I really enjoyed reading "The Daily Grind." It brought to light a situation I constantly struggle with as I become an educator. My mother is a teacher, and for quite some time, I have been aware of the hidden and overt curriculums. She has told me stories of bright, young students lost in the system because they simply could not deal with the overt curriculum. But boy did they ace the hidden curriculum! They could work with their hands, talk with their mouths, and think with their minds better than some of her straight A students. However, since their hands, mouths, and minds were not thinking of math, science, or spelling, they were often left behind. They either did not understand the "worksheet style" learning, or they wanted to take this to the next level, as a possible hands-on activity. It makes me wonder why there are so many students like this and yet not much has been done about it. Yes, we have exploratory classes in middle school and technical courses in high school to "stick" these students in, but what are they really gaining? They are being separated from others and losing some of the "hidden skills" students should gain in school. It even relates to the home school discussion. So much more than math, literature, and social studies are learned in school. School is a place where you learn life lessons and ways to handle situations when you are out in the "real world." The people in school are the same people you will be dealing with in the "real world," and not everyone will be studying for a test for the rest of their lives. Therefore, a greater focus on the hidden curriculum should be implemented in schools today.

I remember when I was in high school I was never really sure what kids that weren't in honors classes were doing. Teachers complained about the kids weren't in the honors classes, and it really just made me wonder what they were like. Eventually I did have classes with those students, classes like PE and computer applications. I learned a lot about people in those semesters. I learned that those students I had been hearing about all those years were actually just as bright if not brighter in many areas than I was. When we graduated a lot of those students went into jobs where they could finally work with their hands and minds in the ways that they had been able to all along, others went into the military. Some just slipped through the cracks, occasionally I'll run into someone from a PE class a couple years ago and they still just don't believe they can do better for themselves. As teachers, I think we should try to see these students for who they are in order to stop this cycle of bright people not thinking they are smart enough to be great parts of society as adults.

"I think we should try to see these students for who they are in order to stop this cycle of bright people not thinking they are smart enough to be great parts of society as adults."
This statement, Mandi, just caught my attention so much. I am in complete agreement with you! I had a couple of teachers in High School that would talk down to the other students because they basically weren't "learning fast enough." This seriously ticks me off because no one has the right to do this, no matter how much "smarter" they are then the other people. I believe that when students first hear that they are behind or that they just aren't doing as well as the other students, their self-esteem level drops to where they don't care anymore and then they do not put the effort into learning as they once had. This happens everywhere, not just in schools. Everyone has an ability that s/he is amazing at. This ability may be something from school and it may not be, but people need to learn this and stop putting people down, because that doesn't help anyone (except if the person that is putting someone else down uses that technique to boost his/her own self-esteem, then I guess it would help that person).

I think that giving a student the chance to be great is an opportunity that some teachers are scared of. I’ve had some teachers come in on the first day and say that some percentage of the class was going to fail. This gives some students the thought that it is almost okay to fail, and maybe that it is even expected of them. If the teacher went into the classroom and told them all that they were going to learn a lot and were all going to be able to pass (even if in pass classes they had struggled) I wonder what the outcome would be. I also believe that a very few teachers like to have students fail, for some reason it makes them feel smarter or like they have some power. I don’t know why these people go into the teaching profession but they need to reexamine their career choice.