HW #44 Big Expectations for School

I find that in education it is up to the students to decide whether they want the learning or not. Like Obama said in his speech that kids have to make their goals, meet them and hold responsibilities all the way through. I think having education is good but it is most important that we have the heart to do go through the learning. I think it is the hard work that we put forth counts more but in this society, it is when we get good education that we would get a good job. puts a lot of power in the word in education but I feel that it is like putting boxes around the kids and I don't think that education is everything for the kids' lives. Education is for the future because society had made it like that, that to get success is to go through a good education and then they can get the job they want. However, I think that school should encourage children to set their goals and to hold up their responsibilities for themselves and not sometimes blaming others. I think school should help kids to find more of themselves, to find their talents, rather than giving them grades and making them into machines. I think saying the word "success" or "successful" give some pressure to the kids' learning’s because even Obama said "being successful is hard" so what is this success that all the adults are saying and stamping that into the children's minds?

I don't think the school can change much now because of the economic crisis and with the country's money doing this and that, I find that we are getting not much anywhere. In Thomas Friedman's article, he said that China "save, invest and build" and America "spend, borrow and patch". I think that America is spending and borrowing a lot but the patching up is taking up a long time and therefore, there is not much money going into education as well as building up the students talents so they can become the next generation with the smarter minds to make money. In the article, it also said that Obama is only going in one direction that they are listening but not responding to the Silicon Valley. Does that mean Obama is going in one direction with education too? I think that education in America has slipped, not only because of the economic issues but I think the teachers or the curriculum are spending too much time nurturing the kids' minds slowly and not fast enough? Or that they are partially going in the right direction but not fully? I think in schools in America, we should spend and invest more time in the children's minds and bring out their talents more than they can build up themselves but also making money.

I think the some of ideas that Ms. Deborah Kenny talks about for her charter schools should be applied to other schools because I think it would make the schools better in the academic levels and to build the students characters more. If the teachers have the passion to teach and share their ideas to the children, then that would make the children feel more that they want to learn. But I think it is very important that the teachers are able to connect with the students but also sharing their experiences and do as good of a job at teaching to the students. I find that tests and grades don't show as much potential or talents that the students have but I find that their grades act as the tickets to entering college and society. Then, I also thought how many teachers teach us things but want us to become independent, but I find that the teachers alway have to give more explaining to give the students the idea that they can do the things by themselves. It is like we are learning this and the teacher gives us a harder problem but we are unable to figure out and the teacher ends up explaining the whole thing again. I just think that we should fix that problem and change the way the students are thinking about how the way the solving works. Like I said, teachers have to connect with students and students have to connect with teachers and if not, it is hard to communicate with each other and most importantly, the teaching.