Limited Expectations

"I can already tell what they're going to be", said one of the school employees.  I said, "Really, how?".  She said, "I just can. You can just look at them and tell".  I was shocked.
Teachers and school staff have so much power, so much influence over the next generation, but instead of being a solution to the problem they talk down to the students and only lend a helping hand to those whose family they know or whose parents make the most fuss; everyone else just falls to the wayside.


I remember being in the 9th and 10th grade, at a high school in South Georgia, and not really understanding or caring about what was going on with my education.  I took the classes that the school told me I should take, without question, unless it was a class that I thought was going to be terribly hard, like biology.  Don't get me wrong, I had some great influences, but during school hours educational motivation was almost non-existent from the school faculty and staff; I can count on one hand how many teachers showed that they actually cared about my academic present and future.


What happened to public educators expecting the best out of their students?  When did pushing students, no matter what their socio-economic background was, go out the window?  I literally see teachers chilling in their classrooms on their cell phones and guess what the students are doing?  The students are doing the same thing.  We could blame it on age, but I know a lot of young teachers who are trying to instill in students what was instilled in them.  We could also try to blame it on things like "No Child Left Behind" (which I despise), but like I see some teachers working around the ridiculousness of NCLB.  So who do we blame for limited expectations? 


Parents - Yes, I'm blaming parents!!!!!!  Parents should be the first people to express to their children the type of expectations that they have for their academic progress or lack there of.  Parents should also make an EFFORT to get out to their children's school at least once a month, to meet with teachers and see what's really going on with their child's education.


Teachers/School Administration/School Boards - Yes, they get blamed too.  Yes, education is a job, it is a means for providing a living for some, but you also have precious futures in your hands, futures that you have the ability to help mold.  Why wouldn't you want to go above and beyond to help positively shape one of your student's futures?  Yes, you work long hours (who doesn't).  Yes, you have a family at home (again, who doesn't).  Yes, the state and federal government require a lot out of you (you signed up for this).  I believe if you're in education ( like myself), you should bend over backward making sure students get the best education and experience that you have to offer.


Students - Yes, I blame the students too.  Stop making excuses.  You can see what's right and what's wrong within the walls of your school.  You see the "smart" kids getting their work done, getting awards, and you want the same feeling, but instead of asking how they do it, you want to tease them or ignore them - THAT'S NOT COOL.  Ask for help, and if you're shy, ask for help after your friends have left.  Get rid of some of those so called friends, you know what they're up too isn't going to help your future.  I came from a home where my mother didn't make it to high school, so I had to choose:  Be like those around me in my neighborhood or be like those who seemed to be going places?  I mean I have a Master's Degree now, so what do you think I did?