Half and Half

My life as an educator has been tumultuous for the last couple of weeks. I've dealt with frustrations including everything from poorly delivered lessons and hours of standardized test prep to deeper systematic changes that are completely going to change the job I am doing next year. I've felt disgruntled, angry, frustrated, mopey, and helpless. Sometimes, when I look at the current direction education in this country is headed, its easy to feel like the "good fight" is simply too overwhelming.

No worries, this post turns around fast.

On Saturday, I went with a co-worker to the Museo Del Barrio (a Latin American Art Museum) on a scouting mission. Our college to career connections class just finished a unit on family history and identity, and many of our students have Latino roots. We thought it would be a nice way to end the unit, but we wanted to check it out first to be sure.

As I was meandering about the museum, I was picturing my tiny scholars flitting from placard to placard reading about the different pieces. Eventually I found myself in front of the painting Virus Americanus by Rafael Vargas-Suarez (see above).

I found this painting interesting, but not particularly inspiring. What got my mind flipping circles was the description of the painting provided on the placard that accompanied it. The painting was described as a visual depiction of America as a virus that is attempting to infect the entire world. However, it is difficult to tell whether the virus is advancing or the world is successfully fending it off. In other words, what we are really witnessing is a fight between optimism and pessimism. Again, I wasn't that impressed with the image, but this description of the painting hit a chord.

I am in a very similar place right now. As someone passionate about education reform, I see NCLB and other similar policies as a virus that is taking over the education landscape, and I am forgetting that the fight is far from finished.

As a teacher, I have been so focused of late on perfecting my lesson planning and ensuring that things go exactly according to plan, I have forgotten something vital...

That's not my style.

Luckily, I have brilliant and beautiful patches of light surrounding me who find ways to remind me of why I started doing this in the first place.

For instance, on Monday I had a group of three seventh graders who chose not to go outside for free time, and we were playing with play-do. One of my seventh graders made a ring out of the play-do and threw it across the table trying to ring it around a marker that another student was at that moment using. I could have reacted to this in many different ways.

1. Kicked my unruly student out of the classroom because I felt he was not mature enough to handle the activity.

2. Admonished the student for throwing the play-do with the stereotypical, "play-do is not for throwing" retort.

I almost did both, but instead for some reason I responded by saying, "My dear if you want to throw play-do rings at markers, please find a way of doing so that does not cause Thomas to mess up his beautiful picture."

And he did.

My chosen reaction led to the creation of ULTIMATE RING TOSS, a wonderful game in which you throw play do rings at ever changing formations of markers stuck to the table with gobs of play-do. It kept the whole group entertained for nearly 40 minutes, and it inspired another student in the room to create a play-do based game of her own.

I learned two major lessons from this experience.

1. No matter how daunting the world of education reform may seem, ULTIMATE RING TOSS moments are worth fighting for.

2. Sometimes it is necessary to remove the stick from where the sun don't shine and just go with the flow.