oct 1

October 1, 2009 8:28 PM


Sharon said...

While reading an article regarding the Rainbow Project, the alternative SAT created by Yale Professor Robert Sternberg that Pink mentions in his book, I came across this. I hope you enjoy it.It is a nice break from the research we have been doing and a reminder of why we are here.



Making a Difference

"Dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued this way. "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher? You know, it's true what they say about teachers:

‘Those who can do, do, and those who can't do, teach.' To corroborate his statement he said to another guest, ‘Hay, Susan, you're a teacher. Be honest, what do you make?' Susan, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness, replied, ‘You want to know what I make? I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could and I can make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence. I can make a C-plus feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor and an A feel like a slap in the face if the student didn't do his or her very best!' Susan continued, ‘I can make parents tremble when I call home or feel almost like they won the lottery when I tell them how well their child is progressing,' Gaining speed, she went on: ‘You want to know what I make! I make kids wonder; I make them question; I make them criticize; I make them apologize and mean it; I make them write; and I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math and hide it all on their final drafts in English.' And Susan then stopped and cleared her

throat. ‘I make them understand that if you have the brains, then follow your heart. And if someone ever tries to judge you

by what you make in money, you pay them no attention.'

Susan then paused. ‘You want to know what I make? She said, ‘I make a difference. What about that?'"

Reprinted from the New Hampshire Association of School Principals’

newsletter with credit to Dick Thomas, executive director

of the School Administrators Association of New York