The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.
He argued, 'What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?'
He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: 'Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.'
To emphasize his point he said to another guest; 'You're a teacher, Ned. Be honest. What do you make?'
Ned, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
'You want to know what I make? (He paused for a second, then began...)
'Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?' (he paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)
''I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God-given brain, not the
man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in
English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.
I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.'
(He paused one last time, then continued.)
'Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't
everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?
I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What do you make, Mr. CEO?'
His jaw dropped, he went silent.
Excellent!!!
ReplyDeleteLove It!
ReplyDeleteI love this! It's so true!
ReplyDeleteAnd that is why crime is so low...great teachers!
ReplyDeleteAMEN. I think about how my teachers influenced my life everyday.
ReplyDeletegood one, now do you think we can get Ned and put him in our local schools and get rid of all those teachers who don't want to teach?
ReplyDeleteTheir is so much dead wood and many usless teachers in the wicomico county school system. When you see how they raise their own children just be glad they only spend an hour a day with your child! Shouldn't be to hard to undo that damage!
This is what being a teacher is all about! We may not make a lot of money, but some of us do make a difference.
ReplyDeleteTruth be told ones who can't make it in the private sector work for Salisbury Dept. of Public Works. I like to call it dysfunction junction.
ReplyDeleteI still remember my junior high math teacher Mrs. Miller. She was the greatest influence for me and encouraged the females to compete in a male dominated subject at the time. She really was a big influence on defining my self esteem.
ReplyDeleteAll should watch the movie "gifted hands" about Dr. Ben Carlson. He had a very strong teacher who was such a big influence in such a small way.
You have to love the butterfly effect that a few good teachers have out there.
Mr. CEO should be ashamed of himself. He's proud of making money! What a loser.
ReplyDeletewow they make them stand with their hand over their heart and say the plege to our flag. I am not buying that part.
ReplyDeleteThank God for teachers like Mr. Perkins at Pittsville Middle School.
ReplyDeleteBRAVO -- it's time to turn the table on the blowhards and buffoons who trash teachers and our school system.
ReplyDeleteYay Teachers!
ReplyDeleteYay Teachers Union!
Boo cutting Magnet in Wicomico County Schools!
It should of said:
ReplyDelete"I work for the government. I have tenure. You can't question me."
it's a damn shame this guy really is just one out of a million, for most it's just a government job with benefits.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q
ReplyDeleteVideo version is much better.
It's a shame more teachers can't be like this and put the children first, instead of what we have witnessed here recently; Catty, nasty behavior defending the undefendable.
ReplyDelete12:27 and 1:06, shame on you both! My wife taught for well over three decades, and not only did she not have the attitudes each of you mentioned, but she worked with a LOT of other teachers who didn't either. Sure, she knew some teachers who did, but what job or profession doesn't have its share of bad apples?
ReplyDeleteI challenge either of you folks to teach in a public school for just one academic year, especially at the high school level. YOU deal with kids who flatly refuse to do anything you ask them to, curse you out when you ask them to sit down and stop disrupting, throw chairs at you, and coins at you while your back is to them and you're writing on the board. YOU step into the middle of fists flying between two students who are trying to beat each others faces in and get the crap knocked out of you. YOU go to mandatory after school meetings and be given additional rules, procedures, and objectives to be followed (on a weekly basis) while simultaneously being chewed out as group for not being creative enough to motivate your students to work hard enough to pass the mandatory state tests required for graduation. Oh it's not the kid's fault - NEVER. It's your fault because you can't both lead the horse to water AND make him drink.
After all the above, continue on to the office for your meeting with one of the hoodlum student's parents. YOU sit and take it when that parent LITERALLY wags their finger near your face and tells you "You ain't doin' your job" and the ever popular, "You're a liar. My child does NOT act like that. Don't even try it!!"
Your day isn't finished yet. After you go home and say "hi" to your spouse and kids, choke down dinner, then get up and spend much (sometimes all) of your evening grading tests, quizzes, essays, or lab reports. Are you tired yet? Better not be! You still need to do your lesson plans for tomorrow. "But don't teachers get a planning period every day?" you ask. Sure they do! But YOU try drawing up lesson plans for that are creative and effective for four classes. You may find it takes a lot longer than 50 - 70 mins to do so.
Now you can end your day and get up tomorrow to start all over again.Don't do it for 32 years - or even 5. Just do it for ONE, then come back here and you MIGHT just find yourself altering the comments you post ever so slightly.
Yes, teachers know they'll have to deal with all the above when they become teachers. And yes, teachers get nearly 3 months off per 12 months when no other job offers that (well, that is the teachers who don't teach summer school or work another job during the summer to make ends meet for the months they have no income). I've heard so many people moan about teachers getting the summer off. YOU head into the trenches for 9 months, my friends. You never know. You just might find that YOU need three months off to recover.
Why did my wife stay in this field for 30 + years if it's so rough? Easy. She loved having the opportunity to help shape the minds of kids who wanted to learn and - who knows - make a difference in the world one day.
Thank God for the majority of teachers who are dedicated and effective enough to do this. I couldn't - and wouldn't even try.
10:31, if you think teachers work for the DPW, you don't know your trash can from your chalk board.
ReplyDelete3:55 - Best statement or argument about this I have ever read. Cudos to you sir, and a Thank You to your wife.
ReplyDelete3:55, I second that.
ReplyDelete1:06, the reason a lot of government employee's are that way is that they are burned out from busting their a$$ and not getting what they deserve. Yes, there are a few that should not have been hired but there are many also that make your life a lot better without you even knowing it, comprehending it, and without you thanking them for it. Get your head out of the negative world and see the positive and maybe you will see positive.
9:24 if you are so unsatisfied, maybe a private sector job is in order?
ReplyDeleteIsn't that what parents are supposed to do?
ReplyDeleteHmmmm....for all the naysayers aggainst teachers, and their comments along the lines of their belief that teachers are not true professionals (or implied as such), try this novel approach. Go get an ed. degree and go try it for yourself. Sure, there are teachers that aren't worth a dime, but I think you would find many more who are well worth the minimal investment. When I say this, I have noted many times on this blog that others in our communtiy consistently criticize how much they are paid. VOCIE has really pushed this issue to make it look like the educators as a whole are robbing us all blind. I would be willing to bet that many who made these kinds of comments did not take advatage of thier own education and are now complaining about their lot in life. Once simple question here (that I'm pretty sure won't receive much response) is why don't the critics put their money where their mouths are and go save the public school system for us all by sharing their vast knowledge with the youth of tomorrow? The answer is simple - they won't - teachers have long been knocked by this community as not having a real job....sort of a collection of people who aren't smart enought to do anything else in life. Has anyone noticed that nationally, this is one of the few professional fields that has pretty much survived the economic mess so far. Sounds like a good gig to me, and I'm about to dump this finance degree of mine to give it a shot - right now, job security is worth more than the dollar amount of the paycheck, and the bennies are pretty solid too....
ReplyDelete