6 days ago: I have never understood the "marathon" idea of life. Maybe my life has just been so inconsistent that I have never had that "slow and steady" chugging along experience.
But I have loved every minute of the struggle to the top of the mountain and the careening down to the valley and working back up again. It is not at all easy. It is really hard work and we will get beat up, banged up, beat down, picked back up, bruised. bloodied and battered, in the process. But, if we persevere through the hard times we get those moments that take our breath away as we see the culmination of our hard work. To me, that is what makes life worth living.
6 days ago: Craig, your line in your last paragraph, "change the way in which teachers are treated" is the single most important issue facing education today. I left the US teaching partly because of this. I am still in education, just overseas so I haven't left the profession.
Teachers, at least most of them like every other profession, work incredibly hard to teach and educate. They do work long hours, like every other profession. They work on advancing their content knowledge, they work on their craft, they do the best they can day in and day out. Yet, at the end of the day, it is never good enough.
No matter how hard a teacher works, they will simply not connect with every student. They will not have 100% success in their course nor will 100% of students graduate. And the teachers are blamed for that. Kids fight in the classroom, and teachers are blamed for an unsafe environment. Kids get bullied, teachers get blamed for not catching it. Kids fail, parents scream and blame the teacher. And on and on.
If teachers were treated with a bit more respect. Told that they were valued in their classroom work. Told that they were appreciated for what it is they do every day. If each party in the kids life would take ownership for their part, education would improve dramatically.
Is it no wonder that some of the best and brightest people out there do not want to go into education? Would you want to go into a profession that your best wasn't good enough, you were going to be criticized by most every party associated with education, and see successes ignored? Teaching is hard enough as it is. A little kindness and respect goes a long way. As does a little more valuing of education by the people who claim it is the most important for the kids.
6 days ago: Ryan, her statement is both incredibly powerful and the recipe for disaster at the same time.
With the right group of teachers, you have an incredible program that would be built. With the wrong group of teachers, you have a train wreck of epic proportions ready to happen.
Now, by the "right group" of teachers, I mean more than highly motivated, highly educated, and passionate about their profession. I am also talking about, works well together, clicks, agrees on a common purpose, bases their plans in solid research, clearly defines their outcomes, set clear and attainable targets, and truly believes in what they are doing then gets behind it 100%. If those things don't exist, the program begins to break down, especially when you say "figure it out". I have observed teachers, that are incredibly good at what they do, not agree on what it is they are trying to do and not be as successful as they could be.
If you are going to undertake a project of this magnitude, at any level, you have to have a clear vision yourself first, then hire the right people to do the job. And quite frankly, it may be less about resume and more about character at that point.
6 days ago: LIzanne, I have actually had more of an issue with the parents of the child who was being "bullied". Sadly those children who are being ignored, are generally having more issues at home than they are at school and the parents just ignore them and don't report anything.
What I have experienced is a conversation that usually starts along the lines of "what do you mean you didn't know my child was being bullied? Isn't that your job?" Which is incredibly frustrating when it is the parent telling you this. There are many programs about bullying, prevention of bullying, how to respond to bullies, how to and not to be a bully, etc. ad naseum that it is hard not to say that you know what a bully is and isn't. Parents and kids have been taught that they NEED TO REPORT it to someone in a position of authority and not assume. More and more, due to the mass media (thank you very much), most bullies are getting smarter and don't do it in public where people can see. And, it is not reported to anyone so, teachers don't know. It is incredibly frustrating to be on the receiving end of that conversation when you are doing your best to help the child.
Ignoring is so much more difficult. Especially when the child draws away from the group. It is so much more subtle and not as noticeable. And quite frankly, even if the teachers work together to help students, a quiet kid doesn't necessarily get noticed in a class where there are other issues.
May 11 2013: Lizanne, I struggle with this very issue with students. Most students, who are dealing with these issues, don't open up about it so we, the teachers, never know. Now some might say, "It is you job to know". True, but not when the only answer we ever get to the question is "everything is fine".
If no information is provided regarding what is going on, and no one is willing to talk about it, then others will not find out what is going on. Kids are masters of hiding what they don't want others to know. Teachers are not trained in every aspect of counseling to resolve these issues. We try, believe me, the good ones try. But I have had more than one example of "you should have known that my child was...".
Neither issue is easy. Bullying is easier to deal with as, if it is reported, can be resolved more quickly. Ignoring a person is very hard to notice and quite frankly, you can't make someone like someone else and talk to them.
May 11 2013: Fritzie, having worked in both public and private/independent schools, private schools are just under a different set of said requirements. However, they do allow for more flexibility and better opportunities because they are not chained to a testing scenario that the public schools are.
I had actually proposed a topic of conversation along these lines to identify good schools and talk about them, but sadly, it did not make the cut...
May 11 2013: The easy question to challenge this is whose morals, ethics, and philosophy do you teach? Those who do teach it are often criticized for their teaching of said subjects. In the states, this is a highly contentious subject in any school district.
May 11 2013: Masatake, I would agree with you is the strength of the standardized national curriculum. In speaking with teachers who are in the Japanese system, their greatest frustration though is the rigidness of the standardized curriculum. There is very little room for variation in the curriculum. They have little opportunity to explore education beyond what they are required to teach. I wonder the long-term effects of this on the students.
May 10 2013: Very true! Many of our students don't know what "true courage" is today. They think it is something very different based on the entertainment industry.
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A reply on Conversation: Open thread: Having grit means living life like a marathon, not a sprint. Share your story of grit, and how it made a difference.
But I have loved every minute of the struggle to the top of the mountain and the careening down to the valley and working back up again. It is not at all easy. It is really hard work and we will get beat up, banged up, beat down, picked back up, bruised. bloodied and battered, in the process. But, if we persevere through the hard times we get those moments that take our breath away as we see the culmination of our hard work. To me, that is what makes life worth living.
A reply on Conversation: A summer conference for eductors.
Teachers, at least most of them like every other profession, work incredibly hard to teach and educate. They do work long hours, like every other profession. They work on advancing their content knowledge, they work on their craft, they do the best they can day in and day out. Yet, at the end of the day, it is never good enough.
No matter how hard a teacher works, they will simply not connect with every student. They will not have 100% success in their course nor will 100% of students graduate. And the teachers are blamed for that. Kids fight in the classroom, and teachers are blamed for an unsafe environment. Kids get bullied, teachers get blamed for not catching it. Kids fail, parents scream and blame the teacher. And on and on.
If teachers were treated with a bit more respect. Told that they were valued in their classroom work. Told that they were appreciated for what it is they do every day. If each party in the kids life would take ownership for their part, education would improve dramatically.
Is it no wonder that some of the best and brightest people out there do not want to go into education? Would you want to go into a profession that your best wasn't good enough, you were going to be criticized by most every party associated with education, and see successes ignored? Teaching is hard enough as it is. A little kindness and respect goes a long way. As does a little more valuing of education by the people who claim it is the most important for the kids.
A reply on Conversation: Ken Robinson Primary School
With the right group of teachers, you have an incredible program that would be built. With the wrong group of teachers, you have a train wreck of epic proportions ready to happen.
Now, by the "right group" of teachers, I mean more than highly motivated, highly educated, and passionate about their profession. I am also talking about, works well together, clicks, agrees on a common purpose, bases their plans in solid research, clearly defines their outcomes, set clear and attainable targets, and truly believes in what they are doing then gets behind it 100%. If those things don't exist, the program begins to break down, especially when you say "figure it out". I have observed teachers, that are incredibly good at what they do, not agree on what it is they are trying to do and not be as successful as they could be.
If you are going to undertake a project of this magnitude, at any level, you have to have a clear vision yourself first, then hire the right people to do the job. And quite frankly, it may be less about resume and more about character at that point.
Just an observation from the trenches.
A reply on Conversation: Bullied... or ignored. Which is worse?
What I have experienced is a conversation that usually starts along the lines of "what do you mean you didn't know my child was being bullied? Isn't that your job?" Which is incredibly frustrating when it is the parent telling you this. There are many programs about bullying, prevention of bullying, how to respond to bullies, how to and not to be a bully, etc. ad naseum that it is hard not to say that you know what a bully is and isn't. Parents and kids have been taught that they NEED TO REPORT it to someone in a position of authority and not assume. More and more, due to the mass media (thank you very much), most bullies are getting smarter and don't do it in public where people can see. And, it is not reported to anyone so, teachers don't know. It is incredibly frustrating to be on the receiving end of that conversation when you are doing your best to help the child.
Ignoring is so much more difficult. Especially when the child draws away from the group. It is so much more subtle and not as noticeable. And quite frankly, even if the teachers work together to help students, a quiet kid doesn't necessarily get noticed in a class where there are other issues.
A reply on Conversation: Bullied... or ignored. Which is worse?
If no information is provided regarding what is going on, and no one is willing to talk about it, then others will not find out what is going on. Kids are masters of hiding what they don't want others to know. Teachers are not trained in every aspect of counseling to resolve these issues. We try, believe me, the good ones try. But I have had more than one example of "you should have known that my child was...".
Neither issue is easy. Bullying is easier to deal with as, if it is reported, can be resolved more quickly. Ignoring a person is very hard to notice and quite frankly, you can't make someone like someone else and talk to them.
Both are tough...
A reply on Conversation: Ken Robinson Primary School
I had actually proposed a topic of conversation along these lines to identify good schools and talk about them, but sadly, it did not make the cut...
A reply on Conversation: For non-US TEDizens: Can you tell us about your country's education system?
A reply on Conversation: For non-US TEDizens: Can you tell us about your country's education system?
A comment on Conversation: What is the role of the student in the classroom today?
A comment on Conversation: Open thread: Having grit means living life like a marathon, not a sprint. Share your story of grit, and how it made a difference.