The Road to 65, Miles 339-40: Effervescence

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on November 4, 2015 in children, collaborating, Education

November 2-3, 2015, Chino Valley

Although this deals with two days, I will be succinct. I feel several changes welling up within me, all of them good. Some are in reaction to a couple of friends distancing themselves further. Others have to do with my current working environment: An odd mix of laid-back, mixed with urgency; innovation, blended with the religious conservative’s passion for order. I am in a good place here, among some very effervescent people, both children and adults.

The tendency of my eight-and-nine-year olds is to chat, almost incessantly if I were to let them. Creative work comes second to chatting: The drawings and the storytelling would be captivating, even to me, were I not after a bigger kettle of fish. Third grade is a year that has been singled out by the powers that be, as a year that should see measurable intellectual growth.

I believe such growth is happening. It is obscured by three forces: Immaturity, which will pass; self-unconfidence, which will dissipate, with a measure of specific praise; and the rudiments of questioning authority, which should only, in my view, be strengthened, and channeled. “Why, why, why?” states the sign on the upper wall.

We may be able to measure a child’s growth with standardized tests, but the measures will be limited. Howard Gardner admonished us, long ago now, about recognizing, and honouring, each person’s specific intelligence type. Gardner was working with populations of Gen-X’ers. Since his initial research on Multiple Intelligences, more work has been done, with Millennials, and now members of “Generation Z”. Where he identified five main types of intelligence, many now recognize twelve types. As we become better-versed in Brain Research, more Intel-types might be parsed.

I am glad to be back in the game, and will remain, whether my role is a “temporary guest teacher” or as more permanent staff.

The Road to 65, Mile 336: Testing

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on November 2, 2015 in children, Inspiration, Matters of Faith

October 30, 2015, Phoenix- I came down here, shortly after finishing my laundry. The first order of business was picking up a list of requirements for me to at long last secure an Elementary Teaching Certificate. I have several other credentials: Secondary Teaching, Guidance Counselor and Principal. Now, towards the final phase of my career, it is high time to complete the circle.

I will need to take three 11/2 hour exams, hopefully on a Saturday, which means heading up to Flagstaff, since Yavapai College, in Prescott, only offers tests when I am working. Flag is a pleasant spot, and I can head up there on a Friday night, after whatever I am doing is finished.

Anyway, afterward, I spent some time with Aram and his good friend, in north central Phoenix, basically getting updates on various matters, and setting tentative plans for next week. It’ll be good to have him in Prescott, for whatever fleeting time I can spend with him after work, and then, there will be Thanksgiving weekend, when we can both relax.

Tonight was another bit of “old home week”, as I joined a few friends on the west side of the Metro Area, at a house which Penny and I frequented, once a month, for nearly five years. The family is one whose children I also watched grow into adulthood; the youngest will graduate high school in May. Some find this a “test”. I find the attainment of adulthood, by those whose births and childhoods I have witnessed, a supreme confirmation. They will do well, these Millennials, and so will the next generation, coming right behind them. Isn’t this part of the wonder of humanity?

I ponder much, in my modest little room, at the Travel inn.

The Road to 65, Mile 335: Sound and Fury

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 30, 2015 in children, Education

October 29, 2015, Chino Valley- The child’s piercing shriek rattled few nerves this afternoon, coming as it did in counterpoint to the pounding rain and hail that visited our school’s roofs. Her plaint was due to the toppling of some cans of food that she had carefully stacked, in the back of our room, when her classmates went back there to place their Scholastic News copies in their mailboxes. (We are collecting donations for the needy.)

The girl’s disability leads to these sorts of incidents, on occasion. On a more regular basis, the innocence and lack of life experience of my eight-and-nine-year-olds bring into play the sorts of events that remind me why I stick with this enterprise called education. There are many moments of delight and small victory. There are many moments of hair-pulling (figuratively speaking) and exasperation. It’s a lot like parenting, or marriage, in that regard.

I had only a few tasks which I needed the kids to finish. At one point I had to raise my voice, for only the second time in three weeks, when their personal concerns of the moment got in the way of schooling. I don’t enjoy that part of the deal, and so I keep the roar relatively dull, and infrequent. Nature’s roar, though, was a lot more discomfiting to the children, being less predictable and far less sensitive to little hearts and minds.

In the end, the rain subsided enough for me to get the kids to their parents (We have no school bus driver, and therefore, all students are met by at least one adult family member.) The disabled child was wrapped in her mother’s arms, and another girl, who had gone on a small group field trip, proudly showed me the 20-pound pumpkin she had won.

Tomorrow, I will visit the Arizona Department of Education, in Phoenix, and if my son’s plans coincide, I may stay down there, as a Halloween party is on tap there, on Saturday night. The sound and fury of this afternoon will have moved on, to New Mexico and Colorado, then to the Mississippi Valley, in time for some frightful scenes on All Hallows Eve.

The Road to 65, Mile 334: Independence

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on October 30, 2015 in Assistance, children, Education, Inner Struggles, Personal Values

October 28, 2015, Chino Valley- We have reached the point where whatever might have passed for a “honeymoon”, between my present school and me, has dissipated. This is not a bad thing. It means only that my stated mission, to safeguard the well-being of twenty-one children, while challenging them, academically and socially, is more on my shoulders than it is prescribed by those above me.

Administration has its place, and it is a vital place, indeed. Teamwork is also vital. Yet, at the end of the day, it is what a teacher can accomplish, when everyone else around him or her is either indisposed or overwhelmed, that makes the difference in the life of a learner. It is easy for a child to love and admire a teacher who is ever congenial and accommodating. The rub comes when the docent holds the bar higher.

I have to raise my bar a bit higher, day by day. I see things coming, that must be faced, and solved, by the now mostly adult Millennials, and by the emerging Generation Z, who include all the children I have taught for the last five years, and all whom I will teach, for the next five. They have a lot of innate wisdom, but they also face many of the same conflicts and growth challenges that we all faced in childhood and adolescence. In addition, all the failures of those of us before them will lie at their feet- just as those of our forebears cast shadows on our tenure as the generation of leadership.

I seek to foster independence, but not swagger, bravado and insolence, about which more tomorrow.