American Dream?
Hello everyone. I don't know why I'm blogging because I'm totally swamped at work and we're not even really back from the break yet! I just wanted to get started on the blog and more involved. My teacher in high school (still teaches here) fell and broke her femur badly...and so who does she want to teach her 12th AP and 11th classes? Me...so I'm knee deep in novels and classics, brushing up on things from long ago...And yet they still hold up of sorts. The tragedies of Willy Loman and Santiago from _The Old Man and the Sea_...the indecision of Hamlet, the apocalyptic world of Mccarthy's _The Road_...These are most decidedly male texts in which we grow up with.
What is the American Dream now? It seems to be to survive somehow the last 8-10 years of big business and war! The dream has become a wish and a desire and a lot of hard work. The dream, for me, is to live without fear...The dream has become something our students do not know or hear about. They see Obama, but...that can seem awfully far away when mom's out on her second job and dad's not around or there's only spaghetti to eat for the fifth time in a row. We expect our politicians to do to much for us. They can only do so much and we, as dreamers, must create new dreams.
One of my American dreams is to see the public school system be everything it can be. This means to be accountable and honorable. It means to be educated, alert, and positive. It means for teachers to be trained in all ways. It means for less technology in the classroom and more training and heart so that the technology will mean more for students. It means that everyone asks questions of themselves and are curious about how to teach better, how to reach farther. It means for people to turn back to compassion and humanity and remember that we are not educating people to be robots. We are educating for lifelong learning and passion of some kind. Without passion, we will die as a culture and as a people. We will turn further and further to our machines for connection and love. And I do see teaching as somewhat of an act of love.
I had conversations recently with two very different teachers. One called herself a "facilitator" of knowledge and novels. She presents material and if the kids get it, they get it. She does not feel she has to get really deep with a novel because the kids aren't interested. I suggested to her that it was her interest that would inspire them--that many kids (if not all) could care less about most novels--and that the enthusiasm would help them learn.
The other teacher makes a commitment to what she teaches. She teaches whatever she teaches for as long as it takes. She says her main concern is that they "get it" or at least see how much SHE "gets it."
Which one do you think has students contacting her years later thanking her for the way she taught them? Which one has students coming back to her in droves when they go to college, thanking her for conferencing them about their drafts, pointing out one-on-one to them their errors, and turning them on to writers they would have never known?
The latter.
She has a loyalty and a love of what she teaches and it shows.
She makes not much money, but she achieves her "dream" and I think it is an American one based on curiosity, seeking, love, loyalty, and commitment.
See you guys on the upswing.
Carlyn
What is the American Dream now? It seems to be to survive somehow the last 8-10 years of big business and war! The dream has become a wish and a desire and a lot of hard work. The dream, for me, is to live without fear...The dream has become something our students do not know or hear about. They see Obama, but...that can seem awfully far away when mom's out on her second job and dad's not around or there's only spaghetti to eat for the fifth time in a row. We expect our politicians to do to much for us. They can only do so much and we, as dreamers, must create new dreams.
One of my American dreams is to see the public school system be everything it can be. This means to be accountable and honorable. It means to be educated, alert, and positive. It means for teachers to be trained in all ways. It means for less technology in the classroom and more training and heart so that the technology will mean more for students. It means that everyone asks questions of themselves and are curious about how to teach better, how to reach farther. It means for people to turn back to compassion and humanity and remember that we are not educating people to be robots. We are educating for lifelong learning and passion of some kind. Without passion, we will die as a culture and as a people. We will turn further and further to our machines for connection and love. And I do see teaching as somewhat of an act of love.
I had conversations recently with two very different teachers. One called herself a "facilitator" of knowledge and novels. She presents material and if the kids get it, they get it. She does not feel she has to get really deep with a novel because the kids aren't interested. I suggested to her that it was her interest that would inspire them--that many kids (if not all) could care less about most novels--and that the enthusiasm would help them learn.
The other teacher makes a commitment to what she teaches. She teaches whatever she teaches for as long as it takes. She says her main concern is that they "get it" or at least see how much SHE "gets it."
Which one do you think has students contacting her years later thanking her for the way she taught them? Which one has students coming back to her in droves when they go to college, thanking her for conferencing them about their drafts, pointing out one-on-one to them their errors, and turning them on to writers they would have never known?
The latter.
She has a loyalty and a love of what she teaches and it shows.
She makes not much money, but she achieves her "dream" and I think it is an American one based on curiosity, seeking, love, loyalty, and commitment.
See you guys on the upswing.
Carlyn
posted by Carlyn Maddox at
9:19 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Carlyn, It's good to see your voice on the blog. I can always recognize it even though I don't see it often. I'm glad you joined us. I'll be in touch soon about a leadership meeting for February.
By
Donna Sewell, at 10:29 AM
I suppose if the kids could just get it through an inner desire, we wouldn't need to put on bells and whistles to help excite them and encourage questioning for all that is around us. Oh well, I want to be the one they come back to, or at least think about 30 years from now.
By
Diana Chartier, at 9:41 PM
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