Starbucks Orders

Did you ever go to Starbucks?  Okay, way stupid question.  Here’s a better question – what did you order?  There are “Starbucks Junkies” with typical orders that sound  something like this: “To go, Grande, non-fat skim milk, 176 degrees, Chai Tea Latte espresso with nutmeg, cinnamon sprinkles, non-oil-based cream” and other additions that I can neither pronounce nor spell. The price includes an optional installment plan.  Quick math would tell that just one of these each day will cost just under $1800 for the year, which is exactly 9 times what I paid for my first car – a 1969 Opel Kadet…no gas gauge, 4 speed, FM converter...but I digress.  Is it possible to order just a cup of black coffee, no cream, no sugar, no fancy add-ons…just a dang burn cup of coffee…no frills…no fancy toppings…nothing else? Just a cup of coffee!  Just hot and bitter, straight up, no extras. And, by the way, a cup of coffee that I do not have to finance for 36 months at 18.9% APR.  I am the only one left who feels this way?  If so, tell me.  If not, enjoy your over-priced diversion from real coffee and thank you for contributing so much to private enterprise.  Howard Schultz sends his regards.

Education can be seen as a trip to Starbucks if we take our eyes off of what is really important.  Every year, there is a new book written by someone with a lot of alphabet behind their name that has some new idea that will revolutionize education. I have shelves full of these. They are all marketed as a “new way” to teach kids. However, as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  You have read the same stuff.  You have listened to the sales pitch. You have the t-shirt.  Don’t get me wrong, these things are good. They cause you to look at things from a different angle, but you are still looking at the same thing – kids! We learn new strategies, but the bottom line is the same – it takes talented people to produce talented students. Perhaps they provide affirmation that what you are currently doing is right on the money. That always feels good…just don’t charge $149.99 plus shipping to provide me with that emotional backrub. I get daily e-mails from multiple companies that deal in educational products. Every single one of them touts their product like it is the second coming of Jesus.  They aren’t.  There are many programs for sale; some of them are very good and some are made with spit and ceiling wax.  I have said it 7,635 times before and I will say it until He takes me home that programs do not make the difference, people make the difference.  No matter how far we travel into the technology realm, we will always have the necessity of the development of positive and appropriate student-teacher relationships. It’s about people; plain and simple.  Education is about making a connection; electronic programs can become disconnected – just ask CTB.  We can add all of the “frills” to education that we want, but it will always come down to the skills of talented educators working with great parents for a common goal = helping the child succeed. Anyone who tells you differently is probably dictating a lengthy order at Starbucks. 

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The Browns play tonight against the Buffalo Bills on the shores of Lake Erie. They are off on Sunday. 

Mary and I are heading to Wisconsin this weekend for our nephew’s wedding…place your cheese orders.