Years ago I took a meditation class. I remember the instructor telling us to turn off the news and set aside the paper for a few days. "You won't really miss anything," he said, "and you'll eliminate a ton of stress and negativity from your life."
At twenty something, I could not even imagine following his advice. The world to me was fascinating and full of possibilities; if anything, it was the people and things around me that made me a little anxious. In the end, I dropped out of the class because as soon as the lights were dimmed and that soothing music came on, I fell asleep.
These days my view has flipped. It's hard to stay positive in a time when Democrats and Republicans alike agree that the only way to avoid a government shut down is to cut education. The National Writing Project, Reading is Fundamental, Arts in Education, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, were all de-funded yesterday at the stroke of the president's pen.
In such uncertain times for educators, I turn to some of the people I spend the most time with-- my students. We have worked hard together to create a community of learning and literacy; it's all that outside stuff that is unsettling. Oh, I still read the news and wake up to an alarm tuned to NPR, but I sure don't sleep quite as well as I used to.
(Click here for a sample of my 6th grade students' response to the 2011 SOLSC challenge.)
It is a sad day when our kids are thrown under the bus. My heart aches with all of the cuts being made to education. Maybe I'll look into that meditation thing.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I didn't realize the NWP was cut. What a mess. :(
ReplyDeletei didn't hear that NWP was cut, either. I knew the vote was coming up soon--wrote a few senators, that apparently didn't do much good. You have to wonder what goes through these politicians' minds when they de-fund programs that work, yet throw gazillions at businesses that don't work (or employ the country's citizens, either!).
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