DAILY GOAL FOR STUDENTS - 2012 PLEDGE

It is almost 2012.  Time for the schools to change from a teacher focus to a student focus.   High school administrations like to voice they are preparing the student for college or work after high school.  This is too far of a goal for a student.  Every day in school IS the life of the student.  Every day in school IS when a student should listen, learn and do what assignment is given to them.  Every day in school IS the sole goal a student should strive to achieve.  While administration is measuring a daily teacher goal per the lesson plan preparation and diversity of content.  The student has the one goal - graduate.  What a wrong scenario.  The administration must stand with the teacher, not in evaluation only, and be sure each student comprehends and completes each daily assignment.  Each day is a lesson for the student to learn as each day is the life of the student.  My plea for 2012 is for every administrator to stand beside with the teacher and look at the students as a team to get the student on the path of daily focus and completion of assignment.   Each parent and teacher should join as a team to ensure the goal for the student is daily.

INSTITUTIONS ARE AS STRONG AS ADULTS WHICH ENFORCE THE RULES

I grew up with a rule of the home, no cookies before dinner.  My parents would not budge and allow for me to have a cookie before dinner.  Sometimes I would be allowed to eat a cracker or some fruit.  Never was the rule broken for me to have a cookie.  Not even to give me a cookie before dinner in reward for something I did to please my parents.  If maybe my father did say, which he did not, but if he did say, “Don’t tell your Mother but have a cookie this one time,” then the rule was no longer a hard and fast rule.  The rule was something to be broken.  My parents knew if one of them broke the rule then as a child I would think I could break the rule by making the choice of eating a cookie.  Once a rule is broken and spoken as being OK to break the rule, why shouldn’t everybody, the child or the parent have a chance to break the rule?

What if an institution had a rule for an employee not to wear denim jeans.  The rule should not be broken or permission given.  Sometimes an institution will reward an employee with wearing of jeans for contributing to a charity, donating extra duty or some other favorable action.  Just like the no cookie rule, the favorable action can be granted some other form of reward other than given the permission to wear jeans.  Breaking or bending a written rule should not be used as a reward.  This is the same for any institution, for a student and a dress code of a school district, a child at home and the teacher and the role of the teacher in relation to the published district teacher dress code.

Remember:   Any institution will be as strong as the adults which enforce the rules.