2 million minutes for June 22nd

2 Millions Minutes is trying to persuade its viewers that American students are falling behind students from other countries in terms of academic achievement. This argument is supported by most measures of academic achievement. What are your thoughts on this "crisis"? How will you respond as a teacher when you have your own students?


As someone who is going to be an art teacher this “crisis” does not matter to me. I feel that it was pointed out by the creator and by all of the participants that each system has it’s own advantages and pitfalls. My response as teacher would be to encourage a greater global and cultural awareness. I believe it’s important for the students to be able to see how we as countries are interconnected and how we have, and continue to, effect each other. I would like to show them the effects we have on each other through the lens of power relationships, ultimately expressing to them that knowledge is power. I feel this could be a good motivational tool in encouraging them to want to become better learners since most every teenage student can relate to feelings of oppression in some fashion. In order to help them become better learners, I would also like to teach kids proper study skills so that they have a better understanding of what kind of effort is expected of them. As we learned earlier, praising a child’s intelligence can damage their self esteem and prevent them from understanding the actual amount of effort it takes to accomplish a difficult task. This is why I believe it is important to teach secondary level students the necessary tools to be effective learners, and reinforce in them that struggles and setbacks are universal regardless of age and experience. I think it will be an interesting mix that at times may be a struggle. However, I feel that as an art teacher I have the perfect avenue to inspect cultures of the world as all art is spoken through the language of a culture. It’s the study skills that would be outside my certified area of expertise as recognized by the state, however, someone needs to teach these skills and I feel if I can make it through college I will have learned through experience, some effective study skills.