The View from Here

A Butterfly in the Amazon

When I was a child the rest of the world was as alien to me as another planet. My parents seldom read a newspaper and we didn’t have television until I was about eight years old. The first national event that really made an impact on my little world was the flight of John Glenn on my birthday in 1962. I watched some of the nightly news reports, but people who lived in other states seemed just as removed from me as people who lived in Europe. What they did and thought and felt wasn’t relevant to anything in my own world.

This week is a reminder that none of us can live our own lives in our “own little world” anymore. From Hurricane Isaac to the Republican Convention to the financial situation in Spain, everything that happens in the world has a ripple effect that eventually reaches us, even if we are in the middle of the Oklahoma prairie. Our families and friends are scattered everywhere and thanks to the internet and other options we are in regular communication with them. Gone are the days when a move to another state or country meant hearing from them once or twice a year at best. And most of us know someone who knows someone who cares deeply about something that is in the news this week. Half the people I know have friends or relatives in the path of the storm. Paul Ryan’s wife has family and connections to our area. And we all know that the finances of every other state and country eventually affect our own, so we should be paying attention to what is happening in Spain. (Besides, we could just substitute California towns in the report and it would read the same.)

Sometimes the evening news makes me dizzy! There is so much happening out there. And although much of it will impact my life, there is absolutely nothing I can do to change it. That can be painfully disturbing, but it doesn’t excuse me from accepting my responsibility as a citizen of the world. There are changes I can make in my own little world and there are changes you can make in yours. The things we do may seem small but the ripple affect works both ways. Our actions can expand exponentially, so we must do our best to stay informed, voice our opinions, vote, contribute to our communities, care for others, and pray. 

Looking to the Future

Last night voters passed a bond issue that will allow our little school to build a much-needed new gym and four more classrooms. I am so happy that residents of our community seriously considered the needs of the next generation and were willing to make a small sacrifice to improve our school. Bonds in other communities were not supported and those schools will have to suffer the consequences.

Here at home we are very excited about a project being completed downtown. The Town Restoration Association of Caddo raised enough money to remodel the public pavilion. I plan to photograph it today and post some photos soon. Other remodeling and beautification projects are in the works and will be announced soon.

We should all be spending the next few months making sure we know the facts about our presidential candidates. I know that it is always difficult to glean any actual facts, since each candidate seems to focus on demeaning the other fellow instead of clearly delineating their own plans. I’ll be honest and tell you I’m not pleased with either of our choices this year and I wish we had more options! I guess this year it will be the “lesser of two evils”. I miss the days when I was naïve enough to think that the president was a superior human being. I didn’t realize when I was a young voter that the election is really a game and whoever has the most money and political power wins!

BTW, does anyone else find it demeaning for the first lady to be on late night television? Just asking….

The future for many folks will seem dark this morning as they clean up after the wild weather. I hope they are encouraged by the assistance already being offered by several nearby states. The rest of us can certainly pray and be alert for opportunities to contribute what we can. We’re all hopeful that our future will include health, happiness, and prosperity.

 

Art by any means...

In some of the larger high schools it is not uncommon to be told that your first choice of a class is full and you must take the class at another time, take another class, or take one that is similar to your choice. So it wasn’t a surprise when I was told that one of my granddaughter’s friends was placed in a “digital graphics” class instead of the painting class she requested. However, I hardly think the two are interchangeable, or even that similar. I feel sad for her. She will miss the experience of mixing paint, smelling it, and stroking it across a blank canvass. I hope that sometime in the future she gets to experience the joy of actually painting, not just creating images on a screen.

I let my students paint last week and they loved it! But I was a bit surprised when one of the children looked at the paint and asked, “What do we do with it?” Have we come to the point where children no longer know the purpose of paint? I suggested that he watch his classmates and it didn’t take him more than a few moments to understand what he was supposed to do!

As we place more and more emphasis on academics and technology and testing in education, I hope we do not throw art and music under the bus. I understand there will always be room in our curriculum for sports because I have been told numerous times that games generate money, enthusiasm, and the participation of parents, but it seems that art and music could do the same if given the chance. And I think more students are likely to make a career of art or music than go on to play professional sports.

I offer this photo for you to ponder. It was made by a four-year-old who was in my very first class many years ago. Read that again. Four years old. Obviously talented, and he spent hours each day drawing, drawing, drawing. I let him, and did not burden him with learning the alphabet or counting to ten. He was almost mute with worry and grief. His mother had died shortly before school began and his father was ill (he died shortly after the school year ended).  I like to think that his art provided some comfort for him and an outlet for working through the problems he couldn’t possibly understand. And although I have not kept in touch with him, I hope that art has remained an important part of his life.

There are changes being made in education that will require our children to be better, brighter, and more skilled. I only hope some of those skills are creative ones and that art and music continue to receive time, funding, and respect for the contribution they make to our edification and wellbeing. 

Thoughts for Today

I am so glad we don’t have dire warnings of impending doom to deal with today. I pray for those in the South who do.

I’m happy to have a job I love doing!

I’m blessed to have a great husband.

I’m blessed to have children who are good people.

I’m thankful to be quite healthy for my age. 

I am appreciative of my friends and colleagues who give me so much joy each day!

I am humbled by the privilege and responsibility of teaching kindergarten.

I am grateful that people will have an opportunity tomorrow to decide on improvements for our school.

I am hopeful that this week will be wonderful!

 

The Future of Education

In 1973 Martin Cooper changed the world, although most of us weren’t paying attention at the time. As a newly remarried mom of two, I had other things to do besides marvel at the first public telephone call placed on a cellular phone.

“Following the April 3, 1973, public demonstration, using a brick-like 30-ounce phone, Cooper started the 10-year process of bringing the portable cell phone to market. Motorola introduced the 16-ounce ‘DynaTAC’ phone into commercial service in 1983, with each phone costing the consumer $3,500. It took seven additional years before there were a million subscribers in the United States.”

So began our journey to today where every other person in America has a phone attached to their body and can’t seem to function for more than five minutes without reporting their actions to someone. And while Cooper understood our need for a better way to communicate, unfettered by place or circumstance, I’m sure he could not have foreseen that his invention would also drastically change education and perhaps mark the beginning of the end of the public high school.

I know some of you are already making that face, and if I were in close proximity to you I might even get the little pat on the shoulder that says you understand my limited knowledge and experience and you are willing to wait for me to catch up with the rest of you in the modern world. I’ve already gotten the look a couple of times this week while voicing my opinion of a recent change in cell phone policy for a local high school.

I’m not sure if all of you are aware of it, but there is a definite division in the world over electronic devices. There is the “lived without it this long, don’t want one now” group. There is the “I’ll choose what I like and need” group. And there is the “if it’s new and shiny and my neighbor has one I have to try it” group. Of course we often have very little choice in the matter, even if we are delusional enough to think for a moment that we do. Tried to buy a rotary phone, record, typewriter ribbon, or VHS tape lately? Welcome to the world of antiques. As consumers we are like cows to the slaughter- we just follow the herd through the chute until we are in the truck and there is nowhere else to go.

With this in mind it was no surprise to me to find that there are two camps forming over the use of cell phones in high school. There are teachers like me who think that unlimited use of the devices will have more negative than positive consequences. And there are those who embrace the cell phone as just another tool to add to their rapidly growing kit. Both make some valid points.

I know that many people think of me as old-fashioned and opinionated and stubborn. But thanks to the training I received in the seventeen schools I attended during the dark ages, I also know how to do a little research before forming an opinion. And thanks to the fact that I am not as hopelessly clueless as some of my colleagues might think, I did most of that research online. I also made a couple of phone calls and even talked to some teachers in person- an ancient, but rewarding practice.

Here is what is happening. High schools across America are letting students not only carry their cell phones, but use them in class with the blessings of the teachers and administration. This is what one administrator had to say: “Students are using them. We’d be fools to think that they’re not. They’re ahead of us in the curve, and we need our (curriculum) to reflect what they’re already doing.” Well if that is the logic for allowing their use then I assume that anything a teen is currently using will at some point end up in the classroom.

The idea behind the use of the cell phone in class is that it will generate interest in the lesson, allow students to search for information, and enable the teacher to text questions, schedules, plans, etc. to students. One teacher made the comment that shy students no longer have to speak in class. They can just text their responses to him and no one has to know what they said. An art teacher said that she requires her students to paint from photos taken with their phones. A principal said "We don't have a secretary calling every student who is absent; we just do it through text messaging. There's no more mailing about back-to-school night. We're saving money in paper expenses and stamps, and we're getting immediate responses." Good to know they are in a district where every parent and child can afford a phone! But if they don’t, there is a way out of that dilemma as well- “Most students have a text messaging-enabled cell phone, and if they don't have one, they can easily share.”

"We think school should be preparing students for real life—and in real life, people use cell phones," says blogger Lisa Nielsen. "If you're making an artificial world inside the school, you're not preparing them for the real world."

For the other side of the story I present just a few problems that students, teachers, and administrators have encountered with unlimited use of cell phones. And I know that the intention is not “unlimited” use, but the reality most often is just that. Some of these concerns hadn’t even occurred to me until I researched this topic.

1. Students can use their cell phone camera to take pictures of assignments and tests and email them to classmates and friends. One girl did so during first period and her friend in the last period class made 100% on her test.
2. Camera phones  can and have been used to take locker room and restroom photos, and compromising photos of teachers or other staff members. Photos and videos end up online and are often used for cyber bullying.
3. One of the most annoying daily distractions reported by teachers who have experience with classroom cell phone use is parents texting their students.
4. One survey of 200 principals reports that 94% of them believe teachers are guilty of using their phones for non-educational purposes.  69% feel that the use of cell phones adversely affects the teacher’s focus on the classroom and students. 80% say that cell phones pose a problem during testing.
5. School bus drivers tell of incidents of friends, family members and gang members awaiting the arrival of buses at their afternoon drop-off sites in response to text messages sent by students during conflicts on the buses.
6. Some emergency personnel consider cell phones a problem. During a crisis, such as a school shooting, students need to take direction from adults. School leaders may need to lock down or evacuate the building. And students who are calling or texting on cell phones during a crisis can easily miss life-saving directions. Students can also accelerate rumors on their phones by spreading inaccurate information to parents, other students and the media. One teacher told me of a lock-down situation where there were suddenly so many parents on campus that the authorities could not look for the person posing the threat.
7. Students who are texting, sexting, or playing games on their phones create one more behavior problem that must be dealt with by the teacher. One principal admitted that he knows the problem exists. “Students are only supposed to use them in class under teacher direction. Do they text at different times? I’m sure they do,” he said. But he said he’s going to try not to dwell on the negatives, letting teachers handle students who violate the policy.
8. The use of cell phones in the classroom creates yet another division between the “haves and have nots”. While supporters of the plan say that students can share, the reality is that those in low income households are going to suffer some consequences if their district goes “full technology” based on parental purchasing power. Who is going to get all of those “paperless” notices from the school office if the parents can’t afford a cell phone? Of course it saves the district money if students use cell phones- the district doesn’t have to buy them laptops or PCs.

Clearly the lists of pros and cons could go on and on. But don’t think that any of this will result in a national policy based on logic or experience or consequences. We will simply wake up one day and all educators will be required to use a cell phone because a congressman who knows a lobbyist who knows a teacher says it’s a great teaching tool. Like hobos hopping a train, many in leadership don’t care where the train is going as long as they get to ride.

I said earlier that Mr. Cooper’s invention may have marked the beginning of the end of public high school. I think that is something we should all seriously consider. If high school students can get all of the information they need from their cell phones and teachers can communicate with students via cell phones, then why do we need all these classrooms? Throw in a weekly chat and an occasional power point presentation and everyone could just stay home in their pajamas. Other than sports, there wouldn’t be any reason to go to an expensive school building. No need to pay for utilities and lunches and buses. Teachers could be paid less because they work from home. Parents would be responsible for safety and behavior. Students could do what they want, when they want it. They would be responsible for their own education based on their individual goals in life. Sounds like a win-win situation to me! 

Lazy...

Mrs. Maurer is being lazy today and resting her brain.  

Planning for Retirement

I have mentioned to a few people that “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise” as my grandmother would say, I plan to retire in five years. It isn’t set in concrete and I might change my mind, but my current license expires then. I’ll be 67 and Gary will be 73. We’ll both be a little older and slower. We’d like to spend more time together. So I’ve started thinking about it.

What occupies my thoughts is not how I will survive financially, although that has been a consideration for many years. What I think about the most is what I will do with my time when it is no longer spent teaching. You know I am not a soap opera, Dr. Phil, knitting kind of gal. I need to have a plan for a “useful life”. So I am observing and talking with my friends who started retiring about three years ago and I’m learning lessons from them. Some are substituting at their school or different ones nearby. Some are working at other jobs. Some are going to school to learn new things and achieve personal goals.  Some have started businesses. Some are helping their children by caring for their grandchildren. Some are doing more work for their church. Some are doing things put off for years- traveling, crafts, painting. Most are trying to find a balance between generating a modest supplemental income and having a much more flexible schedule than they did while teaching. Sounds good to me!

You know I have some very specific areas of interest: writing, photography, genealogy, gardening. I think I might be able to generate some income from writing or genealogy. I minored in art and would love to take some painting classes. I’d like to improve my photography skills. Tutoring individual students appeals to me. So…some things to think about for the next few years. It might seem early, but time really does fly when you are having fun, or planning ahead for it!! 

Just Thinkin'

It occurred to me recently that I was given a gift as a child that very few members of younger generations received and even fewer members of the generations yet to be will ever get.

I often thought as a child, and especially as a teenager, that my parents mistreated and misunderstood me. They were always making me do two things that interfered with my personal plans and dreams: obey them and work. It’s that last part I resented the most. We were always working, working, working. I suppose it was only the “we” in that statement that justified it and kept me from rebelling. I never felt like I was doing any more work than anyone else in the family.

Most of the work we did was farm work that required a great deal of time and physical effort, but very little thought once the process was understood and practiced.  I went to the fields with my parents as a toddler, started actually working when I was about six, and continued with farm work until I was fourteen and we moved to Caddo. I often spent entire days chopping or picking cotton, cutting grapes, tying vines, loading grape boxes, monitoring irrigation ditches, picking olives, or cutting peaches for drying.

Since I wasn’t using my brain for the aforementioned tasks I occupied my thoughts with dreams and plans and ideas. I spent the hours planning my future life in great detail. I worked out just how I would operate a zoo. I planned a huge horse ranch. I designed my castle. I imagined the kind of parent I would be when I had a dozen children, mostly girls. And I worked out problems. I tried to figure out why my grandfather (an alcoholic) and my grandmother didn’t get along. I pondered why one of my friends wasn’t as nice and kind as another one. I wondered why some of my friends didn’t like school. An endless parade of thoughts and ideas kept me occupied until the end of the next row, the completion of the next task, or the end of the work day.

And work didn’t stop once we got home. There was always cooking, cleaning, and ironing to be done. I did SO much thinking while I ironed. It wasn’t unusual to spend a whole Saturday morning ironing! Or two hours shelling peas. Or an hour mopping floors (we never had carpets). Lots more thinking time.

So it occurred to me recently that many younger people didn’t and don’t have any thinking, planning, dreaming time as children.  Few do any kind of work. Few have any free time that isn’t spent in front of a television or other electronic babysitter. And those that do are often occupied by sports, lessons, and other group activities. Few spend any extended time doing something mundane or repetitive.  After all, they might get bored. People say that to me as though boredom were a disease!

I overheard a woman talking with a friend in front of the post office who made the comment that her daughter had to do much of her homework in the car on the trip between home and ball practice. I doubt that results in any quality thinking time. I’ve observed several young people working or shopping while plugged into some device that is blaring music in their ears. One person out of five seems to have a phone permanently attached to the side of their head. People listen to music in their cars and sometimes it is so loud I can hear it in mine. Everyone around me seems to be engaged in some sort of distraction every moment of the day. When does anyone have time to think, ponder, contemplate, dream, analyze, reflect, consider, muse, or plan??

I’m not saying we should return to the days of child labor, or ban labor-saving devices from our homes, or eliminate entertainment. But I question whether we have gone too far in filling every waking moment with action and excitement and busyness. Our brains need a little time for some old fashioned thinking. 

Mean Mrs. Maurer

One of the little girls at my colleague’s lunch table raised her hand and since I was closest to her I asked her what she needed.  She point to her right and said, “She says you’re mean.” I just smiled and said, “Well, people are wrong all the time.”

I know my reputation with some of the children and parents who do not know me- Mean Mrs. Maurer. Sort of rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? I understand the reasons behind the label. I have a deep stern voice. I’m old and set in my ways. I insist on good behavior. I teach personal responsibility. I operate a very structured classroom. I’m often blunt and “matter-of-fact”. I don’t do “cutesy”. I don’t beg or cajole or bribe; I just expect. And my students know from day one that I expect them to “look, listen, learn”, give me their best behavior, and do their best work. It’s part of our class creed that we read each and every day.

I am a smart child and I like being me.

 

I am proud to be a kindergartner in

Mrs. Maurer’s class.

 

Each day I will be respectful to myself

and others.

 

I will try my hardest to be the best

that I can be.

 

I will succeed.

 

The ironic thing is that most students-even shy ones, bossy ones, and defiant ones- respond to my mean ways and by the third week we are laughing and hugging and having a great time. None of my students fear me. Perhaps they are fearful of misbehaving or of disappointing me, but not fearful of me personally. I was told this year that one of my students might not talk to me because she is so shy. She comes up to my desk and chatters all the time! We have already shared some great stories. And a boy who has the potential to be a behavior problem has already calmed down and settled into our routine. Children are much smarter than we sometimes assume and they are quick judges of character. They appreciate consistency. They thrive on routine and structure because it allows them to know what is going on and predict the outcomes of their actions.

 

 I love children. I love their honesty, their creativity, and their exuberance. And I love the challenge of teaching them. I have been bitten, hit, kicked, defied, cursed, and yelled at by children, but I have never responded in kind. I’ve never hurt a child because I’m the adult: I’m the role model. Yes, I can be loud; my whole family is loud. I can be stern; I’m a mother and grandmother and I don’t back down easily. But mean? I don’t think so. 

Celebrating the ordinary...

Sometimes I wonder if other people find my life boring. I tend to do the same things each day and week and month. I’m not very exciting and neither is my life. But I find the steady predictable routine of it to be comforting and it gives me the ability to face the challenges that occasionally come my way. I grew up in a household filled with drama and a little too much excitement at times. My childhood was filled with changes and transitions and uncertainty. And I’ve experienced my share of tragedy and disappointments. So the “ordinary” is something I often celebrate.

I found myself doing just that last night as I made my rounds in the yard. I fill the bird feeders and put out food and water for the raccoons each evening before walking around with the camera for a bit. Sometimes I wish for something “new and exciting” to appear so I can share it with you. But last night as I enjoyed the view I was just thankful for the peace and calm of the ordinary and predictable. I found myself celebrating the mundane daily happenings here on the hill: The bunnies scamper into the yard just minutes after I put out their food. The horse wanders up to graze near the fence. The cows begin their journey to their sleeping area. The birds start chirping at me to leave so they can eat in peace. The hummingbirds swoop around me and fight over their dinner. The grasshoppers chomp defiantly on my beautiful flowers. Life is good…even when it isn’t exciting.