As I witnessed the ugly and inflexible discourse surrounding the recent federal debt crisis, I wondered if dialogue was dead. Legislators, commentators, and agitators were screaming at each other but no one was listening. No one had any interest in “finding common ground” or “moving toward the center.” It was a publicity game and the one who yelled the loudest longest was going to win.
So the rest of us lost. Since our representatives were so intransigent and inflexible, their game of brinksmanship took all of us off the brink. More and more, that is the tone of political rhetoric: we won’t back down! We won’t back down means we’re unconditionally right. We won’t back down means that my view is the only view worth discussing. We won’t back down means we won’t even entertain the possibility that we might be even a little bit wrong. We won’t back down means that the views of those who disagree with me, democracy be damned, should be disregarded.
There are things about which we do not compromise. But they are very few and they should be extremely clear. Every issue cannot be the line in the sand. If the non-negotiable list is too long, then the real message is that if you don’t play the game my way, I won’t let the game be played.
We all have encountered bullies and prima donnas who must have their way on even the finest points. This point of view seems to have infected our political process and is in danger of destroying one of the most important features of our representative democracy: the crucible of debate and discussion.
If I don’t get my way, says the two year old, I am going to kick and scream and raise such a ruckus that you will do anything to make me quiet. I will cause you so much pain that you will give in to my unreasonable views. We’ve all witnessed this: the panicked parent with the tantrum throwing two year old in the check out line. Perhaps we have all given in to that but we know what happens when giving in to tantrums becomes the primary parenting strategy. Our job as a parent is to get our children to use their words and listen to us. Perhaps we need to parent our politicians.
But this was THE issue. This was the issue worth throwing a tantrum. This was the BIG one! Baloney! That is a politician’s (or toddler’s) excuse for saying what I really wanted was to get as much attention as possible and thus get my way. If you ask your friends, family, and neighbors what are the areas that, if under attack, they would yell and scream, it would not be the debt ceiling or the budget. It might be free speech, the right to vote (which too many people neglect) or issues of choice and self-determination. Maybe it would be taxes, but even there I doubt it. Ask them when they have called or written their representatives.
When the person at my door says, “ You are going to hell if you don’t practice religion my way,” or the salesman on TV says, “The only way to be healthy (or popular) is to use my product,” we should be suspicious. When we are threatened with doom and gloom because people are so sure of themselves, it is a warning of small minded thinking and a lack of listening. There are always multiple solutions. There are always multiple “right” points of view. To dismiss that reality is to see the world through a narrow tunnel and miss the more important and larger view.
Doubt is a good thing. It indicates that the thought, “I might be wrong” has checked ego and arrogance. Compromise isn’t capitulation; it is collaboration and the creation of community. It is coming together through listening. Those who will not listen, those who insist they are right without reservation, are more dangerous than any polarizing issue. Because if dialogue dies, democracy goes with it.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
My Week as a Downtown Commuter
Time is my most valuable commodity. Which would you prefer, at the end of the day or year or later: a few more dollars or a few more minutes? If someone has a half hour drive to work each day, that means at least an hour a day in the car. So commuting takes almost an entire day each month. Each year, this commuter would spend almost two weeks going back and forth to work. And a half hour is a very reasonable commute. That is a great deal of life to spend. That is expensive.
I am very fortunate to live next door to the school at which I teach. My commute is a six-minute walk, even in the worst of weather. However, this past week, I got a taste of a very different routine. I signed up for a seminar being held on Northwestern’s Chicago campus.
I could have driven downtown. That would have taken about an hour in the car each way and then finding and paying for a place to park. My other option was to take public transportation. This would mean I would need to leave about a half hour earlier and give up my flexibility to come and go as I please. However, it would make the ride time usable time. I could read, write, or relax. It was also less expensive. Since I drive all the time, I decided to take the train and bus and see what it was like.
On a normal school day, I get up around 5:30 am and get to school around 7:30. My train left at 6:44, so I needed to get out of the house no later than 6:30. My train ride to the city was the most relaxing part of the commute. Once I arrived at Union Station, I needed to find a CTA bus to take me to campus. That ride took about twenty minutes. I usually arrived in the classroom about twenty minutes before class starts.
Of course there were a few glitches. One day, I exited the train and got turned around. I ended up on the wrong side of Union Station and struggled to find my bus stop. I sometimes had difficulty finding a bus to take me back to Union Station.
Sometimes, I was afraid I was going to miss my bus or train. I was worried I would get on the wrong bus or train. Once, I had a very large (and smelly) man sit next to me. However, as the week progressed, I got accustomed to the routine.
I read on the train; I wrote letters to my children at camp. I wrote this blog posting on the train. It was safer to make phone calls (quietly) on the train. I realized I could actually get tasks done on the train. The work I did on the train gave me more time when I got home. And once the train or bus left and I calmed down, I really began to enjoy the ride. This was especially true on the bus. I was like a tourist, appreciating the great beauty of the city. I people watched. Once the tension of catching the train or bus was gone, it was a far more relaxing trip than any drive downtown.
If I had to commute a long distance, I think I would take the train much of the time. But I am not willing to spend my time that way. A friend once said to me, "You are so lucky to live so close to your job." There is no luck involved. It was a very conscious decision. I know that not everyone can make that choice. I am very grateful that I could.
I am very fortunate to live next door to the school at which I teach. My commute is a six-minute walk, even in the worst of weather. However, this past week, I got a taste of a very different routine. I signed up for a seminar being held on Northwestern’s Chicago campus.
I could have driven downtown. That would have taken about an hour in the car each way and then finding and paying for a place to park. My other option was to take public transportation. This would mean I would need to leave about a half hour earlier and give up my flexibility to come and go as I please. However, it would make the ride time usable time. I could read, write, or relax. It was also less expensive. Since I drive all the time, I decided to take the train and bus and see what it was like.
On a normal school day, I get up around 5:30 am and get to school around 7:30. My train left at 6:44, so I needed to get out of the house no later than 6:30. My train ride to the city was the most relaxing part of the commute. Once I arrived at Union Station, I needed to find a CTA bus to take me to campus. That ride took about twenty minutes. I usually arrived in the classroom about twenty minutes before class starts.
Of course there were a few glitches. One day, I exited the train and got turned around. I ended up on the wrong side of Union Station and struggled to find my bus stop. I sometimes had difficulty finding a bus to take me back to Union Station.
Sometimes, I was afraid I was going to miss my bus or train. I was worried I would get on the wrong bus or train. Once, I had a very large (and smelly) man sit next to me. However, as the week progressed, I got accustomed to the routine.
I read on the train; I wrote letters to my children at camp. I wrote this blog posting on the train. It was safer to make phone calls (quietly) on the train. I realized I could actually get tasks done on the train. The work I did on the train gave me more time when I got home. And once the train or bus left and I calmed down, I really began to enjoy the ride. This was especially true on the bus. I was like a tourist, appreciating the great beauty of the city. I people watched. Once the tension of catching the train or bus was gone, it was a far more relaxing trip than any drive downtown.
If I had to commute a long distance, I think I would take the train much of the time. But I am not willing to spend my time that way. A friend once said to me, "You are so lucky to live so close to your job." There is no luck involved. It was a very conscious decision. I know that not everyone can make that choice. I am very grateful that I could.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Traveling with Children
As my family and I got on the last leg of our almost twenty-four hour journey home, we heard the all too familiar wail of a crying child. My father joked that every plane is equipped with one. If you have a flight without a crying kid, you will get two the next time.
The child was screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Her father was visibly frustrated. If their journey had been anything like ours, I understood how tired that child might be. However, as soon as the child got mommy, she started to scream, “Daddy! Daddy” Daddy!” That clued me in that this tantrum might be more than common fatigue.
For the next three and half hours, this toddler screamed, often in pitches that I could only detect by feeling the windows vibrate. Her parents walked her up and down the aisles, offered her crayons, toys, and treats. Nothing worked.
I was traveling with my two children, who were considerably older than the screamer. Yet, they have been on planes since they were infants. We are fortunate enough to have the means to travel a few times a year and my kids have become wonderful travelers.
There is a trick to it. My wife and I were very deliberate about how we handled traveling with the kids. We found that the keys were good planning, balancing adult and child needs, practice, and a lot of backbone!
We learned this the hard way. When our daughter was about nine months old, we took her to Quebec. It was awful. I remember quietly huddling behind a screen in a tiny hotel room praying that she would go to sleep and exiting a restaurant with our food in bags because my child could no longer sit still in the high chair.
Taking an infant on a vacation is strenuous. I have changed diapers on laps, in airplane lavatories, and the open spaces near doors. I have schlepped diaper bags that weighed more than my checked luggage. And who could forget dragging car seats and strollers through the narrow aisles of an airplane!
We learned the travel tricks. When our kids were young, I planned for the travel like I was putting together a lesson plan. I had videos (long before there were laptops or portable video player; I rigged my camcorder to work in reverse and put Sesame Street into it!), books, music, treats, games, and more ready to go. Diaper changing (and later potty breaks) were part of the schedule. I had spare clothes, extra diapers, pull ups, and always a wrapped surprise. They never knew when it would come, but it was a great motivation to stay with the program.
Someone had suggested giving our daughter Benadryl on the plane, so she would sleep. I called the doctor and she wisely suggested a test run first. To my child, it was rocket fuel. Drugging kids on the plane may be tempting, but if your goal is to help your kids become good travelers, it defeats the purpose.
As the kids got older, the key was to give them more responsibility for the planning. My children would pack their own bags (and carry them) that contained their favorite activities. I still brought little extras and surprises. I hit upon travel and card games and those became the focus of our longer journeys. Yes, my kids would also bring movies and music and those were great. The real saviors were books! My kids would read through very long journeys. It was profoundly ironic when, on a four-hour car ride through the Arizona desert, I stuck my head in the backseat to say to my kids, “Put down the darn books and look at the beautiful scenery!”
The journey may be half the fun, but the other half must be child friendly too. When our kids were young, we picked travel spots that had kid appeal. Quebec did not. There had to be a kids club or kid activities at resorts or kid friendly attractions when we were touring. Our schedule revolved around their home schedule. When they were young, we always stopped for nap-time. Kids travel better when they aren’t tired. We stayed in places that had kitchenettes or rented condominiums and prepared many meals in or took out from places to avoid the long waits in restaurants and the $16 grilled cheese sandwiches! We loved hotels with buffets because they provided everyone with choices and moved quickly. All hotels had to have a pool!
Our entire family (including grandparents) just returned from a tour of Alaska. We had many new experiences and getting home took almost an entire day. My kids were great! I remember an old Plugger cartoon that showed two weary parents walking away from the baggage claim with suitcases and kids under their arms. The caption read, “After the trip, pluggers need a vacation.” I can honestly say that traveling with my children may sometimes be a trip, but it is always a vacation!
The child was screaming, “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” Her father was visibly frustrated. If their journey had been anything like ours, I understood how tired that child might be. However, as soon as the child got mommy, she started to scream, “Daddy! Daddy” Daddy!” That clued me in that this tantrum might be more than common fatigue.
For the next three and half hours, this toddler screamed, often in pitches that I could only detect by feeling the windows vibrate. Her parents walked her up and down the aisles, offered her crayons, toys, and treats. Nothing worked.
I was traveling with my two children, who were considerably older than the screamer. Yet, they have been on planes since they were infants. We are fortunate enough to have the means to travel a few times a year and my kids have become wonderful travelers.
There is a trick to it. My wife and I were very deliberate about how we handled traveling with the kids. We found that the keys were good planning, balancing adult and child needs, practice, and a lot of backbone!
We learned this the hard way. When our daughter was about nine months old, we took her to Quebec. It was awful. I remember quietly huddling behind a screen in a tiny hotel room praying that she would go to sleep and exiting a restaurant with our food in bags because my child could no longer sit still in the high chair.
Taking an infant on a vacation is strenuous. I have changed diapers on laps, in airplane lavatories, and the open spaces near doors. I have schlepped diaper bags that weighed more than my checked luggage. And who could forget dragging car seats and strollers through the narrow aisles of an airplane!
We learned the travel tricks. When our kids were young, I planned for the travel like I was putting together a lesson plan. I had videos (long before there were laptops or portable video player; I rigged my camcorder to work in reverse and put Sesame Street into it!), books, music, treats, games, and more ready to go. Diaper changing (and later potty breaks) were part of the schedule. I had spare clothes, extra diapers, pull ups, and always a wrapped surprise. They never knew when it would come, but it was a great motivation to stay with the program.
Someone had suggested giving our daughter Benadryl on the plane, so she would sleep. I called the doctor and she wisely suggested a test run first. To my child, it was rocket fuel. Drugging kids on the plane may be tempting, but if your goal is to help your kids become good travelers, it defeats the purpose.
As the kids got older, the key was to give them more responsibility for the planning. My children would pack their own bags (and carry them) that contained their favorite activities. I still brought little extras and surprises. I hit upon travel and card games and those became the focus of our longer journeys. Yes, my kids would also bring movies and music and those were great. The real saviors were books! My kids would read through very long journeys. It was profoundly ironic when, on a four-hour car ride through the Arizona desert, I stuck my head in the backseat to say to my kids, “Put down the darn books and look at the beautiful scenery!”
The journey may be half the fun, but the other half must be child friendly too. When our kids were young, we picked travel spots that had kid appeal. Quebec did not. There had to be a kids club or kid activities at resorts or kid friendly attractions when we were touring. Our schedule revolved around their home schedule. When they were young, we always stopped for nap-time. Kids travel better when they aren’t tired. We stayed in places that had kitchenettes or rented condominiums and prepared many meals in or took out from places to avoid the long waits in restaurants and the $16 grilled cheese sandwiches! We loved hotels with buffets because they provided everyone with choices and moved quickly. All hotels had to have a pool!
Our entire family (including grandparents) just returned from a tour of Alaska. We had many new experiences and getting home took almost an entire day. My kids were great! I remember an old Plugger cartoon that showed two weary parents walking away from the baggage claim with suitcases and kids under their arms. The caption read, “After the trip, pluggers need a vacation.” I can honestly say that traveling with my children may sometimes be a trip, but it is always a vacation!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Who Wouldn’t Want To Be A Teacher?
I am delighted that teaching is now the most sought after profession in the United States. In the twenty-six years I have been a professional educator, teaching has become a more and more attractive profession. Of course, a majority of the best students at the most elite college are interested in going into the classroom and who can blame them? The way that we treat teachers in the United States is the key to the success of our educational system.
Of course, as everyone knows, teachers have really easy hours. Although class often starts around 8am, teachers get to come in an hour or more earlier to prepare for the day. However, class days often end between 2:30 and 3:30. What a great workday! Of course, most teachers stay after school to work with kids, sponsor clubs and coach sports, call and meet with parents, and attend meetings. Even with all that, most teachers might leave school no later than 6 or 7. And when they get home, they get to take a little bit of school with them and grade student work for a few hours and plan future lessons. What a fantastic daily schedule! And you get summers off to design curriculum, take college courses, and have fun extra jobs to supplement your income and experience!
Many students are attracted to teaching for the status, which may be the wrong reason. Everyone loves teachers. They are praised in the press and lauded in the halls of the legislature. Some college students are only in it for the prestige and teacher training programs must address that. Sure, other countries recruit teachers by paying their way through college and giving them high salaries, but we don’t need that in the United States. The joy and praise heaped on teachers is payment enough.
Teachers not only contribute to society by working with the young, their retirement dollars help ailing state governments. Teachers can feel good that the retirement money taken from their paychecks will be borrowed by the government to pay for many needed projects. Teachers have faith that it will be repaid when they are ready to retire. Since, for many of our younger teachers, that isn’t until age sixty-seven or perhaps older, the whole retirement question might not even matter at all! Besides, who would want to retire from teaching anyway?
Just like the high status, many young people want to go into teaching to strike it rich! The Chicago Sun Times recently reported that some teachers make around $100,000. After teaching for thirty years, students want to make those big bucks. In what other professions can long time veterans with advanced degrees say that they are earning almost six figures?
Of course, the biggest draw to teaching is the kids themselves. Remember what it was like back in high school or middle school? Imagine that all the time! And, for no extra charge, teachers also get to know and love their parents!
The fact is that anyone can be a teacher. After going to the doctor’s office, I performed surgery. I cooked a gourmet meal after eating at a French restaurant. A few visits to the salon and I can do wonders with my hair! If you have been a student, you can be a teacher! No problem!
Teaching isn’t really that hard because there are a battery of tests that tell teachers what students need to learn. Legislators and educrats have made teaching one of the easiest professions around. They have laid out targets in each subject and at each grade level. All teachers have to do is get the kids to score well on the test. What could be easier?
It is no wonder that today’s college students are flocking to be teachers! The way our country promotes teachers is the real reason that America has the best education system in the world!
Of course, as everyone knows, teachers have really easy hours. Although class often starts around 8am, teachers get to come in an hour or more earlier to prepare for the day. However, class days often end between 2:30 and 3:30. What a great workday! Of course, most teachers stay after school to work with kids, sponsor clubs and coach sports, call and meet with parents, and attend meetings. Even with all that, most teachers might leave school no later than 6 or 7. And when they get home, they get to take a little bit of school with them and grade student work for a few hours and plan future lessons. What a fantastic daily schedule! And you get summers off to design curriculum, take college courses, and have fun extra jobs to supplement your income and experience!
Many students are attracted to teaching for the status, which may be the wrong reason. Everyone loves teachers. They are praised in the press and lauded in the halls of the legislature. Some college students are only in it for the prestige and teacher training programs must address that. Sure, other countries recruit teachers by paying their way through college and giving them high salaries, but we don’t need that in the United States. The joy and praise heaped on teachers is payment enough.
Teachers not only contribute to society by working with the young, their retirement dollars help ailing state governments. Teachers can feel good that the retirement money taken from their paychecks will be borrowed by the government to pay for many needed projects. Teachers have faith that it will be repaid when they are ready to retire. Since, for many of our younger teachers, that isn’t until age sixty-seven or perhaps older, the whole retirement question might not even matter at all! Besides, who would want to retire from teaching anyway?
Just like the high status, many young people want to go into teaching to strike it rich! The Chicago Sun Times recently reported that some teachers make around $100,000. After teaching for thirty years, students want to make those big bucks. In what other professions can long time veterans with advanced degrees say that they are earning almost six figures?
Of course, the biggest draw to teaching is the kids themselves. Remember what it was like back in high school or middle school? Imagine that all the time! And, for no extra charge, teachers also get to know and love their parents!
The fact is that anyone can be a teacher. After going to the doctor’s office, I performed surgery. I cooked a gourmet meal after eating at a French restaurant. A few visits to the salon and I can do wonders with my hair! If you have been a student, you can be a teacher! No problem!
Teaching isn’t really that hard because there are a battery of tests that tell teachers what students need to learn. Legislators and educrats have made teaching one of the easiest professions around. They have laid out targets in each subject and at each grade level. All teachers have to do is get the kids to score well on the test. What could be easier?
It is no wonder that today’s college students are flocking to be teachers! The way our country promotes teachers is the real reason that America has the best education system in the world!
Friday, June 3, 2011
A Very Tweet School Year!
Classes are over and finals are around the corner; it is time to look back on the 2010-2011 school year. At the end of each class period, my students write a short statement that communicates something important about what we did that day. We publish these statements on the social network site Twitter. Here is a not-so-brief but still edited version of my school year in my students’ tweets:
• First day of high school writing and “My Name.”
• Listen to Sesame Street, discuss and journal.
• Today, we read some OF MICE AND MEN and got our papers back.
• Show don’t tell
• Write a great college essay…be you!
• Dashes, dos and don’ts.
• This video didn’t work, I believe.
• We annotated on our knees.
• Better to start applications sooner than later.
• Bloom Taxonomy questions
• Jigsaw and a blackout!
• We wrote bad essays.
• University of (insert name here).
• We talked about chapter 3 in double circles. Quiz! Balanced book on head.
• Revise! Revise! Revise! The key to a “perfect” essay is the R.R.R. criteria.
• Quizzes make us tired.
• Started ANTHEM in a shortened period and had some time for the Sunday Puzzle.
• Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.
• DISC and your clickers.
• We took a quiz and learned about pronouns, commas, and copyright.
• Talked about Equality’s qualities.
• For every pleasure, there is a pain.
• Learned about quote sandwiches.
• Memoir and looking back.
• “Third and Final Continent” was splendid!
• Swap!
• Analyzed essays and, surprise, a phone went off in a locker outside.
• Discussed graphic novels: comical day.
• Shopping for essays.
• Hodge podge.
• “Thebes is dying, look, her children stripped of pity…”
• Oedipus loves his mother.
• We had an awesome day! Talked about similarities.
• Thesis work: I Want It That Way, YouTube - Backdorm Boys.
• Cucumbers and sweater vests.
• Solved the murder mystery!
• Majors and minors – not chords!
• A bridge to where? To Antigone.
• MAJOR research.
• We worked on grammar, learned about the Joneses, and got the best project!
• Anthology of pros.
• Watched HAMLET Scene 1!
• A regular Monday always has a puzzle.
• Majors aren’t important and mock interview.
• Reverse thesis and the bests for research.
• “I would be fine living in a box on Adams if I am making a difference.” Is there a major for that?
• Fear not thy major, ‘stead search thee as a forest ranger.
• “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
• We wrote about Chris Creed, researched the best and danced (according to Mr. Hirsch).
• End your relationship with Hamlet!
• “Go on.”
• New student, malapropisms, and Chris Creed
• Billy Crystal was meant to play the grave-digger.
• Course Fair!
• Watched the blood bath!
• Theses slips and Yorik!
• Today we played with the talk tix for the first time and discussed the Chris Creed book.
• It’s snowing!
• We need to make a Facebook page for Renee.
• We survived the essay test!
• Santa is not real.
• Explication!
• We tweet to the beat of the poem we roam.
• Memorize, remember, repeat…repeat, remember, memorize…
• Good job (we discussed the end of Chris Creed).
• Bright the sun, shone on this fateful day, poetry recitation.
• Purely Christopher Creed (and puzzle…but that doesn’t count)
• Poetry out loud!
• Stop looking at Twitter and study for your finals!
• We read a poem (together), hacked Infinite Campus, and learned about third quarter.
• Late! Starting our book circles.
• Poems, poems, poems! And final essay rubrics.
• Proposals give us wings and let us soar!
• Started TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Our tweets are better than yours.
• Snow day tomorrow; halls in a frenzy.
• Ken Kesey’s acid bus!
• We wrote in Shakespeare’s language and talked about the book.
• How has this Twitter stream affected our relationships among fourth period English? 250-500 words.
• We made ransom note poems.
• Another snow day. See you on Friday!
• We performed translated versions of Shakespeare.
• Pop tart!
• Studied quotes on note cards, learned about upcoming quizzes, and how Shakespeare coined words.
• Bad, bad, grad speech.
• Found out that the oddest things can be turned into poetry (even articles from newspapers).
• Two roads diverged in a wood & I –I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. Be sure to put that in your speech.
• Three volunteers. Yeah for bravery!
• Today we summarized Act 4 in comic form and watched TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Ten years from now, I may be in jail.
• Quiz on Act 5, “stock” characters, the Globe and Carmelo Anthony.
• Where is everyone?
• Puns and project work.
• Simon says ...
• Essay contest, no puzzle.
• My apostrophe/Stop being used so wrong/For this angers me #grammarday
• Speeches, screeches, smeaches, beaches, leeches, bleaches, breaches, peaches, niches, squenches,
• Studied the anatomy of TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Puzzles, murder, thesis, oh, my!
• We’re having a fun time starting A TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• No homework over spring break.
• TALE OF TWO CITIES is recalled to life!
• When you don’t know the answer…google!
• Reenacted TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• StageWrite!
• Research, smearsearch (due Friday).
• Qook a tuiz, puzzle, and quoting the Beatles.
• Cantaloupe, antelope. :)
• Post not working, oh the irony!
• We learned about the French Revolution and got our first TALE quizzes back.
• Senior project, day 247
• Mysteries finally being solved in A TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• What’s a place of power that’s nine letters?
• Today was all about Tale and Mr. Hirsch got invited to karaoke with a student!
• Work or freak out…
• We read essays and revised essays.
• If you have less than 100 points, I will be calling home.
• We keep each other safe, so trust your instincts. Don’t forget about senior project!
• Done swapping essays and we got our new assignment.
• Who’s watching you…you will never know.
• Bush pigs in America.
• Don’t text and drive!
• Slaved all period making pictures.
• Products - done. Presentations - video problems. And then there was that hockey incident.
• A fantastic presentation on white privilege!
• Presentation and thank you notes!
• It's TALE OF TWO CITIES day!
• College transitions.
• TALE finished, end of the year is near, only need finals and we are done.
• Course and teacher evaluation. Thank you for flying Senior English.
• Watched some STAR TREK today.
• Working on finals!
• Last day of class, have a sreat gummer!
If you want to see all of my classes’ tweets, go to SeniorEngpd1, SeniorEngpd4, and FroshEngpd2 on Twitter.
• First day of high school writing and “My Name.”
• Listen to Sesame Street, discuss and journal.
• Today, we read some OF MICE AND MEN and got our papers back.
• Show don’t tell
• Write a great college essay…be you!
• Dashes, dos and don’ts.
• This video didn’t work, I believe.
• We annotated on our knees.
• Better to start applications sooner than later.
• Bloom Taxonomy questions
• Jigsaw and a blackout!
• We wrote bad essays.
• University of (insert name here).
• We talked about chapter 3 in double circles. Quiz! Balanced book on head.
• Revise! Revise! Revise! The key to a “perfect” essay is the R.R.R. criteria.
• Quizzes make us tired.
• Started ANTHEM in a shortened period and had some time for the Sunday Puzzle.
• Twinkle, Twinkle, little star.
• DISC and your clickers.
• We took a quiz and learned about pronouns, commas, and copyright.
• Talked about Equality’s qualities.
• For every pleasure, there is a pain.
• Learned about quote sandwiches.
• Memoir and looking back.
• “Third and Final Continent” was splendid!
• Swap!
• Analyzed essays and, surprise, a phone went off in a locker outside.
• Discussed graphic novels: comical day.
• Shopping for essays.
• Hodge podge.
• “Thebes is dying, look, her children stripped of pity…”
• Oedipus loves his mother.
• We had an awesome day! Talked about similarities.
• Thesis work: I Want It That Way, YouTube - Backdorm Boys.
• Cucumbers and sweater vests.
• Solved the murder mystery!
• Majors and minors – not chords!
• A bridge to where? To Antigone.
• MAJOR research.
• We worked on grammar, learned about the Joneses, and got the best project!
• Anthology of pros.
• Watched HAMLET Scene 1!
• A regular Monday always has a puzzle.
• Majors aren’t important and mock interview.
• Reverse thesis and the bests for research.
• “I would be fine living in a box on Adams if I am making a difference.” Is there a major for that?
• Fear not thy major, ‘stead search thee as a forest ranger.
• “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
• We wrote about Chris Creed, researched the best and danced (according to Mr. Hirsch).
• End your relationship with Hamlet!
• “Go on.”
• New student, malapropisms, and Chris Creed
• Billy Crystal was meant to play the grave-digger.
• Course Fair!
• Watched the blood bath!
• Theses slips and Yorik!
• Today we played with the talk tix for the first time and discussed the Chris Creed book.
• It’s snowing!
• We need to make a Facebook page for Renee.
• We survived the essay test!
• Santa is not real.
• Explication!
• We tweet to the beat of the poem we roam.
• Memorize, remember, repeat…repeat, remember, memorize…
• Good job (we discussed the end of Chris Creed).
• Bright the sun, shone on this fateful day, poetry recitation.
• Purely Christopher Creed (and puzzle…but that doesn’t count)
• Poetry out loud!
• Stop looking at Twitter and study for your finals!
• We read a poem (together), hacked Infinite Campus, and learned about third quarter.
• Late! Starting our book circles.
• Poems, poems, poems! And final essay rubrics.
• Proposals give us wings and let us soar!
• Started TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Our tweets are better than yours.
• Snow day tomorrow; halls in a frenzy.
• Ken Kesey’s acid bus!
• We wrote in Shakespeare’s language and talked about the book.
• How has this Twitter stream affected our relationships among fourth period English? 250-500 words.
• We made ransom note poems.
• Another snow day. See you on Friday!
• We performed translated versions of Shakespeare.
• Pop tart!
• Studied quotes on note cards, learned about upcoming quizzes, and how Shakespeare coined words.
• Bad, bad, grad speech.
• Found out that the oddest things can be turned into poetry (even articles from newspapers).
• Two roads diverged in a wood & I –I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. Be sure to put that in your speech.
• Three volunteers. Yeah for bravery!
• Today we summarized Act 4 in comic form and watched TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Ten years from now, I may be in jail.
• Quiz on Act 5, “stock” characters, the Globe and Carmelo Anthony.
• Where is everyone?
• Puns and project work.
• Simon says ...
• Essay contest, no puzzle.
• My apostrophe/Stop being used so wrong/For this angers me #grammarday
• Speeches, screeches, smeaches, beaches, leeches, bleaches, breaches, peaches, niches, squenches,
• Studied the anatomy of TWELFTH NIGHT.
• Puzzles, murder, thesis, oh, my!
• We’re having a fun time starting A TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• No homework over spring break.
• TALE OF TWO CITIES is recalled to life!
• When you don’t know the answer…google!
• Reenacted TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• StageWrite!
• Research, smearsearch (due Friday).
• Qook a tuiz, puzzle, and quoting the Beatles.
• Cantaloupe, antelope. :)
• Post not working, oh the irony!
• We learned about the French Revolution and got our first TALE quizzes back.
• Senior project, day 247
• Mysteries finally being solved in A TALE OF TWO CITIES.
• What’s a place of power that’s nine letters?
• Today was all about Tale and Mr. Hirsch got invited to karaoke with a student!
• Work or freak out…
• We read essays and revised essays.
• If you have less than 100 points, I will be calling home.
• We keep each other safe, so trust your instincts. Don’t forget about senior project!
• Done swapping essays and we got our new assignment.
• Who’s watching you…you will never know.
• Bush pigs in America.
• Don’t text and drive!
• Slaved all period making pictures.
• Products - done. Presentations - video problems. And then there was that hockey incident.
• A fantastic presentation on white privilege!
• Presentation and thank you notes!
• It's TALE OF TWO CITIES day!
• College transitions.
• TALE finished, end of the year is near, only need finals and we are done.
• Course and teacher evaluation. Thank you for flying Senior English.
• Watched some STAR TREK today.
• Working on finals!
• Last day of class, have a sreat gummer!
If you want to see all of my classes’ tweets, go to SeniorEngpd1, SeniorEngpd4, and FroshEngpd2 on Twitter.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Graduation Cheers and Jeers
Small children get attention by throwing fits. Everything must stop and the world must focus on the child. While I have never seen a toddler-style tantrum at a high school graduation, I have seen its teenage equivalents. A small number of students and their families feel the need for more attention. Walking across the stage and receiving a diploma to the applause of teachers, classmates and community is not enough. This group needs whoops, dances, antics and catcalls. Why? For a very similar reason that a toddler throws a tantrum.
As students cross the graduation stage, the tide of applause ebbs and flows. For some students the clapping gets a little bit louder than others. For a few students, there is a noticeable increase in the volume of clapping. It is my experience that these students are the ones who have made a real difference in the life of the school. They are the students who have genuinely contributed and whose involvement has been significant and whose relationships, both with adults and kids, have been sincere and positive. This group rarely has any “tantrums.”
On the other hand, students who receive loud and boisterous acknowledgement, who do little dances or make a spectacle of themselves, almost always fall into another category. These children are usually far less involved in the school. They often give the appearance of substance use. The applause for these students is not noticeably greater or less than the average student.
However, these kids want extra attention. That is what the catcalls and dances are all about. These kids often had opportunities for positive attention during their high school years. Some have had the spotlight in many ways. The need to stand out this way at graduation cannot be attributed to being attention starved. Many of these students have received more than their share of attention from both adults and their fellow students.
I have sat through more than twenty high school graduations and, over and over, the vast majority of kids walk across the stage to polite applause. They have huge grins on their faces and their families’ joy is clearly evident. However, for the tantrum minority, the graduation may be far more bittersweet. While the sound and the fury may seem to signify their elation at this achievement (and often for some of these students, graduation was not a forgone conclusion), it may really be a sign of serious concern.
When we see a parent in a store with a two or three-year old who is throwing a tantrum, we may sympathize or condemn. When we see a parent with a nine or ten year old throwing a tantrum, we have to wonder. While an eighteen year old may be too old for the traditional tantrum, for many of these families, high school has been a series of outbursts and attention seeking negative behaviors.
I don’t justify the misbehavior of either the kids or their friends and family by saying that they are relieved to see the child receive a diploma. However, I believe that they are fantastically nervous about the next steps. If some of them aren’t, maybe they should be. Many, if not most, of these students are moving on to some form of college. Their parents will not be monitoring their choices (although many have had difficulty with this prior to high school graduation). For many of these students, college turns out to be one long tantrum. Many don’t even make it through freshman year. The screams and whistles, cheers and whoops are really cries.
I have only seen a handful of eighth grade graduations. I did not see much of this kind of behavior there. I wonder if observing who gets the “whoops” at the end of middle school might help us identify these kids earlier? Could we intervene earlier and make everyone’s high school graduation a little bit more polite and enjoyable?
Years ago, these tantrums at graduation made me angry. I saw them as selfish and disrespectful. And they are. And while I still shake my head and disapprove, I know that the small blemish that their behavior places on our wonderful graduation is nothing compared to the pain that is coming. I hope they will grow up. I hope that their families will provide them with the support and attention for which they are so obviously starved. It concerns me that the patterns are in place. Yet, my formal role is over. Graduation is the end of the line for me; most of these students will move on and never look back. They will now depend on another faculty. Maybe I should cheer too.
As students cross the graduation stage, the tide of applause ebbs and flows. For some students the clapping gets a little bit louder than others. For a few students, there is a noticeable increase in the volume of clapping. It is my experience that these students are the ones who have made a real difference in the life of the school. They are the students who have genuinely contributed and whose involvement has been significant and whose relationships, both with adults and kids, have been sincere and positive. This group rarely has any “tantrums.”
On the other hand, students who receive loud and boisterous acknowledgement, who do little dances or make a spectacle of themselves, almost always fall into another category. These children are usually far less involved in the school. They often give the appearance of substance use. The applause for these students is not noticeably greater or less than the average student.
However, these kids want extra attention. That is what the catcalls and dances are all about. These kids often had opportunities for positive attention during their high school years. Some have had the spotlight in many ways. The need to stand out this way at graduation cannot be attributed to being attention starved. Many of these students have received more than their share of attention from both adults and their fellow students.
I have sat through more than twenty high school graduations and, over and over, the vast majority of kids walk across the stage to polite applause. They have huge grins on their faces and their families’ joy is clearly evident. However, for the tantrum minority, the graduation may be far more bittersweet. While the sound and the fury may seem to signify their elation at this achievement (and often for some of these students, graduation was not a forgone conclusion), it may really be a sign of serious concern.
When we see a parent in a store with a two or three-year old who is throwing a tantrum, we may sympathize or condemn. When we see a parent with a nine or ten year old throwing a tantrum, we have to wonder. While an eighteen year old may be too old for the traditional tantrum, for many of these families, high school has been a series of outbursts and attention seeking negative behaviors.
I don’t justify the misbehavior of either the kids or their friends and family by saying that they are relieved to see the child receive a diploma. However, I believe that they are fantastically nervous about the next steps. If some of them aren’t, maybe they should be. Many, if not most, of these students are moving on to some form of college. Their parents will not be monitoring their choices (although many have had difficulty with this prior to high school graduation). For many of these students, college turns out to be one long tantrum. Many don’t even make it through freshman year. The screams and whistles, cheers and whoops are really cries.
I have only seen a handful of eighth grade graduations. I did not see much of this kind of behavior there. I wonder if observing who gets the “whoops” at the end of middle school might help us identify these kids earlier? Could we intervene earlier and make everyone’s high school graduation a little bit more polite and enjoyable?
Years ago, these tantrums at graduation made me angry. I saw them as selfish and disrespectful. And they are. And while I still shake my head and disapprove, I know that the small blemish that their behavior places on our wonderful graduation is nothing compared to the pain that is coming. I hope they will grow up. I hope that their families will provide them with the support and attention for which they are so obviously starved. It concerns me that the patterns are in place. Yet, my formal role is over. Graduation is the end of the line for me; most of these students will move on and never look back. They will now depend on another faculty. Maybe I should cheer too.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Letting Go and Letting Grow
“The hardest part of love is letting go,” say the lyrics from one of my favorite songs by Stephen Schwartz. As a parent, letting go may be the most difficult part of the job. Soon, I will put my two children on buses to go to four weeks of overnight camp,. Part of me will delight in the opportunities that their absence makes possible. And they are always eager to get to camp and be with their friends.
But when I get home. I frequently find myself wandering through their quiet rooms. I will miss them before they have been gone as long as a regular school day. I will worry that something might happen to them.
Many parents tend to provide too much protection. When my kids leave my sight, I worry. Usually, I tell myself that such worries are irrational. I tell myself that my kids must learn to function away from their parents. I remind myself that this is how autonomy is learned. Nevertheless, part of me wants to hover over them and protect them from the world.
Although my reasons are valid, the real fact is that I couldn't protect them, even if I were always inches away. To go one step further, even if I were to succeed, I would cause them harm. That’s right, my need to protect them actually creates the problem I am trying to avoid.
As I teacher, I have seen too many examples of this. Over involved parents create children who will not or cannot function on their own. These kids are often immature and unable to independently problem solve. These parents are frequently intrusive and cross boundaries without a thought.
I had a senior in high school not long ago, who needed to rush off to the bathroom to send his mother a text message whenever he got a disappointing grade. Mom would then email me and I would receive the email before the period was over. Another needed his mother to assist him with all papers. He could not write an in-class essay on his own. A third has her mother at her beck and call. Mom would run errands, bring in forgotten assignments, and run interference with school personnel.
While these parents’ intentions are good, their methods actually handicap their children. They mistakenly believe that their child should not have to deal with certain challenges, or issues. They may rationalize that the kids are too young, not yet skilled in problem solving, or too busy with school and activities. The truth is that they don’t want to let go. The truth is they don’t want the child to fail or be hurt.
But harm can mean many things. Is challenge harmful? Is a little frustration or discomfort bad? Education only occurs when we go beyond our comfort zone and really step out into the scary world of “ I don’t know how.” If we never go there, we never really learn.
While I am missing my children (and they may be missing me), they are having a marvelous experience that none of us would exchange for the relief from the loneliness. Discomfort and, yes some pain, are necessary. We need to confront challenges and step out into the big, bad, world in order to discover our power and ourselves. If we do not allow our children to do so, they remain forever children.
I can hear the parent responding, “But she’s only four!” Yes, even at four, even at two! Another lyric from the same song says, “Your children start to leave you on the day that they are born.” It is true. Each new milestone and landmark is a step toward independence. Any hovering, smothering, or protecting we do is liable to hinder that progress.
Of course, we must teach them common sense. We should insist they wear their helmets and seat belts (and do so ourselves as well). That is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about the natural parental impulse to be the bodyguard and pain killer. The well meaning desire to spare our children the critical but difficult pains that will help them do what we most fear: operate independently from us.
But when I get home. I frequently find myself wandering through their quiet rooms. I will miss them before they have been gone as long as a regular school day. I will worry that something might happen to them.
Many parents tend to provide too much protection. When my kids leave my sight, I worry. Usually, I tell myself that such worries are irrational. I tell myself that my kids must learn to function away from their parents. I remind myself that this is how autonomy is learned. Nevertheless, part of me wants to hover over them and protect them from the world.
Although my reasons are valid, the real fact is that I couldn't protect them, even if I were always inches away. To go one step further, even if I were to succeed, I would cause them harm. That’s right, my need to protect them actually creates the problem I am trying to avoid.
As I teacher, I have seen too many examples of this. Over involved parents create children who will not or cannot function on their own. These kids are often immature and unable to independently problem solve. These parents are frequently intrusive and cross boundaries without a thought.
I had a senior in high school not long ago, who needed to rush off to the bathroom to send his mother a text message whenever he got a disappointing grade. Mom would then email me and I would receive the email before the period was over. Another needed his mother to assist him with all papers. He could not write an in-class essay on his own. A third has her mother at her beck and call. Mom would run errands, bring in forgotten assignments, and run interference with school personnel.
While these parents’ intentions are good, their methods actually handicap their children. They mistakenly believe that their child should not have to deal with certain challenges, or issues. They may rationalize that the kids are too young, not yet skilled in problem solving, or too busy with school and activities. The truth is that they don’t want to let go. The truth is they don’t want the child to fail or be hurt.
But harm can mean many things. Is challenge harmful? Is a little frustration or discomfort bad? Education only occurs when we go beyond our comfort zone and really step out into the scary world of “ I don’t know how.” If we never go there, we never really learn.
While I am missing my children (and they may be missing me), they are having a marvelous experience that none of us would exchange for the relief from the loneliness. Discomfort and, yes some pain, are necessary. We need to confront challenges and step out into the big, bad, world in order to discover our power and ourselves. If we do not allow our children to do so, they remain forever children.
I can hear the parent responding, “But she’s only four!” Yes, even at four, even at two! Another lyric from the same song says, “Your children start to leave you on the day that they are born.” It is true. Each new milestone and landmark is a step toward independence. Any hovering, smothering, or protecting we do is liable to hinder that progress.
Of course, we must teach them common sense. We should insist they wear their helmets and seat belts (and do so ourselves as well). That is not what I am talking about here. I am talking about the natural parental impulse to be the bodyguard and pain killer. The well meaning desire to spare our children the critical but difficult pains that will help them do what we most fear: operate independently from us.
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