Wednesday 9 February 2011

A Teacher and A CEO

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Barbara. Be honest. What do you make?"
Barbara, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, and then began...)
"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents CAN'T make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)
I make kids wonder.
I make them question.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding ISN'T EVERYTHING.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in maths. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given,
work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life (Barbara
paused one last time and then continued.)
Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant.
You want to know what I make?
I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
What do you make Mr. CEO?
His jaw dropped, he went silent.

A profound answer!
Courtesy ~ A friend

4 comments:

TURNTHETVOFF said...

That was great , can I repost this ?

UFKhan said...

Teachers definitely have an imperative role in the society and the CEO must have been a bit arrogant to pass such remarks about teachers. I also wonder why the CEO could not realize beforehand that such a straight comment would have backfired, no matter how humble the other party was.

Having said that, it does not necessarily mean that CEOs have a lesser role in society. Not saying that CEOs are better than teachers, but they (CEOs) are the ones who develop and run organizations where the students can get jobs when they grow up.

aion accounts said...

WoW! cool. . definitely so true. . =)

MoCo said...

Im a teacher but i gotta admit that was gay. I really doubt that ever happened.