A collection of quotes from one of America's foremost educators...

A collection of quotes from one of America's foremost educators...

Robert John Meehan

1950-

American Educator

"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." - Robert John Meehan

"Our teaching should always be artfully crafted. It should impart something that is in itself sacred to the senses of our students." Robert John Meehan

"The futures of our students may well belong to those teachers who give their students reason for hope." Robert John Meehan "Set your classroom expectations high, the higher the better. Expect the most fantastic things to happen, not in the future but right now!" Robert John Meehan "The best teachers are those who pass on their zeal and enthusiasm as a legacy to their students." Robert John Meehan "Teach each day with a renewed appreciation of its consequences and you will never cease to realize the infinite possibilities within your reach." Robert John Meehan "Be diligent in believing that what we do in the classroom could possibly echo for a lifetime in the heart of a student." Robert John Meehan "Learning becomes relevant when we connect it with reality." - Robert John Meehan  "Although most would see them only as an ocean of small faces, we as teachers see them as the waves that propel us." Robert John Meehan "Great teachers are specialists at solving problems while they are still opportunities."  Robert John Meehan   "As a teacher you have to be committed to learning for a lifetime first before you can lead your students down that path." Robert John Meehan  "Don't struggle to be a better teacher than everybody else. Simply be a better teacher than you ever thought you could be." Robert John Meehan "Unless we eliminate the gross inequalities between all of us in real life, we should not presume that schools ALONE can compensate for them."- Robert John Meehan "If we are truly effective teachers, then we are creating autonomous, independent, and self directed learners." Robert John Meehan "Great classrooms are characterized by positive, open relationships, mutual respect, and a shared responsibility for the learning process." Robert John Meehan  ”Exemplary teachers are those teachers that can continually lay a firm foundation for learning even while using the bricks politicians have thrown at them.” Robert John Meehan "Becoming an exemplary teacher is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of the choices we make; it is not something that simply comes with teaching experience, it is something that must be purposefully achieved." Robert John Meehan "If we want to help children learn and develop, it is important that we don't drag or pull them - just walk with them." Robert John Meehan   "Teamwork is the fuel that allows common teachers to obtain uncommon results." Robert John Meehan "If we balance the budget on the back of the educational system, we will be paying for it for years to come." Robert John Meehan "EVERY student has special talents. It is our duty and privilege to find these talents and to adapt our lessons to best implement them." Robert John Meehan "Each day we teach we must put forth a greater effort than we think we're capable of doing, we can never limit ourselves to what kind of teacher we've been in the past."  Robert John Meehan                                                                                                               "The essential nature of any Teacher is within our own hearts. Although an education prepares us to teach, it is the love of learning that sustains us." Robert John Meehan "It is shortsighted to believe that better education comes from setting up schools that exclude the very children needing the most help." Robert John Meehan "I choose to believe that teaching the least desired children is the most noble choice of all." Robert John Meehan "Critical Thinking: The purposeful reflective judgment concerning what to believe or what to do. Is this a lost art?" Robert John Meehan "Nothing is so fatal to the well being of our children as remaining indifferent to the education we provide for them." Robert John Meehan     "As teachers, we have the ability to rebuild the world for our students. By our sincere efforts we can make their world more rewarding, more gratifying and perhaps... even more significant." Robert John Meehan "Becoming an exemplary teacher is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of the choices we make; it is not something that simply comes with experience, it is something that must be purposefully achieved." Robert John Meehan  "The current reformers do not realize that learning is different from winning. Teachers can have the best game plan but they can't pick their teams." Robert John Meehan  "A key to growing as an educator is to keep company mainly with educators who uplift You, whose presence inspire You and whose dedication drives You."- Robert John Meehan  "Republicans fear caps on CEO pay and bonuses will drain talent from those jobs. Shouldn't they have the same fears about slashing teacher comp and pay?" Robert John Meehan "If we want to counter the effects of poverty on the achievement of children, we need to start a whole lot earlier and do a whole lot more." Robert John Meehan "I don't know about getting rid of older more experienced teachers, but the policy should definitely be applied to elected officials." Robert John Meehan "We must shift the focus of our classrooms from obedience to understanding." Robert John Meehan    "True educational change or reform is only applicable when ALL stakeholders are actively involved in its creation." Robert John Meehan  "Inventive teachers can create life long learners but a love for learning can not be tested." Robert John Meehan "Affluent parents are getting the schools they want. The question is whether they’ll support the schools that help other peoples’ children." Robert John Meehan "Emulate those teachers that instilled the sense of wonder and curiosity that inspired you." Robert John Meehan "Many ed reformers have foolishly accepted at face value that teachers in lower income schools are less effective. They couldn't be more wrong." Robert John Meehan "Competition in education, by design, is intended to "leave children behind." Competition, by design, creates winners and losers." Robert John Meehan "A teacher has to be ON every moment of the day, despite his/her actual state of mind." Robert John Meehan "Our vision of teaching often becomes blurred by the restraints of standardized tests, administrative burdens, parental complaints and lack of support." Robert John Meehan  "As a teacher you may teach a class, but each child should still feel uniquely taught." ~ Robert John Meehan "As a teacher I spent a lot of time studying the "art of selling" to get a better perspective of what I was trying to accomplish as a teacher. After all, aren't we in the business of getting students to "buy into" what we are doing?" Robert John Meehan "True teachers illuminate the path to achievement, believing the best way to predict a child's future is to help create it." Robert John Meehan "Our achievements as teachers are shaped by the climate of our classrooms and the strength of our preparation." Robert John Meehan "Teaching is a journey... but one where it's good news when you lose your baggage." Robert John Meehan "Perseverance is the hard work you do in the classroom after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did." Robert John Meehan "The purpose of education is to enlighten the student as to how to use their own mind, rather than to fill it with facts for a test." Robert John Meehan "Developing a desire to learn is the kindling point of all classroom achievement." Robert John Meehan "One teacher with a desire to teach the least desired children is equal to a force of 100 corporate ed reformers who have only a passing interest in them." Robert John Meehan "A gifted teacher is not only prepared to meet the needs of today's student, but is also prepared to see the tomorrow in every student." Robert John Meehan "Chasing test scores is not the same as building and nurturing a culture of learning." Robert John Meehan "Children are born addicted to learning. High-stakes assessments are drumming the love of learning out of kids." Robert John Meehan "I choose to believe that teaching the least desired is the most noble choice of all." Robert John Meehan "Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time. Evaluate the purpose of your role as a teacher." Robert John Meehan                                                           "It is the open mindedness and the seeking out of new information and practices that insures teachers continued success in the classroom." Robert John Meehan  "Too many students don’t know what success feels like, thus repeated failure is no longer scary or painful, it’s become the norm. Help create the new norm." Robert John Meehan    "The most beneficial reform is the result of people working together to make positive educational change. Become part of that process." Robert John Meehan "Measuring human growth and development is not like measuring the reproduction of a single model on an assembly line. It is a complex system of helping to figure out where a student is, and how to help them get where they are going." Robert John Meehan "Success in most political and business fields depends more on energy and drive than it does on intelligence. Perhaps that explains why we have so many misguided ed reformers and politicians." Robert John Meehan "I would think that the only people with whom you would ever want to "get even with" are the teachers who inspired you to succeed." Robert John Meehan "Twenty years from now, your name may be forgotten...but the world will be a better place because you made a difference as a teacher." Robert John Meehan "A quality education requires hard work, A student may need to "crack the books" at night instead to hanging out at the mall or watching TV." Robert John Meehan "It's tragic that we are mandated to turn so many eager young learners into frustrated test performers." Robert John Meehan "Children are accustomed to a world that often moves faster and is often more exciting than anything a teacher in front of a classroom can do." Robert John Meehan "The teacher who exhibits exemplary practices in an affluent suburban community may be a miserable failure in a poor urban community." Robert John Meehan "Culturally relevant teaching content is essential to engaging today's young people in the urban classroom." Robert John Meehan "Take away art, music and sports and you take away the one hook for many students that keeps them motivated and involved." Robert John Meehan "All teachers who have had consistent success in the classroom understand that it is not enough merely to dispense information." Robert John Meehan "Solving the problems in education are actually simple. All we need is a dedicated society, knowledgeable politicians and excellent teachers." Robert John Meehan "Teaching to the test is sucking the joy and flexibility out of learning, all in the name of helping kids to read and write." Robert John Meehan "Remember the current political climate is not a reflection of YOUR self worth. You can prosper as a teacher every day and in every way." Robert John Meehan "Authentic student achievement cannot be measured just by test scores but also by the small day to day moments of each student's individual triumphs." Robert John Meehan "Education by itself is meaningless – education only takes meaning in the context of our decision on how we are going to apply it." Robert John Meehan "We all need to go into the classroom believing our students can and will meet and often exceed our expectations." Robert John Meehan "Sharing our experiences, our successes, our failures, is a great way to help other teachers and to contribute with educational reform." Robert John Meehan "Some students can be extremely frustrating, distant and downright irritating, but they are children, and should be treated as such." Robert John Meehan "The teacher’s demonstrated attitude of respect and empathy can be a significant factor in successfully working with challenging students." Robert John Meehan "Make sure that our methodology is not simply packaging old wine in new bottles. Teaching today requires a whole new vineyard." Robert John Meehan "Children need to be challenged and pushed, not to the point where they give up but to the point where they think, "Wow, look at me go!" Robert John Meehan "As teachers we believe that something must be done. We can’t just sit down and wait for other people to do something." Robert John Meehan "Teachers are unique problem solvers by character, temperament, and resilience. Teachers can not be manufactured." Robert John Meehan "If a strong parent is lacking to demand excellence and instill them with a desire to get better in everything they do, then teachers must fill that role." Robert John Meehan "Teaching requires risk, an acceptance of uniqueness, a rejection of any form of discrimination and it requires a critical thought of its current practices." Robert John Meehan   "A great teacher is someone who can learn from their students, who can learn with them, and learns for them."- Robert John Meehan  "The highest respect should go to those teachers who let their actions rise above other teachers' excuses." Robert John Meehan "There is no challenge too great for a teacher who has the will, the desire and heart to make it happen." Robert John Meehan "The strength of our teaching lies in the depth of our convictions and the integrity of our goals." Robert John Meehan "A successful teacher can create a never ending legacy for generations to come." Robert John Meehan "The best teaching does not come from a political mandate...it comes from the heart of a prepared and caring teacher." Robert John Meehan "The highest level of success in the classroom is only reached with a continuous commitment to excellence." Robert John Meehan "Great schools are nurtured with the cooperation of many teachers with a common vision working toward a common goal of extraordinary student achievement." Robert John Meehan "We are the many collaborators, the many minds and the many hearts working toward the common goal of extraordinary student achievement." Robert John Meehan "True teachers rise to the top not by chance but through passion and purpose." Robert John Meehan  "Do your best, give your best and know that in doing so you will enhance the quality of a child's life.' - Robert John Meehan   "Think for a moment about the people who have inspired you most in your life. Chances are, one of them was a teacher." Robert John Meehan "Students and teachers do not exist just within a school, they exist within communities ... we also need to have community improvement plans." Robert John Meehan   "It appears that most recent "reform"efforts are aimed at de-humanizing education. The business model for education will eventually fail us." Robert John Meehan "Demanding that students test well in the absence of appropriate resources is disheartening for teachers and disastrous for students." Robert John Meehan "For most of us teaching is not just what earns our paycheck. Teaching is what we were put on earth to do." Robert John Meehan "Perhaps Congress is teaching our children a lesson: do all of your work right before it's due, then demand a pat on the back and an A+." Robert John Meehan "Every day that you teach you have two options: be focused, passionate and caring, or to be focused, passionate and caring." Robert John Meehan "As much as possible, teachers must create an environment for students where their past failures are irrelevant to the learning occurring in their classrooms." Robert John Meehan "We didn't go into teaching to get rich, but to enrich others." Robert John Meehan "Too many students don’t know what success feels like, thus failure is no longer scary or painful, it’s become the norm. Help create a new norm." Robert John Meehan "I'm willing to wager that not one of our students' dreams include being proficient on a standardized test." Robert John Meehan "Seldom will you find a person happy with their successes in life but who can't name a teacher that inspired them along the way." Robert John Meehan "Why else would a teacher take a crappy salary, really long hours and enduring stress to teach children unless they really loved to do it?" Robert John Meehan    "It shouldn't matter how slowly a child learns as long as we are encouraging them not to stop." Robert John Meehan "When we strive to become better teachers than we are, everyone in our classroom becomes better too." Robert John Meehan "Teach as if what you are doing makes a difference. It does." Robert John Meehan "Where your talents and the needs of your students intersect, there lies your calling as a teacher." Robert John Meehan "To be a success in the classroom, a student's attitude is equally as important as his ability." Robert John Meehan "A well prepared and engaging teacher is a catalyst... a spark that creates the desire to learn in our students." Robert John Meehan "A teacher needs to have the vision and conviction that dreams can and will be achieved."Robert John Meehan "Nothing that the political ed reformist mandate can match the results of a dedicated teacher in a supportive school environment." Robert John Meehan "True educational change or reform is only applicable when all stakeholders are actively involved in its creation." Robert John Meehan "Shouldn't we be as concerned as to what the student thinks as we are to what pat answer he puts on a test?" Robert John Meehan "A good teacher must be able to empathize what it must be like to struggle to learn something that may have come so easily to them." Robert John Meehan "Your career as a teacher is going to fill a large part of your life. The only way to be a truly satisfied teacher is to do it with passion and vigor." Robert John Meehan "If your actions inspire children to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are indeed worthy of the title Teacher." Robert John Meehan "Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding." Robert John Meehan "If you ask me what I came into this world to do, I will tell you without hesitation: I was born to be a teacher." Robert John Meehan "Empathy and understanding are essential concepts needed to deepen our understanding of today's youth." Robert John Meehan "Often we do a greater amount of good when we "listen" to our students than when we "teach" them." Robert John Meehan "Teachers change lives because of who we are as human beings: how well we listen, encourage, and help students believe in themselves." Robert John Meehan "We are not "just" teachers, We are the managers of the world's greatest resource: CHILDREN !" Robert John Meehan "It's the little conversations that build the relationships and make an impact on each student." Robert John Meehan "Nothing is so fatal to the well being of our children as remaining indifferent to the education we provide them." Robert John Meehan "As a teacher you may teach a class, but each child should still feel uniquely taught." Robert John Meehan "Repeated high stakes testing has only proven that five out of four students have trouble with fractions." Robert John Meehan "When testing surpasses teaching as a priority education reform is on the wrong path" Robert John Meehan "We all need to go into the classroom believing our students can and will meet and often exceed our expectations." Robert John Meehan "Twenty years from now, your name may be forgotten...but the world will be a better place because you made a difference as a teacher." Robert John Meehan "Teamwork is the fuel that allows common teachers to obtain uncommon results." Robert John Meehan "The strength of our teaching lies in the depth of our convictions and the integrity of our goals." Robert John Meehan "The best teachers are those who pass on their zeal and enthusiasm as a legacy to their students." Robert John Meehan "Our children need strong figures in their lives; do not allow the corporate media to provide these figures for you." Robert John Meehan "When we strive to become better teachers than we are, everyone in our classroom becomes better too." Robert John Meehan "The best collaboration time is spent talking about learning, not talking about teaching." Robert John Meehan ”Perseverance is the hard work you do in the classroom after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” Robert John Meehan "We need to realize that for at-risk kids, school may not be their top priority. Listen to what is going on in their lives." Robert John Meehan "We should each day in the classroom teach as though that day is the one by which our students shall remember us." Robert John Meehan "You might be just one person to the world, but you might be the world to one young student." Robert John Meehan "By claiming “bad teachers” are the reason our students lag, politicians can ignore the REAL sources of poverty and inequality." Robert John Meehan "Imagine if people were as passionate about education as they are about pop culture." Robert John Meehan “Teaching children is an accomplishment; getting children excited about learning is an achievement.” Robert John Meehan "Our highest respect should go to those teachers who let their actions rise above other teachers' excuses." Robert John Meehan "True teachers illuminate the path to achievement, believing the best way to predict a child’s future is to help create it." Robert John Meehan "Republicans fear caps on CEO pay/bonuses will drain talent from those jobs. Shouldn't they have same fears about slashing teacher pay or compensation?" Robert John Meehan "We must shift the focus of our classrooms from obedience to understanding." Robert John Meehan "Failing CEO's get bonuses.Teachers lose pensions. So we can get better teachers by increasing class size and paying them less?" Robert John Meehan "We need a culture that respects education, in which learning is admired and that honors the achievements of educated people." Robert John Meehan "Sadly, children’s passion for learning often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and obedience only." Robert John Meehan "Solving the problems in education are actually simple. All we need is a dedicated society, knowledgeable politicians and excellent teachers." Robert John Meehan "Although we may not have much control over the culture outside our walls, we can set expectations that uphold a higher standard." Robert John Meehan "We've worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of our student's success." Robert John Meehan "Education requires a collective effort: the teacher, the student, the parents, and the community." Robert John Meehan "Education reform does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. As teachers, positive change has always been our goal." Robert John Meehan "The education reformers have become so enamored with the structure and management of education that they've forgotten about the substance of learning." Robert John Meehan "Great classrooms are characterized by positive, open relationships, mutual respect, and a shared responsibility for the learning process." Robert John Meehan "We should not lose sight of the fact the most important door a child walks through for their education is the front door of their home." Robert John Meehan "Teaching often requires risk, acceptance of novelty, rejection of any form of discrimination and always requires a critical reflection of its current practices." Robert John Meehan                                                                                 "Every time I see another hedge fund manager talk about school reform, I worry even more about the direction education reform is taking." Robert John Meehan "Our children need strong figures in their lives; do not allow the corporate media to provide these figures for your children." Robert John Meehan "Effective teaching involves a highly distinctive set of human interactions and skills that are not measurable by multiple choice tests." Robert John Meehan "Teachers must be that Trusted Beacon in the often times tumultuous sea of life in which our youth are so often set adrift." Robert John Meehan "Children think learning is filling in answer bubbles. The experience of learning has been replaced by multiple choice tests." Robert John Meehan "What keeps teachers going has largely to do with their inner lives. It is their inner spirit that makes and sustains good teachers." Robert John Meehan "Being a teacher has never been so much about the income: its always been mostly about the outcome." Robert John Meehan "As teachers we spend little time focusing on what has been accomplished; we focus mainly on what remains to be done." Robert John Meehan "Corp ed reformers haven't a clue as to how the lives of the children in urban schools differ from their own. More bubble tests, really?" Robert John Meehan "Everything we do as parents and teachers must ensure that the child's inherent desire to learn is kept alive." Robert John Meehan "Are our politicians ready to consider that it is our culture that is failing and that that failure is now showing up in our schools?" Robert John Meehan "As teachers we must adjust to the ever changing mandates but still hold to the unchanging principles that every child can and will succeed." Robert John Meehan "To narrow down our curriculum and focus to just what is “on the test” can take away the inquiry, passion, and joy of learning." Robert John Meehan "Nothing that the political ed reformist mandate can match the results of a dedicated teacher in a SUPPORTIVE school environment." Robert John Meehan "Most teachers can come to a general consensus that our plates are full. Working smarter, longer and harder isn't always enough." Robert John Meehan "Why else would a teacher take a crappy salary, really long hours and enduring stress to teach children unless they really loved to do it?" Robert John Meehan "Did you have a favorite teacher because he or she was able to prepare you for a multiple choice test or because he/she inspired you?" Robert John Meehan "Teaching should always be the result of intense preparation, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution." Robert John Meehan "If you make sure you know every student’s ‘story’ and treat each one as an individual, you will have a connection." Robert John Meehan "Accept no one's definition of your role as a teacher; define yourself. Never allow yourself to be made a victim." Robert John Meehan "Education by itself is meaningless - education only takes meaning in the context of our decision on how we are going to apply it." Robert John Meehan "Even the most talented teacher cannot be fully successful in a dysfunctional system over which they have little control or input." Robert John Meehan "Teachers are just the cause of the day which dilutes attention from the real problems of greed, money and politics." Robert John Meehan "Is the current goal "good schools" for some, just as we have "good health care" for some, "good housing" for some, and "good food" for some?" Robert John Meehan "Too many decisions about ed reform are made by people untouched by the change process." Robert John Meehan "We need to trust ourselves enough to recognize that how we are teaching now, though it worked for a while, may no longer be as effective." Robert John Meehan "A well prepared and engaging teacher is a catalyst… a spark that creates the desire to learn in our students." Robert John Meehan "When we pursue excellence, we gain a deeper understanding of our purpose as teachers." Robert John Meehan "Good teachers have to care about the student as much as they do the lesson." Robert John Meehan "If we really want to improve our ed system, we need to listen to educators not businessmen who want to sell something as a magic bullet." Robert John Meehan "If we really want to improve our ed system, we need to listen to educators not businessmen who want to sell something as a magic bullet." Robert John Meehan "If we want to help children learn and develop, it is important that we don't drag or pull them - just walk with them." Robert John Meehan "Too many young Americans over-value sports, clothes, and cosmetics, and under-value learning. America needs a culture change." Robert John Meehan "Teaching was once a noble calling. It's now becoming too much of a venture capital opportunity." Robert John Meehan "Children are born addicted to learning. High-stakes assessments are drumming the love of learning out of kids." Robert John Meehan "Unless we eliminate the gross inequalities between all of us in real life, we should not presume that schools ALONE can compensate for them." Robert John Meehan "I have learned much from my teachers, more from my peers, but most from my students." Robert John Meehan   "Mediocre teachers tend to talk mostly about teaching. Successful teachers talk exclusively about learning." Robert John Meehan "The blaming rhetoric in education these days clearly detracts from its mission to create life long learners that can adapt to change." Robert John Meehan "Ed reformers need to involve teachers. We know exactly what will bring about authentic reform. We think about this every day." Robert John Meehan "Neither poverty, nor the diverse nature of our population are excuses not to educate everyone." Robert John Meehan "Repeated high stakes testing can produce anxiety and depression in students. Few students thrive in such environments." Robert John Meehan "EVERY student has special talents. It is our duty to find these talents and to adapt our lessons to best implement them." Robert John Meehan "Teachers embrace accountability when it comes with the equivalent authority in decision-making." Robert John Meehan "The reason the ed reformers keep going at the teacher is that the real issues affecting education are too expensive and too daunting." Robert John Meehan "Although we may not have much control over the culture outside our walls, we can set expectations that uphold a higher standard." Robert John Meehan "When 50% of teachers leave within the first five years, it is clear that the principle solution does not lie in training more teachers." Robert John Meehan "Never be satisfied with how much you can instill in a student: it all pales in comparison to the futures they face." Robert John Meehan "An effective teacher is still the single most important school factor in a high-quality education." Robert John Meehan Click here to view a GoFundMe campaign to help support  the works of Robert John Meehan