MCC Friday Reflections

The conversations were few and far between.  They consisted of very minimal information.  I often wonder what it was like in Germany during the rise of Hitler.  My mother was there. She witnessed the events. She told me what she felt she wanted me to know.  My 3-year old daughter was taking a bath one evening and I sat on the small stool, watching her play in the tub.  She has waterproof crayons that allow her to draw on the tub walls without leaving much of a mark.  She was facing me and I couldn't see what she was drawing; I could only see her from the shoulders up--her face in plain view.  She was intent on focusing on her picture.  Her eyes wandered from side to side as she drew and her mouth moved as if it were helping her hands.  Every once in a while she would lean back a bit to inspect her work then tilt her head forward as she drew herself closer to the drawing...intensifying her intent.   She looked like...

To Touch the Future... My students struggled this week with working in groups.  They found themselves raising their voices, disrespecting one another, arguing, and trying to out-speak each other.  The task at hand was lost in the confusion. During one cooperative group time I decided to stop the activity altogether and gather my students back as a class.  We discussed the dilemma that faced them.  We came up with a plan for them to follow in order to complete their task while working together, peacefully. We practiced.  We practiced listening to one another. We practiced using whisper voices and above all, we practiced respecting our task, the process, each other, and ourselves. Toward the end of the week they were once again put into groups to work on a task.  This time it involved math.  Any adult in the room was simply there to facilitate the process of them working together effectively and peacefully.   They ...

Birds of a feather... It has been said that if you want to understand what is going on with the environment, watch the birds.  They will form groups, they will stake out safe places, they will leave suddenly when danger is present, they will quiet themselves in anticipation of a storm, and sing joyously when the weather is pleasant.  They will fly in large groups of their own kind yet each one has their own space.  Of their own kind...we see this in birds--and it is also part of our human experience.  We, quite naturally, seek out people with whom we have things in common.  It helps us feel secure in who we are, it affirms our beliefs and actions.  The beautiful aspect about being human, however, is our ability to seek out those who are different from us.  We have the choice to align ourselves with whomever we choose. As a teacher I see children "flying" with those who are most like them.  It is part of what they do in order to define themsel...

Experiences...   The room was filled with voices, laughter, and tears. The young woman opened gift after gift, relishing in the delight of a set of new experiences awaiting her; marriage. Each gift she unveiled was brought up to the view of all, and the voices echoed in the room. I fell back into the memory of my experience while my wife and I were engaged. Ours was an experience rich with love, laughter and echoes of friends as well. Each time my co-worker raised a gift for all to see, I could tell she was closer to her day, closer to her new life, closer to the experience she has chosen. I know she will delight in it. A student of mine worked tirelessly on a math question. It asked her to multiply a 'positive' number by a 'negative' number. She had no experience with this type of problem. She asked for help. I wanted to tell how to work out this kind of problem but instead, I asked her to draw on her experiences with multiplication. I asked her to think about what mul...

Join Us...   Our 8-month old lay crying in her crib in the middle of the night.  It's her time to learn how to soothe herself back to sleep.  Our 3 year-old (who shares a room with the baby) and our 2 year-old, lay in bed with us.  We are all listening to the baby cry. I wanted to go into her room and have her join us.  I felt incomplete without her and I thought she might feel lonely--especially if she knew we were all in mommy and daddy's room.  She stopped crying and fell back asleep...she was learning. And so it goes...that feeling of wanting someone to join you.  In essence, that's what we do as parents and as teachers.  We wait for our children to join us.   My students approach me daily with questions relevant to what we're studying.  They also inquire about life and how things work, or why things are the way they are.  They are attempting to "join us"; to figure out how to fit into the adult world and...

In Sync... The art of teaching often asks the teacher to understand the students.  To understand the place in life that each student finds him or herself.  Occasionally, it is asked of the student to understand the teacher.  Albeit, this is much more difficult for the student for their simple lack of life experience.  My role as a teacher offers me several opportunities to explore who I am as a person.  Opportunities to help the younger generation find ways to learn, accept, understand and cope.  To do this I must stay in sync with my students and help them to stay in sync with me. My wife and I like to keep busy.  It seems as though we move from one life event to another with lightning speed.  We do, however, take time to "stop and smell the roses".  It is in this stopping that we find we must sync with each other.  It's important. It's necessary.  It is who we are. Children need time to sync with those who are most importa...

You Said...Stick and Stones~~ All too often we hear the old saying "sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me".  While there is some truth to that saying it only holds the weight of it's claim to the degree that one is able ignore what others may say. Even then...the words have been uttered & heard and the sub-conscious knows it. Written words also hold power over us; for the "pen is mightier than the sword" as the saying goes.  It stands true that the written word can elicit emotions, spur agreements, fuel disagreements, be misunderstood, and repair broken relationships.  The written word is quite powerful. As I have been writing my Friday Reflections, I have been told that my writing "touches" many.  I often wonder if I stir up emotions that may have been deeply buried.  I wonder if I give the words to some that they may not have be able to find otherwise.  I wonder if I my words are ever misunderstoo...