Feeling Philosophical - Not Bike Related

[AutumnBreez]

He is probably not getting fed praise at home, he is possible brow beaten in the sense of taking on all the adults situation, as kids are perceptive of their parents issues and take them on as though it was their fault why things are happening.
He may need to build up that confidence that he already has in particular subjects in class, later to find he has it elsewhere too. Most kids continue to strive to show their strong suite while the weakness cause them to feel as they do at home with all the other confusion, and will not strive because they don't know how with the parent. The teacher can be that source if the child feels they are more responsible, open hearted, good listener and consistant then the parent at home- He wants to believe and trust, but who? Are you going to stay involved with him next year if he is in your school part/or full time? Hope I am making sense to you.

I had a teacher make fun of me for a whole year in the 3rd grade, washed my mouth out with scope/palmolive when I stuck up for myself even...I did not say anything to another adult cause I did not even know I had that ability or right, she was the adult and she must be right...respect your elders, everything was taken in for a whole year, the end of the year, she began to send letters to my mom that her daughter needs to be evaluated for mental retardation and placed in a different type of class. Why the hell did she have to wait to damage me with her year of ridicule/teasing me in front of the class, and then send letters at the end??? B*tch!!!!
I stayed in the same school system till graduation (basic classes- HS) with kids who learned that I maybe slow. Yes, I was slow, did not learn squat for a whole year and went on to the next grade as well, had a hard time catching up with a system that was not willing to see I was not far from "avg". Comprehension was low yes, but think that it could have been remedied in private tutoring afterschool at home, not where students see you go to a special class, student becomes stereo-typed and it sticks with the persons self-confidence and other judging minds. When all they just need is a little extra but may have strengths that equal or surpass the "avg" student. Possibly even creative, artistic.
We are all individuls with individual style of learning, do best when taught in their highest mental intellegence. Audio, Visual, or Tactile. ie., a visual student and the audio teacher, the teacher may have real difficulties with getting through to her/him, most likely audio techniques being used that the teacher is comfy with, without realizing the stress it is causing the student that doesn't seem to get it.
Too many being given the label of ADD and medicated, when many are just tactile learners and do well with hands-on applications. ALL Kids deserve other methods than just the traditional method of teaching. Not saying at all for example, an audio learner should not learn some skills of visual qualities, vise versa. Tactile to learn audio, audio learn tactile, etc.,. But... Can you imagine if we were still riding only traditional bikes, and traditional saddles , because government said this is the best way, so we should keep it this way? When was the last time you seen the system change education. The nation is not getting enriched because of our education system. It seriously needs a re-evaluation and overhaul of some methods. Physical education and arts programs are being cut and should not be. Our future, and childrens future do not benefit with all the cuts and the many national testings given to students these days. The class time should be given to them for applying lessons, not so many testings to compare statistics with other students/states/countries.
Obesity and depression in our population will not decrease with cutting physical education out in our schools. Unhealthy children that eventually grow to be unhealthy adults. Phys. ed, needs overhaul, needs to be fun!! Parachutes, tag, obstacle courses. scooters...Hula hooping, syncronized play,and more. So there you have my many thoughts.... hope they make sense to you and good luck with your student.

[AutumnBreez]

Sore spot with me and I vented a bit there
I really have a problem with the labels put on kids.
Ultra sensitive. Did not mean to offend any of you teachers out there. Back when I was younger, the teachers could spank and more... and get away without being monitored.
This one was not deserving of the title teacher. The experience planted alot of long term paths that have taken years in rebuilding and continue to heal.
This could be part of the reason I am feeling so sensitive to my other ordeal I have posted recently with my friend and her daughter and dog treatment. What to tell a friend..

[Veronica]

I wasn't offended. There ae lots of things wrong with our education system. Don't get me started on No Child Left Behind. But very few of them have to do with the teachers. I've been teaching for 13 years. I've never worked with anyone who didn't honestly want to do the best by the kids. Sometimes we're wrong about what's best.

I truly wish parents had to take classes before they could become parents. It's a huge responsibility and I've seen over the years a lot of parents who didn't want to be bad parents (who does?) but who had lost control of their kids. Or refused to see that their kids are responsible for their own actions and hold them accountable.

I really see that as a major breakdown in the education sytem.

V.

[AutumnBreez]

There are a lot of thigs I would like to change too!
Yes, I will not get you started on the "no child left behind" , cause that sounded like a real warning to me

[Veronica]

No Child Left Behind is legislation Bush passed a few years ago. It's exactly what it sounds like - an impossible task. People don't like to hear it but there are children who are not intelligent enough to learn the required academic material to succeed under his legislation. Notice the emphasis on academic material. The legislation makes no allowances for other talents these kids may have.

It's a lovely idea. But it's not feasible. It's like saying with enough training (which oh by the way we won't give you enough funding for and you'll be coached in groups of 30 - 35) we'll all be able to ride the Tour. Some of us could do it because of a natural inclination for that kind of ride and some of us couldn't.

V.