Read or review Obama's speech to students. Take notes, jot down quotes, as you watch or re-read the speech.
Leave a comment, with your name on it, about the speech by sharing your thinking about one of he quotes you noted. See my example below.

Obma said, "you can not just drop out of school and drop into a good job." I agree. Good jobs don't just fall from the sky like rain (or meatballs). Good jobs--ones that sustain and at some level ,entertain you--don't grow on trees. You have to work for the job youwant. That work startsin school.

Obama said, "Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too." I took that quote to heart basically because it's telling us the student that our education is in our hands and that if we want to succeed as a whole we must take the basic measures to get the job done. We have all of the necessary tools, Teachers, Staff, and Parents to get there.

Obama said, "... get serious this year". To me, this quote can serve as the American student motto. If we can stick to this saying, than we can do nothing but focus on our education. In order to "get serious this year" we should take it up a notch... study harder, work harder, play harder. And in doing this, we can "get serious". We should let this quote keep on the right path, to never get involved in bad vices such as drugs and other illegal acts. In getting serious, we can show America that we, as American students, can shine as brightly as any other nation. We can do better in school, in college, in our future careers if we stick to our motto. To "get serious this year" we need to have determination and our American pride. We can do this by being the best we can be. We can make America proud.

*above comment made by: Melissa Campana.

"No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny." - Quote from Obama's speech.

-Basically with education, you're able to write your own future and became who you want to be. President Obama is saying that we are very lucky to have an American education and we have many opportunities if we take advantage of that. Doing so, we can strengthen our country, the USA.

-Kathy Tran

Obama quoted, " If you give up on yourself, you give up on America."

I, for one, agree to this statement. If the Pilgrims decided to give up on America and didn't care about how the government/society was going to run, we would not be in the same postion as we are today. We the people, would not have the privilage of voting, Civil rights would not exist, and our country would be in a disorientated mess. Education is the key to change, it's the ability to answer questions, it's the reason why people have the strive to do better, and the hope to live an American dream. So yes Obama, " There is no excuse for not trying."

"Don't let failures define you, let them teach you."
In each of our lives we all set goals for the present and the future. On our way to these goals, we're going to go through challenges, so it's a given we're going to fail at times. However, if you let the failures dictate your life, you will never learn or accomplish important activities and could miss out on life changing experiences. Therefore, failures should teach us all in life to keep on trying until we reach our goals because of the accomplish feeling we'll have in the end.

Nice introduction to the wiki and commenting. Now to talk to each other...

I agree with Andrea's comment Education is the key. "Without education all you have is emotion. Emotion can only get you so far." -Nic Haralambous

During the speech Obama say's that we need to take the responsibility for our education along with examples of people bogged down with problems yet they still did good in school. I think he hits the spot here because some of us have big dreams, yet we never work towards it. I think that everyone is capable of being part of something great, whether it be a small part or a big part.

Obamas speech was inspriing, it made me want to do my hw and not slack off. My ultimate favorite quote was "You can't let your failures define you. let your failure teach you." Also 2 other quotes that i liked were "Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness it's a sign of strength," It's true some people will not ask help becuase they fear they will be shown as a weakling. and the last quote " When you feel like people give up on you, don't give up on yourself." everybody has the feeling like "oh crap nobody gives a damn about me, might as well see myslef as a failure in life." But with me, when i feel like people have given up on me i love just love to prove these people wrong, like "David can't do this why even bother asking him" when in reality i'll try my hardest to prove them wrong, when i put my heart into something it's kind of hard to stop my momentum.

When Obama said "Being sucessful is hard work" I don't think this qoute applys to every one. To me it applys, the career i want to maintain requires alot of hard work, but for someone who does the bare mininum just because there lazy, might believe thats sucessful.-

When Obama said "Being sucessful is hard work" I don't think this qoute applys to every one. To me it applys, the career i want to maintain requires alot of hard work, but for someone who does the bare mininum just because there lazy, might believe thats sucessful.

ROBERT REMAK

" the most successful people are those with the most failures" - i think that this quote can apply to everyone because everyone but everyone is able to learn from their mistakes and improve next time and do better. though most people it takes them a while to realize that maybe this way doesnt work and that you should try something new. if you keep trying youll be benefited in the long run.

also Robert i think that quote does apply to everyone because every day there is and abostacle that we need to get through and thats not easy. even those people are lazy sometime in thier life they will realixe to get what they want they have to work for it.

"...what’s expected of all of you in this new school year..." I think that with this quote he meant that everyone; parents teachers, student, principals, counselors are going to be responsible for the new year and its outcomes. Also, it could mean that our education depends on the effort that everyone puts in in order to have a better future.
---Jeff Rondon P.4

Obama said "let your failures teach you," i agree with him because people always learn from their mistakes. Its kind of like getting a second chance, you get good judgment from experience and, experience from bad judgment. He also mentioned Micheal Jordan's failures and how he learned from them( which made him who he is today).

Jessica Lopez ^ pd 5

KILISITINA VAITUULALA from 5th period:
"No one has written your destiny for you, you write it." I agree with this quote very much because you shouldn't let others define your life, you should make your own choices and mistakes and learn from them. You should be the one to live up to your goals in life and achieve your destiny.

AEIKI VAITUULALA from 5th period:
" Can't let your failures define you, let it teach you." This is so true because the only way you're going to get better is if you practice. If you let your failures define you, than how will you ever prove to yourself that you can do anything? There's always a chance to get better n learn more. Always try to "Exceed to the greatest Limit, there are no boundaries, only the ones you set on yourself."

Jeff, Obama said "But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. " So to me, when he was talking about what's expected of you this year. Not what is expected of your teachers, or your parents or anyone else in the school who contributes to your education. Though we all have responsibilities we were not his primary audience. He means students. To me, his sentence directly lays out the purpose and audience of his speech. I think later in the speech he lays out those expectations.

obama said "Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide." i strongly agree with this because everyone does have something that they can do more then excel at no matter how small or big that may be. Also with an education you can look with the most potential for what you are good at. Another thing an education can get you is the opportunity to broaden your horizon and even in some cases let you reach beyond your measures to get to where you need to be.

-Andres Rivera


(sent in email previously and just put here again just in case!)

Personally I was disappointed with his speech, all he did was tell us common scene stuff. Though something I loved in this speech was with he said: "No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work." That quote had truly made me feel like that if we work hard enough we can do anything.