Working on a cookbook/diary/survival guide, and was tentatively calling it "Tales from a Ninja Mom's Kitchen". Catchy huh? But wait! There's DOZENS of Ninja Mom products out there - blogs, a cool t-shirt, a website - wow. Just when you think you have an original idea, that internet thing just sets you straight! Sigh. So, I think I'll stick with C-Parent for now. Or not include it. But something will happen soon.
Living sustainably, frugally, joyfully - even with children around
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Classrooms Create Memories for the Heart
We had two wonderful parents come to our faculty meeting today with loving ideas on how to increase the 'specialness' of the Christmas season. As a Catholic school, this idea is not new, but the proposals set forth by these incredible women met with an overall --- fluffy but intermittent silence.
It was awkward but let me be specific, based on my observations and my own feelings: holidays in our classrooms are automatically used by most seasoned teachers as a rare opportunity to be "human with our students" and gather them in, like so many souls, and experience some treasure of humanity: discussion on the birth of Christ, the unique holiday traditions of other cultures, or simply a joyous craft or project which explores our faith. The classroom is the world, and we are creating citizens of the global environment and I know that for myself and so many others, we painstakingly create "moments of life" or "teachable moments" and build them around significant holidays, like Christmas. I'm certain public school teachers do the same thing. It was a difficult thing to accept: we were being given, no,prescribed, approaches on "what to do" with our students.
One teacher shares her experiences of being a child of immigrants with her students and the traditions from another country infuse her holiday spirit. Another teacher carefully crafts a holiday experience based on Santa, Gold Coins and a Christmas story. Yet another teacher uses the holiday for older students to reflect on the meaning of Christ and Christmas in a deliberate, planned way. SO much is shared within classroom walls that students do not share with their parents. As a Catholic school teacher, I am proud to say that our teachers invest not in money, but in souls, and our approach toward education proves that, everyday, every holiday.
Again, let me emphasize, these parents are incredibly supportive of the school and do so many things for us. We are very grateful. But their offer of providing an "idea" of "what to do" about the holiday season underscores the public ignorance of how complex the classroom is, and how many teachers put their heart, soul, blood and who knows what else, into creating successful, tiny, internal communities of tradition, story, love and memories with their students.
There is no solution for this, at the moment. I am only sharing.
It was awkward but let me be specific, based on my observations and my own feelings: holidays in our classrooms are automatically used by most seasoned teachers as a rare opportunity to be "human with our students" and gather them in, like so many souls, and experience some treasure of humanity: discussion on the birth of Christ, the unique holiday traditions of other cultures, or simply a joyous craft or project which explores our faith. The classroom is the world, and we are creating citizens of the global environment and I know that for myself and so many others, we painstakingly create "moments of life" or "teachable moments" and build them around significant holidays, like Christmas. I'm certain public school teachers do the same thing. It was a difficult thing to accept: we were being given, no,prescribed, approaches on "what to do" with our students.
One teacher shares her experiences of being a child of immigrants with her students and the traditions from another country infuse her holiday spirit. Another teacher carefully crafts a holiday experience based on Santa, Gold Coins and a Christmas story. Yet another teacher uses the holiday for older students to reflect on the meaning of Christ and Christmas in a deliberate, planned way. SO much is shared within classroom walls that students do not share with their parents. As a Catholic school teacher, I am proud to say that our teachers invest not in money, but in souls, and our approach toward education proves that, everyday, every holiday.
Again, let me emphasize, these parents are incredibly supportive of the school and do so many things for us. We are very grateful. But their offer of providing an "idea" of "what to do" about the holiday season underscores the public ignorance of how complex the classroom is, and how many teachers put their heart, soul, blood and who knows what else, into creating successful, tiny, internal communities of tradition, story, love and memories with their students.
There is no solution for this, at the moment. I am only sharing.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Tradition Rears Its Ugly Head
Children create traditions out of anything. If you serve
them ice cream on Friday once, it becomes Ice Cream Friday. If you hug them
before you send them to bed, they moan “Where’s the hug?” the next night. What if you go to the beach
on the Fourth of July?
Or if you buy them a candy bar while grocery shopping? These
events or items quickly become the special treat or memory they are entitled
to, until you can argue successfully that it’s only on certain days or times or
paydays. Relatives can drop by and the movie plans are scrapped, a tire blows
and the money for Pizza Night gets sucked into car repairs, etc. Children do
not like inconsistency, so it’s a tough battle sometimes to get them understand
that “things happen”.
Occasionally, though, it’s also true that adults fall into a
rut of maturity that begs “things happen… so give in, just ‘go with the flow’”.
This resolution is an adult rite because we tacitly agree that we have no
control anyway. It makes us adults a little pathetic and useless in the imagination
department. Yet, recently, my son reminded me recently that there’s a yin to
that yang.
My son woke up late on a Saturday when I was organizing a
speech tournament for our school. He
felt bad about that, so he guiltily helped me at the tournament. This emotion, I think, was the seed of despair
which exploded later in the day.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Shackled to Internet Communication
There's a common thread in thinking Out There. It's the idea that email is intravenous - an irritating byproduct of Modern Society. It may be the influx of smartphones (that's another blog for another day) but many, many people simply presume that "sent = know".
"When did you discuss this?"
"Yesterday. We all did."
"Who's we?"
"You know, the whole group. But you."
"That's not a 'we'. That's still a 'you'."
"Well, I sent out the message."
"This was with email? That's not discussion!"
"Everyone replied."
"But me."
"But you. So... 7:00pm at your house still good?"
I am a huge fan of technology, but there are limits to my fandom. I reflect on a phrase I had read somewhere that the invention of the lightbulb was fantastic... but it increased the workday.
Therefore, we are doing it again: the development of internet communication is incredible... oh the glory of mutually edited googledocs, the fiery creation of national uprisings... but it shortchanges the heart of human communication: face to face talking. This, in turn, encourages the rise of 'social avoidance' which is mirrored in online gamer attacks ('flaming' - or annoying or harassing - an online citizen... which you'd never do in RL - real life), sexting (unleashing your inner perv) and online bullying, which can be between tweens or among so-called adults who are stalking their ex on Facebook.
I am cheered by the moments when one of my Sanity Soldiers (close friends who protect me against dissolving into tears about the fate of humankind) remarks that when sending out an email less than a few days in advance of the event, it's very important to make a phone call. Even if I don't answer, at least I have a voicemail from someone who took a minute to ensure that I checked my email.
Although it's not the same as face-to-face, it's our twenty-first century equivalent, and I'll take it.
"When did you discuss this?"
"Yesterday. We all did."
"Who's we?"
"You know, the whole group. But you."
"That's not a 'we'. That's still a 'you'."
"Well, I sent out the message."
"This was with email? That's not discussion!"
"Everyone replied."
"But me."
"But you. So... 7:00pm at your house still good?"
I am a huge fan of technology, but there are limits to my fandom. I reflect on a phrase I had read somewhere that the invention of the lightbulb was fantastic... but it increased the workday.
Therefore, we are doing it again: the development of internet communication is incredible... oh the glory of mutually edited googledocs, the fiery creation of national uprisings... but it shortchanges the heart of human communication: face to face talking. This, in turn, encourages the rise of 'social avoidance' which is mirrored in online gamer attacks ('flaming' - or annoying or harassing - an online citizen... which you'd never do in RL - real life), sexting (unleashing your inner perv) and online bullying, which can be between tweens or among so-called adults who are stalking their ex on Facebook.
I am cheered by the moments when one of my Sanity Soldiers (close friends who protect me against dissolving into tears about the fate of humankind) remarks that when sending out an email less than a few days in advance of the event, it's very important to make a phone call. Even if I don't answer, at least I have a voicemail from someone who took a minute to ensure that I checked my email.
Although it's not the same as face-to-face, it's our twenty-first century equivalent, and I'll take it.
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