"We are a nation obsessed with evaluating our children, with calibrating their exact distance from some ideal benchmark." In Lives on The Boundary, Mike Rose goes through many troublesome issues yet he always seems to get through them so graciously and so wisely. Within the novel Rose is always connecting with his students, and that is why I really find him interesting and inspiring. He always goes out of his way his way not only to be a teacher, but also as a colleague, and friend. The reason Rose act this way is because to him education is what is most important in lives, especially for children. He wants all children to succeed. Even when he was in college when he couldn't understand something he kept pushing himself to learn and understand the material because he knew that eventually he would catch on and be able to do it himself (Rose, 1989). Lives on The Boundary motivates future educators to be inspiring, deter labels and understand student behavior .
As a child who is constantly growing and learning everyday, it's important to have those teachers that you don't only look up to, but they also give the incentive to learn. Teaching something that you have to commit to and look forward to everyday. Sure it will have its ups and downs, but it's the feeling of success afterwards that keeps you going. "Kids find themselves sitting on the threatening boundaries of the classroom." (Rose, 1989, p. 8). Teachers are constantly threatening students on how if they don't do better they will drop class level. Rose realizes this and wants to change it. If a student truthfully cannot learn the material why punish and threat him or her. Inspiration goes along with influence. When you are with a child for 7 hours a day, your students are adapting several new concepts that are constantly being said and done. When your students see that you are happy to be there, then it makes it seem that they are wanted.
