Nice is NOT Enough!

Over the holidays, I had many conversations with parents and friends about their kids(or their own) experiences in school. I tried to listen openly, casually, keeping my 2 cents to myself…after all, it was the holidays!

Well, that lasted about 13 seconds as I became increasingly frustrated with the pervasive acceptance of mediocre, even bad teaching practices in the name of "NICE". Countless times, teachers and schools were given a "pass" for not engaging students, not keeping up their professional responsibility or just plain laziness...if the teacher was NICE!

People, would we give the same "pass" to doctors, lawyers, dentists, or any other profession engaging in archaic methodologies appropriate for their field a century ago? Would you send your child, your most precious possession, to a dentist that still pulled out teeth with pliers and a bottle of whiskey…just.because they were nice?

Our students deserve better, their parents deserve better, and we can do better. I know this does not appy to the majority of teachers we have the privledge and pleasure of working with, but it only takes a few bad apples to spoil the bunch!