First off, did you ever have a grandma or someone start to lose it a little? Like so much that they made a lasagna where the top two layers of it is the dessert cake she made? And all you can really do is force it down and tell her that it's good and that she is the best cook ever.
That's how I felt about getting through the Revolutionary Wealth. There were so many good lines to get out of it, but so many, tons, much other ... WORDS! It was really hard for me, as a bad reader, to truly... get it.
So, the following is a quote and some of my chain letter that brings up some really insightful ideas and opinions.
"As speeds continue to accelerate, with currency and securities markets already operating at blinding, blistering, blitzing rates, the market life of products (and products related to them) will continue to shorten." p 267
When I read this, I was like "heck yeah I agree with this!" My "old" iphone is a few years old and is already a paperweight. How does education compare to the rapid acceleration? Well think about how long it takes to implement something new in the cycle of education. How long it takes for a student to start and end in the public school system.
When something in education is modified, it takes quite some time to see results.
At the "blistering, blitzing" pace information is growing, education seems to rapidly be losing its battle to keep up.
Think about history. Up until World War two-ish anything that got published nationally was HUGE news and would definitely make its way "into the books".
Now everything is national. What will history say about this era. Will the students have to memorize the dates Paris Hilton pops a tire on her bright pink Bentley? Or a matching section devoted to celebrities and their stints in jail.
We need to know what is important. A definitive line between what is going on in the world, and what the world needs to know to become better. Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed with everything this world has to offer.
I really feel, however, that my job is great because nothing will ever replace the value that a human teacher has on a classroom. Someone to walk around the room and tell kids about how much they care and want to see them succeed. If they can take from my class the knowledge that someone wants to see them do their best, and is willing to devote a little time to making them better people, then I've done a great job. The rest is just getting them to know the crap on the state tests.
Brandon
I'm a good reader and it was hard for me to get through. I commented that they have good ideas, but they really just need to hire a writer.
ReplyDeleteI really like your comment about needing to know what's important. It drives me crazy when top story in the news is about some celebrity and, almost as an afterthought, they mention troops killed in Afghanistan.