INEQUALITIES in Education are REAL
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This vlog is based off a recent email I received:
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Hello! I appreciate the concept but have a couple of concerns. First, I work in a district that is part of a low income, rural community. Most of the students and their families do not have the income to purchase the supplies that you mention in this video. Second, many students’ parents are not educated or do not value education. I realize the importance of this topic, and encouraged my students when I was a classroom teacher, but I know the financial and attitude struggles students can face.Here I go on a bit of a passionate rant, but it’s SUCH an important topic.
Love my work and want to give? Click here! To support me, please CLICK at the bottom to share. Click here to visit my official YouTube Channel & subscribe if you want! Thank you — Seth
Reading the transcript? Great! We’re currently uploading hundreds of transcripts so you can read them asap, but they are NOT all edited yet. This is a big process. If you notice anything wrong and want to help us, feel free to click this Google Form to share it. Thanks so much for pitching in! – Seth
Video transcript:
Stop. This is Stephen step forward, and executive function coach out of Boulder Colorado. And I’m here today to respond to an email that I received that goes as follows and I’m going to help you guys understand how I look at some of the inequities that we experience here. Hello, I appreciate the concept but I have a couple of concerns first. I work in the district. That’s part of a low income rural community most of the students and their families do not have the income to purchase the supplies that you mentioned in this video II many of the students and parents are not educated or do not value education. I realize the importance of this topic and I encourage my students when I was a classroom teacher but no the financial in an attitude struggles students can face. Okay. I really actually appreciate this email and I think this is very important in one of the things I get for first Let Me Explain something this was in response to a tool kit. So I’ll my website when you sign up for my website I sent out free videos to help students and this was the response to Tool number to where I talked about how important it is to have a secret study space how important it is for student and in whether or not they’re being homeschooled or in public school or private school or whatever, but is it for a suit? Do you have a secret study space a place a space in the home where they can focus where they can remove distractions when they can focus on the things that they need to do for their education, whether it’s doing homework writing papers reading for class doing school projects or whatever it is now. most of the people who follow my blog most of the people are in traditional Public Schools, but I also people homeschool who on school who have private schools or who were in situations where there in a low-income rural community or low-income District or what have you One of the things for me that has bothered me for my entire career. Is that the people who can afford what I do? They are not low income they have a lot of money and that’s fine. I don’t really care what kids I serve but that means that in order for me to be able to make a living and do what I do. That’s who I generally serve so part of the reason that I give away a free blog and I put hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours into designing the blog making the content sending it out every single week. I put so much time and effort heart and energy into this is so that anybody can access these ideas that I believed in so that that’s first of all and second of all I also do pro bono stop and I have offered many times and I’ve done a lot of free talks and I am available. Call to people when they need it. I I want to help anybody that I can I want to also address. This email says working at District. That’s low income rural community. Most of the students their families do not have the income to purchase the supplies. You mentioned this video. This is it drives me nuts that we the minimum wage is as low as it is that you cannot make a living in this country in 2018 and that I’m working with students because I believe in education and I want them to have a great future and we are raising kids, excuse me for ranting but it is it’s painful for me to watch and to know the reality that we are raising kids and educating kids and we are not preparing them to live in the world that we are raising them in we are not giving them what they need and particularly kids who struggle with executive function particularly be That that have trouble getting done what needs to get done. They are at so much risk for their future for not being able to achieve their goals and dreams for not being able to have a happy and successful future for having life circumstances. If they can’t figure out how to execute that are going to be very difficult for them. That is not why I do what I do. The reason I do what I do is because I want my SCI want all students. I don’t care from what background I don’t care what religion I don’t care. What political leanings I don’t care anyting. I want human beings all human beings all children to be able to grow up and have a happy and successful future. So I share your concerns and I don’t talk about this lie, because I try to keep my blog very focused. I don’t talk about politics. I don’t talk about my opinions on a lot of things. I try to keep my blog focused on solution and kids should have a sacred study face among other things, but I know that if these kids do not have the income to purchase these things they are at a disadvantage and then when you have kids who can afford SAT and ACT courses that are outside of school and things like supplies and tutors and coaches and therapist and all the stuff. It is not fair. It is not right. It is not Equitable. It is not. Okay, but that is where we live at. Now. I am dedicated to giving you everything that I can give you all my online course. I have people who ask for for scholarships. I do that in different ways. Three different families depending on what their situations are. I work with live families for free or cheap. Sometimes I do what I can do. I would love to help every kid in the world, but I can’t but through the blog I give away real stuff. So anyhow, I do understand that a lot of people can’t it can’t afford the stuff. Now what I will say is that if you are watching and you cannot afford the things that I recommend don’t worry about that, what you want to focus on is you want to focus on the principle behind what I am trying to teach. So for example, I’m standing here to a standing desk right now it if you cannot afford a standing desk, it doesn’t matter if it’s a standing desk or not. It could be a countertop. It could be a piece of what I used to have one that I just nailed to the wall in it, but it’s not about a standing desk. It’s about movement that on my brain My ATT brain can focus better with movement in a lot. The kid that I work with can focus better than sitting all day long for 7 hours in a death and then coming home and sitting all night long working on homework, which they shouldn’t be working on that much homework. Anyway is removing but you we can throw a lot of students can focus better with movement. So if it ball standing whatever doesn’t matter if the concept is moving, so what I would encourage you to do is that if the things that I teach seem Out Of Reach For You focus on me principal, I’m trying to convey behind it. That’s what’s really important. So I want to mention that in my kind of ranting today. I just pisses me off that I I know that we are setting up a lot of kids in our country for failure and we are not giving them the opportunities that they should have it is not okay and it disturbs me deeply and I don’t really care about America or in this country. I care about the world kids around the world that are not going to have opportunities to self-actualize and do what they want in life and have a good life where they can have their basic human needs to let me move on second many parents are not educated or do not value education and realize the importance of this topic encourage my students but no the financial and attitude struggles that students can face, I guess what would that finally brings me to is this how you talk about the attitude struggles students can face and I I will shut up with this but my my one of my other gigantic concerns is that in my opinion we often do not teach teachers to the artists who have a craft of serving kids and an understanding how to how to do differentiated different creatively differentiated curriculum that meet the needs of The verse base of students we have overcrowded classrooms. We don’t have enough resources. We don’t have enough training for teachers who don’t pay teachers know if we don’t give them enough time to do what they need to do. We don’t support teachers in the way that they want to be supported to serve. That’s why 50% of teachers Lie by your five imagine that 50% of people in this career that spent years becoming a teacher by their fifth year of their career. They quit people we need desperately serving kids are sober now that they leave in the drives me crazy and then we have, you know a situation where we were telling teachers follow the curriculum. Don’t be an artist don’t think be a robot give out these worksheets give out. This is boring stuff make kids jump through hoops to make them comply and there’s just a lot of very very very very very very deeply rooted dysfunction in the system and well-meaning teachers well-meaning principles. Well meeting School staff don’t even know. That there a perpetuating certain mindsets and ideals and that they’re often shaming kids. That is one of the biggest things that I deal with with my kids with my students with my clients is that they feel shame that you’re getting a message that you’re lazy. You’re not trying hard enough. You must not care about school. Why don’t you just do this one? And you just do that? You’re not doing your homework. You’re not doing a good enough redo this do the corrections. I don’t care that you don’t have a life at night like teachers will get I have so many kids are processing issues or other issues that make their homework or executive function issues that make their homework that might be 20 minutes take three or four hours and some of them just don’t do it and avoid it because they can’t feel successful when they do try hard day. They are told it’s not good enough and then some of them that do spend all that time. And do do all that work and then don’t have time for self-care. Anyhow, I do understand the attitude struggles that you’re talking about. What was that students are facing. Where is it? The students are thinking why should I do this? And I think of that is Asus that deeply deeply rooted to stomach problem where we are not creating engaging education that engages the students and then make them feel good about themselves in that it capitalizes on their strength in their interest in their gifts in their talents yet. We have these boxes that we are putting them in with with our curriculum with our standardization on our testing practices and and all of these very deeply rooted things that frankly gigantic corporations are profiting off of they want to perpetuate the story that is that is increasing profit. That is what they’re there for their businesses. They they want to make money. So they’re not interested in changing the system or shaking anything out there going to want to prevent that from happening and the only way that things are going to change is the more educated you parents teachers people who care about kids and more educated. We are about the issues the more we can look at it with Clarity and say this is not okay. I want this to change in him. We need to come together and yada yada yada and and that this energy rise. Is where people come together and demand change that is the only way things are going to change. So that is enough for me. That was a bit of a rant. I don’t usually talk like that but I think like this all the time my brain is constantly constantly constantly filtering what my students are going through in terms of how is this right for the student? Is this really bringing them to be able to launch a great future. Is this really doing what we think it’s supposed to be doing or not? How should it be? How could be changed? I can be better. What does this kid need in order to create a great future. So it hangs me deeply deeply deeply and that is why I do what I do. It pains me deeply to see any child anywhere on Earth not get the education in the opportunities that they need in order to create a good life. It does not make sense in 2018 and it is what it is. What’s rise me to do what I do. I do my part my Play the best I can do to create my ripple here on Earth while I’m here to make my dent in. The universe is Steve Jobs that but it is not enough and what they’re awesome people Austin teachers awesome Educators, Austin professionals. Awesome parents out there doing a lot of good, but it’s not enough yet. hoof Hi Kevin, sign up for my ball gets up early. Com. Check it out. And I keep fighting the fight and helping kids out. Take care.