PE

Everyone knows this one was coming sooner or later. As a PE and health major i have to stand up and defend my discipline. However, i am also required to criticize it because i have too much love for it to see it slip down the rungs of the educational ladder. Now im not saying PE teachers are necessarily more important than other areas; we are just looking for a place at the table. A lot of people see a PE teacher as a person who throws out the ball and tells the kid to go play. And to be honest i have seen teachers do this and you will know that i can be a PE teachers greatest supporter, but i can also be their biggest critic. What PE teachers need to do is bring back the academic meaning to Physical Education, rather than it be play time for kids. Instead assign a few papers asking them what they learned, and give tests about meaningful content. Yes it's more work but the students will learn more. At first this will probably be met with great resistance, but it is at the utmost importance that we have the fortitude to continue to improve our discipline and the students.

Tighten the Ranks

The whole ordeal in DC with former Chancellor Rhee's cuts and reform has many teachers ready to blow a gasket. But think about it, regardless if she was right or wrong firing the teacher without proof the question still remains. Do we hold teacher to a higher standard and get rid of those who are constantly absent, lacking performance, or other discrepancies? I do believe that we have to protect each other as teachers, however i think we have to have enough pride, courage, and sense of duty towards the students to speak up when we know there are teachers under performing. Now i''m not saying we need to get rid of every teacher that slips up or has something come up, but we have a higher duty to our students to make sure that they get every bit of help that they deserve. So i believe that we as teachers should be evaluated critically and if we fail to meet standards through a set period of time, say two years, then the administrator should be allowed to take steps. But i also believe that if we continue to shine as great teachers in our evaluations we should be rewarded. Not with money (even though that wouldn't hurt) but with funds for our class. Teachers are usually intrinsically motivated and if you gave us money to help us with our job we will be elated. We should hold teacher to a higher regard but also show it in all aspects, because without us the world wouldn't have doctors or lawyers. We provide the foundation of this country and sometimes you have to pay tribute to those who hold this country up. 

Competition

Many people are worried about competition destroying any bond of camaraderie  we have in our schools.  Students competing with each other over academics, athletics, and other programs within the school. The con side of competition argues that companionship and cooperation will accomplish much more than competition. And its true when all members of a group are working towards a common goal great things can be accomplished. On a global scale I believe this to be true, however on an individual scale I think this would cause a rapid decline in progress of education.
   For example in a play production at a local high school they are looking for a male lead for the play. There is to be no competition involved. So what they do is put the names of everyone who want to be the lead in a hat and draw one out. Boom you go your lead without competition. Night of the play comes and the lead is horrible, forgetting his lines etc. People ask why is the lead so terrible, and all the producer can say is I got this guy without an audition, aka competition. The producer chose not to hold a competition to find the best lead and all because many thought it would lead to some sort of destruction.
  Let's use the business world for the next example. Say you have a group of the major cell phone companies working together. ( well there wouldn't be a distinction because we would have competition to separate them, but stick with me here) Sure they came together and created the best service anyone could want with the best phones, however they also came together and decided to make a ton of money off it. So they raise the price to ridiculous heights and well you have to pay for it if you want a cell phone because there is no competitor to offer a lower price.
      Next lets go into no competition in politics. Hmmm.... on second thought politics itself is a scary thought. If we don't have competition there well we might as well have a king or queen and be done with it. Oh and they are on the throne until they are dead.
   In the end we need competition to help us evaluate others and ourselves. Competition when used correctly is an honest way of making decisions.  

Compassion

Near the end of my senior year in high school my grandma pass away from pancreatic cancer. It was one of the first times that i had dealt with a death in the family and i took it kind of hard. School seemed to get a little bit less important and sports, which is what i live for, even took a back seat. This is where my teachers, Mr. Straka and Ms. McWorthy (now Mrs. Straka) helped my get back on track. Mr. Straka was my AP bio teacher and Ms. McWorthy was my band director. They told me every chance I had i should come to their room just to talk and do a little homework. They gave a me a kind word and more encouragement they i could ever need to finish my high school career strong. Looking back at it i realized that they went out of their way and gave up some of their prep time, which i now know can be vital for a teachers sanity, to help keep me on track. There job wasn't the guidance counselor or the school psychologist. They did it because they genuinely cared and i think that is one of the biggest unwritten qualifications to teaching, care for your students when they need someone.

Respect

Respect, something that every person strives to achieve. Or at least everyone should strive to earn it. I say earn it because you can not forcefully take respect from people. Like I always say, anything earned is better than anything taken or given. Take teachers for example. If they can win the respect and trust of the children they teach, the they have half the battle one. Respect opens the door for for others to take in and process what you are trying to say to them. And if anyone knows, getting a students attention and interest is one of the most difficult things teachers have to do. But, this door swings both ways. Teachers have to respect their students to listen to any question that they come up with. As well by showing respect when answering their question without sound condescending or criticizing it,  because every teacher should love having their students ask questions about the current subject.