Dropout

While at a doctor's appointment yesterday, I read an article about the alarmingly high level of high school dropouts. Amazingly, the major reason was not bad grades or bad behavior. The main reason the kids were dropping out of school was because the kids felt like they weren't learning anything of value to their real lives and that the teachers and administration didn't care about them.

Many of the kids said that not one teacher knew his/her name. Most kids said that not one person at school took the time to know their interests, strengths or weaknesses. Almost every kid interviewed said that their favorite days at school were when teachers would take the time to apply their lessons to real-life situations, and that it happened very rarely.

These happen to be my biggest complaints about Dawson attending public school.

I always had the worry of him not wanting to further his education after high school. But the thought of him actually dropping out never occurred to me.

Now that he has shared with me his hopeful plans for his future, I intend to teach him everyday in a way that he can see how what he is learning will work in his life.

Real life teaching. I guess that's my style.