Friday, August 30, 2013

Zits and Old Spice


Remember when you were in middle school?  Or junior high? Or whatever your school was called when you were 11-14?  Anyway, do you remember being a “tweener”?  Did you have any awkward moments?  Yep, bad question.  Of course you had awkward moments.  Unless, of course, you were the kid with perfect skin, perfect clothes, perfect eyesight, perfect teeth, and perfect parents.  For me, junior high school was a time of Old Spice and zits.  The Old Spice was “borrowed” from my Dad’s dresser in hopes of luring girls with the same luck that the sailor had in the commercials.  Didn’t work.  The zits?  Let me tell you, my acne was so bad that one time I fell asleep in the library and was awakened by a blind guy trying to read my face. Our kids have many of the same issues that all of us had when we were their age.  They struggle with identity and their self-image and may wonder just where they fit in.  They struggle with competition in and out of the classroom and may want to keep up with the Joneses…or Smiths…or anyone who is conceived as popular.  They worry about their looks. Boys and girls no longer have coodies. Throw in the constant battle with “The Big P” and you have the perfect storm.  I have this observational theory that all 6th grade girls receive a make-up kit from Santa because they return in January and I cannot recognize many due to the new paint and powder.  They have anxiety over just about anything.  There is sometimes drama.  Sometimes?  There is peer pressure, worries about making the team, and the fear of social rejection.  Oh by the way, we also want you to grow academically and be in that 95% group that Mr. Vassar talks about and to rock the state test even though you’re momentarily more concerned with holding hands with Miss Wonderful between classes or popping that snowcap of a zit on your forehead…

Does any of this ring a bell?  Take a look back in time.  Pull out your middle school pictures. If you have the nerve, show them to your students.  Recall your middle school thoughts.  For a moment, grab what really worried you when you were 11, 12, 13, or 14.  Do you remember how your voice went from Lou Rawls to Mickey Mouse within the same sentence?   Did you lie awake at night wondering if that dreamy guy in your Math class would ever notice you?  Remember the “dances” with the girls on one side and the boys on the other while everyone pretended to like the music?  This is an awkward time for kids!  One of the best character traits that we can employ at this time is empathy. We have to be empathetic to be truly effective.  Kids make mistakes; probably the same ones that we made at their age. We have to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of our students and look at things from a perspective much different than we have as adults while at the same time preparing them for what we know lies ahead.  That is no easy task, but one that is essential.  Talk with our students. Get to know them. Build a relationship with them.  They need someone to count on and perhaps you are the one.  Assign tasks with relevance to their lives- you will get more out of them.  Greet your students daily.  Call them by their first names. Smile at them.  Be a role model that they aspire to.  Remember your tweener years and then work that history into the issues your kids face today.  In the meantime, I have a few dozen tubes of Clearasil and a 55 gallon drum of Old Spice to share.

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The Browns are preparing next week for game 1 vs the Miami Dolphins on the shores of Lake Erie.  Of course, they play Da Bears tonight in the last exhibition game in that stadium that looks like a spaceship landed in a toilet bowl…just saying.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Traffic Jams


What is the worst traffic jam you have ever been in?  Stuck in the middle of “Rush Hour” in Chicago?  Funny, I never see anyone “rushing” at that time and it certainly lasts more than an hour.  Perhaps you have experienced the bumper to bumper joy of 80/94. Yet they call it an “expressway”.   Maybe you have been stuck for hours behind a manure truck on a two lane state highway.  Be thankful that your sinuses cleared.  Here are some of the worst traffic jams in history:  Bethel, New York, 1969 – there was this little event going on called The Woodstock Music & Arts Festival.  There were 500,000 attendees (some actually had clothes on) and simply abandoned their cars and hippie VW vans because they didn’t want to miss the likes of Richie Havens, Joan Baez, CCR, and, of course, the greatest guitar player ever, Jimi Hendrix.  Issue = too many people.  Beijing, China, August 2010 – 62 mile jam lasting 12 days…that’s right, 12 days.  Issue = too many vehicles.  East/West Germany, 1990 – the Berlin Wall begins to fall and some 18,000,000 Germans want to reconnect with their families to celebrate the end of governmental oppression.  The result = a massive jam on the Autobahn (no speed limit), a road that was designed to carry 500,000 cars per day.  Issue = too many celebrators.  Side note = the fall of the Berlin Wall is a personal highlight. I never thought I would see that happen in my lifetime.

There is one place on the road that never seems to have traffic jams.  That section of road is called “The Extra Mile.” Issue = not enough people!  What constitutes going the extra mile for someone else?  Glad you asked. To make more effort than is expected of you.  To do more and make a greater effort. “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”  Name the source of that quote for extra credit. Doing more than normal.  Extending ourselves in our efforts. Getting back up after you have been knocked down.  The value we give out comes back at an increased value. The older I get, the less I see The Extra Mile traveled.  Sure, there are examples of people going the extra mile that bring a smile to your face. The New York City policeman who bought a pair of shoes for a homeless man last winter. The mechanic in Chicago who takes in troubled boys and teaches them how to restore cars in hopes of keeping them off the street.  The couple who run a food pantry from the back of their van.  Being a member of “The Extra Mile Club” puts you among a select group of people.  You will have at least 180 chances this school year to go the extra mile.  It can be the commitment to phone at least one parent every day to tell them something positive about their child.  Maybe you will surprise a student by showing up at one of their games or events.  Perhaps you will offer to stay after school and work with a student who is falling behind.  There are countless ways to go the extra mile.  The financial compensation stinks, but the reward is priceless.  I hope to see “The Extra Mile” at our school in a total traffic jam much of the time.   

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Browns pre-season game this Saturday vs the Indianapolis Colts and next Thursday vs the Chicago Bears. Don’t get too excited. Last time I looked they didn’t award the Lombardi trophy in late August.