Teachers 4 Social Justice Conference

Today, I attended the Teachers for Social Justice Conference at Mission High School located at 18th Street in San Francisco. The keynote speaker was Dr. Pedro Noguera, a renowned sociologist at New York University. His speech was very powerful and empowering. He's visited many public schools in the U.S. and have made the conclusion that some people just shouldn't be teachers. He said most poor urban public schools do not teach the populations they serve. He postulates that if students' basic and social needs are not met, then how could we expect a human being to care about his/her intellectualism and thrive academically with learning. He said students don't come to us as empty vessels but as possessing the natural curiosity to learn and that teachers have to maintain that life-long learning in themselves in order to influence students to do the same. I agree with him 100%!! And, Dr. Noguera is kind of easy on the eye too! A few of my classmates and I are a huge fan of Dr. Noguera after reading a lot of his articles and essays in our classes. I am really a nerd at heart! Below is a small clip of Dr. Noguera when he made a speech elsewhere. By listening to him, you'll understand why he is a highly sought-after speaker. Today was a memorable one. Thanks for reading!