I have many passionate thoughts and ideas about teaching and learning.  I think, daily, about schools and classrooms and what they should be.  I am often weighing in my mind whose job it is to ensure children are educated, taught responsibility, and are prepared for the organized world of work.  I realized it had been awhile since I wrote in my blog, essentially sharing all of these thoughts and ideas with the world…or the few people who read my blog.  I began to form an idea, to shape my thoughts, when scrolling through my Facebook page I found this video from Kid President.  As I watched the video I realized that what he says may seem to some to be silly or unimportant, but there is an underlying message that that strikes at the heart of the relationship between teaching and learning.  “You are here, you take up space, and you matter.”  “We can’t just study history, we have to make history.”  “You have to understand the world to change the world.”  “No matter who you are, somebody is learning from you.”  Teachers have an area of expertise, they are professionals, and their skills can add to students achievement, increase student engagement, inspire creativity and a passion for a skill or a subject area of learning.  But, before all that, parents need to inspire learning in their children, and children need to want to learn.  We need to create a culture of achievement, a curiosity for the unknown, and drive to make a difference.  In the end, if parents are more concerned with the childcare needs filled by sending their kids to school, than be the learning that takes place there, if children feel like school is an interruption to what they are doing that is really important, and if they do not believe that they are fundamentally important in shaping not only how the world is today, but what ultimately it will become, then all of a teacher’s efforts are for naught.  The chain of learning is broken, and we all have to work together to fix it.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-really-cute-kid-shares-his-super-awesome-knowledge-that-everyone-can-use