Gotta start out with a funny video -
As I watched this, I thought two things - 1. How many times did these people have to practice and get hurt, trying to accomplish these feats. 2. Where did the first guy get an elephant?
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Here is another video "What Could Go Wrong?" that works as a great illustration of one of my favorite terms to teach: "Juxtaposition."
This video looks at all the pain and misery that went into being able to do some of the amazing things highlighted in the video above.
Barb, you could use the two people around the 4:10 mark in one of your presentations.
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You've heard of helicopter parents (see this video if you want a horrifying example), but now let me introduce you to helicopter parents 2.0: lawnmower parents.
What's a lawnmower parent? Well, I'll let the opinion scenario in the article introduce you to them:
Recently, I was called down to the main office in the middle of my planning period. I needed to pick up an item that a parent dropped off for their child. Thinking it was something like an inhaler or money for dinner, I was happy to go retrieve it.
When I got to the front office, the parent was holding out a S’well bottle for me. You know, one of those 17-ounce insulated water bottles, barely bigger than a regular bottle of water.
“Hi, sorry,” the parent said sheepishly. He was in a suit, clearly headed to work (or something work-like). “Remy kept texting me that she needed it. I texted back, Don’t they have water fountains at your school?, but I guess she just had to have it out of the bottle.” He laughed, as if to say, Teenagers, am I right?
I took a deep breath through my nose. “Oh, I have one of those—I love mine, too,” I said. But I’m pretty sure my eyes were saying, WHAT ON THIS ACTUAL EARTH.
We’ve all heard of helicopter parents. But you may not have heard of the latest term for a troubling trend recently identified in parenting: lawnmower parents.
Lawnmower parents go to whatever lengths necessary to prevent their child from having to face adversity, struggle, or failure.
Parents, if this is you, STOP. IT. NOW.
I've had students who actually picked up their phones, during class to talk to THEIR PARENTS! Are you kidding me? Unless it's a life or death situation or some vital knowledge the kid needs to know (grandma is in the hospital or their older sibling just had a baby . . .), can't it wait until after school.
You're making your kids' learning experience more about YOU than your child. Stop being selfish. Let your child learn and, most of all, learn to fail and struggle, and . . . above all else, let them learn to handle things without you.
This is why they are called 'lawnmower parents' because they mow down any obstacles or challenges down so their kids won't have to suffer through them.
But at what horrific cost?
And it's not just happening at the middle school and high school levels either. Here's an additional article from the point of view of a college professor.
Again, I'll let the author set the scene for you -
I’m a professor at a well-known local university, and my office is located directly across from the elevators. Because I maintain a literal “open-door” policy for my students, visitors often mistake me for the department secretary, as I am the first person they see when the elevator doors open. At this time of year, the same scenario happens repeatedly:
I’m concentrating on something, but out of the corner of my eye I see the elevator doors slide open. It’s a teenage girl and a middle-aged woman, presumably her mother. The parent walks into my office, with the girl trailing sheepishly behind. The mother says, “My daughter will be starting here in the fall. We’ve got a problem with her class schedule.” I try to make eye contact and address the girl as I politely give them directions to the Office of Student Services down the hall, but it’s the mother who apologizes for interrupting me. They leave my office, Mom leading the way with the class schedule in her hand.
Do you see the problem here? The child has been accepted into a major university and is weeks away from starting a difficult area of study, but it’s her parent who is doing all of the talking to get her problem corrected, while she says nothing and appears to be dragged along against her will.
You’re probably familiar with the term “Helicopter Parents,” where parents hover over their children and swoop in to rescue them at the first sign of trouble. At the college level, the physical presence required to hover may be limited, so we are now observing a different parenting style: “Lawnmower Parents.” These are the parents who rush ahead to intervene, saving the child from any potential inconvenience, problem or discomfort.
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I'm a big fan of recess and unstructured (and maybe even unsupervised) play for kids at school and, especially, during the summer.
A few years ago, my mother in law lamented how she never saw kids out in yards just playing anymore.
It was true. I didn't see any kids out. Then when Kenzie got a bit older, I realized why. In our work world today where both parents need to (and want to) work, their kids simply can't be left home alone to their own devices. So we have things like Latch Key and summer rec.
If I wanted Kenzie to be busy from 7:00 am (swimming lessons) until 7:00 PM (t-ball), it wouldn't be all that difficult. The activities available to her are astounding. Getting kids to their summer activities is almost a full time job itself.
I don't think kids being involved in things is bad. At all. BUT when everything is structured for them, they don't get much in the way of experience when it comes to handling down time or free time.
Sometimes my kids are just content to sit on the couch and chill out after a day packed with activities. It's no different than when a parent gets home from work and just wants to relax. Only our kids are, well, freaking kids!
Why we put them through all of this is crazy to me. Which is why when Kenzie wanted to opt out of all but a few basketball camps this summer (goodbye to baseball and tennis), I was fine with it.
This op-ed piece, though, argues that there is a greater need than just letting kids be kids when it comes to play.
I found this passage particularly interesting (and true) -
Young mammals play, and in doing so they expend energy, get injured and expose themselves to predators. Why don’t they just stay safe? Because mammals enter the world with unfinished nervous systems, and they require play — lots of it — to finish the job. The young human brain “expects” the child to engage in thousands of hours of play, including thousands of falls, scrapes, conflicts, insults, alliances, betrayals, status competitions, and even (within limits) acts of exclusion, in order to develop its full capacities.
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One of my favorite things to do with my classes, especially my CC II class, is what I call "The Sticky-Note Book Report." In this project, I have students write down three topics that they really are interested in and really enjoy. Then I have them list two topics they can't stand and don't want to learn about. From this list, I pick a nonfiction book for them to read (I usually give them several books as options).
Once they have their book, I give them reader response starters, and ask them to annotate their books with at least fifty Sticky-Notes. I give them at least 10 days to read their books. Then they submit their books with the Sticky-Notes in it for me to see their thinking as they read (as opposed to the traditional (and boring) book report written after reading the book) and then they give a ten minute book talk on their book.
This article, though, on the power of conferencing with readers, is going to become part of the process now too. How can you use reading conferences in your room?
I am certainly going to use this in my CC 1 class when students read their two novels to write their final research paper on.
We also implemented SSR into our English classes last year (the last 20 minutes of class every Friday). And for most of us (when we remembered, in my case) it proved to be a success. We are now looking at ways to ensure that students actually read, instead of just fake reading or, worse, watching us read.
I think conferencing with students every once in awhile would go a long way to motivating students to read more. Sure, we won't be reading during SSR, which is a key component of SSR, but I read enough for every kid in my class, so I'd willingly sacrifice my own reading if it gets students who rarely read to read . . . even if it's just one book.
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This is why "Make America Great Again" is total BS. It was just a slogan to manipulate people. Period.
Let a great leader explain why.
McCain's farewell statement also illustrates why this video, which I always see posted on Facebook with the title "The Most Honest Three Minutes in Television History" is also total BS.
First, it's television. It's from a fictional show. So don't mention the word "honest" when it comes to this. Pullease!
Here is an interesting analysis on this scene.
Here is another interesting examination of the scene.
And yet another look at it that calls it for what it is: a load of crap.
When I first saw this, I resented it from a liberal point of view. This seems to be the rallying cry for 'Make American Great Again.'
But aren't there other ways to define 'greatness' other than what is listed in this three minute clip?
Listen to people like Dave Ramsey or Brian Buffini, incredible businessmen, who constantly talk about America (regardless of which political party is in the White House) is the greatest country in the world. And it isn't even close.
Then I saw a friend of mine, who happens to be a stout conservative, post this on FB. Someone of the same frame of mind quickly denounced it, with links and evidence, that attacked it from a conservative point of view as a liberal piece of trash.
When both parties attack it, you know it's a load of crap!!!
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A great Labor Day read from one of my very favorite writers, Seth Godin.
It's a tribute to those how made Labor Day possible due to their sacrifices; it's also a call to build upon all that they made possible.
Here is one of my favorite lines -
Today, choices are everywhere. Which means that not only do we have to wrestle with insufficiency (of respect, of compensation, of reliable work) but we also have to take responsibility for our freedom. The freedom to choose something better, and even more important, the freedom to do work that matters.
This, for me, is a direct call to us to make sure we don't lose what has made Lincoln such a wonderful place over the past decade or so. We've lost the homecoming parade. I just don't want to lose other things that make us so special. I remember Scott and Shane parading visiting administrators and teachers around our school showing off how we handle 1:1, block scheduling, ramp-up, common prep, and so on. As a school that has been proud to stand out, I'd hate to see us make cuts (because either expenses or that it's just too much work) so we end up fitting in.
Either you're a purple cow, or you're just like everyone else. Why be like everyone else? Average is for losers.
And always remember, as Godin concludes -
That shift [to something better] isn’t easy, and for many, it’s painful. But that shift is up to each of us.
Today’s not just the end of summer. Today’s a day to plan how next summer might be very different for us and for those we seek to serve.
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One tool that is very intriguing to me, but a tool I haven't had enough time to delve in and tinker with, is nearpod. This article, on using Nearpod for interactive reading strategies is very interesting. I could use this in my English 9 class.
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I started listening to this song last year, but I never realized the video was as cool as it was. The band travels the country in a 24 span to capture how Americans celebrate their Independence on the Fourth of July.
As we celebrate Labor Day, which to me is always the second most "American" holiday, I thought it would be interesting to link it to our most "American" holiday of all, the Fourth of July.
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