Things I Will Never Understand

Today is the last student day for this school year. I decided to celebrate the occasion with a list of things I don't understand. School is all about learning, so these are some things I still need to learn.


1. Why did some people become teachers? If you have contempt for students you 'teach', what made you go into teaching in the first place? The first person who responds "3 reasons: June, July August" is going to get a swift kick. 


In the amazing Lisa Parisi's blog, Lisa's Lingo, she posted about Universal Design for Learning and made this statement: "Educators must believe that they are responsible for teaching every child. " I read that statement with a knowing and sad nod.... I have sat in many meetings and heard about how the students, the parents, or the system are to blame. I always think back to Bill Page when I heard him speak a few years ago, when he said, "If the doctor gives you a prescription that doesn't work, is it because you were a bad patient?"(paraphrased).


Our job is to TEACH and if the learning doesn't take, we reteach. Blame doesn't do anyone any good. Many times, in my career, I have talked to a student and tried to get to the bottom of why they are acting the way they are....if you haven't done it, you would be amazed at what a difference that can make. Failure of a student is often a direct result of failure as a teacher/parent/adult.


2. Why don't people who chose to be a parent want to parent? I am not going into how the whole parenting thing starts, but it is obviously a conscious act. 


3. When people are clearly wrong, why don't they just say they are, apologize, and move on?


4. Why is it that in a school district, we are not all on the same team?


5. How U2 became popular and how having two hits makes Bono an ambassador and a statesman