I'm all for accountability. But America, how are you going to produce productive citizens if the children are not held to a higher standard? I am a sucker for technology. I am of an age that ALWAYS remembers a computer being in the house. My mother never let me have a pager in middle school. I never really wanted one. I saw how my cousin could remember every girls number but couldn't remember his homework. In undergrad, I ran most ninjas in Madden, NCAA, etc. but I still graduated in 4 years with honors. But now my job pits me on the "Battlefield for Brains" and where this may sound a bit hyperbolic, I assure you it's an understatement. "Hide yo' wife! Hide yo' kids!.." My students have more facebook friends than I do. NO, not one of my students can be found in my friends' list. They tell me, "I have 1,000 friends!" I ask, "are you a friend to yourself?"
Here's an excerpt from a piece called "I Teach"
I teach English
It's more than a 9 to 5
Instructing grammar to teens
Who often scheme each others' lives…
Fiendish lifestyles from every arena
With one agenda:
Survive!
We write business letters
Students speak SMS,
Caring less and less about these tests
Awaiting chance to text,
IPODS and IPhone 3G now 4
Xbox, Playstation, and Wii
Outperform reported scores but…
Everybody gets a trophy
Felonious odors exude pores as
Gassed-up kids get passed-up
By their peers from foreign shores
America!
I teach English...
It’s more than a 9 to 5
Let me know what you think
