What happened to education? Angel's Interpretation of How to Start Fixing the Problems

    “When educating the minds of our youth we must not forget to educate their hearts.” -Dalai Llama 

    What happened to education? How did we lose reading and writing? Where did science and history go? Are they somewhere with art and music? Why does everyone hate math? Last time I checked, being bilingual was a good thing, right? These are some of the rhetorical questions I ask myself all day long as I drive from student to student. What happened to the education system I used to know and love? I may be weird but I always loved school.  My teachers were phenomenal, my classrooms always up to date, my classmates intrigued with the task of learning maybe not quite as much as I was, but definitely showing interest. 

Angel's Tutors...

    After 13 years of teaching, I now own my own tutoring company called Angel’s Tutors. I only have half a website if you go out and google it but I’m not really all that concerned about it. All my students come to me by word of mouth from current students and their parents. We are one big happy, interconnected family of coworkers, family, friends, and church members. I tutor all ages, grades and subjects across Dallas, including standardized tests and children with learning disabilities. My main concern is helping underprivileged youth across Dallas with a heavy focus in south Dallas. If I am going to tackle this problem I have to start somewhere and south Dallas students really need my time and attention more than others due to a serious lack of educational opportunities south of downtown. 

So what am I teaching them?

    How am I solving the greater education issues by tutoring 1 on 1 just the few students I can get to in only 12 hours a day, 6 days a week? There is a lot to be said for planting seeds and helping them grow, sending them out into the world to multiply, and discovering you now have new forests of thinkers that didn’t exist before. That is my main goal... if I do nothing else you will learn that you are smart, you are capable, and you can be anything you want to be if you are willing to work for it. You will learn to be responsible for yourself, your education, and your future. My students are always punctual, prepared, eager to learn and motivated by their own drive to succeed in school and in life. This is the next generation of movers and shakers in this country. We start fixing the greater problems of our education system by teaching students that they are not the problem; the system is the problem. How can we blame them when the same ineffective system that is causing them so many problems has been in place for years? 

Give it some thought before you judge too quickly...

    There are 2 sides to this. It isn't just the system at fault, but it isn't just the students either. It is not enough to teach students to think for themselves, be accountable for themselves, and take pride in their education anymore. When they go to school and don't pass the mandatory standardized tests year after year it wears on them. But at the same time, we cannot simply blame the system because that takes all the responsibility away from the student who must be an active participant in the process of learning.

TO BE CONTINUED....