Ever since NCLB legislation, the spotlight has been on educators. Having taught in the inner city as well as suburbia, I’ve seen two extremes–neither of which ever fault the learner, which is politically, socially, and educationally taboo today. Some schools constantly watch the educators, faulting them for every [terribly calculated] statistical dip in (sometimes terribly planned) academic “performance” (assessment). Other schools are finally beginning to recognize (for the first time since NCLB…and so the pendulum swings…) that it is not just a matter of constantly faulting teachers for poor academic performance. The fact is that we are in a field of professionalism where we do not have the opportunity to pick and choose the “best materials” with which we can create products. We are handed imperfect, unsupported, attitude-injected children whose guardians may be lazy, selfish, and feeling entitled to public education handouts while communicating a sense of disregard for education itself because free public education where children can’t be left behind if they don’t take any responsibility will, inherently, fuel this cycle to produce more lazy, selfish, leeching adults (sorry for the run-on). We’ve somehow adopted this crazy-talk (based on legislation) where teachers are the only ones responsible for “passing” students along rather than fostering responsibility. We’ve embraced a deification of humans–humanism–where we’ve convinced ourselves that we can mass produce generations who can achieve the same basic skills (a high enough test score) if we only try harder and raise proficiency percentages. Can it be done? Who knows–maybe 2014 will tell; or maybe by that time there will be some new “safe harbor” way of twisting statistics to invent success for the sake of political reputation (so much for scientific process–expected, perhaps, from trying to test millions of variables at once).
The educational systems throughout the world which work well (according to results like the TIMSS) often foster at least some amount of competition where, if the child does not come to terms with the responsibility which is his/hers within the educational process, they will quickly learn that responsibility elsewhere within the bounds of a trade or simpler work–you might say they’ve been “left behind,” yet still learn the same lesson within an alternative environment. Maybe it’s the difference between giving a man a fish and teaching him to fish, even if it means leaving him by the bank of the river, hungry, for a while.
Thankfully, there may be a coming shift in where the educational pendulum is headed once again. The focus is now turning to individual growth rather than predetermined benchmark achievements (though currently still very much based on these–PVAS is one example of this determination). Some schools are placing more of an emphasis on support in the home–from parents, for example (shocker, right?)–in order to foster successful children. Hopefully this sense of community will allow the old addage, “it takes a village to raise a child” to ring true once again.
We’ve come across this topic more than once, so here’s a little diddy on it. Pay attention.
BACKFILL YOUR CESSPOOLS AND SINKHOLES!
Why?
Because they are hazardous and people don’t realize it. Kids playing in the yard, even a dog running over one can be all it takes to cause an otherwise avoidable and gruesome death.
What will it take for people to wake up? Don’t know. But for that one person for whom the following story is helpful–you’re welcome!
A 9-year-old girl playing baseball with friends on city land was rescued by her playmates Wednesday after being suddenly sucked into the ground by a large sink hole, Fox12 reported.
The girl’s grandmother said it was a miracle that her granddaughter, Page Wiklund, survived the incident in which she fell through the top of an old septic or cesspool system in a vacant lot owned by the city of Portland, according to Fox12.
City workers said that the hole was anywhere from 16 to 20 feet deep and filled the hole Thursday morning, Fox12 reported.
Wiklund disappeared into the ground Wednesday as she was running to first base. Luckily she landed on a pipe that prevented her from falling the rest of the estimated 16 to 20 feet to the bottom of the hole.
“When I got there I fell down, down on my bottom, and it was all dark,” Paje said.
When all they could see was a hand waving above the ground one of the girls playing with Wiklund ran for help while the other managed to pull her out, Fox12 reported.
“She could’ve been killed, she could’ve suffocated it could’ve been really, really bad,” said the girl’s grandmother, Karin Wiklund.
Are there really enough people who can resort to asking this question?
Apparently yes!
According to the IRS,
You may claim a kidnapped child as your dependent if the following requirements are met:
1. The child must be presumed by law enforcement to have been kidnapped by someone who is not a member of your family or a member of the child’s family, and
2. The child had, for the taxable year in which the kidnapping occurred, the same principal place of abode as the taxpayer for more than one-half of the portion of such year before the date of kidnapping.
Just in case you were interested on staying up to date on the latest and greatest developments in drug smuggling and disguises…
Straight from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Microgram Bulletin, read up on what’s going on in your world. Everything from cocaine found in ukeleles to candy, the DEA has it identified!
Do this, but start with school buses. School buses are often “tethered” (if you’re on a field trip, just use one of the “normal” buses) to a district. Install a few electric terminals there, let the districts sing your cost-saving praises to the surrounding community, then districts might even be in a position to make a profit off of their stations as the bolder within the community decide to purchase these electric cars.
There you have it. That’s our idea for Shai Agassi and the upcoming electric car boom–make it an electric bus boom to sell entire communities on the idea while promoting education and strengthening the educational system within individual communities throughout the country and around the world.
Think back. When you were a child it was not unusual for adults to encourage children to express themselves by developing healthy imaginations – even to the point of role-playing games like “cops n robbers” or “cowboys and indians” where a central aspect of each game was the simulation of assassinating one’s adversaries with pretend weaponry. I would also be willing to wager that your neighborhood also served as a venue to more than a few physical confrontations that resulted in little more than bumps, bruises, occasional bloodied noses, and forged friendships.
In today’s cookie cutter, everything smells like roses, politically correct fascade, children are forbidden to “play rough,” let alone imagine that they are heroes or villains in any one of the television shows or movies which they have watched. In other words, they are not allowed to explore the boundaries between fantasy and reality as children, yet they have, in effect, recieved a Master’s degree in television violence since infancy. How is it then that we as a society dare to feel any shock at the resulting instances where pent up, instilled, violent tendencies are manifested by children, adolecents, even adults? Not only should it not surprise us, but we should have expected these tragic events that have occured and realize that there will be more as long as we continue to bombared our children with these mixed messages.
I think I’ll show this to my kids to get them to come out of their shells a little more…
Update:
I showed this to my kids today. During the video, they had to write down three things they saw Dalton do which they thought they could do the next time they were in front of people. Then, we closed our eyes and visualized ourselves fearless–using our hands to speak, making eye contact with our audience, walking around, placing emphasis on important words, etc.
This activity was definitely a hit. I’ll put the little kiddos to the test soon…[insert evil laugh here]
As educators, parents, and caregivers, we should always be finding ways to help our children. I think we all know that there are countless children who go cold. They have parents who just can’t seem to keep up with those heating bills. They have clothes which hardly keep them protected from drafty living conditions. Well perhaps you haven’t heard of Snuggies! Buy one for that cold child in your life today!
And now for the original ad for those of you who have no idea what that was about…
