The Lost Children

"I had a tremendous amount of energy and a craving for challenge and stimulation, yet I was forced to try to sit still in a classroom and passively take in information at a slow pace. School was a boring prison for me, and I did what I could to bring excitement into my life in an environment that seemed designed to prevent it." Wow! What a powerful quote! Written by Aaron Iba, co-founder of Etherpad, as presented in The Innovative Educator http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/, this quote, sadly, depicts the situation that countless number of students are submitted to on a daily basis. Able to survive his years of torture in the educational system, Aaron went onto become a successful innovator in the technology industry. Despite this success story, we, as educators, have to ask the question: For each successful Aaron, how many more have we lost due to our inadequacies to meet their needs? In an era of education where we possess the ability to differentiate and utilize technology why are we not doing everything within our power to reach as many students as possible? With all of the demands placed upon teachers, it is easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the pressures of state mandates, school initiatives and yes, even politics. Aaron's story should be a reminder of what our true focus is - the children. So, next time that one student is pushing the limts and you're ready to give up, take a deep breath, smile to yourself and think about this.... they may be the next Aaron or they could be a future drop-out. Which do you want?