I agree with much of this. However, there comes a point in which the lowest level
/ minimum standard gets so low that a student never gets a chance to have his her flame lit. No Shakespeare, not even seeing Romeo and Juliet in the Zeffirelli film? What a tragic mistake. Why? Because a good teacher connects the dots to the element of long standing hatred and the despondent lovers trauma. Don’t teach Mockingbird? Then they miss what read courage is and what a history of racism has done then and now. I cannot speak for science or math since I did not teach it in my 32 year career ( not directly) but knowing the cost of decisions like unplanned pregnancy, divorce, or college education —that I did teach. In the end, I offered an appetizer platter of skills. Enough to whet the curiosity of kids and from that they could decide the path on which they could travel. John, my novel “Meetings at the Metaphor Cafe” demonstrates all that I taught. ANYONE READING YOUR ESSAY AND YOU JOHN CAN LOOK ME UP AND I WILL SEND YOU A FREE COPY— no kidding. It was nominated for the California Young Readers Award
Robert Pacilio. San Diego County Teacher of the Year. Disney’s Top 100 teachers
Robertpacilio@gmail.com
Just let me know. All of these comments above are welcome to receive my offer