tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816577268539877098.post1434907160617835678..comments2010-06-02T22:24:09.011-07:00Comments on Thick Books and the Women Who Love Them: In Defense of Mr. RogersDaniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14748474644080482183noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816577268539877098.post-86121872970842040402010-05-25T19:39:48.849-07:002010-05-25T19:39:48.849-07:00Hi, yourself!
For a long time, I never had the d...Hi, yourself! <br /><br />For a long time, I never had the discipline for my music lessons, so I ended up giving up the piano after a truly mortifying recital, but then I discovered that for me, it was all about rhythm and I threw myself into drumming and tap dancing and suddenly grew some motivation to practice. John's theatre students who were dancers as kids also have that serious work ethic. <br /><br />I like the idea that nobody's the best. Even if you're a serious contender, you could have a bad day when someone else is having a really good day. But it doesn't mean it's not worth working for, or that you can't feel pride in what you do.Daniellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14748474644080482183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816577268539877098.post-38601611953896095462010-05-25T10:18:08.518-07:002010-05-25T10:18:08.518-07:00fox news is called fox news because that's wha...fox news is called fox news because that's what it does. (that only really works verbally.)<br /><br />yeah, i totally agree--mr. rogers was about affirming that SOMETHING made each kid special, that everyone had something they were good at or something interesting to say. this isn't the same as saying everyone should be rewarded for everything. as i tell my step-kids: everybody is great at something, but even then nobody's the best. there will always be someone better than you, and the point is to work as hard as you can for your OWN benefit, not for empty accolades. <br /><br />i think i learned these lessons from my musical education. your success at playing an instrument is directly proportional to the hours of practice you put in, and there is NO instant gratification. odds are low that you'll be the next joshua bell, but playing well will be extremely rewarding anyway. <br /><br />i love that you have a blog! hi!katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00918366680230033071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816577268539877098.post-74167876640834549332010-05-25T09:49:10.313-07:002010-05-25T09:49:10.313-07:00Absolutely! I tend to call this the "particip...Absolutely! I tend to call this the "participation ribbon" or "youth soccer" mentality. European football is an exciting, and very competitive, game, but in the US, we've created this idea that all you have to do to play Youth Soccer is run back and forth up and down the field and at the end, everyone gets a blue participation ribbon and a pizza party.<br /><br />My mom also notes that the pedagogy resulting from the "self esteem" movement in a lot of schools is that kids were just told they were great in a vacuum, without reference to any accomplishments of which they might be proud.<br /><br />But that's not the way Mr. Rogers went about affirming kids at all.Daniellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14748474644080482183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7816577268539877098.post-5016629383817423352010-05-25T08:30:02.247-07:002010-05-25T08:30:02.247-07:00Rather than blame Mr Rogers, who is awesome BTW. ...Rather than blame Mr Rogers, who is awesome BTW. I would look at the "everybody wins" mentality that has taken over activities for children. Not that I am super against it mind you, I often play games with kids where everyone wins and scores don't matter, but when that becomes the mentality that is instilled, it becomes problematic. I think your points on extra credit and whatnot are right on.<br />There also seems to be a mentality that if I put enough work into it, I should get such and such grade for it. Never mind that it has horrible grammar, the points that are made are wrong, the logic defies logic, etc, what matters to the student is how much work went into it. I don't know where that mentality comes from.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com