Indesiveness

Mondays are rarely good. I think it probably has to do with my attitude. I should fix that. Good news? I have great students who can make me smile. No matter how sleepy I am or ridiculous registration is at least one student will revive my faith in the human race. It's nice to see they do want more out of life. Which brings me to the rock and hard place. The American public is often complaining about the educational system. Public schools are some of the first places Big Brother begins to cut budgets. Everyone knows that good teachers will make sure students succeed no matter what the balance on the budget is. Our students are compared to Asain students whose school system is set up completely different than ours. The general idea, and this is very general, secondary schools are set up for students to flourish in certain areas. Students are expected to plan their future at a very young age. Or their future is planned for them. Should we change our school systems to better compete with the world market? Part of me thinks so. Why make a student who obviously knows they want to work in the technology field waste his time in a fine arts class? And yet, I watched a tenth grader try to decide on her electives today. She is a bright young girl who isn't afraid of hard work. After asking her what she wanted to do after she graduated high school, she looked at me quizzically, giggled and said, "I don't know. I was just trying stuff out to see which one I would like." Should we encourage students to choose a future for themselves when they change their mind about their friends every week? Do we prepare students for a future? Or do we allow students to enjoy a childhood? Are they too young to make decisions like this? Should we make the decision for them? Where is the easy multiple choice answer?