pretend smoke breaks

I am not an advocate of smoking, I do not condone smoking, and I haven't smoked. Ever. It is an expensive, smelly, dangerous habit. But...

It's interesting to me that smoke breaks are accepted - expected - by those who smoke and by those who employ or live with the smokers. A few minutes to step away from the work or the family or the next chore to be done. A few minutes outside either alone or with someone who shares at least one common interest. Completely acceptable. What about a Diet Coke break? Could my bestie and I get away with that? Or a peanut butter M&M's break? Probably not.

And smokers seem so relaxed after their break. It's just the break. Nicotine is a stimulant. Being outside in the sun, having a stretch, breathing deeply and slowly - with intent - , taking a brain break - those are the things I want.

I'm not going to start smoking, but I do plan on starting to give myself pretend smoke breaks. Maybe have that Diet Coke and some of those yummy M&M's. Go outside. Move. Use the time that smokers use with no questions or penalty. They don't sign out or have to otherwise make excuses for their use of that time. The same courtesy should be extended to those of us who don't smoke.

In fact, I'm going to take my first pretend smoke break right now.

accepting others

There is an amazing video on the Huffington Post website (link will be provided at the end of this post) that beautifully demonstrates unconditional love and acceptance of people are they are, not as we would like them to be. It is so hard to let go of the control - or the thought of control - of making someone fit our expectations and schedule and preferences. The greater challenge is to see someone as they are but to love them in their fullness, remembering that we are all beautiful and wonderful and generally screwed up. It's helpful to pretend that you are a disaster relief chaplain, and you are meeting each of the people you encounter in a day at the worst and most vulnerable and terrible moment of their lives. Through that lens you can offer true companionability in a way that is most meaningful to them. And you can be thankful that others are doing the same for you. We're called to care for each other, and that means as we each are, with all of our innate beauty and somewhat embarrassing warts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/30/whittington-family-ryland-transgender-son_n_5414718.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Vidalia Robotics

          

Tomorrow marks the end of 4 of 6 camps for Vidalia Robotics at VHS (with 1 more camp later at STC), and the year is off to a good start. This program has grown from an idea Mr. Ikner had some years ago, and even he's surprised and impressed by how far they've come. With all materials being secured through private contributions, fund raisers, and the fees for summer camps, the robotics lab is a facility that even local politicians, philanthropists, and college professors are coming to visit. But the real story is what this program is doing for the students. They have fun, sure, but they are learning critical thinking and problem solving skills that will be essential to their future careers in engineering or other math / science-based fields. Their wide exposure and participation in both competitive and co-operative events makes them goal-oriented, while still embracing Legos' trademark idea of gracious professionalism. Every year is a new struggle, with new technological and personnel challenges, but they are driven to succeed and to represent Vidalia Robotics - and themselves - well in a wide circuit.

summer and next year

And the summer is zipping by! Although school has been out a week (for students; teachers had to work the first three days of this week), I'm still going to school to help my department chair finish her orders. I've finished my first MOOC (Education in a Changing World), I'm working on my second class, I've started several new books, and I have big plans for my home furniture arrangement and what my classroom will be like next year. Growing and changing is sometimes stressful, but I'm looking for better ways to impact students. For one, I'm going to try to cut down the "teacher shrine" area - the huge footprint in the room that is used only by the teacher. I do need a place for my things and also an area to spread out and work, but, upon reflection, I do take up a lot of room. Additional lighting is a must, as are plants and motivational signs. I submitted a huge poster order (and posters aren't cheap!) - we'll see how far it gets. My wooden bookcase may just get a fresh coat of paint, and there are going to be many holes in the walls: hanging clipboards to showcase exemplary student work, hanging buckets to sort desk supplies like pens and pencils, and a pretty towel rod for hanging my chart paper pad. And this money is coming form where?, you ask. Good question. I need a summer job to support my teaching habit.

Update: changes in my room

a gift for the world

Arbor Day is designated as the last Friday in April. (How did  I totally miss it this year?) I like to plant trees as a memorial to those people I love who have died. I even said I wanted a tree planted for me when a student { +Chambria Harrison } asked what I wanted for Christmas. Treecycler.com gives you the opportunity to sponsor the planting of trees in your choice of locations all around the world. Those people I love have trees planted for them doing good things for people in places they - nor I - have or will (likely) ever visit. Our rewards are best when they are quiet. Each person's legacy lives on, in part, as a tree that will live on beyond our remembering.

sarcasm

A Google search for "What does sarcasm mean?" will give you the following results:

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

"his voice, hardened by sarcasm, could not hide his resentment"

synonyms:

derision, mockery, ridicule, scorn, sneering, scoffing;

People say that I am sarcastic. I'm not. Ok, well, maybe a little bit, but nearly as much as people tend to think. I'm honest. There's a difference. If I were sarcastic I'd say what people wanted me to say and they'd hear the lie in it. That would be mocking. Instead, I say what I think and I try to do it in a way that is neutral and not particularly harmful.

Generally. 

change

In my "Education in a Changing World" class through Open Universities Australia, Dr. Ross Boyd discusses society, culture, and education. In one of his lectures he discusses complexity sciences, which show a clear interactive relationship between all members of an area and also that a series of small steps or changes can lead to a huge transition. It's the idea of the straw that broke the camel's back. It wasn't just that one straw, but each of the others that came before as well. The same is true for climate change or ecosystem destruction - usually it's a compilation that causes the shift.

The idea of small steps and changes leading to large-scale change should be our focus for doing good. Someone said (maybe it was Victor Hugo? I'm not sure.) that all it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing. With all the negativity and anxiety surrounding us it's so easy to feel overwhelmed and vanquished. Each of us doesn't have to try to do everything - it's just that we all need to do something. An article proclaiming the benefits of the helpful life said that the most selfish thing you can do is to make the world a better place for your child. I don't think the means matter here - just the end. There is plenty of hunger, illiteracy, homelessness, isolation, mental illness, and disease for all of us to work on. It's not what you're doing that matters so much - it's that you're doing something. If we all decided to do one thing for someone else, or if we decided to leave one place better than when we got there, we could be the change. I want to do something so that evil doesn't flourish. I want my children to have a better world than the one I inherited.