Inclement Weather

The day here was grey and rainy, but it was hard to be upset about it; our summer has been pretty hot and dry. Instead of cursing the clouds we did a little light hunkering, curled up reading in the big chair by the window with the rain streaming down and then venturing out between downpours to the movies and to run a few errands in the afternoon. Before we left the house though, I looked up the snow forecast for this winter.

It is promising indeed.

Note to Self: Schedule Introspection ASAP.

We had our annual summer team leaders meeting yesterday. This is where the leadership cadre of our school devotes several hours the week before everyone else comes back to getting up to speed on what's developed since classes ended in June as well as laying the groundwork for the year to come.

I've had the privilege of being included in this group since 1999, so what does it say that I was most engaged when it came to the discussion of our new building security system? Sure it involves card swiping and new keys for everyone, but it seems like the other stuff on the agenda should have grabbed my attention, too.

The earthquake was cool, though.

The Earth Shook

I was sitting in a meeting in the school library when the whole room swerved onto the rumble strips. We bumped along for a thrilling thirty seconds before we regained control of the building, and when it was over I knew I had experienced my first earthquake.

In the aftermath everyone there whipped out a phone, but the mobile networks were all overloaded and had crashed. I went to find a land line so that I could check in with Heidi at home and fortunately I was able to reach her right away and although there was a lot of alarmed cussing, everything was fine. "Holy shit!" she said. "You should have seen Penelope! That cat was running all over the house looking for a place to hide!"

"I don't blame her; it was an earthquake!" I said.

"No!" she told me. "This was before anything happened! She totally knew it was coming!"

Later we learned that the quake was 5.8 on the richter scale, centered 83 miles to our southwest, and also that there was very little resulting damage or injury. Even so, they were evacuating a number of local buildings and the federal government was shutting down. That seemed a little like closing the barn door after the horse was gone to me, but I guess they didn't have a Penelope to alert them beforehand.

The Devil You Know

I'm at school today to do a few pre-pre-service week chores, and I've run into a couple of other teachers. One guy has been on practically the same team of teachers for the last 15 years and this September, by way of retirement, re-assignment, and re-organization, he is facing several new faces. Our conversation was punctuated with considerable skepticism and rueful laughter on his part.

Once I made a chart showing all the teachers I've taught with in the 18 years I've been on the same sixth grade team. It was fun to remember past colleagues and surprising to see how much change there has been over the years. We've had five science teachers, five math teachers, five ESL teachers, five special ed teachers, and seven social studies teachers, but just one English teacher, me. Even so, our team has been remarkably stable lately; for the last three years, there's been no change at all, and other teachers on the team have been here for seven years, fifteen years, and sixteen years. I kind of like that consistency, even though I appreciate the benefits of change.

Told You So

What can we do to make school better?

I found myself in the company of three very articulate teenagers at dinner last night. All are former students of mine: one is returning to college today, one recently graduated from high school, the other is entering his junior year, and none of them are very upbeat about their public school experience, so I asked the question.

"Get rid of it?" they replied in unison and we all laughed.

"But seriously," I said. "Can we agree that some level of education is important?" There were nods all around. "If so, then how do we make it a more positive experience?" I shrugged. "I'm just asking, because, really? I don't want to spend my days forcing people to do things they don't want to." They have drill sergeants for that.

"Honestly?" answered the recent graduate. "The teachers don't need to change anything. It's the kids. My friends and I were so negative we never gave anything a chance."

Remorse is not really his style, but maybe the trouble he's had finding a job in the current market, or the prospect of living with his parents for a while longer, or even seeing many of his friends pack their stuff and leave for college, something he has long said is not really for him, is unsettling; certainly no one wants to be left behind.

Even so, when he said that, my jaw dropped, and I know I literally gasped. What teacher wouldn't feel at least a little bit vindicated by such a come to Jesus moment for one of our more challenging students? I'm sure many of us have fantasized about just such an act of contrition by a few of the smuggest of them, and yet I was not satisfied at all. Here was one of the most ardent anti-establishment kids I have known in my career, and it took exactly two months for him to be co-opted by the blame-the-students brigade. How did that happen? No wonder kids think that nobody understands them.

Unintended Consequences

We put netting over our tomatoes to save them from the birds, and while it hasn't been 100% effective, fewer tomatoes have been lost to those thirsty critters. The other morning, though, when I was at the garden to pick and water, I was startled by a squawk and a flurry on the other side of the row. When I stepped through to investigate, I saw a young cardinal trapped in the plastic mesh. He did not like me approaching, but he was stuck and could do little except make some nasty noises and scrabble a few inches away. I was worried that one of his wings or legs was injured, but when I carefully lifted the net, I saw that he had jammed his head through one of the squares and his feathers had spread behind him, making it impossible for him to reverse the thrust. I held a small pair of clippers in my hand, and so I bent to carefully snip the mesh that imprisoned the faded red fledgling. He caught the blade firmly in his beak and only released it to scold me for such a threatening gesture. Twice he intercepted the clippers before they could cut him free, but finally I was able to distract him long enough to make two quick snips. He dropped gently to the ground, hopped once, and flew away.

Followers

Like so many, I appreciate the convenience of a GPS device while driving. Well, to be exact, I like it fine for the directions, but I really like the ETA and miles to go features the best. Today on our drive home from Buffalo, though, I was not at the wheel, and so in addition to enjoying some really spectacular scenery-- rolling NY farmland and gorgeous PA mountains in particular-- I spent some time looking at real maps.

I much prefer seeing the big picture and knowing where I am and where I'm going and how I plan to get there, something that turn by turn directions not only cannot provide, but actually discourage. Who needs that big old travel atlas when you have that handy electronic device advising you from the dashboard? Turns out, we do. In fact I heard a piece on the radio not so long ago about people who followed their GPS directions down dead-end dirt roads in Death Valley. Some were rescued after a few harrowing days and some died.

While we were on vacation I whipped up a batch of vegan shortcakes to go with some wonderful local peaches. "Where did you find this recipe?" someone asked and when I told her that I had made up, she was impressed. "I could never cook without a recipe," she said.

But she could. Anyone can. Recipes are like GPSs. If you follow them without paying attention to where you are going, then you probably have no idea as to where you are, but if you use them as a resource, then your destination remains in your control, so if you need to go back sometime, or you want to go another way, it's not a problem to turn a cherry almond cake into one with peaches, lime, and even a dash of hot chili.

And to climb one more rung on the analogy ladder tonight: this is one of the most important skills that we want our children to develop. Rote memory and following directions may be enough to pass most standardized tests, but it's critical thinking and the ability to apply the knowledge we have that will keep us from getting lost in Death Valley.