A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action, Please

A college friend of mine, Carl, is a second year teacher at a high school in Eastern Iowa.  Over the past couple years we've had several conversations about the state of arts and general education.  We have come to the conclusion the potential is there, but nothing is being done.  Carl recently wrote a blog entry about the continuous conversation about the need for education reform in the State of Iowa and how often the blame of poor performing students is placed upon the shoulders of the educators.  Carl goes on to outline the top four obstacles teachers face: quality professional development, the evolution of academic priority, parents and public misconceptions.  As a young, enthusiastic educator trying to make a difference in the lives of his students, Carl has shed a new light of these issues.

I wholeheartedly agree with Carl's assessment and can only  hope and pray my tax dollars are being spent effectively to positively reform Iowa's education system.  For too long people have been complaining about the current system and giving suggestions as to make it better.  However, that doesn't do anyone any good until we actually DO something about it.  What does knowing the test teach us?  Absolutely nothing beyond the fact that our students have the capability to be mindless drones that can regurgitate force-fed facts.  What happened to education being about the experience?  Why are good grades a given, something a student deserves, rather than an award?  The grade inflation rate is outrageous!  Shouldn't what a student learned be more important than the overall grade earned in a class.  In my personal academic career, spanning from high school to graduate school, I have taken many classes where I received an A for my final grade and felt like I didn't learn anything.  However, on the flip-side, I've taken classes where I worked very hard to earn a B. Those B's are so much more important to be because I was challenged and felt I actually learned something.

Why does the whole of the fault of poor academic performance of students have to be placed on the shoulders of teachers?  As Carl points out in his post, parents are a major influence on the performances of their children.  This extends far beyond the academic arena.  When parents are supportive and involved in the lives of their children, they perform better.  They become contributing members of society.  Why? Because their parents were a good example.  If parents took the time to be a part of the lives of their children and teach them positive social values and good work ethic, perhaps our educators will be more successful in their teaching.  It is not fair to expect our grossly overworked and underpaid educators to be parents by proxy AND teach our children algebraic equations.  This is a challenge to all parents out there:  ask your child what he or she learned in school today, ask if they helped anyone, ask if they met anyone new.  Engage with your child.  Please do not expect television to raise your children.  Trust me, the Kardashians are far from the best example your children need.  Please inspire your child to aspire to be more than a contestant on the Bachelor in 2020.  Try to keep your kids in school and positively reinforce their good behavior.  At the least tell them you love them.  Seriously, all these daddy issues are guaranteeing us an army of strippers for generations to come.

I realize there are plenty of teachers out there who are in the field because it's a safer bet - benefits are good, guaranteed retirement. But there are so many more teachers who actually care.  Why not install some sort of reward system based on student evaluations within middle and high schools.  If nothing else, it's another way to get students to write.  I understand these students can't vote yet, but they do have opinions.  Maybe this is idealist in me, but I think allowing students to actively shape their education would empower them to take ownership of it.  Sometimes all it takes is to ask a student what they think to get them involved.  Plus the evaluations may help teachers who aren't effectively reaching their students to adapt their methods.

I understand that education reform is going to take a lot more money, time and effort than we really want to put it.  However, we must remember the age old adage, "You reap what you sow."  We need to invest in our future today.  Start small.  Parents pay attention to your children; encourage them to do their best and learn something.  Please, teach your children manners and positive social behaviors.  Teachers, keep up the good work.  Administrators, pay communicate with your teachers and with the parents in your district.  State Legislators, don't aim for perfection, aim for what is realistic. Small, measurable and achievable goals are a good idea.  Don't set yourselves up for failure.  It doesn't make you look good.  Community members, please act like you're in a community; take an interest in the schools and the education of your future community leaders.  We want to cultivate a flourishing garden of educated global citizens, but that takes time, effort, and money.  Please invest.

My Life Would Suck Without You

I have come to realize there are certain people you encounter in your life that almost instantly after you meet them, you know they are going to be in your life forever.  For some relationships it takes awhile for you to come to this realization.  Either way knowing you have these lifelong friends is pretty awesome.  What’s even better is that these people are more than just your friends.  They become part of your family, and like family they’re with you for better or for worse.

Each friendship is totally different.  There are the people you get up to crazy shenanigans and laugh about them later.  There are the people who will tell you look like hell when you’re stuck on the couch in your sweats, looking like you woke from a one night stand with death because you have the flu, but they make you chicken noodle soup and suffer through four viewings each of “The Sound of Music” and “Center Stage.”  There are the people from middle and high school that you see maybe once a year, but every time it’s like going home.  And of course there are those few very special friends who will put up with your ramblings about the “love of your life,” a.k.a. the guy who works at your morning coffee shop to whom you’ve never said more than “venti soy vanilla latte, please” and “keep the change.”  Don’t forget about the friends where you don’t even have to say what’s on your mind and they know instantly what you’re thinking.  My favorite type of friend is the kind where you pick up right in the same place as you left, just like a bookmark.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been apart or the last time you spoke, but when you meet up it’s like you weren’t even away.

It took me moving twelve hours away from home to realize how strong some of the bonds I’ve forged over the years are.  And I have to say I am continually surprised at how close I am with some of the people I go to school with.  I’ve known most of these people for little over a year, but feel as if I've known them forever.  Mind boggling, yet comforting.  I cannot adequately express in words how grateful I am for friends I have.  The one sentiment I can say is without them my life would be hugely unsatisfying.