NO child is unworthy

Waiting for Superman. a new movie/documentary about the lousy educational system awaiting our youth. I expect to see this movie Tuesday evening. However, having seen clips and listened to discussion, I feel even more impassioned than ever about the inequities of the educational system in America. I am so lucky to teach where I teach, and to teach what I teach (English as a second language). I am given the opportunity everyday to work with small groups of students, enhance their skills, encourage learning, be creative, and see that children, no matter their economic backgrounds, all share curiosity and a desire to learn. So, what is it that we do as adults to discourage that!? We put these children into unwelcoming environments, are told to teach by rote, forget creativity, teach as if all students learn the same way, "dumb down" programs when we think that this group of kids can't or isn't really interested in learning anyway, test them until they can't think outside the box, and discourage learning for sake of learning. What happened to the joy of discovery? Why should/do some students get better educations than others? When was it decided that teachers could no longer use the skills and passion that they had to foster a love of learning? Isn't it amazing, that when I was working in a school as a substitute teacher, I was brought into a 5th grade where the students were sitting on the desks, music was blaring, papers were flying and I felt like I was going to get eaten alive; and had I followed the "script" exactly, I would have. However, as I tried to follow the teachers' lesson plan for the day involving science, I realized that reading the material from the book was never going to engage these students. So I deviated by taking the information and turning it into an experiment which orally, visually,  and kinesthecially showed the information. Before I knew it, instead of a disruptive class, I had students all around me, listening to me use the vocabulary from their textbooks in conjunction with what they were seeing. They were actively engaged, asking and answering questions and more likely to have learned something that they will remember than if I had just read from the book. Interestingly, though, I was later told, that had I been observed, I would have been chastised for not following protocol which dictated holding the book like a bible, and reading directly from it, including the questions that were proposed in the margins. Did they really need a "teacher" to do that? How bored would you be? Every school has the potential to engage students, if they have engaging teachers. NO child is unworthy of an engaging teacher, a safe and welcoming school, and the ability to learn. I believe that it is time to be proactive and put our money at the forefront of education. Think of the benefits society will reap at the end. And maybe, just maybe, we will not only have a more productive society, but a happier one as well.

Teaching is what I was meant to do. It is my way of giving back. Disappointingly, I find that while so many of the teachers feel the way that I do, our government, fails to find value in education. Oh, they find value in rhetoric, but education? not really. If they did, our children wouldn't be falling so far behind other nations, our schools would not be falling apart, programs would not be on the chopping block on a regular basis, and teachers, aids, and all school staff would be appreciated for the amount of time, effort of love they bring to their jobs. Teachers are thought of as people who have easy hours, great pay, (considering that they have their summers off) and ease with which to do their job. What the real world doesn't see are the teachers who come in early, stay late in order to help their students, take work home with them so that they can be prepared for each day, (creating new lessons to fit the varying type of students that they have each year), educating themselves both in service and outside of service, work through summers supporting failing  and struggling students, creating new lesson plans, ordering supplies on their own dollars, working to better the coming year. Summers off? Not really. This is a job that requires passion and commitment. It would be nice to leave at the end of the day and forget the job until tomorrow, however, many teachers take their students lives, problems and struggles home with them, (mentally) trying to find solutions to help those students see a better day. We work in environments where students are homeless, transient, malnourished, under-loved, go home to under-educated parents, have little respect for the teachers or the educational system, see violence as an answer rather than a problem, can't read, can't speak, have physical and mental issues, need I go on? These are not the classrooms of the 1950's. Our schools are trying without success to educate children without the support that they really need. At what point does education become a "true priority" in this country? I believe that the time has come for the United States to stand up for studies, put its money forward at the beginning of a child's years instead of the end, when those children are filling up our prisons, our welfare systems and lacking the skills to be a contributing part of this wonderful society. You can't put a price on self worth. Calculators and computers are not the answer!! Good Teachers, their hearts and skills are! Let's rethink our priorities, shall we?