High school teacher tells graduating students: you’re not special

Originally posted by ownbestenemy

Originally posted by dogstar23
In short, YOU need to make it happen...

This requires a sense of self-worth and desire that so far hasn't been exhibited that much in this thread, let alone outside of the world of ATS. Talk to many who found their passion and made it to a point where they are doing what they love and desire and many will give the same advice you did.

You have to cut your teeth somewhere and many it seems think that by merely going to college for XYZ degree will get you a job doing XYZ. People that desired to be a radio jockey got an internship at the radio station swabbing floors. People who wanted to run their own restaurant, bussed tables. And on and on.

But such actions require humility, foresight and desire. Which as I stated, many here are offended with and cannot fathom that the world isn't always handed to them on a platter.

Amen... they can't even be bothered to take a few seconds and exert the effort of clicking play on a video and watching it for 12 and 3/4 of a minute in order to understand what is being discussed. They prefer just reading the headline and forming their opinion when we all know good and well that headlines are written to get people's attention, not to tell what something is about

But do not get the idea you’re anything special. Because you’re not.

YOU HEAR THAT ATS. You are not special because you dislike MSM news or enjoy reading conspiracy theories. You're like everyone else, stupid in their own way.

Here's my promise to each and every one of you. IF you actually watch the video, then post about what you saw and heard, I PROMISE I will give you an ever-coveted star to your post.

Even if you end up not liking it, even if you come away with a negative opinion (which I seriously doubt), if you actually WATCH the video, then post your new opinion, I will give you a star.

I won't say "I told you so" or anything of the nature. I'll just join you in being enlightened and uplifted by what was heard... and I'll give you a star, I PROMISE!

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
IF you actually watch the video

I just listened to the speech. I hadn't read it or even read the thread before I posted. I read the headline before work and posted on my short break. It's weird that we both mentioned Mr Rogers. He also mentioned The Caped Crusader. I typed "Batman" but changed it to "DC Comics".

He's great most of the time. The Trump joke was lame. He said that if everyone is special, then no one is. He later said that we are all special. Was that then an uplifting way of telling us we're not special? That would make him a genius in my eyes, despite the Trump joke.

good post... listening to the vid... you get to hear the laughter and applause and the obvious inside jokes...he brings up many good points and his main point seems to be, keep working to better oneself, dont rest on laurels that heve been gained thru highschool and a reminder that now they are joining the 'real world'. there is one person at the school who is the validictorian, he mentioned that there were about thirty seven thousand validictorians graduating around the country.....

so he is reminding them that they are not special......did anybody read or listen to the rest? he implores them to keep learning, to keep reading, to move forward, to become some of the things that he talked about...i think would be inspirational.

i wonder if this highschool is in a 'wealthy' part of town? if it is, then i applaude him even more for his speach

Originally posted by gentledissident

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
IF you actually watch the video

I just listened to the speech. I hadn't read it or even read the thread before I posted. I read the headline before work and posted on my short break. It's weird that we both mentioned Mr Rogers. He also mentioned The Caped Crusader. I typed "Batman" but changed it to "DC Comics".

He's great most of the time. The Trump joke was lame. He said that if everyone is special then no one is. He later said that we are all special. Was that then an uplifting way of telling us we're not special? That would make him a genius in my eyes despite the Trump joke.

Thank you!! I did star your post.
Yeah, the jokes were a little lame, I do have to agree with that... but effective
I think he is commenting more on the idea that the word "special" has lost its significance because of overuse than about anyone being or not being "special", or at least that's one of the things I got from it.
Thank you for watching it!!!!

Originally posted by clearmind
good post... listening to the vid... you get to hear the laughter and applause and the obvious inside jokes...he brings up many good points and his main point seems to be, keep working to better oneself, dont rest on laurels that heve been gained thru highschool and a reminder that now they are joining the 'real world'. there is one person at the school who is the validictorian, he mentioned that there were about thirty seven thousand validictorians graduating around the country.....

so he is reminding them that they are not special......did anybody read or listen to the rest? he implores them to keep learning, to keep reading, to move forward, to become some of the things that he talked about...i think would be inspirational.

i wonder if this highschool is in a 'wealthy' part of town? if it is, then i applaude him even more for his speach

Thank you for watching it!!! Star for your post!!!
I like your summary a lot. He's being very uplifting as opposed to putting them down as the title may make some believe.
Good point about the location of the school too, I hadn't even thought about that aspect of it!

reply to post by pravdaseeker


Pravadaseeker, you know your thread hit a hot spot with me.

A lot of teachers avoid coming out and talking about what's really going on in schools across the nation. It aggravates a lot of teachers when people point their fingers at teachers as being the cause of failing schools. It takes a student who is "willing to learn" to actually retain information and learn something. What some people just don't understand, if a teacher has 10 degrees, is a rocket scientist and teaches physics, embraces technology and presents material in a fun way, he still can't educate a student if the student refuses to listen or participate. We have too many students who are apathetic towards their education, period.

I got a kick out of your story about the airplanes. Teachers like that shouldn't be teaching. They should be embracing students who take the time to prove their point. I actually enjoy it when students prove me wrong. It's happened to me several times through the years. In fact students spend more time learning new versions of their CAD programs in my lab than I have the time to review them. They are constantly finding short cuts and new ways of doing things. I use these students to teach other students and myself these new short cuts.

I've had times where I'm demonstrating something on the projector using my desk computer and I'll have a student say Mr... you know there's an easier way of doing that. What?? Show me! Then once they show me, it's like holy crap why did you keep this a secret from me! Hey now everybody do it this way! When students do this, it shows me that my students are problem solving on their own. They're looking for efficient ways of accomplishing the same task, which businesses owners are always looking for. I always tell my students "time is money" in the business world. It's also improving my teaching abilities at the same time. It's nothing but a win win situation. Heck, I had a student years ago show me how to find exactly the picture I needed for my Power Point Presentation. He was watching me at my computer and he says, "you know there's a faster way to find a picture that you're looking for." So he shows me how to use Google Images, and I was blown away! That simple amount of information saved me hours of looking for a picture. It also helped me improve my Power Point presentations. I remember saying here's a dollar go by yourself a coke at the vending machine. He was happy to get the dollar than said, "is there anything else I can show you?"

It once was where a teacher MIGHT have to dodge a punch every once in a while, but that would ONLY happen to a male teacher, never a lady.To now, teacher ladies get the crap beat out of them by other YOUNG student ladies..And even the teachers occasionally need to dodge bullets from students.. death, under the right circumstances...sad sad sad.

I hate to say it, but a lot of young ladies are no longer ladies. They talk as vulgar and fight as much as the boys. Times have certainly changed. The men teacher's hate breaking up girl fights. The girls are out for blood. They won't stop and back off like the guys will. They will be taken away kicking and screaming until the police arrive and handcuff them. They've lost all respect for themselves. (Thanks partially to reality shows like Jersy Shore and MTV). The way they come dressed to school they should be ashamed of themselves. I found out later, that some girls will come to school and change into more questionable attire in the girls room. It's kind of embarrassing for the men teachers because we have to leave it up to the female teachers and female administrators to enforce the dress code for the girls. The vulgarity and suggestive clothing is so rampant because so many students ignore the school policy. Administrators don't want to send half the school home and the district can get into trouble if a student takes the bus to school and he's forced to walk all the way home. (I don't understand that one. Back when I went to school, a lot of students walked over 20 blocks just to get to school).

reply to post by WeRpeons


I agree completely. The real problem is with the parents of the children who constantly disrupt, the parents who hellicopter over their chilren instead of letting them learn and the ones who are pitiful parents, not willing to accept the responsibility of raising a child. They ruin it for the teachers, for the other students, for the other parents and for society at large!

I really think it would be beneficial to go ahead and lower the drop out age and let them go. They don't want to be there, they aren't going to put forth the effort, let them drop out but refuse any government assistace if they do. Instead of trying to keep people there who don't want to be there.... let them go. Set up an evening program for the ones who decide later on that they made a mistake and would like to correct it, for the ones who don't, let it be. It would be much more beneficial for them to realize the importance and THEN come back then to try to force them to stay against their will.
Think of it as the prodigal son returning. When they realize that they don't know it all and the world isn't their playground and they return, they return with a new seriousness, a new desire and a new will to succeed. Go ahead and let them drop out, see the real world, then come back with a new attitude. It will make a world of difference.

Originally posted by WeRpeons
It takes a student who is "willing to learn" to actually retain information and learn something. What some people just don't understand, if a teacher has 10 degrees, is a rocket scientist and teaches physics, embraces technology and presents material in a fun way, he still can't educate a student if the student refuses to listen or participate.

Why not teach them ballistics? We could reward success with a field trip to the mortar range for some hands on experience.

Originally posted by PurpleChiten
The real problem is with the parents

Everyday I see parents who either don't interact with their children or spoil their children. What we need to do as "educators" is figure out how to deal with this new type of child. These are the "kids today". It's a little too late to fix the parents. We have to work with what we're given. The kids had to.

reply to post by pravdaseeker


Its the coddling parents give,through college,that I can never understand.

Special,Unique? Yes. The mental,physical,and spiritual journey,we all have to go through,makes every aspect Special.Its how each of us defines it. They don't teach that in High school.





S&F

Originally posted by pravdaseeker
Yet we are inundated with honor roll students who can NOT tell time on a analog clock, let alone FIGURE IT OUT!! Cuz they had everyone figuring it out for them all their life.. NO CHALLENGES..

Heh, if I met anyone who couldn't tell time on an analog clock, I'd smack them upside the head and tell them to get off their iPhone.

No one ever told me I was special when I was a kid, but I know I am.

reply to post by primus2012

Sure sounds like a speech right out of the old communist handbook. "You are not special, you are not unique, you are no better than the worst and just as good as the best... Family is nothing, state is everything." That's my interpretation.

Yes, I quite agree. John Dewey set the educational parameters of schools preparing the kids to become un-special cogs in the wheel of the State. The kids exist for the State in the Dewey humanist manifesto version of education, not to develop in their own abilities as individuals with perhaps very special talents.

Originally posted by sonnny1
reply to post by pravdaseeker

 

Its the coddling parents give,through college,that I can never understand.

Special,Unique? Yes. The mental,physical,and spiritual journey,we all have to go through,makes every aspect Special.Its how each of us defines it. They don't teach that in High school.

S&F

You're right that over-coddling is not a good thing. However, I think the biggest problem is parents who neglect to teach their kids how to learn, as well as parents who instill a moral code for their children via television "programming."
In kindergarten, I was one of 4 kids out of about 40 (two classes) who could read at the beginning of the school year, though I was the youngest in the grade. I had been able to read for about a year before that. I wasn't born with a mutant superbrain - my parents just read to me, and encouraged me to try reading myself. I specifically remember telling my parents, "most of the kids can't read. Why can't they read?" it was confusing to me that kids almost a year older than me couldn't read at all, when I had already been reading for a year.
It wasn't until the teachers started teaching them that they made progress - surely their parents weren't going to be bothered to do so. To this day, I firmly believe the "early" start my parents gave me worked as a domino effect throughout my education and life. School was always easy because I generally learned everything they were teaching in my own in advance, so when others were struggling through their homework, I was busy reading and learning more.
Parents: please, do your children, youselves, and society a favor. Teach your children how to read, teach them how to learn, and how to problem solve. Maybe even throw some work ethic in there for good measure. I thank my parents to this day, because while I've always worked hard, success has always come easy, because they properly equipped me from the time I was a child.

reply to post by PurpleChiten


I would welcome that idea! What upsets me most, is when students who don't care to learn will disrupt other students who do want to learn. They talk out loud when I'm trying to explain or demonstrate things. It's really rude and takes a good portion of my time away from the job I was hired to do, teach.

I always suggested the idea that schools should institute a boot camp program for disruptive students. If they receive 3 behavior referrals to the office they should be placed into a boot camp for one week. The district could hire a retired drill Sargent and an assistant. Have these disruptive and troubled youth wake up at 6am, attend a gymnasium and do calisthenics, and run all morning until noon. In the afternoon have them save the district money. Have them clean the school's restrooms, pick up trash around the school, cutting the school lawn, paint classrooms etc... I bet one week of waking up at 6am, working out, and having a Sargent yelling out orders and showing them how to respect their parents and teachers, their behavior would change. They wouldn't want to take the chance of going back. If they continue to cause more disruptions, give them (2) weeks etc....

Consider the positive aspects of this.

1. It may reduce school drop out rates, considering it may change some students negative attitudes.

2. It may increase students grades and state assessments scores.

3. It may improve respect for teachers and their parents.

4. It may stop classroom disruptions and the students poor behavior altogether.

5. School vandalism may decrease considering these same students now know they will end up having to clean up their own mess.

6. Reduction in school bullying if these same students are on the other end of a Sargent yelling out orders.

7. It may unknowingly help Improve the child obesity rate in some disruptive students.

8. Create a more conducive environment for learning.

9. Improve the overall education system of all public schools.

10. Eliminate or reduce the enormous amount of time teacher's spend disciplining students in the classroom.

11. Reduce maintenance cost and help eliminate schools falling in disrepair.

12. Teach students the value of hard work and practicing good work ethics.


Unfortunately, the response I received from the school district was it's considered "cruel and unusual punishment." Are you kidding me???? Like I said, kids are being given way too many rights. They have no consequences and that's why education is the way it is today.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by PurpleChiten

ETA: further in your post you say that sometimes you have to tell the parents that their child doesn't always tell the truth. One of the easier ways of doing that is to say "Don't believe everything they say about me and I promise to not believe everything they say about you". That lets them know that children aren't always truthful or at least not always aware of perspective as well as opens up dialogue and has the parents address their child with what may or may not have been discussed to ensure they are at least communicating with their children.

Good suggestion. I know as a teacher, your always walking a fine line whenever you suggest to a parent their child isn't as well behaved as they think. Parents are more defensive now than during my generation. Parents back than wouldn't even listen to their kids talking bad about a teacher. If they did, we got into deeper trouble than what we already were in.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for kids not to speak-up when a teacher becomes physical, abusive or is totally out of line, but when a student is failing the majority or all of his or her subjects, that should raise a red flag with parents. Some parents will defend their kids even when there grade reports tell a whole different story.

In our district, if I get 10 parents out of 50 students to show up on Parent Teacher Conference, it's considered good. Usually, I will see only the parents whose children are doing well and passing. It tells a lot about how concerned some parents are about their child's progress.

These kids are a product of their environment. Of course that includes parents as the first and foremost influence in their lives, but the State continually wrests power and authority away from the parents in all their little power grabs and social engineering experiments, and then these teachers have the hubris to stand back and act like they had nothing to do with the process.

I would mention that even the sincerest and most well-meaning teachers may have to use materials "recommended" by the school district which is compiled from Dept of education and NEA directives, which have socialist, communist, and collective roots.

reply to post by pravdaseeker


I agree. You tell them they're special, so they can feel they are above everyone else, and need to buy flashy things to prove it.

The truth we all learn eventually is that even some of the stupidest people can graduate high school, and millions every year graduate in the top. And, millions more graduate with perfect records. It's perfectly normal to feel proud of your efforts, but it's another thing to "get high" off of the experience of graduating.

The teacher offered them a reality check. Good for her.

P.S. I don't care WHAT school you got into. What matters is if you can thinking critically without adopting the herd mentality that is the downfall of our society. Turn off the TV, Radio, ipod, and phone, and start digging. You don't know a damn thing until you do that. Self-assigned homework? You better believe it!