President Obama to indoctrinate (I mean speak) to students

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The only time I had ever had to do something like that was in elementary school and Reagan was president. Then again, seeing as how Reagan was president for the entirety of my elementary education (1st through 8th grade) it was actually impossible for me to be asked to write a paper about any sitting president other than Reagan while I was in elementary school. I will concede that I was never asked to write a paper of any sort about the sitting president (H. W. Bush) when I was in high school.

So I suppose I am somewhat unusual in that two is the absolute minimum for number of different administration you can have in 12 years of education. On the other hand, if you think about someone who is a decade or so older than me, and began their elementary education in the late 60s, they could have Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan by the time they graduated.

 

No one was asked to write a paper. But while in elementary school we were often asked about specific presidents and how they inspired the "country." And how some past presidents compared to the one in office. A favorite topic was FDR and how he inspired the nation during WWII, the war effort and the Great Depression; Lincoln during the Civil War and Washington during the Revolution. Also, I remember that we discussed how some first ladies were important as inspirational figures as well. There was one 4th grade teacher who adored Dolly Madison in particualr, and I don't think I can ever forget Ms Madison if I live to be 100 as a result.

I consider your comments on this issue, along with your compatriots, "inappropriate" and somewhat hysterical, and I was sure to let the school know that there were those of us who were not opposed to the president addressing my kids, and in fact, considered it patriotic of him to do so. And for if the school attemped to censor any of Obama's comments, that would be viewed as partisan censorship.

I know the strategy of the "loyal oppostition," which is to prevent Obama from governing as a normal president. If your side wishes to play politics as an "eternal campaign," rather than a settled election, we can play that game. But the election is over - you lost.

 

While I'm not Snook, I do feel the need to chime in here. No, I was never asked how any president in the past inspired me. Not FDR, not JFK, not RR, not either Bush, and frankly, I'd look at the person asking like he was a little slow if someone did. Now, as for the 'assist Obama' bit, that's a little different, but I would remind you that past presidents have felt the need to point out 'inspiring' things like, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!" In light of that, I don't think it's right for the DOE to assume that all students nationally (or even most of them) have any intention of assisting Obama. Now, if you want to talk about helping Obama, as a private citizen, then that's fine, but the DOE doing so, in school, kinda smells.

 

Actually, I consider your comment to reflect why some are ignorant of our nation's history as a result of our public schools. I know that history is no longer taught much, especially the "heroic view" of history. While you may think such a question as "slow," the reverse of not knowing about why those were inspirational figures reflects historical ignorance.

 

In the context of the actual speech - the President stressing the importance of staying in school, taking personal responsibility for one's own future, and asking students for their help in ensuring a brighter future - questions like "How did the President inspire me?" and "What can I do to help the President?" take on a completely different meaning than what conservatives originally (falsely) assumed it was.

I can see how they, having evidently judged the contents of the speech before even seeing or hearing it, could see this as a partisan effort by Obama. But in doing so the failing is theirs, not Obama's or the DOE's. They made asses of themselves.

Conservatives behaved in an utterly reactionary, intemperate and partisan manner and ended up looking like fools for flipping out over what everyone now agrees was the positive message it was obviously always intended to be. The only thing the right-wing blogs "due dilligence" accomplished was rouse the rabble, and if they had any shame, they'd admit it.

 

They knew -- from the beginning.

 

Don't you see the difference between making a student do some research on a historical figure and writing about it as opposed to writing about the "sitting" president?

 

Are you kidding me? That is basic History 101. You never had a Social Studies class? If this type of question was never asked, your teachers coddled you. You seem way to smart for that to happen NOG. But if it is REALLY the case, please let me know what schools you went to, I will avoid them like the plague when choosing for my children. You should probably sue them for not doing their jobs and trying to "stupify" the the students. Not asked about Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts? I can't believe that one. Nice try though.....

 

I never had to write about it, iirc, but it was talked about in an open discussion format.

 

It's not a matter of knowledge, but a matter of assuming a reaction. They may have done some things that inspired some people, and personally I'm a huge fan of FDR, but to assume that everyone else has the same reaction you do is, at best, not thinking properly.

You're not reading me. We had to talk and write about them plenty. We covered the topics. What we didn't do was assume a reaction. Questions like "Which historical president inspired you the most and why?" were seen, but then they're only assuming that somewhere along the line someone may have struck some chord with some of the students, not that "This president is such an inspirational figure, he must have inspired every single student in the class in one speech!"

That's not talking about history, or even current events. That's borderline hero worship.

 

What questions were you reading? That is not what the outline stated. Sheesh, what a way to twist the meaning of simple questions NOG. Do you look at everything in your life and try to find only the bad, twisting it until you do? WOW! I'll never undrestand that type of mentality.

 

OK, that makes sense, but most presidents didn't give what were intended to be inspirational speeches to students. If you give an inspirational speech, I don't think it's unfair to ask what you found inspiring about the speech.

It's kind of like asking someone what you liked about Obama's healthcare proposal - even people who don't like the entire plan could at least agree that a method to control medical costs need to be addressed - it's not going out on a limb to say most people agreed with at least SOMETHING that Obama said.

 

Now that's just silly. Of course people are going to have different reactions. For instance, my parents believe that FDR knew of the attack on PH before it happened, but let it happen anyway because he wanted to get us into the war. In fact, there are a lot of old-time conservatives who despise FDR, just as there are some people in the South who despise Lincoln. But when you write or teach something you should have a point of view:

As long as they present opposing points of view as well (just so we are clear on that).

I too am a big fan of FDR, and my parents blame my "liberal education" for my rejection of their own views of FDR. I suppose that they believe the public school system "indoctrinated" me into believing that FDR was a good president. You know, those 'liberal school teachers?"

 

Blades, one of the questions was, verbatim, "How did President Obama inspire you?" That's the question I was reading.

I'd agree with you if there were even a single critical question in there (i.e. "How did Obama fail to inspire you?" or "How could Obama have inspired you better?"), but I didn't see any. It was blatantly one-sided.

Chandos:
Are you agreeing with me? Because it sounds like you're agreeing with me. I said that it's bad thinking to assume everyone will react the same way, and that it looks like they did, and you agreed with me. I mean, I don't want to misinterpret or over react or anything, it just seems like a momentus occasion.

 

To which any kid could answer "He didn't." They have a choice. It's asking them to put down their opinion of the speech. Again, why do you twist the meaning of the words? It does not force anything onto the kids. It's no different than you History teacher asking you "What did you learn from the Civil War and what changes can be made to avoid similar situations in the future?" It has nothing to do with indoctrinating students. Not a thing.

 

I thought you were basing it on more than that. I agree with BoV, it leaves the student the option of saying: "He didn't."

Obama was not the one being "graded" on this, since he's already has his degree. But to leave out the "negative" is fairly typical of how most things of that nature are treated at the elementary school level. Beyond elementary grades, NOG, you are right, that it is a pretty lame way of wording that. But is there anything other than that you saw that bothered you?

 

If you guys went to school where you could have answered a question like that then I am jealous. Here in the great liberal Commonwealth of Massachusetts, even with the most reasoned arguments as to why he didn't inspire the writer, the writer could at best expect a C.

 

That would be some VERY biased teaching by your instructors there Snook. Shame on them. I did have one or two like that, so does every school, no one is perfect. But all in all, my High School teachers, especially my English and Social Studies teachers were pretty open-minded, encouraging the same from us students. Basically, telling us to think for ourselves and not to be mindless auto-matons. I'm amazed if that's what you are telling me isn't the norm.

 

The question is 'HOW did he inspire you', not 'did he' to simply put 'he didn't' you would be lucky to get a C as you would have failed basic comprehension of the question it nothing else!

 

Actually, that is wrong 8. This is what was in the original plan...

After the Speech ​

Guided Discussion: ​

1. What resonated with you from President Obama’s speech? What lines or phrases do you remember?
2. Whom is President Obama addressing? How do you know? Describe his audience.
3. We heard President Obama mention the importance of personal responsibility. In your life, who exemplifies this kind of responsibility? How? Give examples.
4. How are the individuals in this classroom similar? How is each student different?
5. Suppose President Obama were to give another speech about being educationally successful. To whom would he speak? Why? What would the president say?
6. What are the three most important words in the speech? Rank them.
7. Is President Obama inspiring you to do anything? Is he challenging you to do anything?
8. What do you believe are the challenges of your generation?
9. How can you be a part of addressing these challenges?

#7, "Is the President inspiring you to do anything?" not the same thing as "How did he inspire you". Which, again, their answer could easily be "He didn't." if that is hte case we each student. That's the point of the entire exercise, using your head to make informed decisions. Also, the entire breakdown of questions are suggestions for teachers, not mandated questions. Teachers have minds of their own and brains enough to use them and create an exercise for their students to learn from the speech and the message Obama was trying to reach the children with, which was to... STAY IN SCHOOL and BE RESPONSIBLE. Nothing wrong with that message.