I hope you all have enjoyed your summer. I hope for those teachers without children, you enjoyed your freedom of schedules and paper correcting and relaxed on beaches and soaked up the mild summer sun. I hope those of you with children appreciated the added time with your little ones. I hope you parents, the real teachers, enjoyed some vacation time with your kids and in some way brightened their future with trips that may have taught them something about anything. Anything learned is important.
I'm writing this not in a negative tone, but in a very positive one, but the reality is that our children are not getting smarter, they are getting dumber, by the minute. Parents working too many hours to make ends meat don't have the time or the energy to educate from home. Some teachers take tenure as an invitation to stop driving their students forward. I love children and I've worked with kids for twenty years now. Not as a teacher per se, but as a coach, a counselor, and most of all as a friend. I try every dayI'm with them to teach them something. Maybe it's not how to throw a ball, but to say thank you. Maybe not to make a shot, but to say please. Maybe not to hit a backhand, but about teamwork and sportsmanship.
Much has been made about our presidents speech and the uproar it has caused due to political affiliation or views on health care. Shouldn't we be happy that our Commander-in-Chief, who has two young daughters of his own, feels it necessary to say something positive about education? Our last two presidents didn't feel this was an issue. The two previous did make these speeches, but didn't follow up by pushing positive educational policies. Shouldn't we be happy we have someone who cares about this issue?
I beg of you teachers to make that great first impression. Many of you will spend Monday sipping margaritas and eating burgers at a friend or family members barbecue. The thought of the classroom will be a million miles away. Some of you will want nothing more than one more day, maybe one more week. Please remember, when those children enter your class on Tuesday, that look on your face, that smile, that reassuring nod will mean so much to them. Those bleary-eyed, staring at the clock waiting for 3PM individuals will only compound the fact that school is for all intents and purposes a cold place. I beg of you to make your classroom the warmest one in the building. It makes all the difference.
As a youngster I loved school. As I got older and learned to read people I fed off those teachers who shared their disdain for the four walls that contained us. My hatred for school grew and no matter how important I was told it was, I could see in my teacher's faces that they shared that animosity for this waste of time. Luckily I had parents who pushed me, who taught me that which the teachers left out, or even worse, didn't know. I learned more during dinner about the civil war than in any classroom. I read more poetry in one summer as a nine year old that in all my textbooks. This isn't the way it should be. I know many teachers and many are great people. Many are brilliant minds. Many have families and children of their own. All I ask is that you teach every student as if it was your own. That is how I have coached all my life. I know that I have one hour a day in most cases to make a special time. I would like to think that that hour is the best in their day. That is what I strive for. It's something that every teacher and every parent should strive for too.
I realize we all have our outside issues. we have stressors that don't always allow us to achieve and perform at our desired abilities. We all must fight through those times. I'm not tooting my own horn, but I ran programs and camps right up til the day my mother died. Not one kid knew anything was wrong. It wasn't easy, but it was important to me that my troubles never interfered with their happiness and learning. All I ask is that everyone tries their best, no matter how difficult it is. I myself have been going through a rough patch and I look forward to October when I get to work with the kids again. I find it therapeutic. I have also caused someone else some stress and possibly two friends who have been helpful during this time. All are teachers and I have vowed not to let my feelings for one and need for the others shoulders to carry over into the school year. It won't be easy, but I owe it, not only to them, but to those who count on them. I would expect nothing less from anyone else.
Teachers you have the second most important job there is. Parents, you have the first. Many of you do both and my humble appreciation, despite not having children of my own is immense. I admire you and thank you. I hope that one day your kids can be part of a generation where we can look at our educational system with pride Where kids know more about geology and astronomy than they do about Xbox and Wii. Their and our future is in your hands. Handle it with care.
I'm writing this not in a negative tone, but in a very positive one, but the reality is that our children are not getting smarter, they are getting dumber, by the minute. Parents working too many hours to make ends meat don't have the time or the energy to educate from home. Some teachers take tenure as an invitation to stop driving their students forward. I love children and I've worked with kids for twenty years now. Not as a teacher per se, but as a coach, a counselor, and most of all as a friend. I try every dayI'm with them to teach them something. Maybe it's not how to throw a ball, but to say thank you. Maybe not to make a shot, but to say please. Maybe not to hit a backhand, but about teamwork and sportsmanship.
Much has been made about our presidents speech and the uproar it has caused due to political affiliation or views on health care. Shouldn't we be happy that our Commander-in-Chief, who has two young daughters of his own, feels it necessary to say something positive about education? Our last two presidents didn't feel this was an issue. The two previous did make these speeches, but didn't follow up by pushing positive educational policies. Shouldn't we be happy we have someone who cares about this issue?
I beg of you teachers to make that great first impression. Many of you will spend Monday sipping margaritas and eating burgers at a friend or family members barbecue. The thought of the classroom will be a million miles away. Some of you will want nothing more than one more day, maybe one more week. Please remember, when those children enter your class on Tuesday, that look on your face, that smile, that reassuring nod will mean so much to them. Those bleary-eyed, staring at the clock waiting for 3PM individuals will only compound the fact that school is for all intents and purposes a cold place. I beg of you to make your classroom the warmest one in the building. It makes all the difference.
As a youngster I loved school. As I got older and learned to read people I fed off those teachers who shared their disdain for the four walls that contained us. My hatred for school grew and no matter how important I was told it was, I could see in my teacher's faces that they shared that animosity for this waste of time. Luckily I had parents who pushed me, who taught me that which the teachers left out, or even worse, didn't know. I learned more during dinner about the civil war than in any classroom. I read more poetry in one summer as a nine year old that in all my textbooks. This isn't the way it should be. I know many teachers and many are great people. Many are brilliant minds. Many have families and children of their own. All I ask is that you teach every student as if it was your own. That is how I have coached all my life. I know that I have one hour a day in most cases to make a special time. I would like to think that that hour is the best in their day. That is what I strive for. It's something that every teacher and every parent should strive for too.
I realize we all have our outside issues. we have stressors that don't always allow us to achieve and perform at our desired abilities. We all must fight through those times. I'm not tooting my own horn, but I ran programs and camps right up til the day my mother died. Not one kid knew anything was wrong. It wasn't easy, but it was important to me that my troubles never interfered with their happiness and learning. All I ask is that everyone tries their best, no matter how difficult it is. I myself have been going through a rough patch and I look forward to October when I get to work with the kids again. I find it therapeutic. I have also caused someone else some stress and possibly two friends who have been helpful during this time. All are teachers and I have vowed not to let my feelings for one and need for the others shoulders to carry over into the school year. It won't be easy, but I owe it, not only to them, but to those who count on them. I would expect nothing less from anyone else.
Teachers you have the second most important job there is. Parents, you have the first. Many of you do both and my humble appreciation, despite not having children of my own is immense. I admire you and thank you. I hope that one day your kids can be part of a generation where we can look at our educational system with pride Where kids know more about geology and astronomy than they do about Xbox and Wii. Their and our future is in your hands. Handle it with care.
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