Want to see more $$ for Oregon's public schools? Me, too!
Want to do something about it? Me, too!
So join me at a well-organized rally in Salem with the grassroots empowerment organization called Stand for Children. As they say, "Times are tough, and they're likely to get worse. Together, we can make it possible for legislators to stand up for our children and other vulnerable members of our community."
What: Rally and lobby day
Where: The state capitol in Salem
When: Monday, February 16, 2009 (President's Day) from 9 to 3 - rally @ noon
Sign Up: Register online - free bus transportation is available!
Why: Here's some information from Stand for Children:
The Governor has proposed $6.39 billion for K-12 education in Oregon, which is an increase of $147 million over the current 2007-2009 budget. However, this amount falls $199 million short of the Essential Budget Level for 2009-2011, which is the amount needed to maintain the current level of services, when adjusted for inflation. The Governor proposes offsetting this by spending $149 million of the reserves in the Education Stability Fund. That still leaves his total proposed investment $50 million short of what's needed JUST TO MAINTAIN the current level of services.
I think our children deserve better... don't you? See you on the 16th?
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Why I'm Voting for Barack Obama, Part 2: Education
I am a teacher. I was put on this planet to make a difference in the lives of children, and I'm very good at it. Therefore, I can't help but place a high emphasis on educational policies when I'm deciding who to vote for in any public election. Fortunately for me, there are big differences between the educational policies of Barack Obama and John McCain.
John McCain's Policies
John McCain's educational policy is centered around school choice, a topic that I wrote my undergraduate thesis about. He uses the evidence gathered under No Child Left Behind to argue that many schools are failing, and that we must give the children in those schools vouchers to allow them to choose better schools. It sounds reasonable, but here's the problem: this plan doesn't address the reasons why those schools are failing in the first place, and it doesn't do anything to improve the situation for those schools in the long run.
I've worked in some of those failing schools, and I can tell you why they're failing. My first year of teaching was spent in an urban environment outside Washington, DC. I had no teaching degree or experience, but they were so desperate for teachers that they'd hire anyone with a Bachelor's Degree. I was hired three days before school started and received almost no training. I was paid a daily wage that added up to about $19,000 per year with no benefits. I had twenty-nine fourth graders in my class, several of whom had violent histories and had already been in trouble with the law. We only had 25 desks, and there were only 15 copies of each textbook. At the beginning of the year, only six of my students were reading at a third grade level - the average reading level in my class was first grade. Is it a surprise that my students did not meet state or federal benchmarks on their standardized test that March? Should I, as a teacher, be penalized for that? Isn't there a minimum base line of quality that should be offered in education if we expect it to be successful? And shouldn't that base line of quality be available in every school, rather than giving students vouchers to seek out the schools that are offering it?
Aside from leaving behind the schools that are already failing, vouchers have one other problem: they only work if they are universally applied and if all families take advantage of them. The reality is that the voucher amounts proposed by McCain (and all the other republican school choice proposals I've ever looked at) aren't enough to cover the full costs of tuition at private schools, so they don't really offer poor families a valid choice. They also do not take into account challenging logistic factors like transportation. And they don't adequately inform or educate parents about their choices or the benefits of vouchers. So here's what we'll see: the families that are already involved in their children's education and have adequate resources will pull their children out of underperforming schools and take advantage of the voucher system, while the families who are already struggling the most will stay where they are... and the funding will follow the children who are leaving the underperforming schools... and the gap will grow bigger... and innocent children will continue to fall farther behind as their schools go even further downhill.
I'm not okay with that. I am a stand for ALL the schools in America having the resources they need to succeed and for ALL children receiving an excellent education FOR FREE and in their NEIGHBORHOOD'S PUBLIC SCHOOL. That was the original dream of public education in America... let's not give up on it yet.
John McCain does talk about resources for public schools, but he primarily reallocates money that is currently being spent. So every improvement he suggests in one area (like increased professional development for teachers) will necessarily remove funding from another area where it is currently being used. When bills to increase funding for education have come up in the past, John McCain has consistently voted against them. The only actual increase in funds proposed by the McCain campaign during this election is earmarked for increased access to virtual learning programs. These are basically online courses that have made a difference for some children, but should never be a replacement for quality public schools.
Barack Obama's Policies
There are several pieces to Obama's educational policies that I love. These don't represent his entire set of educational policies, just the parts that convinced me to vote for him this year.
1. Obama proposes increased funding for schools to help them address the gaps in performance that have been identified by testing under No Child Left Behind. I'm not always a fan of increased spending, but education is one area where we need to put our money where our mouth is. Remember: 29 students, 25 desks, 15 textbooks... that just doesn't add up.
2. Obama supports quality after-school programs that will help students in underperforming schools catch up, which gives them a chance to break the cycle that has trapped them for years. After all, how does a fourth grader who's reading at a first grade level have any hope of passing the standardized tests that face him for years to come. He's too far behind to catch up during regular school hours, and the strain placed on teachers takes their time and attention away from the students who are performing at or above grade level, causing them to eventually fall behind, as well.
3. Under his comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan, Obama supports early childhood initiatives that will support children and their families from the very beginning. As a preschool teacher, I know what a difference early childhood education makes for a child. There is a ton of research supporting the idea that critical brain development happens during the first two years of a child's life. So funding elementary schools is not enough if children are showing up at school without the neurological connections necessary to be successful learners. Reaching families earlier and providing them with the education and resources to be better parents from the beginning works... if you want proof, take a look at the Harlem Children's Zone project founded by Geoffrey Canada at http://www.hcz.org/.
4. Obama wants to make college more affordable, and he's created an innovative plan to do that while also benefitting the rest of the nation. He wants to create an Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4000 in exchange for community service. It's brilliant... similar to Clinton's Americorps program, which led to over 62 million hours of service in 2005 (the year for which statistics are available at Americorps's website).
Please take a minute to think about these eduational policies and the impact they will have on children across America... all children, not just your child.
John McCain's Policies
John McCain's educational policy is centered around school choice, a topic that I wrote my undergraduate thesis about. He uses the evidence gathered under No Child Left Behind to argue that many schools are failing, and that we must give the children in those schools vouchers to allow them to choose better schools. It sounds reasonable, but here's the problem: this plan doesn't address the reasons why those schools are failing in the first place, and it doesn't do anything to improve the situation for those schools in the long run.
I've worked in some of those failing schools, and I can tell you why they're failing. My first year of teaching was spent in an urban environment outside Washington, DC. I had no teaching degree or experience, but they were so desperate for teachers that they'd hire anyone with a Bachelor's Degree. I was hired three days before school started and received almost no training. I was paid a daily wage that added up to about $19,000 per year with no benefits. I had twenty-nine fourth graders in my class, several of whom had violent histories and had already been in trouble with the law. We only had 25 desks, and there were only 15 copies of each textbook. At the beginning of the year, only six of my students were reading at a third grade level - the average reading level in my class was first grade. Is it a surprise that my students did not meet state or federal benchmarks on their standardized test that March? Should I, as a teacher, be penalized for that? Isn't there a minimum base line of quality that should be offered in education if we expect it to be successful? And shouldn't that base line of quality be available in every school, rather than giving students vouchers to seek out the schools that are offering it?
Aside from leaving behind the schools that are already failing, vouchers have one other problem: they only work if they are universally applied and if all families take advantage of them. The reality is that the voucher amounts proposed by McCain (and all the other republican school choice proposals I've ever looked at) aren't enough to cover the full costs of tuition at private schools, so they don't really offer poor families a valid choice. They also do not take into account challenging logistic factors like transportation. And they don't adequately inform or educate parents about their choices or the benefits of vouchers. So here's what we'll see: the families that are already involved in their children's education and have adequate resources will pull their children out of underperforming schools and take advantage of the voucher system, while the families who are already struggling the most will stay where they are... and the funding will follow the children who are leaving the underperforming schools... and the gap will grow bigger... and innocent children will continue to fall farther behind as their schools go even further downhill.
I'm not okay with that. I am a stand for ALL the schools in America having the resources they need to succeed and for ALL children receiving an excellent education FOR FREE and in their NEIGHBORHOOD'S PUBLIC SCHOOL. That was the original dream of public education in America... let's not give up on it yet.
John McCain does talk about resources for public schools, but he primarily reallocates money that is currently being spent. So every improvement he suggests in one area (like increased professional development for teachers) will necessarily remove funding from another area where it is currently being used. When bills to increase funding for education have come up in the past, John McCain has consistently voted against them. The only actual increase in funds proposed by the McCain campaign during this election is earmarked for increased access to virtual learning programs. These are basically online courses that have made a difference for some children, but should never be a replacement for quality public schools.
Barack Obama's Policies
There are several pieces to Obama's educational policies that I love. These don't represent his entire set of educational policies, just the parts that convinced me to vote for him this year.
1. Obama proposes increased funding for schools to help them address the gaps in performance that have been identified by testing under No Child Left Behind. I'm not always a fan of increased spending, but education is one area where we need to put our money where our mouth is. Remember: 29 students, 25 desks, 15 textbooks... that just doesn't add up.
2. Obama supports quality after-school programs that will help students in underperforming schools catch up, which gives them a chance to break the cycle that has trapped them for years. After all, how does a fourth grader who's reading at a first grade level have any hope of passing the standardized tests that face him for years to come. He's too far behind to catch up during regular school hours, and the strain placed on teachers takes their time and attention away from the students who are performing at or above grade level, causing them to eventually fall behind, as well.
3. Under his comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan, Obama supports early childhood initiatives that will support children and their families from the very beginning. As a preschool teacher, I know what a difference early childhood education makes for a child. There is a ton of research supporting the idea that critical brain development happens during the first two years of a child's life. So funding elementary schools is not enough if children are showing up at school without the neurological connections necessary to be successful learners. Reaching families earlier and providing them with the education and resources to be better parents from the beginning works... if you want proof, take a look at the Harlem Children's Zone project founded by Geoffrey Canada at http://www.hcz.org/.
4. Obama wants to make college more affordable, and he's created an innovative plan to do that while also benefitting the rest of the nation. He wants to create an Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4000 in exchange for community service. It's brilliant... similar to Clinton's Americorps program, which led to over 62 million hours of service in 2005 (the year for which statistics are available at Americorps's website).
Please take a minute to think about these eduational policies and the impact they will have on children across America... all children, not just your child.
50 Things You Might Not Know About Me...
1. I once spent the night on a working bison ranch in Wyoming. Did you know modern-day wranglers use all-terrain vehicles instead of horses?
2. I was so disturbed by the movie “Clockwork Orange” that I threw up afterwards.
3. During my first two years of college I frequented frat parties… but I only pretended to like the taste of beer. Now I actually enjoy drinking beer, but I rarely attend big parties or go to bars.
4. I’m a Scorpio and I was born in the Year of the Snake.
5. One of my favorite childhood memories is eating ripe, juicy cherry tomatoes straight from the bushes in our backyard with my best friend, Anna.
6. I always thought I was a cat person. I’ve owned (at least) twelve of them in my lifetime…
7. … but now I’ve got a German Shepherd-Blue Heeler mix named Abby and she’s the light of my life. She’s the best hiking companion a girl could ask for.
8. I was a girl scout off-and-on until eighth grade. I loved selling the cookies, but I was always jealous of Boy Scouts who learned to do cool things like building campfires and whittling.
9. Landmark Education has changed my life… for the better.
10. I declared myself a vegetarian at age twelve and I’ve stuck to it. The only things I miss are Gorton’s fish sticks and my mom’s chicken nuggets.
11. I could listen to Bob Marley or Bob Dylan for the rest of my life.
12. The greatest concert I ever attended was The Violent Femmes at The Boathouse in Norfolk, Virginia in 1996. But these days, any show by Tyrone Wells is a close runner-up.
13. The blast at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 was loud enough to awaken me in my apartment in Alexandria, VA, several miles away. It took me until 4:00 that afternoon to find out that my mother was alright, and I’ll never take her for granted again.
14. I’m the only person in my immediate family with blue eyes. Of course, it’s a pretty small family…
15. In separate incidents, I have accidentally cut off the tips of BOTH of my thumbs. No worries, though… they’ve both grown back in due time.
16. I have almost nine thousand songs saved on my computer. I make a pretty mean mix-CD.
17. My favorite comfort food is lasagna… extra gooey… lots of cheese, lots of sauce. But homemade macaroni and cheese comes in at a close second.
18. I use a tiny little television set for watching DVDs, but I haven’t watched actual TV in over ten years. I’ve heard about reality TV, but I don’t really get it… it sounds like a bunch of people making fools of themselves while the rest of America laughs at their expense, and that’s not my style.
19. I own at least five journals that I’ve started and abandoned over the years. Most of them only have two or three entries.
20. My partner and I won first place in the JV Division of the American Debate Association’s National Championship in 1996… that’s right – I’m a national champion, so don’t ever pick a verbal fight with me.
21. Some words that I love: Patagonia, proposition, fan-tabulous, and Catalina (that one’s for my old friend, Jen).
22. My parents tape-recorded me at age three and called the tape “Amy the Wunnerful.” At the end of the tape, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loudly declared my dream of becoming “a mommy.”
23. The bottoms of my feet are very calloused.
24. Intentionally misspelled words – like Kwik Mart – really annoy me.
25. My favorite book is Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus. In fact, I like to give away copies of the book to friends and leave copies in random places for strangers to stumble upon. So keep your eyes open…
26. I once went over a month without speaking to anyone… intentionally. It was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in my lifetime.
27. I’ve seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer… multiple times. Joss Whedon is a genius.
28. I dance in the car, especially when strangers are watching.
29. I tried my own mini-Super Size Me experiment last month. I hadn’t eaten fast food in eight years, but I tried eating it once a day for two weeks. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out well… and I won’t be eating fast food again anytime soon.
30. As you may have noticed, I really like ellipses…
31. As a child, I spent three years on an island that was 18 miles long and 11 miles wide. Cows outnumbered people two to one, and I remember sticking my hands through wooden fences with fistfuls of sugar cubes for the cows and horses.
32. I say a silent prayer every time I see road kill.
33. I’ve developed a recent obsession with getting back in touch with people from waaaaay back in the day, like middle school. It’s amazing how much we still have in common. I guess the things that make a good friend at age 12 aren’t that different from the things that make a good friend at age 30.
34. I’m a teacher… right down to my bones. I was put on this planet to make a difference in the lives of children, and I’m really good at it.
35. I often find myself drawn to artists, musicians, and other creative people.
36. I spent almost two years living at a yoga center as part of their Spiritual Lifestyle Program. Every now and then, I wish I’d never left…
37. I love action movies and science fiction books.
38. My father was in the Air Force, so we moved quite a bit while I was growing up. I still find myself getting the itch to move on every few years, so I try to pacify it by traveling as often as I can.
39. I went to high school with Allen Iverson. I’m afraid it ruined basketball for me, since nothing else can ever compare to watching him run circles around the other high school players.
40. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to be in control… but both of these tendencies seem to be mellowing with age.
41. I feel safest when I’m surrounded by mountains.
42. I am definitely not a morning person, though I no longer stay up until all hours of the night… at least, not on a regular basis.
43. I’m an only child. I’m sometimes jealous of my friends who had big families and who lived in the same hometown for most of their lives.
44. I read a lot, and I read quickly. I love anything written by Neil Gaiman, Guy Gavriel Kay, David Sedaris, Jacqueline Carey, Daniel Quinn, Orson Scott Card, Philip Pullman, Ian McEwan, Annie Lamott… the list goes on and on.
45. I’m a member of a local CSA farm, and I love it! Veggies taste so much better when you know the farmer who picked them.
46. My politics would best be described as very liberal. I’m an idealist to my core, I believe a society that doesn’t work for everyone isn’t worth much, and I’ve taught children who were born with the deck stacked against them. It’s not something I can turn away from… and neither should you.
47. I want to learn to ski or snowboard.
48. I love making art, especially collage and photo art.
49. It’s a constant struggle to keep my house and my car neat. I’m an organized person, but the sense of order is often hidden beneath a surface layer of “stuff.”
50. Last summer I took myself on a last-minute, ten-day trip to Sydney, Australia. I booked the trip less than a week before the flight left, and I didn’t even have a passport. Now I know that I can make anything happen when I put my mind to it…
2. I was so disturbed by the movie “Clockwork Orange” that I threw up afterwards.
3. During my first two years of college I frequented frat parties… but I only pretended to like the taste of beer. Now I actually enjoy drinking beer, but I rarely attend big parties or go to bars.
4. I’m a Scorpio and I was born in the Year of the Snake.
5. One of my favorite childhood memories is eating ripe, juicy cherry tomatoes straight from the bushes in our backyard with my best friend, Anna.
6. I always thought I was a cat person. I’ve owned (at least) twelve of them in my lifetime…
7. … but now I’ve got a German Shepherd-Blue Heeler mix named Abby and she’s the light of my life. She’s the best hiking companion a girl could ask for.
8. I was a girl scout off-and-on until eighth grade. I loved selling the cookies, but I was always jealous of Boy Scouts who learned to do cool things like building campfires and whittling.
9. Landmark Education has changed my life… for the better.
10. I declared myself a vegetarian at age twelve and I’ve stuck to it. The only things I miss are Gorton’s fish sticks and my mom’s chicken nuggets.
11. I could listen to Bob Marley or Bob Dylan for the rest of my life.
12. The greatest concert I ever attended was The Violent Femmes at The Boathouse in Norfolk, Virginia in 1996. But these days, any show by Tyrone Wells is a close runner-up.
13. The blast at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 was loud enough to awaken me in my apartment in Alexandria, VA, several miles away. It took me until 4:00 that afternoon to find out that my mother was alright, and I’ll never take her for granted again.
14. I’m the only person in my immediate family with blue eyes. Of course, it’s a pretty small family…
15. In separate incidents, I have accidentally cut off the tips of BOTH of my thumbs. No worries, though… they’ve both grown back in due time.
16. I have almost nine thousand songs saved on my computer. I make a pretty mean mix-CD.
17. My favorite comfort food is lasagna… extra gooey… lots of cheese, lots of sauce. But homemade macaroni and cheese comes in at a close second.
18. I use a tiny little television set for watching DVDs, but I haven’t watched actual TV in over ten years. I’ve heard about reality TV, but I don’t really get it… it sounds like a bunch of people making fools of themselves while the rest of America laughs at their expense, and that’s not my style.
19. I own at least five journals that I’ve started and abandoned over the years. Most of them only have two or three entries.
20. My partner and I won first place in the JV Division of the American Debate Association’s National Championship in 1996… that’s right – I’m a national champion, so don’t ever pick a verbal fight with me.
21. Some words that I love: Patagonia, proposition, fan-tabulous, and Catalina (that one’s for my old friend, Jen).
22. My parents tape-recorded me at age three and called the tape “Amy the Wunnerful.” At the end of the tape, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loudly declared my dream of becoming “a mommy.”
23. The bottoms of my feet are very calloused.
24. Intentionally misspelled words – like Kwik Mart – really annoy me.
25. My favorite book is Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus. In fact, I like to give away copies of the book to friends and leave copies in random places for strangers to stumble upon. So keep your eyes open…
26. I once went over a month without speaking to anyone… intentionally. It was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had in my lifetime.
27. I’ve seen every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer… multiple times. Joss Whedon is a genius.
28. I dance in the car, especially when strangers are watching.
29. I tried my own mini-Super Size Me experiment last month. I hadn’t eaten fast food in eight years, but I tried eating it once a day for two weeks. Let’s just say it didn’t turn out well… and I won’t be eating fast food again anytime soon.
30. As you may have noticed, I really like ellipses…
31. As a child, I spent three years on an island that was 18 miles long and 11 miles wide. Cows outnumbered people two to one, and I remember sticking my hands through wooden fences with fistfuls of sugar cubes for the cows and horses.
32. I say a silent prayer every time I see road kill.
33. I’ve developed a recent obsession with getting back in touch with people from waaaaay back in the day, like middle school. It’s amazing how much we still have in common. I guess the things that make a good friend at age 12 aren’t that different from the things that make a good friend at age 30.
34. I’m a teacher… right down to my bones. I was put on this planet to make a difference in the lives of children, and I’m really good at it.
35. I often find myself drawn to artists, musicians, and other creative people.
36. I spent almost two years living at a yoga center as part of their Spiritual Lifestyle Program. Every now and then, I wish I’d never left…
37. I love action movies and science fiction books.
38. My father was in the Air Force, so we moved quite a bit while I was growing up. I still find myself getting the itch to move on every few years, so I try to pacify it by traveling as often as I can.
39. I went to high school with Allen Iverson. I’m afraid it ruined basketball for me, since nothing else can ever compare to watching him run circles around the other high school players.
40. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to be in control… but both of these tendencies seem to be mellowing with age.
41. I feel safest when I’m surrounded by mountains.
42. I am definitely not a morning person, though I no longer stay up until all hours of the night… at least, not on a regular basis.
43. I’m an only child. I’m sometimes jealous of my friends who had big families and who lived in the same hometown for most of their lives.
44. I read a lot, and I read quickly. I love anything written by Neil Gaiman, Guy Gavriel Kay, David Sedaris, Jacqueline Carey, Daniel Quinn, Orson Scott Card, Philip Pullman, Ian McEwan, Annie Lamott… the list goes on and on.
45. I’m a member of a local CSA farm, and I love it! Veggies taste so much better when you know the farmer who picked them.
46. My politics would best be described as very liberal. I’m an idealist to my core, I believe a society that doesn’t work for everyone isn’t worth much, and I’ve taught children who were born with the deck stacked against them. It’s not something I can turn away from… and neither should you.
47. I want to learn to ski or snowboard.
48. I love making art, especially collage and photo art.
49. It’s a constant struggle to keep my house and my car neat. I’m an organized person, but the sense of order is often hidden beneath a surface layer of “stuff.”
50. Last summer I took myself on a last-minute, ten-day trip to Sydney, Australia. I booked the trip less than a week before the flight left, and I didn’t even have a passport. Now I know that I can make anything happen when I put my mind to it…
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Teachers...
I've been thinking about this poem I love by Taylor Mali, an amazing school teacher and poet... it perfectly describes the magic of teaching, in an eff-you-for-ever-undervaluing-teachers-in-the-first-place kind of way. And yes... it contains a few naughty words.
Taylor Mali is an incredible spoken-word poet who has left his mark on poetry slams across the nation. Truly, this poem is best when it's heard aloud... so as you read, try to imagine it being recited aloud with a note of bitterness and a heavy dose of inspiration. Better yet, check out Taylor reciting the poem here.
What Teachers Make
He says the problem with teachers is,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone
who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see,
I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
"How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best!"
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.
"No, you may not work in groups."
"No, you may not ask a question."
"Why won't I let you get a drink of water? Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why."
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
"I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today."
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder, I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains) then you follow this (heart)
and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?
Taylor Mali is an incredible spoken-word poet who has left his mark on poetry slams across the nation. Truly, this poem is best when it's heard aloud... so as you read, try to imagine it being recited aloud with a note of bitterness and a heavy dose of inspiration. Better yet, check out Taylor reciting the poem here.
What Teachers Make
He says the problem with teachers is,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone
who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.
I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.
Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.
"I mean, you’re a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?"
And I wish he hadn't done that (asked me to be honest) because, you see,
I have a policy about honesty and ass-kicking:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
"How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best!"
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall in absolute silence.
"No, you may not work in groups."
"No, you may not ask a question."
"Why won't I let you get a drink of water? Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why."
I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
"I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today."
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.
I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.
You want to know what I make?
I make kids wonder, I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains) then you follow this (heart)
and if someone ever tries to judge you by what you make, you give them this (the finger).
Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a goddamn difference! What about you?
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hello... Love... Are You Out There???
What happened to the days when people married their high school sweethearts?
What happened to the days when people stayed together for decades without wondering if they were missing out on something better or playing the field to size up the competition?
What happened to the days when people couldn't wait to get married because of all the things they weren't allowing themselves to do until AFTER that sacred ceremony (ahem... I think you know what I'm talking about here...)?
Don't get me wrong... I know those days haven't disappeared completely. And I also know that I've phrased these questions to present a highly romanticized version of old-fashioned love.
But I'm starting to feel like there's an epidemic of independence among my generation. We were so eager to do things differently than our parents that we walked away from some traditions that weren't so bad to start with.
So now I find myself in a bit of a predicament at age 30. I'm single... and at times I'm lonely.
I'm not lonely in a day-to-day, sitting-alone-in-my-room-being-depressed kind of way. I have lots of amazing friends and a fairly active social life. I attend events that interest me and I've got plenty of people to call when I need to chat.
But I'm lonely in a deep, abiding, who-will-I-share-the-rest-of-my-life-with kind of way.
I want someone that loves me just the way I am... someone that I can love completely, too. I want the security of knowing I don't have to be playing mind games and staying one step ahead of my partner. I want someone to share my secrets with. And I want to be a mother, with an amazing father by my side.
I'm not the only thirty-something person I know in this situation... in fact more of my friends are single than married. And while the single life has plenty of benefits, many of us are beginning to feel an urge to settle down.
But where do you go when you're ready to settle down? Where do you find true love?
I never realized how easy it was to date in high school and college until I started to seriously consider the idea of dating as an adult a few years back.
Back then, we were surrounded by people in our age group who shared lots of things in common... if nothing else, we were in the same classes so we always had something to talk about. And our "world" was small enough back then that it wasn't too difficult to figure out who was single and who was already in a relationship.
Now we have.... Internet dating... and speed dating... and bars... and Craigslist... yeeecccchh.
Don't worry, I haven't given up on love. But I am asking for help:
1. Do you know any fantastic (and single) guys who are equally frustrated with the challenges of meeting great women who are looking for committed relationships? Send 'em to this blog or give 'em my phone number...
2. Do you know of other ways to meet people... ways that actually allow you to get to know one another and share common interests, rather than just getting drunk and trying to look cool? Share 'em in the comments section or give me a call and let me know...
3. Do you have any other words of inspiration or advice? Lemme know, please...
Until then, I'll leave you with this quote from Leo Buscaglia:
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain."
What happened to the days when people stayed together for decades without wondering if they were missing out on something better or playing the field to size up the competition?
What happened to the days when people couldn't wait to get married because of all the things they weren't allowing themselves to do until AFTER that sacred ceremony (ahem... I think you know what I'm talking about here...)?
Don't get me wrong... I know those days haven't disappeared completely. And I also know that I've phrased these questions to present a highly romanticized version of old-fashioned love.
But I'm starting to feel like there's an epidemic of independence among my generation. We were so eager to do things differently than our parents that we walked away from some traditions that weren't so bad to start with.
So now I find myself in a bit of a predicament at age 30. I'm single... and at times I'm lonely.
I'm not lonely in a day-to-day, sitting-alone-in-my-room-being-depressed kind of way. I have lots of amazing friends and a fairly active social life. I attend events that interest me and I've got plenty of people to call when I need to chat.
But I'm lonely in a deep, abiding, who-will-I-share-the-rest-of-my-life-with kind of way.
I want someone that loves me just the way I am... someone that I can love completely, too. I want the security of knowing I don't have to be playing mind games and staying one step ahead of my partner. I want someone to share my secrets with. And I want to be a mother, with an amazing father by my side.
I'm not the only thirty-something person I know in this situation... in fact more of my friends are single than married. And while the single life has plenty of benefits, many of us are beginning to feel an urge to settle down.
But where do you go when you're ready to settle down? Where do you find true love?
I never realized how easy it was to date in high school and college until I started to seriously consider the idea of dating as an adult a few years back.
Back then, we were surrounded by people in our age group who shared lots of things in common... if nothing else, we were in the same classes so we always had something to talk about. And our "world" was small enough back then that it wasn't too difficult to figure out who was single and who was already in a relationship.
Now we have.... Internet dating... and speed dating... and bars... and Craigslist... yeeecccchh.
Don't worry, I haven't given up on love. But I am asking for help:
1. Do you know any fantastic (and single) guys who are equally frustrated with the challenges of meeting great women who are looking for committed relationships? Send 'em to this blog or give 'em my phone number...
2. Do you know of other ways to meet people... ways that actually allow you to get to know one another and share common interests, rather than just getting drunk and trying to look cool? Share 'em in the comments section or give me a call and let me know...
3. Do you have any other words of inspiration or advice? Lemme know, please...
Until then, I'll leave you with this quote from Leo Buscaglia:
"Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain."
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...
This weekend I had dinner with two friends that I haven't seen in eighteen years!
My father was in the Air Force, so we moved quite a bit when I was young. Of all the moves, the toughest one for me was leaving Alexandria, Louisiana in 1990, the summer between 7th and 8th grades.
You see, for the first time in my life I had real friends. Not the kind of friends that liked the same My Little Pony toys as me or showed up to play dates arranged by my mom, but real friends. I had a group of friends that I loved hanging out with... friends I had chosen for myself... friends I could tell secrets to. And we were finally old enough to walk to each other's houses after school or stay up late at slumber parties.
And then I moved... boy did it suck leaving all that behind to be the "new girl" in eighth grade.
My Louisiana friends and I promised to keep in touch, but that's a tough promise for a twelve-year-old to keep, so it wasn't long before we lost contact altogether... until Facebook intervened and we reconnected a few months ago.
And it turns out one of them lives in Portland, and another is seriously considering moving to Portland sometime soon.
So Becky and Linda and I met up for dinner downtown this weekend and it was a blast!
Of course we were nervous that we wouldn't have anything in common. A lot changes between seventh grade and adulthood, and we had no way of knowing in what direction each of our lives had gone during the past eighteen years.
But after a few hours of laughing, reminiscing, and catching up on each other's lives, here's what we decided: some things never change, and the things that make you choose your friends when you're twelve are the SAME things you look for in a friend when you're thirty.
It just reaffirms my belief that we start out as wise as we'll ever get, and that children really do have all the answers.
My father was in the Air Force, so we moved quite a bit when I was young. Of all the moves, the toughest one for me was leaving Alexandria, Louisiana in 1990, the summer between 7th and 8th grades.
You see, for the first time in my life I had real friends. Not the kind of friends that liked the same My Little Pony toys as me or showed up to play dates arranged by my mom, but real friends. I had a group of friends that I loved hanging out with... friends I had chosen for myself... friends I could tell secrets to. And we were finally old enough to walk to each other's houses after school or stay up late at slumber parties.
And then I moved... boy did it suck leaving all that behind to be the "new girl" in eighth grade.
My Louisiana friends and I promised to keep in touch, but that's a tough promise for a twelve-year-old to keep, so it wasn't long before we lost contact altogether... until Facebook intervened and we reconnected a few months ago.
And it turns out one of them lives in Portland, and another is seriously considering moving to Portland sometime soon.
So Becky and Linda and I met up for dinner downtown this weekend and it was a blast!
Of course we were nervous that we wouldn't have anything in common. A lot changes between seventh grade and adulthood, and we had no way of knowing in what direction each of our lives had gone during the past eighteen years.
But after a few hours of laughing, reminiscing, and catching up on each other's lives, here's what we decided: some things never change, and the things that make you choose your friends when you're twelve are the SAME things you look for in a friend when you're thirty.
It just reaffirms my belief that we start out as wise as we'll ever get, and that children really do have all the answers.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Packing... and children... and selling out... and freedom
I've been packing my things all day. My new job at Nike has inspired me to make the big move across town to Beaverton. That's right... Beaverton. The "not-Portland" of Portland, Oregon. That little voice in my head (you know, the one that used to run my life before I got wise to it's presence) keeps whispering "You've done it Amy... you've sold your soul." After all, I'm working for a HUGE corporation and moving to Beaverton.
But here's the interesting thing: I'm really excited about the changes that are happening in my life right now.
Until this year, life always looked like a series of choices between two extremes: black or white, chocolate or vanilla, marriage or freedom, sell-out corporate job or lifetime of poverty.
Then I grew up... somehow, when I wasn't really paying attention, I grew up. And now I look at things a little differently.
You see, I used to think those choices defined who I was, so each choice was a really, really big deal.
But in the past year or so, I've found this "me" person inside... and she's there all the time... through all the choices... wherever I go. Defining her isn't so simple anymore. She exists all on her own, fully formed.
Some of the choices I make fit her like a well-worn sweater pulled out of the closet on cold winter mornings, while others are a bit scratchy and tight through the shoulders. But she's still there, intact, the whole time.
Now I have the freedom to "try on" lots of different choices and see how they feel. I don't have to worry about losing myself in the transitions... I couldn't do it if I tried... I'm in there, through thick and thin. And I don't feel any pressure to define myself "correctly." I realize now that was always for other people's benefit, anyway... and it doesn't seem too important these days.
So I spent the day packing... and the whole time I listened to the kids laughing and playing outside my apartment window. And it made me smile. Those kids, they're onto something...
But here's the interesting thing: I'm really excited about the changes that are happening in my life right now.
Until this year, life always looked like a series of choices between two extremes: black or white, chocolate or vanilla, marriage or freedom, sell-out corporate job or lifetime of poverty.
Then I grew up... somehow, when I wasn't really paying attention, I grew up. And now I look at things a little differently.
You see, I used to think those choices defined who I was, so each choice was a really, really big deal.
But in the past year or so, I've found this "me" person inside... and she's there all the time... through all the choices... wherever I go. Defining her isn't so simple anymore. She exists all on her own, fully formed.
Some of the choices I make fit her like a well-worn sweater pulled out of the closet on cold winter mornings, while others are a bit scratchy and tight through the shoulders. But she's still there, intact, the whole time.
Now I have the freedom to "try on" lots of different choices and see how they feel. I don't have to worry about losing myself in the transitions... I couldn't do it if I tried... I'm in there, through thick and thin. And I don't feel any pressure to define myself "correctly." I realize now that was always for other people's benefit, anyway... and it doesn't seem too important these days.
So I spent the day packing... and the whole time I listened to the kids laughing and playing outside my apartment window. And it made me smile. Those kids, they're onto something...
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