Although 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama admits that maybe he should have given his longtime friend and ally, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, credit for the lines he used at his Milwaukee's Founder's Day Dinner on February 16th shouldn't take away from the point Obama was making: Words matter!
What Obama said: "Don't tell me words don't matter! 'I have a dream.' Just words. 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.' Just words. "We have nothing to fear but fear itself.' Just words. Just speeches. It's true that speeches don't solve all problems, but what is also true is if we cannot inspire the country to believe again than it doesn't matter how many policies and plans we have... Don't tell me that words don't matter."
Words have power. They can inspire, motivate, encourage, and even challenge us to be better and to take action. Great leadership historically has been about people who could put language to use to do just that.
All of us who want to inspire change must learn to use words in a powerful way--in our speaking and writing.
Showing posts with label policies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label policies. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Joint Endeavor to Educate and Advocate
Valuing first language as a resource is so important if we are to serve our diverse learners well. Research from more and more disciplines is supporting this premise including special education, counseling, literacy, and early childhood. And position statements have been written by many organizations such as the International Reading Association and the National Education Association supporting the importance of first language.
For this reason, it would behoove these organizations--both locally and nationally--to join forces to educate about and advocate for policies, programs, procedures, persons, and places related to language issues. This joint endeavor will cause their efforts to be more powerful and effective.
A good place to start is to have all of them read the new book by James Crawford and Stephen Krashen--English Learners in American Classrooms 101 Questions and 101 Answers.
For this reason, it would behoove these organizations--both locally and nationally--to join forces to educate about and advocate for policies, programs, procedures, persons, and places related to language issues. This joint endeavor will cause their efforts to be more powerful and effective.
A good place to start is to have all of them read the new book by James Crawford and Stephen Krashen--English Learners in American Classrooms 101 Questions and 101 Answers.
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