Education

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When I'm not blogging, I'm a high school teacher. I decided to show Obama's speech in my class.

Why, if I mostly disagree with the president?

First, he's the president of the United States and deserves some attention. Second, it wasn't a federal mandate, in which case I would have resented the imposition. Third, Americans have precious few unifying events and non-political presidential speeches can be one of them.

The speech itself was a triumph- Obama at his best. The theme was perfect, even conservative. It was a speech that could have been delivered by any president in our history, proof in itself of its non-partisan nature.

The liberal stereotype is that kids can't learn because of some material deprivation. Obama said that no matter how much we spend on education, it's the kid who has to allow the knowledge to enter his brain. Learners are the final barrier to knowledge, so to speak.

This is something I've been saying to my classes for years ("you have this and that: what else do you need to learn something today?").

So, what do we need him for? Obama managed to include a role for the government by telling children that he will provide everything students need to achieve- except for the excuse that they can't.

I liked the construction of the speech, especially the part about schoolwork being a way to see what students are good at.

As the leader of my school's debate team, I'm glad that he mentioned that. The military is an option. I liked the story of his mother: it was inspirational without being melodramatic or victim-ish.

Kids don't need to computers to learn. It's appropriate to tell kids to wash their hands in a way that it isn't to tell adults.

Politics:

Good students will like the speech. It won't matter to most of the bad ones. Democratic and Independent parents will love the speech. Conservatives who criticized it look pretty silly today. Hint: don't criticize something beforehand, as the person you're criticizing can always change it.