Sesame Street has a lot to do with the deterioration of education, according to a former eng prof. She said students raised with it expect to be entertained in the class. Said she never heard things like “I don’t want to do that it’s boring”, prior.
Kids are hungry for the truth and also are willing to learn to communicate. They enjoy gaining knowledge and knowing. they just need a good environment.
Teachers need to quit whining and teach. Treat kids with respect, discipline them, be willing to be a bossy adult, and concede to never being their friend until they are adults, treat the boys like gents and they will be opening doors by the end of the year, and homework every night no questions asked (except holidays respect their need for a break).
And the impact can last a lifetime. At my 30 year class reunion I shared a conversation with 3 people from elementary school. I had not seen them in 30 years. We were all in the same 6th grade class in the late sixties. We all unanimously agreed that our teacher, Mr. Farley was the best teacher any of us had ever had. Not even a close call. We all vividly remembered his class room and what an extraordinary teacher and human being he was. Tough but strong. Honestly, he taught us things like the gold standard and the stock market. Things that I know to this day. God Bless him, but the very sad part is that I also learned he had passed away when he was only 59.