Middle School Teaching Units » Attitude

Not everyone needs or should have a college education.

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:22:33 +0000

As I have listened to and read the seemingly endless news stories about the cost of a college education today, the problems of obtaining loans and grants for tuition, the amount of debt many students are burdened with after graduation, and the extent of defaults on student loans, I have changed my attitude about the importance of a college education.

I have a college degree, and my career has been largely based on my education. After dropping out of college and a long delay in returning, I did not graduate until I was in my 30s, then entered public accounting and quickly went into practice on my own. For the past 50 years, almost everything I have accomplished in business has been based on or greatly influenced by my education and professional training. So, for me, a college education proved to be a major asset and the foundation of my livelihood.

However, I now believe we place too much emphasis on a college education and, what’s more, the particular college or university our young people attend, such as the “Ivy League” schools. It has become far too important to many parents that their children not only attend college but one with a prestigious reputation, such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Stanford, MIT, or Cal Tech, etc.

Although my career has been based on my education, the particular school I went to didn’t matter one bit. Throughout my long business and professional career, no one ever asked me what school I attended or what my grade point average was. It didn’t matter, and they didn’t care. People only care that you can perform. If you can’t do that, a degree from the most prestigious university in the world won’t help.

I have concluded that teaching our Continue Reading

3 Important Truths About Adult Education

admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:25:18 +0000

As an instructor at a state college I know that today’s college student is just as likely to be middle-aged (or older) as a teenager. Yet, I frequently find myself counseling adults who are thinking about returning to school to further their education. Actually, it is not so much a counseling session as it is a bit of a pep talk. One of the major reasons many adults hesitate before going back to school is the simple fear that they will not be able to keep up intellectually with their younger classmates. Well stop worrying about that. Here are three reasons that the majority of older students actually out perform their younger counterparts in the college classroom.

First, the simple truth is that in most cases the older student is more motivated than the younger student. It is more likely that the older student is footing the bill so values their education for that reason and wants to make sure they get the most out of their investment. Also, older students have also experienced the working world without a degree and so are very motivated to gain the financial and professional advantages of an education. This motivation is what gets older students through the challenges that college throws at them — challenges that might derail a younger, less experienced, student. In addition, nontraditional students have usually learned the hard life lesson that having the right attitude is half the battle.

Second, nontraditional students usually know much more about time management than traditional students. Most nontraditional students are balancing work, school, and family so they are very efficient and effective managers of their time. Older students are also more effective at prioritizing their various commitments based on their greater life experience. I see so many more younger, more traditional students getting themselves into trouble with their classes and assignments and observe in many Continue Reading

Teaching Ideas Character Education

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:08:38 +0000

What really works in character education? What techniques teacher should adopt to teach character education? These are couple of questions that most teachers and parents ask when they start to teach the Character Education. Most children are very non serious in the attitude, their behaviour and the treatment to others.Over the past few decades, educators have become increasingly interested in implementing character education in their districts, schools, and classrooms, and the pace of this expansion seems to be accelerating. There is a rapidly growing, but still quite inadequate, level of funding available for both practice and research in character education. There are also a bewildering variety of programs, vendors, consultants, and concepts for educators to choose from in their search to improve their schools and positively impact the development and learning of their students.

Following are some ideas which can be given to the students for building their character. First, Appreciation is the most powerful weapon. Many times middle school students do not realize how great efforts from their parents, teachers, friends and family have affected them. As an activity, students needed to first decide on one person who they see as a positive role model. Second, Special thank you notes. Let some very special people know how much you appreciate them! This is a writing activity that can fit in at any time of year. Character education is all about teaching young people how to make responsible choices and helping them to develop the internal controls necessary to make those choices. As such, character education must do more than impart information, it must also inspire and strengthen students to act nobly—even when every inducement conspires to encourage them to act otherwise. This is the point at which character is manifest, for in these circumstances, if the will to act nobly does not exist within, it does Continue Reading