Thoughts

In the five-and-a-half years I've taught, no one school year has been like another. Not only do students change, and not only does each class have its own personality; but you change as a teacher, as well. Here is a synopsis of my tenure at school, along with the range of experience that entails: Year One Experience : Although I'm inexperienced, I try to act like I know what I'm doing. Students quickly learn I am not a good liar, and I do my best keeping my classes under control. Perspective : Teaching means failure. Year Two Experience : Alarmed at the discipline problems I faced my first year, I spend my summer overhauling my lessons in a way that I believe make my class more engaging. Concurrently, I overcompensate my apparent leniency by becoming very strict in the classroom. I alienate myself by showing no quarter, but also improve in lesson effectiveness and classroom control. I retain my job. Perspective : Teaching means me versus them. Year Three Experien...

Bold steps grow wide and ever strong Feet freshly warmed from cultured fire Grave strides grow fixed and ever long Now spurred by his exulting choir First here, then there he crushes foes Whose past birthed present accolades His form in turn now grows and grows While droves regard a soul that fades Though giants fall as giants will When far too large to hear the throng This giant’s heartbeat long went still Before was sung the mourner’s song And now they turn against this beast But not with sticks and spear and sword They turn instead to feed new feast Of praise on yet another lord But one with shallow afterthought Meanders from that busy crowd And turns to ask them why they fought To find still every knee is bowed He sinks to break his shackles free Then presses friends to do the same Then as one force into the sea They thrust the beast they once became.

For many in past generations, the need to survive-- to fill stomachs with food and cover heads with shelter-- has eclipsed any deeper spiritual need that would otherwise have risen in our minds. It seems, however, that a single question demands more attention today in the United States than at any time in previous history: What is my purpose? It makes it presence known consistently as we go about our sometimes humdrum lives, as the buzzing and flashing of a neon sign makes itself known to the pensive who lie on beds in dark and silent urban apartments. I've certainly asked this question more than I'd have liked to. This existential need is felt, I think, not only in my generation, but in those younger than my generation. Consider "Kony 2012." I've found that we ask questions like these because we are simply unaware of the grave needs of our time. I don't mean that we're unaware in mind. Certainly, we have greater access to news of local, national, and wo...

In 2008, the Josephson Institute of Ethics surveyed 30,000 high school students to find how many had cheated on an exam in the past twelve months. The authors found that an incredible 64% said they had cheated (38% said they’d cheated two or more times). The number of girls who cheated was about equal to the number of boys, and those living in the southeast were more likely to cheat than other regions of the U.S. (70% said they’d cheated, compared to 64% in the west). Students attending religious schools were more likely to cheat than those in non-religious schools: 63% versus 47%, respectively. Since I teach middle school, I wondered how middle school students compared. It turns out that they cheat less than older kids. The same organization found that serious cheating begins in middle school and increases in the higher grades. Among other reasons, students cheat because of pressure to perform, and because they perceive that everyone is doing it. Lest you think students are t...

My students' journaling this week involves how we handle our emotions. I'm showing them that teenagers' brains differ than adults' in the making of decisions, and that emotional avoidance is unhealthy. By that, I mean avoiding painful feelings is unhealthy because you have to go to increasingly greater lengths to make sure you don't feel the way you hate to feel (yes, I'm actually trying to sway their opinion on something, which I normally do not like to do, but I know that this is an important lesson for them to learn young). It's almost like an anti-drug: instead of searching for a high in some substance or practice, you're guarding yourself against the "low" of painful emotion (fear, anxiety, jealousy, anger, stress, etc.). You end up going farther and farther to keep away from those feelings, but end up spending much of your energy doing so. I wouldn't be surprised to find that one source of obsessive-compulsive behavior is emotiona...

This is an expansion on an earlier poem I wrote in another post. Inside this dank and hollow place A bitter wake of pain doth shift The mortar of their courage loose The bricks of every cherished past Beset by every deaf’ning wind That whispers failures in their ears The voice that seemed to speak of grace Reduced to never speak at all But still I think, believe, resolve, Commit to stay, possess my ground For in this open place of mine, The frightened shine, adorn and found The stones, the stones, the stones they hear Those cold, unfeeling rocks below Will take the pauper from his fear And light the craven dark aglow Broken stones say more than me They moan in speech that’s slurred; But read me, take me in your thoughts And know that I was heard.

I do not recommend saying these words to people with whom you are only acquainted. These are for people who already love you and will forgive you when you say them (actually, they may like numbers one and four). 1. “May I tell you something? You are the kindest person I’ve ever met.” 2. “Wow! Did you comb your hair today? You sure look nice!” 3. “Please excuse me, but I couldn’t help but notice how nicely pressed your slacks are today.” 4. “The state of California just passed a new law saying that people with a coolness factor above 10 can’t go to school. I’m sorry, you have to leave.” 5. “When you become super famous, will you remember me?” 6. “If you were a movie, you would be Happy Feet , because you are happy.” 7. “Kindness is like a river, and you, my very special friend, are flowing swiftly.”