Obama brings NEA to its feet

[sandnsea]

Wild cheers, "thunderous applause".

http://www.nea.org/annualmeeting/raaction/07obamaspeech.html

Watch the clip yourself.

http://www.nea.org/annualmeeting/raaction/07candidates.html

[snowbear]

1. Very cool video!

~~~ Thanks for sharing!! ~~~

[Ethelk2044]

2. A Very nice speech.

[CTLawGuy]

3. Didn't you get the memo?

Obama hates teachers :eyes:

[Nimrod2005]

4. Brilliant!!! Just way way awesome.......nt

[eweaver155]

5. He is not Afraid to be Honest. He is what this country needs instead of Pandering

he is frank and up front.

[maximusveritas]

10. Exactly, he's challenging people to consider new ideas

The tired old politicians are just working off the same old playbook of pandering to our reflexive likes and dislikes of certain buzzwords. Obama is going beyond that, just trying to find solutions instead of playing a political game.

[jody]

6. IMO neither NEA or any other education advocate has a clue regarding how to improve our failed

education system. By failed I mean low graduation rates and low performance on basic subjects, e.g. reading, math.

Every second of every school day is already used so that prompts two questions for everyone who claims they can improve our education system.
-- What new topics will be added and what old topics removed?
-- What new teaching technique or process will be adopted and what old techniques removed?

IMO Obama like every other politician including Bush doesn’t have a clue about answers to those questions.

[JTFrog]

9. How about removing

the techniques that have made our children prisoners of today's classrooms? Don't move, don't speak, don't think. How about engaging our children. Getting their attention. Using technology to our advantage instead of fighting against it. My middle son is failing almost every subject in school, yet he's a math wiz and knows more about market strategy and business than I learned in college.

Where does he get it? Massive online roleplaying games of all places. Interacting with people around the world to accomplish goals that require leadership and cooperation. Learning about supply and demand and market values. And we are talking about software developed for entertainment. Kids don't even realize they are learning when they are having fun.

There is no fun in school today. There isn't even recess in school today. Unfortunate or inconvenient as it may be, schools are going to have to compete for kids attention if we are ever going to get through to them. I do not think that calling them ADHD and plying them with drugs so they'll be obedient little pris... er boys and girls is the answer.

Sorry for my little rant. I have four kids (3 teenage boys) that I've been struggling with getting through school for going on twenty years now. My frustration is limitless. I obviously don't know what the answer to the problem is.

[jody]

11. Thanks for your comments. It's interesting to compare school systems in India, China, and other

countries to which we are outsourcing jobs and from whom we are importing highly skilled professionals with our education system.

Are their school systems more effective than ours?

[bling bling]

14. "Are their school systems more effective than ours?"

You can't compare the school systems without taking into account the difference in culture: individualistic vs. collectivistic.

From what I understand, a child in a collectivistic culture feels more personal responsibility for education because the results reflect on the whole family. Furthermore, the family would be more inclined to encourage the kid who's failing math to *try harder*, rather than excuse the child for any underlying reason or place the blame on the school system.

That's pretty much a simplified version of what I remember from Sociology 101 years ago.

[jody]

16. Perhaps its the culture that's most important. If a child is raised in a family and culture that

does not value education or even denigrates education, then IMO that child has an uphill struggle to obtain an education.

Unlike other services that society might give to its members whether they've earned them or not, education has to be earned by each and every child and her/his family.

[Ethelk2044]

18. I agree

[NoFederales]

12. Traditional education IS failing, and will continue to fail

until the "old" power regime is forced out, or made to refocus. One problem is that some schools DO try to compete for children's attention, they just simplistically apply more "entertainment" must be good, and find teachers who are willing to entertain kids, pass/fail, all warm/fuzzy touchy/feely emotional opinionated ideas are just as good as facts....

Sports over academics has ruled the educational scene for over 100 years. I have no qualms about how people devote themselves to athletic entertainments until the educational budget gets divided up with disproportionate monies going, going, going--not to academics. Teachers are continually exhorted to "be like coaches" to be successful. Teachers cannot recruit, we take 'em as they are. Teachers cannot make cuts, that classroom full of wriggly, writhing, bundles of inattentive energy will not be divided, furthermore, the physical size of those classrooms is probably unfit for learning(compared to a lavishly equipped weight room, locker room, stadium, concession area....) and let's not forget to "stack 'em deep, and teach 'em cheap!" Yes, my cynicism runs deep.

There are many pockets of excellent academic teachers out in public education, those who excel within the system, and those who go "outside the box" to deliver quality experiences for children. These people are "with it", so to speak, aware of the big picture of life and how youngsters need to be prepared for the changing world; the big question that is continually being asked by the teacher's--do you have skills? What skills do you think you will need? Notice the emphasis isn't on "what do you wanna be?", or "how will you earn money to get all of things you desire?" Skills of communication are of primary concern--reading, writing, speaking, acting, and this includes all of the fine arts, but it MUST ALL GO TOGETHER. Problem solving skills in the sciences and arts builds from the commuication skills and channels children's interests into areas of study. Technology must be on hand to enhance the children's access to know, explore, and refine themselves. This is how we define ourselves as capable and intelligent people--what skills do you possess? and how do you utilize those skills?

These comments are all very general and without the bona fides of the author or cited research, but it's also not rocket science. To know that skills are important and how to deliver those skills is what separates good educators from poor educators--the "baby-sitters" and long term "do nothings" and "ass kissing/suck-ups". This is also the damning failure of public education administrators--including the educational associations--of how to prepare children for a changing world in the 21st century by hiring qualified teachers, supporting them, and going forward at long last, not treading the same old path as tradition would dictate "we've always done it this way."

NoFederales

[jody]

17. Touche!

:toast:

[w4rma]

13. Smaller class sizes. Shorter work schedules for parents. Drastically reduce the wealthy/poor gap.

That will improve our failing education system. Not these gimmick band-aids.

[Arkana]

15. I'll tell you how

We must first do away with that horrible NCLB crap. Not every kid learns the same way--we have acknowledged this through numerous studies of the subject, yet thanks to this and several states requiring standardized testing and a set of public education frameworks, we're going to try and TEACH them all the exact same way.

The fact is that public education is now controlled by people who hate teachers and have no idea how the system works.

[venable]

7. same response for the other candidates

and they all said the same thing

[eweaver155]

8. Obama has brought up new ideas. It does not only include changes in the school system

It also includes working with the parents. Some Parents do not know how to work with children. His plan includes have someone to visit the home to work with parents to get the children to improve in school. This has always been an area that has never been addressed. I agree with him. How can a parent work with the child to get them to improve in school, if the parent never had a role model.