Trying to Lower the Dropout Rate?

So our public schools are a mess, and there are now SUMMITS and COMMITTEES and TASK FORCES whos main goal is to lower the dropout rate.

They will FAIL.

As long as they concentrate on LOWERING the dropout rate instead of RAISING the graduation rate, they will fail. Maybe it's time to see why kids leave, and give them reasons to STAY. I think making the lessons RELEVANT, and making the PROCESS relevant and exciting is where it's at.

Lately I've been writing about THE SECRET, and taking responsibility for everything in my life:

Did I attract a high dropout rate in my life?
Is this reality just something that I have attracted?

If so, maybe I need to concentrate and think about RAISING the graduation rate.
Maybe it'll work- try it with me?

Trying to Lower the Dropout Rate?

So our public schools are a mess, and there are now SUMMITS and COMMITTEES and TASK FORCES whos main goal is to lower the dropout rate.

They will FAIL.

As long as they concentrate on LOWERING the dropout rate instead of RAISING the graduation rate, they will fail. Maybe it's time to see why kids leave, and give them reasons to STAY. I think making the lessons RELEVANT, and making the PROCESS relevant and exciting is where it's at.

Lately I've been writing about THE SECRET, and taking responsibility for everything in my life:

Did I attract a high dropout rate in my life?
Is this reality just something that I have attracted?

If so, maybe I need to concentrate and think about RAISING the graduation rate.
Maybe it'll work- try it with me?

This is NOT a country...

Yesterday I was watching the 2-hour "Extreme Makeover- Home Edition", and it was for a marine who saved some people on September 11th. He loved being a Marine, and it showed all over; he was a nice, honorable, family guy. He happened to mention that he would "die for this country", and it got me thinking:

We don't live in a country.

We live in an IDEA.

This isn't a country like England, France, or China- The U.S. is an IDEA that has boundaries.

The IDEA is that the INDIVIDUAL has worth; In China, the philosophy is that the individual is there to serve the government, and whatever is good for the government is good for the individual.

Our IDEA is the opposite; Our idea is that the government is here to serve the individual. Our IDEA is that the individual can do what he or she wants, whenever they want, and with whom. We protect personal property, we spend millions to save one life, and we assume innocence before guilt.

Our IDEA supports that humanity is GOOD.

The IDEA supports that ALL of humanity is good.

I think there are many of us who are forgetting the IDEA, and who are moving more and more towards a "commonwealth" philosophy, and it made me think of this quote:

"People who say 'you should do for others' are mostly planning on being an 'other'"

And our IDEA is OPPOSITE of that.

We don't always live up to the IDEA of the U.S., but we're trying, and YES-
I think that's an IDEA worth dying for.

This is NOT a country...

Yesterday I was watching the 2-hour "Extreme Makeover- Home Edition", and it was for a marine who saved some people on September 11th. He loved being a Marine, and it showed all over; he was a nice, honorable, family guy. He happened to mention that he would "die for this country", and it got me thinking:

We don't live in a country.

We live in an IDEA.

This isn't a country like England, France, or China- The U.S. is an IDEA that has boundaries.

The IDEA is that the INDIVIDUAL has worth; In China, the philosophy is that the individual is there to serve the government, and whatever is good for the government is good for the individual.

Our IDEA is the opposite; Our idea is that the government is here to serve the individual. Our IDEA is that the individual can do what he or she wants, whenever they want, and with whom. We protect personal property, we spend millions to save one life, and we assume innocence before guilt.

Our IDEA supports that humanity is GOOD.

The IDEA supports that ALL of humanity is good.

I think there are many of us who are forgetting the IDEA, and who are moving more and more towards a "commonwealth" philosophy, and it made me think of this quote:

"People who say 'you should do for others' are mostly planning on being an 'other'"

And our IDEA is OPPOSITE of that.

We don't always live up to the IDEA of the U.S., but we're trying, and YES-
I think that's an IDEA worth dying for.

ALSO- in regards to the world, it seems like the worse things get as far as wars, and famine and all of that, there seems to be a real push in the opposite direction; There seems to be so many people trying to do GOOD- I wonder if it's a balancing act.

Of course, that means that when things are good, they need to be balanced there as well.

Interesting...

ALSO- in regards to the world, it seems like the worse things get as far as wars, and famine and all of that, there seems to be a real push in the opposite direction; There seems to be so many people trying to do GOOD- I wonder if it's a balancing act.

Of course, that means that when things are good, they need to be balanced there as well.

Interesting...

SO today I gave away some flowers, kinda kick-starting www.ContagiousGiving.com .

I had done it before, but today I got a lot more than I did before, and took a bag, and went on a Saturday, when it was MUCH more busy. Here's the point:

I want to make GIVING contagious... the idea is that someone feels good for getting a gift, so they want to pass that on and have someone else feel it. So, while I was giving out the flowers, I felt great; and many of the people were grateful- after the initial skepticism. In fact, I can say that I honestly noticed the AURA of the train change, and people smiling and all of that-

a great return on some flowers.

I could see that people were watching me, and just kinda hoping that they were going to get one, and I could see the relief when they did. However-

Some people didn't want one.

and that would have been fine, but I realised this:

"No" is contagious too.

If one person said "No thank you", I had a harder time with other people accepting. If I didn't push a little, there would have been far more "No thank you"s than were genuine.

By that I mean that many people WANTED a flower, but were so distrusting of me, or the situation, or whatever that they said no. As an example, there was a girl who, when I asked if she'd like one, said this:

"Oh, I'm afraid I would crush it"

-Which if you know anything about sales, is a YES- she wants one, but needs to be assured that her objection isn't a problem. So I said "That's OK, I've crushed several of them", and then she took one- VERY HAPPILY.

(I realized a second later that a better reply would have been "But you'll crush ME if you don't take it")

So, both "yes" and "No" are contagious, and frankly, people are more predisposed to say "no" than yes in any situation, so I guess that means we get to work a little bit harder.

I learned a bunch today- I hope YOU get to learn some cool things like that too!