Why do I teach?

I was asked again today just why I choose teaching as a career. I cannot seem to go at that concisely, so here's the long-play version...

I like teaching. I told classes this week that I truly aspire to be a coach, rather than a teacher, for that seems to me more hands-on, more motivational, and more helpful in terms of skill building. I think of myself more as a facilitator of energy and optimism and language than I do as a conveyor of content. (At least, that's how I'd like to be seen, and how I see myself.)

I choose the Community College for many reasons, but overall, I feel I can be most helpful here. I know what it's like teaching at the University, for I did that for 5 years. Here, at least from my limited perspective, I am able to do more good, and that's what gives me my juice. The community college is more democratic, welcoming everyone with open arms rather than throwing up GPA or $ thresholds. The community college is, and this is key, IN the community, into community, enhancing and building on community. Beautiful synergy when it works.

I think most students (regardless of school) need a shot in the arm of enthusiasm and positive attitude. I am constantly impressed with their creative genius; they too often just fail to see it w/n themselves. That, to me, is what it's all about, inspiring that can-do attitude when it comes to writing.

When I was a kid we played Careers, a game (you guessed it) about employment. There were 3 veins of stuff to keep track of: fame, money and heart. The teaching track, just like real life, was heavy on heart, but not-so-much on the other two. That's just fine with me. I'm not in it for the cash. More important than the money, I have found free time, I've gotten myself a life, in the last few years. Before, I poo-poohed the vacation time, the flexible hours, etc. NOW, I crave every minute of time I can muster, and this job affords me a fair shake.

I am very content at the community college level and I feel that this level of education is going to become more appreciated as time goes by. It is localized, democratic, and user-friendly. It is the place for me.

*Brilliant*
Taylor Mali on "What teacher's make..."

Aspiring Pirate Playhouse Artist

Aye! That's me.

I've been surfing the net for two years and have found no better model than Daniel's Wood Land, Inc.

I so wish I could afford one of their ships, but I'll have to make my own. My boys and I have been scheming and drafting for some time now, and I hope to begin construction this fall. (Hey, I built an entire haunted house, I don't think this will really be that challenging!)

I have very lofty ambition but little resources. I do have trees, and that's a start. I'm hoping to make it something like the Swiss Family Robinson tree house at WDW (or better).

It will likely not be finished before my boys turn into men.

Dentists and Teachers

I heard this on the radio and have been giving it some serious thought...are teachers (traditional content-driven/delivery type teachers) a good deal like a dentists, free to harangue all they wish to a captive audience?

My dentist tries to establish rapport and maintain dialogue, even when my mouth is full of tools. I find that a bit disturbing.

I know some dentists really do just carry on a monologue the entire time they are working over patients. Typically, the patient has no opportunity to interject or interact. It's a one-way communication.

I sure hope my teaching is nothing like that.

Throw Deep

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather than my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."
--Jack London

Someone once asked former NFL quarterback, Kenny Stabler what London's quote meant to him. He replied, "Throw deep!"

I used to cite that London quote when justifying being a workaholic. I frowned with disdain at folks who gave time to anything but community service/volunteering, saying they were selfish and squandering time. That was the old me, the deluded me. Now I know that time has to be BALANCED over many venues including spirit, family, freetime, service, work, etc.

Nonetheless, I am leaning toward something as graceful and compact for my vision statement as Stabler's reply.

As I understand it, to be a quarterback who is willing to throw deep is to be one who is a risk taker. For one, the defense is gunning for him and to throw deep takes a good deal of time, waiting for a receiver to get there, etc. To throw deep also requires more skill, and it also is risky for all the factors of passing are magnified with distance thrown. When such a pass is successful, it is a thing of beauty, awe-inspiring. It is often done when there's little to lose. It is the kind of move that can be mistaken for showboating, but it can also be the record-breaking, game-winning play.

I'm still analyzing it, but "Throw Deep" seems to be a pretty good, if not all-encompassing, vision. Feedback welcome.

Man's Surprising Laugh (video)

Man’s surprising laugh

Posted using ShareThis

I was led to this last summer, and I still call it up whenever I need a good "yuck yuck" (like after a long day of lecture or grading). Once in a while, I will encounter someone with a distinctive laugh like this, for I listen for odd laughs at movies, comedy clubs, etc. Enjoy!

I'm seeking a Vision

So, last week we had a video warm up at in-service, something produced by National Geographic (at least it featured a photographer from NG, Dewitt (what a terrible name to grow up with) Jones. It was titled, "Celebrate What's Right with the World," and in a nutshell, that's what Mr. Jones had adopted as his personal motto or vision for life.

I've mentioned it before, yet I've yet to do anything about it. I have no vision. I suppose a guiding maxim for my life might be: do unto others...but that lacks direction.

In the shower I thought one up: "Be where you care to be, and be all there." Mr. Jones challenged us to limit our vision to six (6) words, so I've got some work to do if I stick with that. I like my working-vision, for it suggests that one would consciously and conscientiously choose where to be, then choose to be wholly in the then and there, that is, in-the-moment. Too often my mind is racing forward and back, replaying songs I like, going to my happy place...but if I can "be all there" then I might be 100% attentive, making more of the time.

I have a terrible time w/remembering exact detail unless I write it down, for I don't think I've got to lug it around in my head if I can just find it in writing somewhere (or a playlist, DVD collection, etc). My head is full of sub-routines of "things I like" rather than "must-remembers" or even trivialities I need to remember (like, say, my own phone number or where I parked).

MAYBE if I adopted the working-vision above--what was that again...oh, yeah...anyway, if I did, maybe I'd be more focused, like a Jedi or someone.

I continue on my vision quest, requesting any leads, input, criticism, etc. anyone might offer. Comment here!

Dead Still

Apologies to animal lovers of all sorts. I made an error in judgment.

We have a fire escape / climb-out window-well in our basement, and it has hosted cats, snakes, assorted insects, and lately (with all this moisture) frogs.

In fact, there was a frog family, if I'm not mistaken, living in that window-well. Three young ones grew from the size of my finger tip to a bit larger than my thumb--and it seemed to happen in just a week! Before I knew it, I could hear them jumping at the window, then sliding down. I could see them jumping two and three feet high, then gravity would bring them back to the window-well.

Well...

Eventually there was only one frog left, and it grew something like three-times the size of my thumb or more. One day last week I noted it was sitting in the corner, looking toward us at the window. I showed my boys. Then, a few days later, I spotted it there again, this time at night, and I shined the flashlight on it so the boys could again see the frog. They were thrilled.

...but a couple days ago, it seemed strange the frog was STILL in the same spot. It died in that spot, my wife suspects, for now it is being consumed by the very insects it would have eaten.

From my vantage point, it seems like that frog just sat to death. (I've seen students do this, and I'll have my hand (seat?) at it this week for in-service, too!) I have some ideas on what happened.

The frog was not as athletic as its two brothers and when it could not jump out as they must have done, it gave up. Complete lethargy. Resignation. "Just let the bugs eat me."

Maybe, the frog was a reincarnation of someone who was so overwrought with longing for life inside our basement that s/he just sat there aching for it, and ultimately ached to death.

Or...the frog was just waiting until that perfect moment, the absolute culmination of sun, moon, moisture and wind that would have made the escape jump perfect.

It may be the frog was brain damaged in an attempted escape jump and just could not get it back together.

Or maybe it was just a very lazy frog.

Anyway, now I have to explain it to my kids and shovel it up...unless I make it an object lesson in natural order, decomposition and all that "rot."

What is beauty?

I've been working over my course contents and remembered teaching the concept definition paper when I taught Comp 1...and I've been studying digital enhancement of models and body image in advertising lately for Comp 2 preparation...altogether, it's led me to this.

Today, it seems beauty is some artifice no one can achieve. It's a painted, flawless, china doll (though much thinner) airbrushed rendition of humanity. In many ways, it's becoming androgynous, and it seems to be encompassing older generations than it did just a few years back. (This last item, doubtless, due to the consumption potentials of the baby boomers--would not want to count them out with too much focus on youth.)

I'm no expert, but it seems beauty changes with the seasons. Not all that long ago, it was big hair (Farrah Fawcett Majors, for example). Trends seem to be heading toward the skeletal skinny and the immorally young for so much advertising. (I hear a rumor that Miley Cyrus was propositioned to endorse a condom company.)

I'm just musing here, but what if culture really adopted the "young look." We've all seen older people dressed "too young," but what if everyone did. We'd all be wearing action hero clothes and Care Bear lunchboxes would be IN.

I would not doubt that trends may take us there, to where every possible measure to look young, like pre-teen young, could be the order of the day. As cosmetic science advances one nip/tuck at a time, who can predict the end of it? We'd all be lusty pedophiles, though the object of our lust would be mature men/women.

I'm not done with this train of thought, but I'm fresh out of time.

Visual Thesaurus!

I was using this tool back when it was an idea, when it was in beta. I've been subscribed to Thinkmap's Visual Thesaurus for some time now, and I employ it in classes, in creative writing, and sometimes I just poke it for fun. iGoogle has made it a widget or gadget option (for free) these days, and I've introduced hundreds of people to it there.

The beauty of the visual thesaurus is that it "mind maps" words and their relationships. This is excellent for me, for it's how I think and how I learn. (Yes, I was a big fan of sentence diagramming, too, though no one else seems to have shared my zeal.)



I hope that some folks find it to be as useful as I do. (I have even downloaded an interactive version of it to my word processor.) From now on, it will be part of my header at MusementPark, for the utility of my readership.

A Romp on my Land

At long last, after over two (2) years of living there, I've finally found an expert who is willing to help me learn what's on my land: Bob Broyles, steward of Birds, Bees and Butterflies Nursery. I'm especially excited, for he is a xeriscaper, a naturalist, and shares my love for native plants and places (like the Konza Prairie). This past weekend we spent three hours roaming the property, taking pictures (forthcoming) and identifying flora. I learned a great deal, and I have ever-more appreciation for the land I'm on.

For great pictures of Kansas prairie, check out Judd Patterson's work.

FreeCycling

Outside Looking In: Freecycling

Bulletin boards are a dying breed. Once a powerful information outlet and community builder, they are becoming harder to find, like the public pay phone. One can still spot them in the occasional café, locally owned grocery, laundry, or mechanic’s garage, but they are not the ubiquitous resource they once were. The bane of corporate greed, bulletin boards offered free advertising of cheap, bartered, even free goods and services. They were free to use, unregulated, and often amusing. The cork was not judgmental, supporting both religious tracts and “For a Good Time, call…” promotionals. Some ads were simply business cards, while others were elaborately hand-crafted works of art that should have been canonized and catalogued. Creative spelling and poor penmanship could be found pinned next to crisp photocopied mass-production promos. There was no limit to the stuff of free enterprise. Imagine how many relationships were spawned by the bulletin board…what labor was bartered for a motor boat…millions of kittens given away…

Though they have not seemed to take note of the bulletin board, sociologists have noted the decline of civic groups, porch sitters and pay phones. They blame this ever-increasingly insular society on our economic boom, on air conditioning, and on television. Among the theorists, Robert Putnam, who penned the memorable “Bowling Alone” develops a convincing thesis along those lines. After the great wars, men returned needing a sense of camaraderie, and that was filled in part by civic organizations, bowling alleys and houses of worship. The economy was booming, and developments sprung up everywhere, like weeds, to accommodate the returning service men and to create a new lifestyle, the suburb, the bedroom community, etc. Houses were set in neighborhoods with designed traffic ways, with fewer sidewalks, with gates. They were often built with little or no porch to sit on, for with the advent of television and air conditioning, people retreated indoors.

Other advances have also affected our culture, like fast food which has soured digestion and dinner conversation. Cell phones have all-but-trumped the pay phone. And the Internet—well, the Internet gets kicked around like the Anti-Christ, blamed for just about every social illness. Altogether its built a curious climate in which a teenager may not know anyone else in their cul de sac, but s/he has “friended” over 234 people in social networks online. One may be able to pull down on a city from satellite imaging to even see faces and storefronts, yet not be able to find Ash St. with both hands.

Common sense has gone digital and sense of community will wink out with the power some day. The vestiges of bygone days, bulletin boards and real coffee shops—all but gone. Alas, it seems today only a small inner circle of folk know where to find and how to use a bulletin board. Our circle of community shrinks, our numbers dwindle, and our sphere of influence is smaller than a grapefruit.

I would offer, however, that not all hope is lost. My regular readership knows of my adoration of the Internet, and yes, yet again I would offer that one way to recapture that fleeting sense of community might well-be online. An electronic bulletin board is no substitute for a tangible one, but it might foster friendship, might muster commonalities if not true communities, and maybe, just maybe, something really good could come of all that. Fact is, I could rattle off a dozen web sites that speak to my interests and share freely, from gardening to parenting. I have bookmarked, saved, printed, so many great places to go over the years! Recently, in my mining of the world wide web, I found a small vein of gold that is worth sharing here: free-recyling.

The Free-recycling--or freecycling--movement has grown since the launch of The Freecycle Network in 2003. There are more than 4,000 Freecycle communities reporting some 3.5 million members. The concept is simple, that one man’s trash is another’s treasure. The mission statement of www.freecycle.org reads: “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

Freecyle.org issued a press release that claims they are growing at the rate of over 20,000 new members each and every week. “The Freecycle Network has grown to encompass over 4,000 cities from Adelaide to Istanbul, in over 75 countries.” It goes on to report that freecycling, “enables individuals to gift items in their local communities rather than to throw them away, thus keeping over 300 tons out of landfills daily.”

I’m all about saving landfill space. My wife insists that must be my personal mission; I hear her grumble that every time we sort through our garage sale and storage debris. I am also enthusiastic about bargains, and nothing is cheaper than free! Above all, I find giving to be very rewarding emotionally, churning out good karma by the bucket load.

I like to think of it more as cyber curbside than a cyber swap meet, for there are no strings attached. That’s a fundamental of all freecycling, free sharing, etc. If someone responds to your post offering your old deep freeze, they do not have to swap something in return, no chores, no cash. They don’t have to bring anything to the transaction (well, if they’re fetching your deep freeze, they’d need a dolly and a pickup).

All the usual concerns apply to free-cycling over the Internet, including stalkers, scammers, and con artists. One cannot go trotting out into cyberspace without always being vigilant and mindful of such things, sorry to say. There are a number of rules and regulations in the self-governing community of free-cyclers that help control greedy antique dealers from just sucking the teat of karma dry. One generally unwritten principle of the movement is that one would not simply lurk on the board and grab stuff up, but that all members would also give.

In many ways, free-cycling offers nothing new. I’ve been dumpster diving since I was in college. I still brake when driving by a pile of promising junk that’s set curbside for trash collection. I went through an e-bay phase, and I’m a life-long garage sale junkie. I think I’ll get a tattoo of “One Man’s Trash…” Hand-me-downs abound in large families, and parents have passed down their cast offs since we were Neanderthals.

Even though it’s not new, it broadens horizons. Maybe no one in your family wants your old 19 foot fiberglass boat hull. Maybe you’ve left your tall metal rooster vase curb-side for three weeks, and no one has taken it yet. You need a bigger community, a broader sphere of influence. Bulletin boards broaden your reach to the whole literate world, but only if they come by your board and read it. At a free-cycling site, people are eagerly reading. In the Wichita area, one of our local groups has 7,388 members.

Here’s an added bonus of Freecycling: You’ve had a hankering for some Slim Whitman LP’s, but no one you know has anything like it to give you, even if you were to ask. Freecycling allows you to post requests for those things you may be wanting as well as those you are wanting to be rid of.

I’ve seen all the above and much more posted on the free-cycling sites just in the last week. I’ve even gotten a fine couch through freecyling for my nieces who just moved out on their own. I’ve read of hot tubs, lap-tops, and baseball cards, of cloth diapers and entire garage sale leftovers—all posted by like-minded people who want to unload the old, declutter their homes, and make someone else’s day. Best of all, it’s entirely free, from membership to posting to pickups. Check it out!

Back In Black

Well, it's been a while...it has been quite a little while...I will now have to rebuild my readership, rethink my privacy, and overall, recondition myself and this blog.

I believe I will do more musing, less reporting. I will, of course, enjoy a readership, but I will not so worry about what they may think of my mind as I share it.

That said, and out of sheer laziness (well, it IS still summer, you know) I will share a recent column I wrote on distance learning. To wit:

August is the month many of us will return to school. The cusp of autumn, this time of year brings back so very many memories. When I visit elementary schools, the smell of freshly waxed floors, of aprons and tempra paint, the cafeteria—it all comes back to me. I would get new school clothes: two pair of Tough Skin Jeans and a couple shirts, maybe even shoes. I would get fantastic school supplies. (I still marvel when I visit that aisle this time of year).

Those early years I attended the school of hard knocks, learning my place on the school bus, finding my niche on the playground. I got into (and lost) my first fight in kindergarten, while waiting for Thad Coffindaffer’s mom to pick us up at the carpool drop. (I had called Wade Dodson a Potty-pot-pot, so he pounded out retribution with my head and the pavement.)

As I grew up, I was likely the only kid greatly relieved summer was over, for I could get off the tractor, stretch my legs, and wear clean clothes. It was fall, and high time to go chum around with friends. When it was time for college, I can vividly remember my parents dropping me off—the car careening wildly away, tires screeching, as my last bag fell from the luggage rack.

My kid starts school this year, but he won’t need school clothes, and he won’t be waiting for the bus. He won’t have to rush around in the morning, and he’ll never be bored by Charlie Brown’s teacher droning on and on. He won’t be mainstreamed or blended or held back or labeled. My kid’s going to go to school, virtually.

Home schooling was an intimidating prospect for us, but it was something we were exploring four years ago. When our boy was 13 months, he was singing the chorus of the funk classic, Brick House. At 18 months, he had a vocabulary of over 200 words. We felt we should do all we could for him, but we found much of the home school curricular content to be of a particularly religious bent, too pricey, or too disorganized.

Rather than running helter-skelter to round up stray content components, we began seeking out a packaged program, and we feel confident we have settled on the very best, K-12. From their website: “K12 Inc., an education company based in McLean, VA, is a leading provider of high quality curricula and learning programs. K12 has created a nationally acclaimed learning program which includes thousands of lessons in traditional subjects, academic assessments, and planning and progress tools delivered through the innovative and powerful K12 Online School. The learning program also incorporates many traditional learning materials including books, workbooks, classical stories, K12 PhonicsWorks tile system, math and science supplies, maps, art books and tools, instruments, music CDs, and much more. The K12 curriculum and learning program was developed by a team of education experts using extensive research to identify the best learning methods and materials. More than 20,000 students nationwide are currently using the K12 learning program in a variety of learning environments, including traditional public school classrooms, virtual (online) public schools, and homeschools.”

All of his instructional manipulatives, books, multi-media dropped at our door if not our in-box. He, like every child in the system, will be issued a brand new laptop computer every few years. We were relieved, amazed, and ready to sign up, but we feared our budget could not handle it. What we were very, very surprised to learn was that some school districts have adopted virtual school programming such as this, and that the cost is no more than traditional fees paid at a local school district. We are enrolled through Lawrence Virtual Schools, and when our boy graduates, he will have a bone fide diploma from Lawrence High School.

I am fully aware of other perspectives on home schooling and distance learning. I have taught online for nearly ten years, and I’ve heard it all. In my environment, college, there is question of academic honesty. Who’s to say an online students’ boyfriend didn’t do her math problems for her? There are delivery issues, from slow modems to boring content. There are questions of reaching every student’s learning styles and needs. Over the last ten years, I’ve seen the content improve, the delivery “shells” like ANGEL, WebCT, Blackboard, eCollege, and others come/go and improve. Multi-media content from streaming videos to podcast lectures are becoming more and more accessible to address variations in learning styles. Interaction is amped up by instant messaging, chat rooms, whiteboards, and desktop sharing. Still, sometimes even the best student with the greatest intentions can feel adrift, even in this sea of technological connection. They can feel their relation with their teacher is being strained through the string connecting a two-tin-can telephone.

This is where I find live, human, face-to-face interaction vitally important to the virtual school. In the case of my children, they will have 20% of their content online, but the bulk of it in-hand and shared with parents in the early years. At my college, we are now offering Blended Learning courses, which seem to offer the best of everything. Students will only have to burn gasoline and commuting time ½ as often, doing much of their reading and learning online; they will come to class in live-time for personal interaction, reinforcement, questioning and review.

A major argument against home schooling is one of socialization; it goes something like this: “Aren’t you worried your child won’t get exposed to the way the world is?” That, in turn, is a very good reason to home school, to filter media overwhelm, to combat cultural confusion, and to offer a sounding board for varied other exposures that can be discussed before being coerced by peer pressure. The opposition argues that home schooled kids will not be workforce ready, but very little I have seen in the work force resembles any of the iconic heroism of the playground or physical education class. It is true that sports build character, and our regional home school association offers a complete array of activities, athletics, and field trips that ensure ample interaction with peers and parents.

In this era when so much is available to us to capitalize on, from completing a degree in our pajamas, online, to virtually home schooling the next Abraham Lincoln, I am happy to be where I am at right now, before my keyboard.