Winter Ambivalence

Our off-and-on ambivalence about winter is certainly composed of such scenes as these: (Left) the snowy view out my front door with the early and late day deep blue shadows falling across the porch.


Below, Monday night's full moon before the eclipse, seen through the limbs of the mock crab apple in my front yard. Unfortunately, my eclipse pix are marginal, but it was very red and likewise, too cold to look at it very long!

Lessons from Berlin & Tel Aviv for the W.D. Board

If you watch IPTV, you have undoubtedly seen adverts for river cruises on the Rhine, Seine, etc.  In one, the owner of the cruise line waxes eloquent about the benefits of “travel” and schmoozes the listener, “And...best of all, you share yourself.” Barf. Barf. I’m afraid real contact with core of a culture on cushy cruises is, at best, superficial.

            Of course, not everybody, especially those with kids can afford to live in a foreign culture, but it does make you question your own culture and value it differently.

            For example, sitting with German teachers discussing, “Whole Language,” a well-intentioned effort to get kids writing without undermining their self-confidence. The Germans asked me, as if I agreed with the concept just because I was carrying an American passport, “Was macht euch? Was kreigt euch davon? Unausgebiltet UND arrogant Schuler?”

            Loosely: What are you (Americans) doing? What will you get from this (policy)? Uneducated and arrogant kids?

            I answered out of what I learned traveling and living in Israel. Truly, I believe I came to understand how/why the Jews are such a successful race. The women, especially, rave/ooh and ah about every young person’s every undertaking. It results in immensely confident individuals.

That put a stop to the discussion then, but I am afraid, it did not to the validity of the German assertion.

A Spooky Day in School

On Halloween, 31 October 2018, I went (on my bicycle, as usual) to Cascade High School to substitute for the Family & Consumer Science (Home Ec, rebranded). The mid-morning health class was 15 or so students, to whom I read the sub notes-- answer 4 questions and then begin watching & taking notes on a film they would finish the following day. 

The first students finished clearly hadn't proofed their work. I handed them back, wrote corrections for the main errors on the board:

1.      “your” is possessive, “you’re” means you are

2.      Check spelling of ex(c)ercise

3.      Caps, periods and commas

A student protested, “Ms. McDermott, this is Health class, not English.”

I protested back, “Every class here is English. English is your native language. . .here I noticed a student who might be a Spanish speaker and said, “or maybe it’s not. . .”

            She cut me off screaming, “You’re such a RACIST!”

            Meanwhile, a student began videotaping me. I continued passing back papers, insisting everybody check their sentences for errors, meanwhile, the Screamer hollered, “Fuck you!” and said she was going to report me to the principal. Which she did. Mr. Vander Lugt and I had an amicable discussion about it later in the day.

            On the 19^th of the month I received an oblique letter from him informing me he had “visited” with the students and informing me he was taking me off the sub list. No rhyme. No reason. I phoned and requested a meeting to discuss it.

            In that meeting he told me I a parent had come to him with a videotape that students were sending around as a way of ridiculing me and he “didn’t want me expose me to it.”

            I agreed I was not interested in going into a classroom where students have cell phones. He also revealed that I was removed from the Epworth sub list but no reason was given either when it happened or then.

Clearly, what I am guilty of is 1) teaching English, 2) being a standards’ bearer and 3) coming from the 60s. There is much palaver about tolerance and diversity, but what is not tolerated is a 60s-style teacher who does not befriend kids, but sees her role as upholding standards. American students score behind many developed nations. Business is crying for H1B visas, 1 in 6 doctors in this country was educated abroad and no one seems to question any of it. I will be asking the W.D. Board about (see the following post for questions) all of it.

Questions for the WD Board

Dear WD Directors:

 As a taxpayer, and until recently a substitute teacher in the Western Dubuque District, I have a number of questions I hope the Board can answer satisfactorily. Some are based on research on the effects of cell phones on concentration and focus. Please find attached synopses and references of a portion of that research—many more studies are underway than I have cited.

 Others have to do the fact that I was recently removed from the Cascade High School sub list when a student violated my privacy, videotaped me in a classroom handing class papers back and insisting that students correct “your” “you’re”, the spelling of ex(c)ercise and correct punctuation (caps/periods) leading to the first question many of us taxpayers have:

1)      Are taxpayers getting fair value for money when 1^st and 2^nd year high school students have difficulty replicating grammar concepts introduced in late second grade?

 2)      What sort of contingency plans does the district have in place in case one student violates another’s privacy, videotapes him/her in a compromising position and posts it online? Can the district run the financial risk of a potential lawsuit?

 3)      While we do not rely on public schools to teach morals or religious principles, does the district itself have a responsibility to model/mentor civic virtues—responsibility, honesty, fairness and even-handed treatment of employees, which we do expect?

 4)      How many teachers have been fired, released, surreptitiously removed from sub lists, not had their contracts renewed in the past five years? What are their average ages?

 5)      How many of these teachers have been involved in a complaint with a student in which the student prevailed and the teacher dismissed? Are older/retired teachers able to bringing a different, stricter set of expectations into the classroom?

 6)      Is the WD Board of Directors monitoring conclusions and consensus of researchers on the effects of cell phones on adult focus and concentration and assessing whether they may or may not be appropriate for young people, more sensitive to the negative effects of “screen” time?

7)       Is the district’s cell phone policy protecting the learning environment and the vulnerable students in it? France has banned cell phones for children under 16 in all schools. Do you have plans to do so?

8)      Has the district met with the police, fire, and first responders about how to handle an emergency in a school, especially in case communication networks are overwhelmed by a large number of students using their cell phones simultaneously?

 9)      Is the district in a position to pay a large settlement that might result from a lawsuit resulting from such a scenario?

 10)  If there are cameras in the classroom, should they not be placed there by the authorities, the board itself, covering the widest area, gathering the most information to insure fairness in resolving any situation that may evolve?

I am bringing these questions up because inattention to them is resulting in a tragedy for all concerned.  Businesses complain they cannot find workers they need and must have for H1B and H2 B visas for workers from abroad. Statistically, one in six medical doctors was trained outside the U.S.  American students routinely score behind most developed nations and some undeveloped ones. Senior citizens who want/need to work bring a rigorous first-hand understanding of the past are systematically being excluded.

Thank you for considering these questions. I am certain the tax-paying community believes you will do the right things to resolve these dilemmas.

Sincerely,

Shirley A. (Keyron) McDermott

P.S. Mr. Vander Lugt is not alleging that I singled out any student criticism before his peers or any other pedagogical “offense.”  Only that he “doesn’t want to expose me to it.”

P.P.S. And I do not want to sub in a classroom feel free to videotape what/whomever they want and tell a teacher, “This is Health class not English…”

Encl:

Studies

Portfolio samples:

https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/The-Home-Forum/2016/1228/How-Mom-confounded-the-phone-man

https://celticlife.com/a-song-for-father-francis-part-1/

Dublin, Ireland Evening Press, Des Moines Register, Cedar Rapids Gazette

“Country” Kitchens from The Wapsipinicon Almanac

Silver City, NM edit

Six Resolutions, 3 Already Accomplished

Made and already executed the first three of my six New Year’s Resolutions:

1)      Stop donating to environmental organizations that do not have birth control policies. There is one species overrunning the earth—humans. Just because Paul Erhlich predicted famine in Population Bomb (like ­­­­­­­­­­­­­Jonathon Swift in A Modest Proposal), but didn’t see social/environment disasters we have instead, doesn’t mean he was wrong.  He was right, but the business community loves customers!

2)      Get rid of ­­­­the ineffectual, feckless, and gutless—especially subscriptions to magazines that won’t acknowledge the above reality: The Pioneer, Atlantic Monthly, Skeptical Inquirer, and others.­

  3)   Toss sweaters no matter how well they have served you. I have a tendency to keep the stuff I love. This orange sweater with the large hole in the right elbow is the first thing I bought in Europe 20 years ago.

 4)   Make a kid quilt called “Olive Goes to School with Butterflies.”

5)      Make a braided rug with a new pattern you never used before—circular with streaming ray-points like the sun.

6)      Write a book about my father—I spent all last year procrastinating doing it. 

Admittedly, the last three will take some doing, a year certainly.