Obama's Education Speech

Obama's speech today was very good. I think it showed that we as teachers should have a No Excuse policy in our classroom. While the speech was very inspiring to me as an educator, talking with my students, the speech did not seem to have the same effect. This startled me at first and nearly offended me, however at a closer glance, I realized a lot about my students.

I teach all freshman this year, and that puts my students between the ages of 13-16 years old. Originally being a senior teacher, I came into this year with the past experience of having my students be more mature and understand certain things. However, as I deal more and more with my freshman students, I come up against more and more walls that are present in their learning. However, one thing that I realized about my students is that while I struggle to understand their ignorance and blatant disrespect toward listening to Obama, I also need to look back at my own behavior during this time.

In middle school and in my early years of high school, needless to say, I did not give a crap! I probably had never watched the news until September 11th, and I barely even knew what newspapers were. However, it was through my teachers that I learned to harness these hobbies and these skills.

Obama did an excellent job addressing the students of the United States and what their responsibilies are as students, however, the teachers must also be held accountable. Teachers are role models inside and outside of the classroom, and their hobbies and habits rub off on children more easily than is believed. Our students must of course be responsible for themselves and for their country, however teachers must also be responsible as well.