Interesting thoughts, but I choose to disagree. I am one of those baby boomers, and not retiring soon. When I do, I will keep working. I am self-employed, part-time. When I retire this will be full-time. I am also a parent to five of these “sissies” and teacher to a hundred more. I don’t see it. Are some kids spoiled? Sure. But those kids have always been around. I see the young people of today, the twenties and the teens. They are remarkable. They connect in ways we boomers don’t always get. Talk to the kids - the ones on Tumblr, on the Internet, talking, reading, learning. My kids are all life-long learners, self-taught in many areas, rebelled against the rigidity of traditional schooling. My students challenge me every day. I see the future, and unlike the folks at Forbes, I am not worried.1) “Baby Boomers” are retiring from the work force at the rate of 10,000 per day, and will do so for 17 years. Most of them don’t have enough pension or 401(k) assets to support retirement for their life expectancy (15-20 years). Too few employers will hire these older folks, with their potential problems of age—reduced stamina and more health-related problems (and higher health care costs).
2) In recent decades, American parents have raised a “Generation of Sissies”—of spoiled, lazy, pampered and over-rated youth—who are highly educated, but in things that the world doesn’t value very much (and thus won’t pay for). The top 25% may be as good, as bright, as motivated as ever, and will likely be as successful as ever. The vast majority of this generation consists of formally educated, but spoiled, soft post-adolescents, who will struggle to be self-sustaining as adults. Because of this, they will not be able to support the massive wave of retired “Boomers,” who will be going broke in their later years. In eras past, the elderly were supported by the coming younger generation(s). Those days are gone.
Members of this “Generation of Sissies” have been the victims of being coddled, babied, pampered, misled, misguided, and under-educated so badly that their “take care of me” upbringing cannot be sustained as they move into adulthood. The parents, who did this, also share in the responsibility for the failure of America’s educational system.
… from Forbes - A “Generation of Sissies” [read]
I’m so proud to be from a generation of sissies!!! Only regret is working as an unpaid intern at Forbes while in college. I now put my degree in the arts to better use teaching the next generation of sissies.
This building is located in Dresden, Germany. It’s called Neustadt Kunsth of passage. And when it rains it starts to play music.
How seriously cool is this? I want to hear it!
#education #SOSchat #discipline
Our students have been ‘on silence’ for the past week. ‘On Silence’ means students aren’t permitted to talk at all between classes. This is a punitive measure enforced when students are deemed too loud in the halls, are preparing for an upcoming test, if someone…
Why do we try to stop the social aspect of learning and community and relationship? Why can’t social animals be social?
I worked in a school where the principal didn’t allow students to talk during lunch. Same reasons. She told me I wasn’t “aggressive” enough. She was right.
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Tony Wagner, author of Creating Innovators (via holtthink) Yes, yes, yes. Life isn’t a multiple choice test with a BCR at the end. Show up, get involved. Have fun. (try this in “school”. It works.) |
educationcreateshumanimagination:
Paint like Michelangelo! What a great idea!
Repinned from Practical Ideas for teaching younger pupils
This is so awesome! (can I play?)
President Obama Becomes the First American President to Back Same-Sex Marriage
“I’ve just concluded, for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama said in an interview with ABC News.
Obama, who had previously backed strong protections for gay and lesbian couples, said his position had evolved partly after talking to his two daughters Malia and Sasha who had some friends who had same-sex parents.
“It wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective,” Obama said in the interview.
Awesome. Wonderful. About time. Another step into a better future for all of us. One of the best parts - he spoke to, and listened, to his daughters. Don’t underestimate this generation of young people. They’re amazing.
I thought of my friend Erin when I read this. Miss you Erin.
(Source: teachingliteracy)
A student blows up at a teacher, drops the F-bomb. The usual approach at Lincoln – and, safe to say, at most high schools in this country – is automatic suspension. Instead, Sporleder sits the kid down and says quietly: “Wow. Are you OK? This doesn’t sound like you. What’s going on?”
He gets even more specific: “You really looked stressed. On a scale of 1-10, where are you with your anger?” The kid was ready. Ready, man! For an anger blast to his face….”How could you do that?” “What’s wrong with you?”…and for the big boot out of school. But he was NOT ready for kindness.
The armor-plated defenses melt like ice under a blowtorch and the words pour out: “My dad’s an alcoholic. He’s promised me things my whole life and never keeps those promises.” The waterfall of words that go deep into his home life, which is no piece of breeze, end with this sentence: “I shouldn’t have blown up at the teacher.” Whoa.
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Can all teachers be like this? — Brittany (via foreverliberal) They should. I’m a teacher. Kindness works. Power doesn’t for long. Go forth. Be kind. |
I’ve always written my stories like a narrative. First this happened, then this. But the one I am writing now is more like a painting. The canvas is a whole, an organic thing, and bit by bit the painting is revealing itself. I have never written a story like this. It is as if it is being revealed to me, coming from someplace deep inside that I hadn’t accessed before. There is this secret room and with great delight, every day I find my way there.
