Jack-O'-Lanterns

Next Monday night, millions of carved pumpkins will decorate the porches and windows of millions of homes.  We get together with our kids and now, our grandson, to carve a few pumpkins for Halloween. In fact, we did that last night.  Jack- O’- Lanterns have a long history. The name “Jack” comes from an Irish folktale about a man named “Stingy Jack”. Look him up if you want the story.  At that time, turnips and potatoes were carved and illuminated.  Irish immigrants brought the practice to the U.S.A.  Not long after, they found that pumpkins were a better choice for “Jack-O’-Lanterns”.  Today, people carve their pumpkins to create images that are spooky, happy, angry, scenic, incredibly creative and yes, sometimes inappropriate.  I wonder what drives people to create the images for their own Jack-O’-Lanterns.  Is it a reflection of their personality?  Is the image the antithesis of their personality?  Is it to have fun?  Is it to create an image of their pet (our son and daughter-in-law created a “Dachsund” Jack-O’-Lantern to honor their dog, Winnie)?  Do they do it to display a favorite product or to make a special announcement such as the upcoming birth of a little pumpkin (done last year by Jayme and Andy)?  I wonder why people do what they do with Jack-O”-Lanterns. 

Since Halloween involves dressing up like someone you are not and then essentially begging for food products that, for the most part, provide no nutritional value whatsoever, let’s start from there.  Let’s go with the “antithesis theory” of carving Jack-O-’Lanterns.  Thus, the image that you carve is exactly the opposite of who you really are.  So, if you are really brave, go with the lion from the Wizard of Oz.  If you are always happy, carve out a likeness of Caligula.  If you are not stingy with your toys, work with an image of a two year old.  You get the idea.  Now that you have that firmly in place, what if your students were doing the carving?  What image would they carve of you if you instructed them to carve just exactly the opposite of how they perceived you?  What would that image be?  It should be of someone that is not approachable, someone who is perpetually angry, of someone who is not engaging, of someone who really doesn’t care.  This could be a really good indicator of how your students see you.  Give it a try – safety knives only.

Bumblebees

The bumblebee is very social and forms colonies of fifty or so with other bumblebees.  Bumblebees generally avoid humans, so it you have been stung, it probably wasn’t a bumblebee.  Bumblebees feed on nectar using their long hairy tongues to lap up the liquid from flowers.  They are vitally important to agriculture as they are chief pollinators for many crops.  Currently, the number of bumblebees has declined sharply in our country; mostly from the use of pesticides and loss of land – you know, when they build a new subdivision on a farm field. Bumblebees fly.  Duh.  The point about bumblebees flying is that they shouldn’t be flying at all.  They are not built for flying.  Aerodynamically, a bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying anyway.

In schools, the “bumblebee” students are the ones that are referred to as “over achievers”.  I have never been fond of this term because it implies that these students  were never good enough to succeed, so that any success must be a fluke. But I digress.  Here’s my point – we should never tell kids what we perceive that they can’t do.  “Can’t” is a word to remove from your vocabulary.  We need to focus on what kids can do and remind them of this.  Confidence has to come before competence. It will be cyclical in this regard.  As kids become more confident in their abilities, the competence will show up.  Don’t dwell on the deficiencies – help them overcome come them by providing tasks that build their confidence first.  Avoid that “test corrections” mindset of having kids “fix” the problems that they failed on.  Here’s some insight – if they didn’t know how to do it the first time, they won’t know how to fix it afterward because they don’t know what they don’t know.  Instead, provide remediation/interventions by direct instruction. It is up to us to scaffold learning with confidence building learning activities that leads to competent output.  If not, you will never get these kids to the essential understandings because they have no understanding of the understandings!  We need to let our “bumblebees” fly, but under our confidence-increasing direction.

At 17...or 11,12,13, or 14

Janis Ian released a melancholy song in 1975 entitled, “At Seventeen”.  The song was a huge hit on AM radio.  It is a song on what teenage society thinks beautiful people should look like.  It speaks about the cruel comments that teens can make about the physical appearance of others.  She puts forth a message that popularity is pretty dang shallow and is dependent upon one’s physical abilities and stunning good looks.  It is told from the point of view of an adult looking back on her middle and high school years.  They were tough times for her as they are for multitudes of teenagers.  I had zit-laden skin so bad that I once fell asleep in the public library and when I woke up a blind man was reading my face. Ian writes about the popular kids getting all of the attention from others; maybe even her teachers.  Unless you’re a baby boomer like me, you have probably never heard of this song.  Here are some of the lyrics.  Read them through and put yourself in her shoes before reading my final paragraph.

“I learned the truth at seventeen that love was meant for beauty queens.

And high school girls with clear skinned smiles who married young and then retired.

The valentines I never knew. The Friday night charades of youth were spent on one more beautiful.

At seventeen I learned the truth.

And those of us with ravaged faces; lacking in the social graces desperately remained at home inventing lovers on the phone

who called to say – come dance with me and murmured vague obscenities.

It isn’t all it seems at seventeen.

A brown-eyed girl in hand-me- downs whose name I never could pronounce

said – pity the ones who get what they deserve…

To those of us who knew the pain of valentines that never came

and whose names were never called when choosing sides for basketball.

It was long ago and far away; the world was younger than today

when dreams were all they gave for free to ugly duckling girls like me.

I learned the truth at seventeen…”

Sad, isn’t it?  Did it strike a chord personally at some level?  Did it arouse a little empathy in you?  These lyrics were written 41 years ago when kids were not all the same.  You know, when kids had differences.  When kids were ridiculed for being ugly or for having shabby clothes, bad hair, crooked teeth, or speech impediments.  When kids bullied others.  When kids were depressed because they didn’t measure up to the standards of beauty and the top athletes.  Not so today, right?  You know as well as I do that all of these things happen daily.  How do we respond as people who can help?  A redeeming quality of great educators is that they have an acute sense of empathy.  Put yourself in the shoes of those kids who aren’t the prettiest, the most athletic, nor the most popular. Be that anchor for them.  Be that difference maker who calls on these kids when questioning your class.  Give them a sense of honor in your class by exposing their talents.  Value them. Show them that they are valued by you.  Tell them that you are proud of them.  Pour into their self-worth.  Show them that they have redeeming qualities.  These are awkward years for many kids as they grow into themselves.  We need to be the constant reminder that they are worth more than what is seen on the outside.

Are You Renting Dreams?

I wrote last year that your entire life is a reflection of the dreams of your heart.  Without dreams, you are just going through the motions.  What are your dreams?  What do you hope to become?  What do you hope to be?  Who do you aspire to be like?  What do you hope to accomplish?  The vision of these things makes us who we are.  How important is it to maximize the remaining days of your life chasing these dreams? If that is not important then the dreams aren’t for you.  If they are important, then keep reading.  A clear vision helps define reality.  A clear vision reminds you of what is most valuable and most important to you.  But…you must OWN THE DREAM!  People that are not serious about the pursuit of their own dreams have a “renter” mentality about their dreams because they really don’t want to buy it, which would declare ownership.   Maybe someone else will make it happen for them.  A phrase often heard starts like this – “Somebody should…”  Well, let me tell you that “Somebody should…” equals “Nobody will.”  Someday = No Day and Sometime soon = nowhere fast.  We, as adults are more adept at chasing dreams if we CHOOSE to do so. 

Kids have dreams too.  They need some help in pursuing them as we all did.  They do not have the worldly experiences that we have because well, they’re 11-13 year olds.  It has been my experience that very few kids at this age really understand what they want to be doing at age 25.  Think back to when you were a middle schooler. For some of you that’s only a decade ago.  For others like me, that length of time is much more than a biblical generation.  I’ll bet that most of you reading did not know that you would be doing what you are doing now when you were 11.  Someone or something stirred you to pursue this.   To help kids with their dreams, we have to talk with them about what they are dreaming about.  Remember that a clear vision helps define reality.  We have to assist them with the reality part.  We need to show them what achieving their dream really takes.  If, at that point, they are not serious about tackling the reality, then they will be renters of their dreams.  That will never end up good.  These are good conversations in your F.I.E.R.C.E. classes.  We can help kids chase their dream if we CHOOSE to do so.