An Education Rant

I enjoyed the conference last night. In fact, it may have been the best one yet. The main speaker was discussing a book, The World Is Flat, and its implications for us as a society and as teachers. It was very sobering and enlightening. The questions put forth by teachers to the keynote and to the international students on the panel were very poignant. It would seem that finally people are waking up to the fact that you can't ask the teachers to parent; parents actually need to step up and do their part. I was stunned by what I heard from the internationals. They are education majors and so they have to go into the classrooms here. They talked about the disrespect of the students...kids eat during class, talk on phones, or just get up and leave when they want! They said, "This doesn't happen in our countries." Well, I didn't know it happens in mine, and it certainly doesn't happen in my classroom. I guess that is one reason I homeschool that I didn't know about. I talked afterward with the keynote speaker; he is a friend of mine from India. I asked him some questions that were politically incorrect, but that I am curious about. It seems to me that we make a lot of excuses for our children, and make the excuses "legit" by tying medical causes or prescriptions to them. He agreed, and said that doesn't happen in India. He said it is another extreme; they don't help a lot of people who perhaps could do better if they could have a little help or training. I think that if our country wants to continue to compete in this new flatter world, we have to give up on the notion that every one deserves equal treatment. I am not in any way saying that people should discriminate based on age, sex, race, or nationality. However, there are some people who are born incapable of competing with the general population. I do believe these children need to be given some training, but they should not be taking away from the education of those who can help promote our country. Now there is no way I will ever get into UNC with that statement in cyberspace to mar my integrity! _______ I had an appointment at WVU last week to speak with some professors about graduate work. They were very encouraging and excited about my interest. Then I had a phone call with UNC on Tuesday; they were not. It was almost as if my background from WV, and my interest in homeschooling were below them. The more I looked into their school, though, the less I felt that I would enjoy my time there. I certainly don't fit into the mold. I am trying to contact the local university, but am not having much luck. I did discover that the person I was to contact, whom I have not had much luck with, is in CA with her son who just had brain surgery. That brings me to another topic. I should never make judgments about anything until I have all of the information. I recently found out that a situation that perturbed me a few months ago was really out of the person's control, because her mother came home one day and abandoned the family. Rash thoughts are better left unheard. Thankfully, I kept my mouth shut, except to my husband. _________ One fish down; one to go. It died last week before we left. The one that remains is the one I nearly lost down the drain. Still feeding flour. Amazing fish!