Well, all the furor over the President’s speech to students proved to be wasted energy as the message was not political or any of the other words used by some to suggest that it was inappropriate for him to use valuable learning time in this way. Telling students that they need to set personal goals, work hard to achieve those goals, be responsible for their own learning, and not make excuses is a message that any educator would welcome from someone in his position. They hear this same message from their teachers and other adults in their lives on a regular basis. I don’t know how much influence this additional voice will have over time, but it is welcome.
Though overall I was pleased with the message, I thought that he lost a wonderful opportunity to reach out to public school teachers with words such as the following.
*I want to reach out today to form a partnership with your teachers who work tirelessly to . .
*I want to thank your teachers and work with them to . . .
*Every day at school there are dedicated teachers that . . . and I want to . . .
I shared this private thought with our administrative team Tuesday afternoon and received no verbal feedback, but the nonverbals were loud and clear; we should be thankful for what he said, how can you be critical. That response could have, however, been influenced by my comments related to level five leadership as described by Collins in Good to Great, see slides 9-10. I wonder if level five leadership characteristics are aligned with being successful as a president.
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Having been a teacher through Reagan's, both of Bush's, and Obama's classroom speeches I must say it was great to finally hear a message my students could relate to (the first that wasn't blatantly political). But according to many of my students (and I must say I agree), the most powerful message this week came not Tuesday but rather during Wednesday's address before the joint session of Congress when the President challenged us to, "not fear the future but to shape it." With that simple but powerful message one simultaneously dispels the alligator tears concerning Tuesday's address and lays the foundation for the next generation. I remember talking to my parents 40 years ago about Kennedy's "ask not" line. This was just such a moment...for another generation...and for those not drowning in fear.
The president’s speech was a great way to kick off the new school year! The majority of the students I spoke with had positive reflections of the president’s speech and some good connections were made between the message and student goals for the year. I was also energized by the speech and found myself reflecting on President Obama’s message of personal responsibility, setting high goals, and persisting. After reflection and discussions with staff and students regarding the president’s message and our district wide initiative for Classroom 10 learning, I realized that I felt so energized and positive about President Obama’s speech because it was an affirmation that we are on the right path regarding the work we are doing with classroom 10. The president’s message directly connected to our learning community work with self directed learning and the habits persistence and responsible risk.
My students started the year out discussing habits, thinking skills, and district outcomes and indicators in regards to what they need to accomplish. President Obama’s stress on persisting, personal responsibility and setting goals was a solid confirmation that our learning community is on the right path. It felt good to listen while students discussed President Obama’s speech and made connections to the habits, skills and outcomes posters on the classroom wall. I also appreciated that President Obama encourage students to reach out to teachers to help with setting and accomplishing goals. Creating positive relationships with teachers, coaches and other responsible adults is crucial to our students’ success and I am glad President Obama took the chance to encourage students to seek out those relationships.
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