The Duty of the Octogenarian

 As one reaches my age, there is a sense of responsibility to be diligent in passing along hard-learned lessons in living. We see our grandchildren and their friends beginning to make the decisions that will determine the course of their lives, and we want to help them avoid setting living/thinking patterns that will lead to dissatisfaction, and unhappiness in their personal lives. We want them to see the value that their personal choices have in the continuation of a prosperous and functioning culture. Also, we are aware that many (most?) twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings have been taught by society that all opinions and ideas are equally valuable, and they don't need to listen to anybody else's input in their decision-making (a catastrophically erroneous idea).

For those willing at attend to a few life-experience opinions and recommendations, I offer these:

1. From your early days of marriage, set a pattern of real sharing with your partner. Be sure that you discuss more than just what's for dinner and who's going to mow the lawn. If you want your marriage to endure and thrive into your old age, you must KNOW this person you married. I regret that, in the hugeness of child-bearing, child-raising, and career-building, we had few discussions about what we read, what we heard in worship service, what direction we hoped to see our country move, and many other topics that would have given us insight to our partner's thinking.

2. Read regularly.

• When you read fiction, read at least some REALISTIC fiction (as opposed to all horror, fantasy, sci-fi, or the adrenaline-inducing "action" or "erotic" novels) The reason for this recommendation is that in realistic fiction we see real people facing real problems (like some you might face) and making difficult decisions. You have the opportunity to witness and evaluate the consequences of various life decisions as you read the denouement of the story. How often in real like could you have the opportunity to see, ahead of your own experience, what the long-term complications of a decision might be?
• When you read non-fiction, read about people or subjects that will give you something to admire, strive for, learn that will contribute to the success/happiness/productivity of your own life.

3. Remind yourself regularly that the only way to improved society is to improve individuals. When you live a clean, admirable, productive, and influencial life, you are doing your part to build a good society for future generations. You have little control over how other people live their lives.

4. Recognize that old proverbs, "sayings" "folk wisdom", etc. are actually good and helpful to remember and consider. They endured through generations because people through generations recognized their truth. Some of these include famous bible verses, quotes from great thinkers of the past, such as C.S. Lewis, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Abraham Lincoln, and many others.

5. I will add to this as I think of things that I consider really important.

The Cowboy's Cowboy

 In 2014, my granddaughter, Natalie, had an assignment to write a poem related to "the Wild West" since her class was planning a field trip to Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, GA. Teachers from around the region would choose a few of the best poems from their students to enter in a contest. The winners from each school would read their poems at the museum on the day of the proposed field trip. 

Natalie had not previously written poetry and mentioned her anxiety over the assignment to me. When my grandchildren were in public school, I had made it a habit to read whatever literature they were assigned to read and keep up with their school progress in other ways, so one day I sat down to think about what could be written related to "the Wild West." I had in mind sending her a few ideas to help her get started.

I wrote a very rough first-draft light-verse poem about "'ol Hank." A couple of days before Natalie's poem was due, she told me she had not come up with anything, so I sent her that rough draft as a starting point to help her get started writing. That was probably not as good an idea as it sounded to us at the time. Instead of igniting a new idea in her, it seemed to confine her to just adapting the poem I had started. Deadline came too quickly, and she just turned in the poem that we had more-or-less cowritten. Of course, it won!

She was now locked into reading it aloud at the district Western Art assembly. It has bothered both of us ever since. She felt like she had cheated by turning in a poem she saw as mostly mine. I felt guilty because she felt like I helped her cheat and because she didn't see the final poem as truly hers. I also felt bad that I had apparently caused her to doubt her own ability and integrity. This incident became an embarrassment to both of us over the years, and the poem was mostly forgotten/unmentioned/hidden. 

I recently found an old copy. At this point neither of us is sure how much either of us had to do with this version or even it this is the final copy that was entered in the contest. Neither of us has felt comfortable claiming authorship. But I think it's a cute poem, so here is the, I guess, cowritten poem about 'ol Hank. 

Ol’ Hank was a cowboy’s cowboy –

That feller knew how to live.

Any case that came along,

Hank had advice to give.

 

Now, he warn’t no shoddy blowhard;

He didn’t talk no bosh.

But when he’d meet a greenhorn,

He’d fill their ears, by gosh!

 

“Hey, Dude!  Hey, City Slicker,”

Ol’ Hank was known to shout.

“You’re all hat and no cattle -

That’s not what cowboyin’s all about!

 

Now, being a real true cowboy

Takes a bigger man than you.

If you don’t wanna get your plow cleaned,

Here’s what you gotta do.

 

Don’t never squat with your spurs on.

Don’t drive black cattle when it’s dark outside.

Don’t dig for water near the outhouse;

Don’t get in the saddle ‘less you’re ready to ride.”

2014 by Natalie Davis (Akins) (with Joan Turrentine)

Unusual Names

 Cleaning out old files from my teaching days, I found several lists of students that I had in my Middle School classes 1990-1994

Here are some of the most unusual ones:

Arnold Q'eltravaughn (called Kell)

Merrial Lukas

Yanis Kendo

Princeley Lemar

Jacinda Denice

Asia Semion

Blakeley Tavares

Shayon Makonde

April Lashun

Anashay Levoy

Jawana Lafaye

Veronda Kareem

Kimya Nicole

Calvin Octerial

Quandra Latrice

Lakneisha Nicole

Bridgett La Keida

Kenji Quintero

Dranetta (no middle name)

From the next year - only the called names

Trentice

bibiana

Shannell

Simiramus

Shavares

Tihran

Calandra

Sitting right behind each other: Roshanda and Roshanna

In the same class: Demetrious, Darrius, Dameon, Damian, Deonne, Deon

In the same class: Lakneisha, Shrerika, Lakesha, Taneka, Tamiko

Punctuated students: Q'el, Mas'ud, Fonta (accent on the a), Chanea (accent on the e), Keijuan (two dots over the u) 

Upon College Graduation - Steve

From an old writing notebook uncovered 10/23, written 1990.

Steve graduated from College in May 1990, just a few weeks before he and La Donna married. I wrote him this letter (from my heart but based partly on one I had read that Janice had written Charmaine) for the occasion.

Dear Steve,

As you accept your degree and step into a new relationship with the world, we know that the apron strings to us which have been lengthening as you've matured must soon be cut. As you have earned this independence, you have earned much more. You have proven yourself worthy of trust period now you are mature and dependable and ready to try your own wings, and we are confident that your flights will be beautiful as well as purposeful. We, your family, will observe each flight proudly, applaud enthusiastically, and be on call for you throughout our lives.

Because we love you, we have tried to instill within you morals that will withstand temptation; We have tried to help you develop a sense of responsibility. Our task was an easy one, for you are by nature a person with genuine concern and compassion. You have the ability to love generously. Though you have brought us joy and happiness that is immeasurable, we cannot shield you from disappointment nor guarantee all the things that we wish for you. We have no fortune that will help you gain favor or approval in this world. We have no easy formula for success; nor do we have a magic potion to ward off failure. We have not even been able to provide you with unblemished memories; for you have seen us cry faithless tears of despair, and you have witnessed ugliness in our times of anger and weakness. You have seen the necessity for forgiveness and beginning again in our lives and in our relationships. But the things that we have or have not been able to give you are insignificant compared to the things of real value in life that are all yours in Christ Jesus. Your heavenly father, who loves you far more than we, has riches in store beyond your and our comprehension.

We commit you now (as we committed you at your birth) to his care as the fire of the world tests the gold of your character. We are proud of you. We love you, and we will continue to lift you to God in our prayers daily.

With our love,

Dad and Mom

Beginning Again

In October 2023, I found this meditation/rumination in a 1990-1994 writing notebook. It was printed on old-style continuous-feed printer paper.

Another school year was beginning, and I was “beginning again” again. My husband had accepted a pastoral appointment to a new church, our family had moved to a new community and a new church, and I had gone through the exhausting process of applying for and being interviewed for a teaching position in all the surrounding school systems. After several interviews and several months of uncertainty and indecision, I had finally accepted a job offer that I thought would be just right for me.

Now I was contemplating the beginning of a new school year. “How will I relate to a new principal and new colleagues?”  “How will I ever learn all the correct procedures at a new school?”  “Can I prove again to people who don't know me that I'm a good teacher?” “Will the students like me?” “What will be different about children in this area?” “Can I esstablish a relationship with them that will allow me to meet their needs educationally?” “What should I do on the first day to establish a positive mindset in the students?”

These and dozens of other questions kept spinning around in my head. All the newest educational terminology was on the tip of my tongue. This year the catch phrases were “whole language” and “cooperative learning.” I had attended an excellent workshop on the use of whole language, and cooperative learning was just one of the new learning strategies that we learned about in a great seminar I had attended just a few months ago. I was indeed prepared. I had plenty of experience - 18 years. I had “begun again” several times as our family moved with my husband's appointments. I had kept up with my education, taking classes and working toward ever higher degrees. My reputation as a teacher had always been good - respected by my students, peers, and principles, known to shoulder my share and more of the load, successful in meeting and exceeding expectations in the duties and responsibilities of a teacher.

Why, then, this sense of nervousness and uncertainty? Why couldn't I go to sleep, confident that I would be able to do again what I had done numerous times in the past?

1990?

Autumn Trees

 As I admired the glowing-yellow ghinko trees on Broad Street in Rome over the past weekend, a strange thing happened. 

My mind focused on a couple of little three-word phrases that had apparently slept in my mind for years and suddenly awakened at the sight of the brilliant trees. "A solitary maple" kept playing silently in my head.

 "What!? Crazy Lady, that is not a maple. That is a ghinko!" my rational mind scoffed. 

"But it's dressed for the ball" my subconscious mind insisted.  

The phrases kept playing hopscotch, leaping over each other constantly as I went about my tasks

"solitary maple, dressed for the ball..."

I realized that the words were from some long-ago read literature. So, being the me that I am, I took out my laptop when I got home and began to research.(I have found as I've aged that I am becoming more me every day that I live. I am becoming so "me" somedays it's frightening!) And, thanks to DuckDuckGo, I found the source of the voice in my head. 

Apparently at some time in my school years I had read or studied Henry James's writing. DuckDuckGo showed me the quote that was stuck in my head, but life intruded before I found the longer work from which the quote comes. 

"A solitary maple on a woodside flames in single scarlet, recalls nothing so much as the daughter of a noble house dressed for a fancy ball, with the whole family gathered around to admire her before she goes."

Several observations:

1. A classical education, including good literature, is a gift that lasts a lifetime; so children need to read good literature in school instead of (or at least in addition to) the shallow witch/dragon/wizard/babysitter/amateur sleuth stuff around which much reading curriculum of our day is clustered. They need to store words of LIFE in their heads - appreciation of nature and nature's God. 
2. A watered-down general vocabulary leads to a watered-down mundane life. See, think, live, speak in specifics. 
3. I am grateful for the words that other thinkers through the years have passed down to us. 
4. The fear (wonder, amazement) of God is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10) Young people need to be shown the majesty of God's creation and encouraged to absorb and appreciate it. 

Summer Break

Our four youngest grandchildren will attend their orientation sessions for the new school year tomorrow -- and next week is their last week of school-day freedom!  It doesn't seem possible that the summer break is already almost over.  About this same time of the year a few years ago, just as the stores began their "back to school" sales push, a blog called Three-Word Wednesday challenged other bloggers to write "something" using these three words:  endless, ought, and shadow. Reflecting on the shortness of the Summer break, I wrote:

  Summer

The first of June arrived today
Nipping at the heels of May.
Hoards of children, newly free,
See summer days stretch endlessly...

Summer camps; friends' sleepovers;
Hunting for four-leaf clovers;
Pick-up games in the yard;
Marshmallows nicely charred.

Who was that hurrying by?
I think I recognized July.
She rushed by and left no shadow
While we were playing in the meadow.

August looms; still we caper.
Back-to-school sales fill the paper.
Wonder who'll be in my class?
Not my friend Jenny - she didn't pass.

Hair is cut. Supplies are bought;
School is starting, as it ought.
Here I go. I'm on my way!
A brand new school year starts today!

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

3 of 5 stars
As a retired Middle School Language Arts teacher, I occasionally read adolescent literature to suggest appropriate and desirable books to those who ask. I chose this book because of its authorship although the blurb was not appealing to me. Clearly the Maximum Ride books would be better understood and enjoyed if read in correct sequence. Since this is the only one of the series I read, I found myself having to deduce previous events in order to understand the current ones experienced by the characters in this book. I think that many adolescents would enjoy the science fiction nature of the book; I, on the other hand, enjoyed more the elements of realistic fiction that were mixed in. The lessons to be learned from the relationships between the characters -- their positive and negative interactions - the exhibited behaviors and consequences - their methods of reconciliation - all these experiences are good life lessons and provide good reasons for adolescents to read this series of books.

Climbing Life's Stairway

My students' last assignment of the year - finished just Wednesday - was to present a short motivational poem or speech to the class. I demonstrated the desired speaking skills by presenting Langston Hushes's "Mother to Son" followed by a related valedictory message stolen from my Brother's blog. http://aloneonalimb.blogspot.com/2007/03/ptsw-crystal-stair.html. The students made great choices for their presentations: During the last week of school we heard MLK's "I Have a Dream," "Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death," Rudyard Kipling's "If," and Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." We heard Steve Jobs's graduation address to Stanford in 2004 - "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish" and Susan B. Anthony's "Woman's Right to the Suffrage."

We heard parts of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, Churchill's "Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears" address, Douglas McArthur's Acceptance Speech for the Thayer Award at West Point - "Duty. Honor. Country," and Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." We also heard more recent poetry and lesser-known speeches. One that I found particularly thought-provoking was a speech entitled "Life by Default; Life be Design?" by Usiere Uko. A few students wrote their own poetry and presented it - mostly on the topics of friendship and ecological responsibility.

I found it inspiring at the end of another school year, as we mark accomplishment and milestones in life, to hear some wisdom from the ages. I hope the students started their summer vacation period with something worthwhile to think about.

Addendum:
Other selections, you might like to find and read (or re-read):
"The Butterfly" by Nikos Kazantzakis
"Six Simple Strategies for Achieving Misery" by Sol Herzig
"I Wish You Enough" by Bob Parks
"Take Care of Your Friends" by Baxter Black, the Cowboy Poet

I Am Mentally Ill

See this calm and relatively-normal-looking (?) image? the appearance of normalcy is misleading. I am mentally ill.

What other explanation can there be? Why else would a retired person wake up at 2:00 AM and be unable to go back to sleep? Was something hurting me? No. Was I worrying about the health of some family member? No. Was I trying to make a difficult decision? No. Was I worrying about the future of our great nation or the outcome of the upcoming presidential election? No. I was not even fixated on the massive amount of housecleaning and organizing that needs doing here in my daily domain.

My mind, that overactive ferret running around and around on its exercise wheel, refused to let me sleep. In spite of all my admonitions and efforts to stop the wheel, it continued rotating. It replayed and analyzed again and again several recent word-formation-related communications and planned a lesson on the value of good Language Arts instruction. I rest my case; I am resigned to the diagnosis - definitely some form of mental illness.

If you, like students sometimes complain, think that there is no practical use for the grammar instruction given in public schools; if you think that it doesn't matter whether you can identify a noun or verb; if you think that studying word stems, prefixes, and suffixes is "busy work", my ferret mind begs to differ with you. Here is one example - the one that looped endlessly through my mind last night.

My mother had her decennial colonoscopy Tuesday. Among the doctor's post-examination comments was this: "She has a very healthy colon with a moderate amount of diverticulosis." I had never studied this medical concept; but I knew what he was talking about because I understand how our language is structured. Here are the language arts skills involved in understanding that communication.

1. Listening. Yes, listening is one of the four "language arts." Good language arts teachers teach all four of the arts - two for dispensing language (writing and speaking) and two for receiving language (reading and listening.) Because of good language arts skills and understandings, I heard the word "diverticulosis." Many people would have heard the more commonly heard word "diverticulitis." There is significant difference.

2. An undertanding of root words and affixes. The words "diverticulum, diverticulosis, and diverticulitis" all start with the word "divert" (to turn away). The word divert is composed of the root word "-vert" which means "turn" and the prefix "di-" meaning "away."

3. An understanding of root words and affixes II. I knew that the word diverticulum comes from the same base as the word divert (to turn away); therefore, in a medical context it must mean a place where contour of a hollow organ is diverted from its usual form.

4. An understanding of root words and affixes III. Because of good understanding of how affixes determine word meaning, I knew that the suffix "-osis" is a medical suffix that indicates the "condition or existence of." So I knew that diverticulosis meant that a diverticulum, or several, exists in her colon. (The suffix "-itis", on the other hand, means "inflamation of." Her diverticula were NOT inflamed.) Total aside: I know how plurals of Latin-based nouns are formed - diverticulum/diverticula.

So I knew, without conscious analysis and without effort, that my mother has some stretched out areas in her colon, but that they are minor and are not inflamed or infected. The value of good language understanding is that this kind of effortless communication (of language received through listening or reading) occurs many times every day and makes like easier.

I am quite aware that this is over-analysis; but it illustrates how gaining a good understanding of language arts, especially when that understanding becomes part of a person early in life, helps one interpret more easily and accurately what he/she hears and reads. My point is that, since language exists for the purpose of communication, one becomes a much better communicator through an understanding of our language structure.

Okay, now that I have that down in writing, perhaps my ferret-brain will let me sleep tonight!

Spelling 101

A few comments on the book by David Crystal, The Fight for English: How language pundits ate, shot, and left, Oxford, 2006.

According to this author much of the confusion in today's English spelling is due to the use of French scribes back in the 1400s when the printing press was introduced in England.

These French scribes paid little attention to the usual spellings of English and replaced many English spellings with French ones: they used qu instead of cw in words such a queen; ch instead of c in church (old English cirice); sh and sch instead of sc as in ship (Old English scip.) These French scribes and the Dutch typesetters with whom they worked also had problems deciding how to write English. They often forced Old English and French spellings together along with some Dutch spelling conventions. That is where the gh in such words as ghost comes from.

According to Crystal, other spelling confusions were created in

"the Great English Vowel Shift, [which] took place in the early 1400s. Before the shift, a word like loud would have been pronounced 'lood'; name as 'nahm'; leaf as 'layf'; mice as mees'. ...The renewed interest in classical languages and cultures, which formed part of the ethos of the Renaissance, had introduced a new perspective into spelling: etymology. Etymology is the study of the history of words, and there was a widespread view that words should show their history in the way they were spelled.... that it would help people if they could 'see' the original Latin in a Latin-derived English word.

So someone added a b to the word typically spelled det, dett, or dette in Middle English, because the source in Latin was debitum, and it became debt, and caught on. Similarly, an o was added to peple, because it came from populum: we find both poeple and people, before the latter became the norm. An s was added to ile and iland, because of Latin insula, so we now have island. There are many more such cases."

I find it interesting that the biggest spelling challenges in our language -- the "inconsistencies"-- the silent letters -- the irregularities --are there because someone studying etymology, at some time in the far past, thought they were helping future English users see the connections between related words.

Take the Risk by Ben Carson with Gregg Lewis - a Book Review

Take the Risk, Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk

by Ben Carson with Gregg Lewis – Published 2008 by Zondervan

I just finished reading one of my favorite Christmas gifts! I have read other books about the fascinating Dr. Carson and have found all of them spell-binding on several levels. This one was no exception. It was published just this month, and I received it in the mail, direct from the publisher, on Christmas Eve. The traditionally hectic week encompassing Christmas and the New Year left little time for reading; nevertheless, I squeezed in minutes and hours here and there and read this absolutely intriguing book. There is excellent information in this book on dealing with risk; but my primary focus in this review is the life of the man himself.

Benjamin Carson would have been the very definition of the “at risk” child if that term had been around when he was a child. Here is the check sheet:

Ø Black – check
Ø Male – check
Ø Poor – check
Ø Living in the inner city – check
Ø Absent father – check
Ø Being raised by a very young, poorly-educated mother – check
Ø Mother working multiple jobs to support her family - check
Ø Moved several times during childhood - check

As a teacher, I have worked with many “at risk”students. They almost always present very difficult challenges in the classroom - Unmotivated. Angry. Disruptive. Underachieving.

Jails and prisons are filled with the adults these children became. Many, still aimlessly roaming our streets instilling fear in law-abiding citizens, remain unmotivated, angry, disruptive, underachieving adults angrily taking whatever they want and believing that the world owes them compensation for their difficult childhood circumstances.

So how did Benjamin Carson grow up to become a real-life hero and one of the major societal assets of our time? How did he become the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, author of several books and subject of other books, professor of numerous medical specialties, member of corporate boards, Emeritus Fellow of the Yale Corporation? How did this “at risk” child become the internationally-known, high-profile neurosurgeon who has separated conjoined twins and performed hemispherectomies on the brains of children, saving their lives? How did this challenged child (the “dummy” of his fifth-grade class) avoid the downward life-course that seemed to be his destiny and become, instead, one of the most accomplished and admirable people of our generation? These questions are what keep me reading everything I can find about this man.

This is my blog, so I can draw my own conclusions, right?!

The differentiating factors between Ben Carson and other “at risk” children – the factors that helped him become Dr. Ben Carson instead of prison inmate #whatever - boil down to two very vital and often under-recognized influences:

His mother. Though very young (married at 13), uneducated, dealing with her own psychological problems, and absent much of the time due to the necessity of earning a living, Mrs. Carson truly loved her children and instilled self-respect and confidence in her boys. As a Christian, she strongly believed that they were created in the image of God. As a Christian, she knew (and taught her sons) that she (and they) had a responsibility to use their talents and abilities positively in the world. She also knew that “the doors of the world are open to people who can read.”

Mrs. Carson took control of her boys’ lives when Benjamin was in 5th grade and Curtis was in 6th. Facing an academic crisis with her sons, and after a night of prayer on the situation, she imposed new living arrangements. The boys would watch only three television shows each week; in addition, they would read two books every week and write a report on each for their mother. They would be required to read their reports to their mother at the end of the week. Can you imagine the time commitment this involved, even for the mother? Dr. Carson’s and Mr. Lewis’s retelling of that transformation and its life-altering aftereffects (Chapter 6 in the book) should be read by every parent and teacher in the world.

Dr. Carson and his co-author tell how, even as a medical student many years later, reading was Ben’s primary learning method. {topic for another post later – is our current methodology in schools (emphasizing constant “active” class sessions composed of role-playing, experimenting, unlimited student interaction, poster-making, student presentations, centers, etc.) minimizing the value of reading to absorb information and writing to convey information thereby limiting many children who would learn better as good readers and writers?}

His Christian Faith. This reason overlaps with the first one significantly. The basic tenets of productive and generous living were part of his life and the values he absorbed from infancy. However, his personal realization of the meaning of his life and the development of his own faith occurred at the same time as his mother’s imposition of their new living expectations. In tandem with his conversion to a personal faith in and relationship with Jesus Christ, he decided to become a doctor. This major decision in his life along with his mother’s reading edict converted Ben from being the class dummy in fifth grade to being the top student in almost every subject in his seventh-grade class! This conversion also gave him reason for learning, reason for living, reason for always extending himself to accomplish something, not only for himself, but also for God and for the world at large.

His mother’s expectations and his Christian faith gave him the character that drove him to become Dr. Ben Carson.

For continued reading:

Gifted Hands by BenCarson, M.D., with Cecil MurpheyZondervan Publishing House

THINK BIG by Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil MurpheyZondervan Publishing House

The Big Picture by Ben Carson, M.D., with Greg LewisZondervan Publishing House

Today’s Heroes: Ben Carson
By Gregg Lewis and Deborah Shaw Lewis
A children’s book for ages 9-12
ISBN: 0310702984

You might want to check out this site too:

The Carson Scholar’s Fund


This article has been crossposted at Indigo.

Daddy's Second Rose = Second Chair

I hope my few loyal readers will bear with this writer a little longer. Daddy's Roses has given the blogging "first chair" status to MMS Language Arts Masters. Since I went back to short-term full-time teaching (7 very tiring, but rewarding, weeks ago), I have spent what little extra energy and time I have in creating and updating that blog for my students and their parents. You are welcome to take a look at it, although it is entirely specific to our particular classroom concerns and curriculum topics. My responsibilities in this position will last until November 2, and I don't intend to accept any further teaching positions for a few months.

I have numerous drafts in various stages of completion ready to post here when I have opportunity to give it a little thought and effort; so check in when you can!

The Real America

As I have mentioned numerous times on this blog, I am blessed to have been born into an amazing family. Each of my siblings has unique talents and intellect. My one older sister is a professional writer and speaker. She published an article this week detailing lessons learned (or relearned)and general observations made at her recent high school reunion. Here are a couple of what would be called "sound bites" if this were presented orally. And here is the link to the entire article.

Marriage is Still a Central Feature of Mainstream America: A clear majority of those attending the reunion were married within five years of graduating from high school and remain married to that original spouse – 42 of us......

This next clip is encouraging to me as an educator.

High School Teachers can have a “Profound and Continuing Influence": Several classmates expressed gratitude and appreciation to specific teachers. A couple of classmates wrote that their lives were profoundly influenced by certain teachers......

And this part should be encouraging to anyone who is exposed to the constant denigration of patriotism by our MSM.

Patriotism is Still Deeply Ingrained and Integral to Our Identity: The opening prayer by our Senior Class president was beautifully crafted and included prayers for our President and other national leaders as well as prayers for those serving our country in the military.

Faith is Vital for Successfully Handling Life: Reunions always highlight the truth that life is hard. ..... Numerous classmates mentioned the sustaining power of their faith and the support that comes from their involvement in a church community.

This remnant of a high school graduating class from years ago represents, IMHO, the "real America". Janice says that:

These are the people who take in foster kids that nobody else will take, who spend weekends helping clean up after Hurricane Katrina, who take in a grandchild who needs special care, who assist with anything electronic, who are involved in MS or Parkinson’s Support Groups.....who raise money for charitable organizations, whose suggestions improve Social Security handling and processing, who travel to the poorest coal mining villages to bring supplies and medical care, who coach Little League....

The article ends with a retelling of their experience at the airport on their return trip home. All the travelers there stood and applauded while a group of our soldiers walked through the airport to leave their families, board a plane and travel to foreign soil to support our great country.

This proud sister's summary cannot do Jan's article justice. Go there and read the entire article.

Sunday Seven 27th Edition

This weekend, I have a unique week to review. I started the week retired, busy settling into an old house that is new to us. The busyness of that life was busy in the sense of having a lot to do but not busy in having a limited timeframe to finish the work. Following are 7 events which changed that routine this week.

1....I agreed to substitute teach in a 7th grade English Language Arts class for a teacher who was expecting her second baby. I agreed to this a couple of months ago -- when it was in theory only.

2....As the beginning of the school year approached (teachers went back on July 24; students started on August 1), I didn't know whether I would be called before the students started or not, so I attended some of the pre-planning so I'd be prepared if that turned out to be way the song was played.

3....August 1 arrived; students attended the first day of school; Mrs. C. waddled to school in all her pregnant, bulky beauty and managed to teach for the entire first day. HOWEVER, she called me that night and said that her doctor wanted to induce labor and she would need me to take the class beginning the next day.

4....So Thursday and Friday it was back to the hectic teaching schedule for me. I have three 90-minute ELA blocks of students to teach and of course homeroom, breakfast and lunch duties, and meetings to attend. These past two days have been still just introductory - learning names, establishing procedures, etc.

5....My daily routine will be quite different for the next 6-12 weeks. Mrs. C. had a beautiful, healthy daughter to join her, her husband, and their 5-year-old son. The students in the three classes have been very cooperative and attentive so far, and I expect to have a good, profitable, and enjoyable time with them.

6....The other joy and item of interest in this story is that our son is the AP at the school where I am working, so I get to see him on the morning announcements every day and often throughout the day. Our grandson is in 8th grade in the same school, so I see him go by my room a couple of time a day. Our two granddaughters come to the school from the nearby elementary and high schools to wait for their dad to go home, so I have had help in my classroom after school each day.

7....My husband, man of unparalleled thoughtfulness and
resourcefulness, surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers when I got home from the first day I worked. It is a beautiful arrangement of a dozen red roses along with a number of other white flowers -- all in a pretty clear vase with a red bow in front. Here are a couple of pics of the arrangement.

The artwork below was created by one of our granddaughters when she was in kindergarten. Her pilgrim was displayed in the hallway outside her classroom along with the paragraph she wrote in computer lab about it.

As I was sorting my computer photo files this week I saw this photo as a reminder that school is about ready to get started again. The teachers in our local school system began their preplanning for the school year this past Wednesday. The students here will begin next Wednesday.

I have agreed to substitue for a young teacher at our Middle School whose second baby is due tomorrow. She plans to take from 6-12 weeks maternity leave. She has begun pre-planning and expects to work right up until she goes into labor; so I don’t know whether I will start back to work Monday and have a couple of days of preplanning or whether she will make it through the first few days of school before I take over. I have attended some of preplanning and have met with this lovely expectant mother several times to do some joint planning; but as of right now I am just “on hold.”

Poetry Remembered

As a lover of language, I have always enjoyed reading or hearing other people's thoughts expressed in precise or figurative words. This fascination with words and exactness of expression leads to great enjoyment of poetry. When I was in school (at all levels) we were required to read, sometimes to memorize, and frequently to study many different kinds of poetry. Although it was not always fun, the study led to an appreciation of poetry. I have recently reread poetry that I remember from academia. I find it interesting that I read them with some sense of nostalgia as well as with the original understandings and appreciations. I hope teachers are still instilling this love of poetry in children today.

This poem of Sara Teasdale's is one that has some beautiful language and expresses a genuine truth.

Barter
by Sarah Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell,

All beautiful and splendid things,

Blue waves whitened on a cliff,

Soaring fire that sways and sings,

And children's faces looking up

Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,

Music like a curve of gold,

Scent of pine trees in the rain,

Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

And for your spirit's still delight,

Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,

Buy it and never count the cost;

For one white singing hour of peace

Count many a year of strife well lost,

And for a breath of ecstasy

Give all you have been, or could be.

What beautiful thoughts -- expressed in vivid and thought-inspiring words - mental photographs capturing what it means to be loved, to experience peace, to glory in the beauty of nature! Part of what it means to be human is to take time away from "earning a living" and actually spend it "enjoying living"!

Reading "Anything" - A Worthy Educational Goal?

As a lover of language, one of my greatest concerns about modern public education is that our children are being taught to "read -- it really doesn't matter WHAT you read as long as you read."

I understand the sentiment, and it is true up to a point. The actual mechanics of the skill of reading are improved by merely transferring the written words into meaning in one's mind. But, let's face it, as clever and entertaining as Shel Silverstein poems (for example) often are, they do not cause the heart to swell in appreciation. As interesting as a biography of some "famous" entertainer or some fantasic story about a teacher who is really a witch (for example) might be, there are few life lessons to be learned from reading this kind of literature.

There are basically two aspects to "learning to read."

• Reading "anything" teaches us HOW to read. One can develop skill, comfort, and speed in the skill of reading so that later he/she can learn subject matter by reading. This is the theory behind the idea that it doesn't matter what one reads as long as he/she reads.
• Reading good literature teaches us TO read. Readers absorb values, form ideas, and learn about life from whatever they read. Good literature provides readers with the wisdom of those who have lived before us, views of the eternal truths of life, and/or commentary about the intricacies of human relationships. This says to me that it IS important WHAT children read. When readers finish reading a book or article with a better understanding of some idea or culture, when they recognize their own thinking put into words by someone else, when they have learned to think about and analyze the actions or thoughts in the material they read, or when they have a heightened commitment to building community with other human beings, these readers have become a "good readers." If children think about something they have read when they are faced with a dilemma in life, the reading has been worthwhile. If they learn to give thought to the real meaning of life and determine to make their lives count for something, the reading that led them to that point has been more than worthwhile.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow encourages all human beings to really live life and to help others live theirs more productivly and happily. The last four stanzas, in particular, of this classic poem have recently renewed their message to me.

A Psalm Of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal!
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Teacher Appreciation Week

As Teacher Appreciation comes to an end, I offer here a few good quotations about teachers:

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job. ~Donald D. Quinn

When we consider that our child's teacher is playing not only educator but Mom or Dad, therapist, nurse and countless other individuals to many children a day, their job becomes even more daunting, more challenging and more honorable. Good teachers are akin to angels who watch over our children and care about them when we're not able to.

The true teacher defends his pupils against his own personal influence. He inspires self-distrust. He guides their eyes from himself to the spirit that quickens him. He will have no disciple. --Amos Bronson Alcott

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. --Karl Menningervv

Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher." --Japanese proverb

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. --Jacques Barzun

Sunday Seven 12th Edition

Sunday Seven is a weekly meme for giving thanks

and/or for noting important events in our lives.

Seven Positive Thoughts to Start the Week

1. I thank God that there are compassionate people in our society who have done much to ameliorate the pain in Blacksburg, VA this week.

2. I am looking forward to church Sunday night. The parents of the Rome soldier who was killed in Iraq in 2004 will be speaking.

3. We had meals this week with several different family members -- with time for conversation before and after.

4. I finally finished "evaluating" the +/- 400 essays written by 6th and 7th graders as practice for the state-graded 8th grade writing test. Reading so many essays on the same two topics is somewhat mind-numbing -- especially since many students seemed to expend very minimal effort in the endeavor. Summarizing the general strengths and weaknesses that I observed in the writing samples so that teachers can focus their remedial instruction is also mentally strenuous. I am glad to have finished that assignment.

5. I only have one more PLU (10 clock-hours) of classes to take before I can gather my documentation and submit it for teaching certificate renewal.

6. If you are a pray-er, please stop a few minutes here and lift up a prayer for the auction of our house on Tuesday evening. We really need to get the best possible price for this house. Thank you. I am relieved that we will at least have some idea where we stand, whether for good or ill, after this time.

7. We have had gorgeous weather this week -- mild temperatures, partly sunny days and cool nights. The flowers and trees are blooming, lawns are green and lush, hummingbirds have found our feeder, we have been able to enjoy our sunroom for early-morning reading. We are blessed.