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Obama's Back to School Speech, Not So Menacing


President Obama addressed students today at 10am across the nation, grades k-12. His "back to school" speech focused on the importance of taking personal responsibility for learning. Many of Obama's points relate to the discussion my learning theory class which ended last week.

Last week, we all took that test that defined what type of learner we each were. I feel that, like my Learning Theory professor, Joanne, President Obama is encouraging us to become a nation of intentional [transforming] learners. Intentional Learners take responsibility for and control of their own learning. They learn best in loosely structured environments that encourage and support positive anticipations, expertise building, risk-taking experiences, mentoring relationships, self-directed learning, problem-solving situations, support for high learner control opportunities, transformative processes, high learning standards, and achievement of challenging personal goals for long-term accomplishments and change.

Here is a segment of his speech that supports this idea:

"That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn..."

The idea's of "setting your own goals for your education" and doing "everything you can to meet them" including constructing your own curriculum and going beyond the call to learn presented by teachers are both hallmarks of an intentional learner.

Please, if you have interest, read this article and tell me if you are reminded of someone else who has motivated you in your life to learn in this way; a teacher or leader, maybe.

Links:

Basic info about the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/mediaresources/

Speech Transcript:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

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Comments

  1. Julie TThu Sep 10, 09:20:00 AM MDT

    So he tricked us all and just talked about working hard!! ;0

    ReplyDelete

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