:16 PM | Link to this
All children can learn, but they can’t all learn the same things. We all have built-in strengths and limitations, though some limitations can be overcome.
That doesn’t mean that they WILL learn what we think that they should. The pro-academic setup of schools needs to change. There should be more opportunities for vocational training for the non-college bound than there are. Tech/vocational students are the majority in many school systems, but they get a short share of the money vs the amount put into academics. This needs to change.
By BeingHonest
October 5, 2006 01:36 PM | Link to this
Here is the best thing I heard as of late in regard to education.
If you can’t breed them, We can’t teach them.
Look at the gene pool!
By MMM
October 5, 2006 01:38 PM | Link to this
Jeff—-you seem to imply that just because the term “differentiated instruction” was not in vogue in the 50’s/60’s that that somehow the real challenge of moving everyone at different starting points along wasn’t present.
I would say that it was even more true 100 years ago than today—-just exactly how have the citizens in that one-room Amish schoolhouse learned, forgiven, and strived to assist one another? ages 5-adult in one room, and that community is an example to us all!
By Jeff
October 5, 2006 01:46 PM | Link to this
MMM:
Two things happened in the late 50’s/ early 60’s that GREATLY affected American Education:
In 1958, the USSR launched the first man-made satellite, Sputnik. This SHOCKED the nation, as we thought we had the better scientists/ educational systems.
Circa 1961, President Kennedy gave his “I want a Man on the Moon by the End of the Decade” speech.
In other words, the President set a VERY high - some would call it unreasonable or even unreachable - goal.
Guess what? WE HIT IT!
You don’t have to differentiate instruction. You just have to set an “unreachable, unreasonable” goal and COMMAND THEM TO HIT IT.
By baby girl
October 5, 2006 01:49 PM | Link to this
Teaching begins at home. They must be taught to behave, and be respectful. They must be taught basic things, like colors, numbers, letters, etc. They must be read to at an early age. From 1-5 are formative years and the PARENTS are responsible for this. Then, the SCHOOLS must be responsible to teach them to READ and READ well. It doesn’t matter whether they will take academic or vocational studies, if they can’t read, they can’t follow instructions.
By Lindsey McDaniel
October 5, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this
Yes all kids have the ability to be educated; however there are so many distracting influences that affect their ability to learn. The kids in society today are affected by the things which are glorified and paraded across our TV screens and through our radio speakers. When you have artist like “Destiny’s Child singing about they want a soldier” , and then they back it up with a music video portraying a bunch of lazy thuggish looking “wanna be’s” who have murdered nothing but the English language; then how can we expect our kids to follow the right path and do the right thing.
This type of music and video portrayal tells our kids that it is not cool to be smart; therefore, they choose to do only enough to get by. Meanwhile, they try to justify their actions for getting an “F” in a class, by saying, “but I have a HIGH “F”.
The thuggish “wanna be” life has now ventured into main stream America, and the schools are giving up on the battle. The schools are now lowering their standards and expectations of the kids; therefore, when little Johnny makes a “C minus”, that is reason to celebrate. The school administration is also creating programs where kids can SERVE high school for 4 years, and be allowed to LEAVE, not GRADUATE.
Again, yes all kids have the ability to be educated, but as long as the parents don’t care; the teachers don’t care; the MEDIA doesn’t care; then why should we expect the kids to care. Meanwhile, we will just continue to allow the kids to leave the High School after SERVING their 4 years. Serving 4 years……….hmmmmm………maybe that’s why it is so easy for many of them to transition into the correctional system because they have already SERVED 4 years.
Parents, teachers, and people in the media…………if we are going to educate the kids……..we have got to work together……….or we all fail……….including the kids.
By Momma D
October 5, 2006 02:02 PM | Link to this
I moved from Gwinnette County where it was never a question that ALL children could learn and not be left behind, to the country where it became an issue. Most common reasons for poor achievement: poor, no adult role models at home, disadvantaged, no parental support. I got so tired of hearing excuses. I had a boss who said at an all hands meeting one time, “don’t tell me it can’t be done. Think of a way to get it done”. I think this is the attitude we need to take in most situations.
By kevin
October 5, 2006 02:07 PM | Link to this
All students can be taught and they can reach their potential learning ability at some point. I hate when a teacher can’t teach these students and blame it on the student being ADD or ADHD, what a cop-out by our educators. Teachers have “invented” this fraud of ADD or ADHD to excuse our educators and thus blame the students, what a sad, sad country!
By old school
October 5, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this
As a person who attended public school back in the 60s, I agree with SET. Today’s childern have been spoiled. Parenting attitudes lean toward the idea that it is easier to make excuses for their child than take the time to teach the child what were once basic day-to-day responsibilites. The school bus has to come pick up the kid for them because a mile is TOO FAR to walk, and also might require that the parent teach the child how to cross a street if he/she had to walk! Childern no longer have to pack their own lunches, because the parents cry out about how the schools can’t possibly expect the child to remember their lunch every day. Childern who can’t sit still aren’t punished with a good spanking to remind them that appropriate behavior is expected. Instead, they are taken to doctors and given drugs to conteract the lack of discipline. Children who haven’t been taught to be responsible for themselves because there is no NEED for it, aren’t as likely to find a NEED to learn what is taught in school, either.
By V for Vendetta
October 5, 2006 02:21 PM | Link to this
Sure all kids can be educated. If their parents don’t screw them up first! The ones who get the learning bug instilled at a young age are the ones that will learn for the sake of learning.
By BlindHomer
October 5, 2006 02:24 PM | Link to this
Only the very best teaching can overcome the worst parenting.
By Stacey
October 5, 2006 02:25 PM | Link to this
I believe that all kids can learn but not the same material nor at the same pace. Also, some kids need different teaching methods. When I was in school (way back in the 80’s), by middle school kids were grouped in classes according to their stregnths and weaknesses. Although we all took the same subjects, the “more advanced” students were given more challenging projects and assignments and were taught at an accelerated pace. By high school, we were allowed to “choose” our courses. Some students choose college prep courses, some vocational. Some took basic math & general science, others took trigonometry & physics.
I believe it hurts all students to lump them together and expect them to learn at the same pace. Slower learners will become discouraged because they “can’t” catch on. More advanced students will become bored and (sometimes) regress because they need a more accelerated pace and /or material.
By Jeff
October 5, 2006 02:31 PM | Link to this
V:
I can buy that.
Wild, Outlandish idea:
Find a way to spread autism, and make EVERY male autistic. Then make a “perfect communicator” virus and spread it to all females.
In the first generation, you would see IMMENSE strides in learning.
In the second and later generations, you would see equal strides in learning as the first generation, but now with the ability to communicate clearly!
Like I said, wild, outlandish idea, not to be taken as a course I would actually suggest…
By OldSchool
October 5, 2006 02:32 PM | Link to this
A clarification here folks, the old school who posted at 2:08 is NOT me, the original OldSchool.
I believe that all children can learn…something. That learning needs to be relevant and useful and transferable. Not all children can learn on the same level but accomodations can be made and they can learn.
If only they wanted to.
By Dick
October 5, 2006 02:37 PM | Link to this
No, all children are not able to learn.
By Rod
October 5, 2006 02:39 PM | Link to this
What future is there for our kids when the AJC hires a staffer to post headlines for these blogs - and that person is clueless and uneducated?!?!
This blog is about “educability” - but the staffer typed “educable”. AJC, hire a college grad!
By baby girl
October 5, 2006 02:44 PM | Link to this
I’m over the whole lot of you ROD. Obviously, you are a bunch of teachers. And brilliant too. The rest of us are a bunch of morons. Teachers are half the problem.
By MMM
October 5, 2006 02:48 PM | Link to this
Jeff—so am I to put you down as a NCLB supporter?
It is a stretch goal that has certainly provoked a lot of discussion! (I don’t think it has the buy-in of most of the educational establishment. Kennedy got everyone behind a concrete visible goal. 100% at or above “grade level” is so subject to political manipulation—with the school having the sole responsibily.)
By Nikole
October 5, 2006 02:53 PM | Link to this
Rod-I am not following you, should the question read “Are all kids educability?” That does not make any sense.
By Jeff
October 5, 2006 02:58 PM | Link to this
I like NCLB’s intent. How it has been put in motion is despicable.
Por ejemplo:
Last year’s 5th graders only needed to get 45% of the questions on CRCT correct to pass…. yet they would have to have 25 points HIGHER than that to pass according to the grading policy used in most systems in the state!
We don’t hit 100% by actually making kids learn…. we hit it by constantly lowering the standards, against the INTENT of NCLB…
By KA
October 5, 2006 02:58 PM | Link to this
Several blogs ago I think it was Janine that posed the question of when we began blaming parents for students’ faliure in school. She remebered from her school days that it was the student’s responsibility to attend school and work toward success, and if he failed then it was his fault. So maybe we should ask the students if they want to be educated, and are ready to work. You know you can lead a horse to water but you cna’t make him drink.
By JustMe
October 5, 2006 03:01 PM | Link to this
Come on! Of course not all teachers are good teachers. All doctors are not good doctors. All lawyers are good lawyers. Can’t you say this about any profession?
And, of course - there are some teachers that are “bad” people. But again, isn’t that also true about any profession?
To teach, fingerprints are taken and backgrounds are checked (legal and financial). This is before the candidate steps one foot in a classroom. If you do not think that this is good enough, what else do you suggest?
By JustMe
October 5, 2006 03:08 PM | Link to this
Come on! Of course not all teachers are good teachers. All doctors are not good doctors. All lawyers are good lawyers. Can’t you say this about any profession?
And, of course - there are some teachers that are “bad” people. But again, isn’t that also true about any profession?
To teach, fingerprints are taken and backgrounds are checked (legal and financial). This is before the candidate steps one foot in a classroom. If you do not think that this is good enough, what else do you suggest?
By baby girl
October 5, 2006 03:15 PM | Link to this
Background or criminal histories in the state of georgia for teachers are checked only in ga. for example, if you lived in alabama, they can only get history in ga, not entitled to out of state and only for employment.
By Patti Ghezzi
October 5, 2006 03:33 PM | Link to this
Sorry Rod, I’m not following you. “Educable” is an adjective meaning “capable of being educated.” “Educability” is a noun.
What’s the problem?
Patti Univ. of Mass, Class of ‘91
By frank123
October 5, 2006 04:11 PM | Link to this
Agree with Jeff. All kids can learn, but they don’t have the will to. Whether they have the will to is 80-90% on the parents. If the parents don’t care and want to focus more on TV, gambling, drugs and other entertainment, the kids will do the same. The parents need to set the expectation level and support what the teacher do in the class. Nearly all the parents, including myself, have no training in teaching.
By Mia
October 5, 2006 04:28 PM | Link to this
I have had the opportunity to witness learning and teaching in a variety of settings in the states and abroad. Through these experiences I find that the main component of successful learners are expectations and involvement set by parents. In areas where parents have to pay for a child’s learning you will find that more emphasis is put on the success of that child’s education. The parents are then doing what ever is necessary so far as time and resources to make sure that their child meets or exceeds the appropriate goals. The parent and child become thankful for the education and are less likely to take it for granted. By it being law that a child must attend school and it’s free, increases the opportunity for failure. Make the parents pay for their child’s schooling, set up work/volunteer programs for those parents that can’t afford to pay, and watch the increase in numbers of children that meet and exceed standards, at a minimum we will know that 95% of the children are working to their full potential. Supplement the teachers pay as a result of parents paying for education and evaluate them on success of their students and what you will then get are excellent teachers because they would be realistically paid for performance. An added bonus would also be that, more truly great teachers will return to the classroom. More often than not, chronically asinine behavior from students leads to teachers hating their profession or leaving……. If they want to make something free make uniforms mandatory and provided by the school.
By jwhite
October 5, 2006 04:35 PM | Link to this
Every child can learn, even those with disabilities have a level that they can complete. I takes a willing teacher, a caring parent and the students desire to achieve. Unfortunately, there are several obstacles – as mentioned in some of the above posts – that deter students.
1) Teachers. There are some outstanding, superb teachers. Dr. Hall and her staff have not seen fit to distribute them equally. Then there are those that want the money, don’t have the time, and could care less if a child learns. We lack teachers but the administration should scrutinize the people that are being hired. A person that holds a PhD in chemistry from some third world country and can past the certification test does not make the best teacher. A teacher should be one that cares enough to ensure that every student that wants to get it does. They should be willing to deal with the child, establish a relationship, and know their students. Sometimes you will find that a parent is easier to deal with when the teacher knows the student. I had a teacher that rarely reported to school on time and spent more time on her cell than the students. Dr. Hall clean up our schools. Let the friendships go.
2) Parents We can be the most worrisome, lying, conniving, inaccessible, uncaring, dysfunctional group in the world. If your child is not doing the homework or passing it in – it is not the teachers fault. If your child is cutting class, it is not the teacher’s fault. Your child needs discipline or better yet a butt whipping (sorry you might go to jail). We have to stay on top of what is going on with our children. And, stay on top of the teachers, administration and the heads of school boards. We cannot do their job but we can make enough noise and insist that they do.
3) Children To paraphrase some of the points made by Dr. Cosby, no goals no future. Then he added that you could learn from the drug dealer how to catch a bullet, the drug user, how to end your life and the person with AIDS, how to spread a killer disease. A thug life is not as glamorous as the rappers make it seem. Some of them have obtained degrees from colleges (Ludacris, Nellie, Puffy). While you are trying to be like them – go to school. But, again Parents if all you instill in your child is how to act a fool in class or how to lie or make excuses; be prepared to care for them or bury them.
Too bad Sonny does not have the schools and not administration on his “to do list”.
By Sp Ed Teacher
October 5, 2006 05:20 PM | Link to this
As a 25 year+ Highly Qualified Sp Ed teacher, the cycle of how to solve education problems continues to repeat.
There are children in some HS that can not walk or talk. They are entitled to be in school through age 21. So no, not every child will learn what most assume is part of education.
Not every child will learn to read at the same level. Various disabilities prevent some from learning. And as many others posted, the will to learn prevents some from getting a great education.
Myh father was a teacher and a principal. He would say, “You can lead a horse to water, you can even make it thirsty, but you can not make it drink.”
In the past, I’ve taught 17 year olds to add and subtract without counting on their fingers, how to count money, and to write their name in cursive (signature). For some, that is the highest they may achieve in the classroom.
Remember, Gifted is part of Sp Ed. These are the students that are being forgotten in some schools, as teachers strive to “reach all” students.
By erica
October 5, 2006 05:29 PM | Link to this
Jeff,
No there was no differentiation in the 50s. We didn’t have to educate so many idiots in the 50s either. Unfortunately, the idiots have bred like flies ever since thanks to the development of an entitlement based country beginning in the 50s and 60s. Pair that with the stupid idea of offering every kid an “opportunity to suceed” and all that garbage about self esteem… and it’s a wonder that any kid is educable under those circumstances.
Now, when the class is full of imbeciles…needing an “opportunity to suceed,” the kids who are actually capable of becoming something need differentiation so they don’t die of boredom.
By Elsie
October 5, 2006 06:24 PM | Link to this
All children can learn. The difference lies in our expectations, which should be high but attainable. We also have to differentiate our expectations in some cases.
My younger brother, who is disabled, falls into the “severely/ profoundly mentally challenged” category. He has been learning his entire life, and learned to walk on his own with a walker AT AGE 13. It would not be reasonable to expect him to learn American History and Calculus, but he is still learning- and is excited about learning. (BTW- he graduated in 2005 at age 22 with a standing ovation from his senior class- they all knew how hard he works!)
For students who are not have special needs- hey, they can learn, too! Parents and teachers must demand high levels of achievement.
By jim d
October 6, 2006 08:25 AM | Link to this
Are All Kids “Educable”?
If you plan to be a teacher and retain some semblance of sanity, first you must understand that all kids are not educable.
Well at least not by our public educational system.
Life itself is the best teacher; eventually every student learns or perishes.
By Taxpayer
October 6, 2006 08:26 AM | Link to this
Children are born learners, little sponges who will naturally soak up informationa about their world if it is made available to them. But what if that little one’s brain is damaged because of mom’s drug use, a lack of pre-natal care, physical abuse, or both parents’ utter and complete indifference? Our society is being flooded with “damaged” kids whose brains have suffered harm because of the poor choices of their parents. Yet any talk of trying to keep people from having children that they don’t want and will not care for draws an immediate outcry that this is a violation of personal rights. We need to support more programs that steer teenagers away from early sexual activity and unprotected sex and toward setting goals and protecting themselves through abstinence or birth control.
The teenage mother sitting in my college classroom this week can barely keep her eyes open and usually falls asleep. She is exhausted from trying to work, take care of a newborn, and go to school. When she talks with me about her child, there is no warmth in her voice and she says things like, “I wish I had waited to have him.” She’s smart, but she can’t learn if she is asleep. And what chance does her baby have if he was not even wanted from the start? What chance does any child have of coming into the world capable of learning what he/she knows to function and succeed in the world if the very people who caused that child’s existence didn’t want him/her to be born in the first place and don’t plan to do much about the kid now that he/she is here?
All young people are “educable” when it comes to teaching them to make better choices. But if they never hear the message, they won’t learn.
By Jeff
October 6, 2006 08:39 AM | Link to this
Off topic, but I’d like some input and y’all are becoming a GREAT sounding board:
Due to my situation in South GA, I’ve been watching just about every movie dealing with school and minority kids I can get my hands on… Coach Carter is playing right now. And Coach Carter is where this idea sprang from.
I call it the “Challenge: Fear”.
In Coach Carter, Sammuel L. Jackson’s Coach Carter keeps asking the kids - one of them in particular - “What is your greatest fear?”. He locks the kids out of backsetball when the kids don’t perform, but the local school board overturns him and ends the lockout. He quits, and walks back to get his thigns from his desk, where he finds the kids in the library, voluntarily. The kid that he has been asking about his greatest fear speaks up with this:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
The idea is to tell kids that for a set number of bonus points, all they have to do is find this quote - I’m not telling them what it is or where it is from, only that it is in a movie -, memorize it, and recite it in front of the class.
The HOPE is that they will take its message to heart.
Input?
By Lee
October 6, 2006 08:41 AM | Link to this
Okay, I think most are in agreement that all children have the ability to learn, albeit at different levels and speeds.
So, someone tell me why our school system’s highly paid “Curriculum Director” announced that our county’s high schools were adopting a “College Prep” curriculum and abolishing the General/Technical diploma.
One observation I have made of those in the education field is their obsession with how many letters come after their name (i.e., I have a 6 year degree, therefore, I am a more qualified teacher that those who have a 4 year degree…) Since they have that obsession, they think all students must aspire to go to college.
You know, when I was an eighteen year old college freshman, I was in awe of those college professors with their Phd’s. Fifteen years later, when I went back to school for my MBA, I realized how full of crap many of them were and that many could not run a business if their life depended on it.
By jim d
October 6, 2006 08:55 AM | Link to this
Nice line Jeff.
But I don’t think making kids recite it will in any way “enlighten” them.
And really, how many kids really feel that way? Think you have one? I mean if you do—-then by all means go for it.
By Taxpayer
October 6, 2006 09:00 AM | Link to this
Lee, as a college professor, I have to agree with you! There IS an obsession among those in education with letters and titles, but many lack good old common sense or any idea of how the world really works. This obsession is in full force now in our public schools. I tried to get some information recently from the head of a department at my daughter’s public high school. The woman could barely put together two grammatical, coherent sentences, but she informed me no less than three times during our brief conversation that she was “DR.——” (and she had the attitude to go with the title). My dad used to call these people “educated idiots.” I try hard not to be one myself.
By OldSchool
October 6, 2006 09:01 AM | Link to this
Jeff, I hope you are doing some interpreting for your students. My high school kids have a hard time getting their heads around quotes that are at best mundane. If a kid has no clue as to just what the quote is all about, he may parrot it back to you but will remain as lost as he was before.
You know what my “off topic” wish would be? BRING BACK ROTE MEMORIZATION. When kids memorized multiplication tables and other data, teaching was not so tough. I don’t have the research, I just remember thinking they had been exercising their brains memorizing that stuff and it seemed to pay off in quicker, more accurate responses in other areas.
By jim d
October 6, 2006 09:04 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
You made me recall a line from another movie that every teacher really should be teaching these kids.
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory. - General George Patton Jr
By Jeff
October 6, 2006 09:09 AM | Link to this
Old,
BTW: One thign I’m learnign down here? When a system says it is shutting down for the week, IT REALLY SHUTS DOWN!!!! Up North (GA), when a system says it is shutting down, there is always one or two people at school or at LEAST at the central office… NOT SO down here!!!
By jim d
October 6, 2006 09:11 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
Should you ever decide to place an inspirational “quote of the day” in your classroom I’d be glad to feed you some of my favorites. You may need to edit some of the language though. :-)
By Jeff
October 6, 2006 09:21 AM | Link to this
jim,
I’m always up for a good quote, feel free to email me at ajc_jeff@yahoo.com
By V for Vendetta
October 6, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this
Patti, don’t sweat Rod. The rest of us appreciate what you are doing at the AJC. Keep it up!
By KA
October 6, 2006 10:51 AM | Link to this
Taxpayer, Maybe one way to get high school girls to avoid sex and early motherhood is to recruit young women, like the one in your class, to go to the high schools and talk about their choices and struggles. I wish someone would make a movie that addressed this issue.
By KA
October 6, 2006 10:58 AM | Link to this
Jeff, Google is my best friend for quotes. Just type in a theme (love, life, happiness, etc.) and you get inspriational and quote sites pop up. I like to look up old song lyrics and have found many thoughtful quotes in the lyrics. You have a message and music in a song, something kids will listen to.
By Jeff
October 6, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this
I’m too young to have students dieing on me!
(I just found out that one of my students from my time up north last semester died a couple of days ago. Normally, I would be at the funeral, but it is in Avondale Estates in 30 min, and I am posting this from my apartment down South!)
By KA
October 6, 2006 11:44 AM | Link to this
Jeff, A prayer for your former student and his family. When we see kids dying young it makes us appreciate the lvies we have and certainly puts things like blogging into perspective.
By WFC
October 6, 2006 11:55 AM | Link to this
All children can learn. However,it seems to me that we believe that it’s appropriate to establish a system geared toward trying to educate everyone to the level of “competitive universities.” I’m at NORTHVIEW HIGH SCHOOL so I naturally have a different perspective (for better or worse.) While all children can learn, it would require an ENORMOUS expenditure of funds (lots of one-on-one tutoring for example) to achieve this level of education for some children. I just don’t think that the tax paying public will accept this. I believe that this holds true for lower expectations as well.
By Patti Ghezzi
October 6, 2006 12:19 PM | Link to this
Jeff, my sympathy for you and the student’s family.
My friend, who was 23 at the time, had a student die mid-year, and it was traumatic for all. She didn’t know what to do with the girl’s desk and her belongings. She felt guilty over not having a closer bond with the student, though the student rejected her teacher every time she reached out. In the end, she was shot in the head because her uncle owed a drug dealer money.
By Craig
October 6, 2006 02:17 PM | Link to this
The essential, yet unanswerable, question is: Which kids cannot be educated?
Were experts, however, able to answer that question, could we entrust its answering to fervor-less teachers and administrators who have demonstrated a willingness to write off as uneducable thousands of at-risk and other learning-challenged kids?
As a matter of public policy, the decision as to educability is one which can’t be left to educrats.
By KA
October 6, 2006 05:55 PM | Link to this
Craig, “Fervor-less teachers and admins” aside, I would say that the kids who cannot be educated are those who are able and smart enough BUT fail to attend school, who are consistently tardy, who fail to pay attention in class because they talk to each other and use cellphones, listen to music, play games, sleep and otherwise waste time, and who fail to do assignments and therefore fail the tests. They cannot be educated within the system because they are not participating. They may read and learn on their own, but probably not.
By Royalty Free Beats For One Dollar
October 12, 2006 10:45 AM | Link to this
Royalty Free Beats For One Dollar
At
http://upbeat.tk