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Lesson Plans


Real World Advice and a thank you

From: Patricia Knott (pknott)
Date: Mon May 29 2000 - 08:26:06 PDT

  • Next message: Sea Pearly: "Re: sketchbook motivation"

    Every time I see something that I think I can use from all you great
    teachers out there I print it out to file away. I've been spending the
    morning organizing and filing those ideas. I have amassed a huge notebook
    of lessons, suggestions, and great tips.
    THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERYONE. This is a wonderful group.

    Among the things I had printed out was something a friend sent me some time
    ago. This is long and it doesn't make me feel any better about recent events
    but, I think it says what many of us feel about what is going on today.

    Here goes...

    "The real world bears little resemblance to the tripe we are teaching kids
    in our High Schools and University systems. Perhaps it is time for us to
    stop dishing out the "politically correct" gruel and start serving up the
    meat and potatoes of what it takes to survive in the real world.

    Bill Gates' book for high school and college graduates contains a list of 11
    things he did not learn in school. In his book, Bill Gates talks about how
    feel-good, politically correct teachings created a full generation of kids
    with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in
    the real world.

    RULE 1
    Life is not fair; get used to it.
    RULE 2
    The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to
    accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
    RULE 3
    You will NOT make $40,000. a year right out of high school. You won't be a
    vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
    RULE 4
    If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He doesn't
    have tenure.
    RULE 5
    Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a
    different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
    RULE 6
    If you mess up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your
    mistakes; learn from them.
    RULE 7
    Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They
    got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to
    you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the
    parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the closet in your
    own room.
    RULE 8
    Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In
    some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many
    times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest
    resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
    RULE 9
    Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few
    employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own
    time.
    RULE 10
    Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the
    coffee shop and go to jobs.
    RULE 11
    Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

    The answer to the eternal question.... "Is it better to be a 'jock' or a
    'nerd?' Consider the following: Michael Jordan made over $300,000. per
    game. That equals $10,000 a minute, at an average of 30 minutes per game.
    With $40 million in endorsements, he made $178,100 a day, working or not.

    In his last year, he made more than twice as much as all US past presidents
    for all of their terms combined........ However, if Jordan saves 100% of his
    income for the next 250 years, he'll still have less money than Bill Gates
    has today.
    Slam Dunk.
    Game over.
    Nerd wins."
    -------------------------------------------
    Bill Gates is not one of my heroes. I suspect he has done some questionable
    things. But he is smart and what he says here is just all the stuff I come
    home and whine about. Especially Rule 8. In my school, if we fail more
    than 18% of our students we are called in for questioning. Doesn't mater
    when you produce your grade book and show all the 0's. Kids that may not
    graduate are put on "homebound" so they can make it through. I just spent
    two months with a mother whose daughter failed photography. (She didn't take
    one roll of film) Yet I was supposed to keep giving her chances to make up
    the work. The kid was lying to her mother and FINALLY mom has acknowledged
    this.

    One more thing. Many of the first year teachers in my district are leaving.
    "I didn't think it would be this much work" they say. What did they
    think???? That we actually go home at 3:00?

    Thanks for letting me vent.

    I'm with you Reatha, I'm not sure it is worth it.

    Patty 

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