Excellence

I dissolved Styrofoam in acetone and got an audible gasp from my 11^th grade class. They were really amazed. Teaching students who are not embarrassed to be 'into' school is a wonderful change. The culture here is one of excellence. The top students are most respected by both peers and faculty. The value is on high achievement. Low performers feel very bad about their inabilities. India is such a switch from the US. Apathy is not a way of life here. Students are really pleased to be recognized by the teacher for their high scores on tests or for good answers in class. They really want to do well. They find satisfaction in learning well.

In the US because many students feel that academic praise lowers their status among peers and doing badly makes them look cool. What a rude shock our society is going to get over the next few decades as US students enter academia and the job market with Indian students to find how pampered and lazy they appear by comparison. People in India commonly work six days per week, too. Market forces are will not be kind to those with anemic skills and weak work ethics. After a few generations of privilege, our children have forgotten that prosperity must be earned.

I followed the Styrofoam dissolving with flame tests; a salt solution is mixed with ethanol and lit.  I used copper (green flame), potassium (lavender flame) and strontium (red flame). They practically shouted "Thank you, Madame!" at the end of class -- which they say in unison as a matter of course. But their unusual enthusiasm communicated that they were appreciative and delighted. What would it take for US students to find internal motivation like that?