A Quiet Sunday in Bryan, Ohio

Here I am .... another quiet Sunday morning..... sitting in the big blue chair that was orignally bought for mom, and surfing the net..... reading, listening, and looking at places that catch my eye....... I have read a few articles from the NY Times, Defiance Crescent News, Toledo Blade, and San Diego Union Tribune...... I swam through a number of links at National Public Radio, explored a few sites that were mentioned in those articles...... and mostly just wandered around.

I discovered a really nice article that looks at negativism..... and how to combat it.... you can take a peek at it at: What to Do When Someone is Being Negative

I thought it was particularly interesting when contemplating how to help some people in my life as well as myself..... since I have a propensity for being negative. Good stuff..... I particularly liked the questions posed.

1. What would you suggest?
2. Are you open to the possibility that you may be wrong?

I also like the advice near the end of the article.....

"Remember that no one can make you upset, unless you allow yourself to get upset. The key question is what are you going to do about this? "

It sort of reminds me of some advice Coach Heck gave me one time..... "The only people who have power are the ones we allow to have power."

While I am pretty sure this is not a 100% true statement all of the time, it does seem to be very true most of the time or at least in the working relationships I have.

Another article I came across this morning worth mentioning here is from the NY Times. I found it in the Books section.... Dumb and Dumber: Are Americans Hostile to Knowledge?

I particularly found the comments in response to this article interesting. It is worth a good look.

A few other observations and comments on the week past...

1. Willie announced that he is coming home next weekend - Interesting.... but not surprising. It has been about six weeks since either of the boys have been home. I have to admit to missing them, and it will be interesting as always to check out the evolution process.

2. I have been given a new laptop to use from my employer - A very nice smaller machine that is pretty up to date with the wireless capability, DVD/CD burner, and a very nice bag to protect it. I am truly grateful for the opportunity. I am just not quite sure who to send the thank you to. Maybe I should send a thank you to everyone who I believe was involved in the decision. I know that under the leadership of the previous tech director, such a decision to give all teachers a lap top would not have been made.... It was/has been a very positive thing this week.

3. The revelation of me losing my teaching edge - Hit me like a sledge hammer over the head this week. I have been contemplating the classroom experience and evaluating what goals are most important there.... Some of the questions I have been kicking around and analyzing like crazy are:

a. Are students learning? If yes--- why and how? If not --- why or what are the obstacles to learning?

b. What are the fundamental differences between teaching and learning?

c. Is my frustration with student performance a result of me being selfish by wanting to teach as the top priority, or is it a result of my inability to understand how students of today's world learn?

d. The age old dilemna about change. Am I open to change? In that regard it bounces back to the Blasingame article about negative people.... perhaps it is the source of my own negativity from time to time....

In conclusion to today's post..... I would like to note how much I love Sunday mornings and how much I like being able to surf around and learn and explore without being accountable to anyone for how I spent the past four or five hours. I find digging around to be very empowering.

Thanks for reading.... and drop me a comment if you should happen on to this page.