"Keeping Kids First" Blogs

Those ideas are nice in theory. However, it is very impractical verging on harsh to require students to have headset-mics and X amount of community service hours when some children do not have the resources to have these items. Perhaps in a rich school district, this would be a very practical “brave” list, but in many school communities unrealistic. I do like the idea about not giving “THE test.” That is very interesting. The non-descript field trip form would never pass the school board, because many parents and school officials do not respond well to situations in which they feel they have no control or in situations that are left up to the teacher to decide. I’m not going to post what I would do “if I were brave,” because I am brave. This article seems to be more like what you would do if you were invincible. In that case, I would do away with the traditional aspects of schooling much like the author argued—no line leaders, etc. I would not shut students up and tell them what I or the school board think they should know, but what they ought to know to live effectively in today’s society. Children have imaginative minds, and I think the world would be a better place if we would listen to and validate their opinions.

I like the article about why the author loves teaching. A few of the reasons she named are the reasons I would like to teach. Children are honest about their feelings and when they love you, you know that you have done something right. The most meaningful things in life are the simplest and commonsensical items that most adults over look. I think I would love to teach because I love to be around children. Seeing the world through a child who is too young to know much pain and meanness in the world centers you on what is truly important and helps you find joy in the little things that make life complete.

I like all the unique things that are going on at the author’s school. I think the Holiday Hall parties are a great idea that would foster camaraderie among students as they see it modeled by their teachers. Also, schools should always be about the children and not about anything else. In my school, I would like to see such practices as well as a love for substitute teachers.