11-9-16 Now What...

I've been busy, but not busy enough… I think I'll treat the return to the interwebs like tearing off a band-aid. Just jump right in...

I love driving. I enjoy the feel of it. I'm not a car guy tho, I don't care what it is I just like driving. The control, the movement, the multi-tasking, the group dynamic of traffic. I'm weird and i embrace it. Music is a big part of that driving thing. Everywhere i go can be a journey.

My current mode of transportation is a remarkably reliable compact car. Domestic because whatever but it works. It has a radio but no connections for Ipods or anything like that i'm going to have to fix that at some point but for now its local radio. I love some of our local stations. I love that Chuck has been on the air since I was the age of my students. I miss Phil and Brant but the music is really what I like.

Before I begin please be kind in your judgement of songs, remember I’m at the mercy of the radio… and yeah I know that’s not what some of these songs are talking about but I don’t really care, I look for meaning… But I would like to give you a glimpse into my journey to school today.

Today’s journey began with the chorus of Katy Perry's Teenage Dream “let's runaway and don’t ever look back, don’t ever look back” I mean I was in a car, I was going, I could… run. My state has given me reason to. My country told me last night, money and fear mean more to them than the future and freedom of my children and my students. No, of course I wouldn’t run away, but only a fool would think I, and countless other teachers, didn’t have that thought cross our minds.

I flipped the station. The Edge had the The Head and the Heart's All We Ever Knew. And “all we ever we do is all we ever knew.” rambles on the as the chorus. It was such a sobering chorus as i recalled what happened last night. I teach history. I cannot emphasize how REAL this is right now. “I'm trying to wake up from this.” he sings later. Even the damn la la la la la la’s make sense. I know I’m reading too much into this but it's how I process and how I think we are supposed to relate and learn.

And as I pulled into school and a station flip gives me Gnash's I Hate You I Love You with the chorus “I hate you, I love you, I hate that I love you…” There aren’t words for where and how we are right now. There aren't words for how I feel about my country. Van Jones spoke for so many parents last night. So many of my students. We have to do better than this, and we will. I love what this country can be, I don’t like what it expressed last night.

Then my day started…

I found it hard to smile in the hallway. Some of these kids are scared, and they have a real reason to be. They were told last night, their country is at best indifferent, and at worst, complicit and condoning of their suffering.

We are watching 1776 in class this week as a reward/learning opportunity for the incredible work my students have been doing this year. In spite of this climate, in spite of knowing the adults don’t care. This has been and will continue to be an interesting and tough year teaching our nation’s history. And my student's will learn and grow. And be more prepared than we were.

We got thru about 30-35 min of the musical and then spent the rest of the time discussing what we witnessed.

Pieces of the musical are remarkably relevant. The conflict between the interests of rights, specifically property rights, was telling. What is worth fighting for? What is valued? Gleaning from the results last night, teachers got the message. The kids got the message as well by the way, they aren’t cared about. Their future is not worth the sacrifice or even the attention of their elders. We. Are. Failing. Them.

Judge Wilson’s comment “we could let loose the beast without an ability to control it”. Boy was that one that stuck with a few kids. There is new territory for us. These are just short thoughts. I don't have it in me to unpack all of these right now.

Also, Franklin’s description of the “new race” that was spawned on this continent holds a number of apt adjectives for our current state. “More violent, less-refined". There is some evidence now that those traits are still there...

Our country, state, and community needs work. Our hearts need work. I’m not religious but I’m glad I was once. I’ve lost so much respect and faith in people I never thought I would. I’ve found so much more to this work and in this world and in the hearts of those I’ve met. We are a good people. Humans have the capacity, we just have to find it again.

My Ipod came thru for me after class. I had the headphones in walking to the car, and Portugal the Man's Modern Jesus . This is one of my favorite songs. This was listened to a lot last night... The words of the chorus "Don’t pray for us, we don’t need no modern Jesus, the only rule we need is giving up, the only faith we have is faith in us…" We are beyond prayers. Action is needed. It’s time to grieve, it's time to reflect, and it's time to continue working.

The Buddhist proverb has never meant more to me now,,,

Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water, after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

We all woke up today (if you're reading this anyway), and we all lived our lives today. We had class. And we will tomorrow. I'm going to let the kids talk. It's their future, and its our responsibility to fight for it.  

There I blogged again... It'll get better...

I got in trouble for not blogging… So I’ll start slow and get back into it. My summer was spent reading, a lot of reading. It was really a good summer! I moved to 8th grade this year so I am teaching US History. I’m finishing my masters in Native American Leadership from Southeastern this fall. I get to teach colonialism, American Independence, Indian Removal, Slavery, and the Civil War while simultaneously taking Tribal Sovereignty and Critical Thinking masters courses! This should be a good year, no matter what the anti-education legislators in this state, aided by our remarkably ineffective and anti-education governor try to do to rain on my parade. Hey, they already started losing, I mean thank you Edmond for this. I am so glad this classless stunt didn't amount to much... That being said, we still have work to do, this somehow elected leader still occupies an office, as does Nathan Dahm, who for some reason won't debate Kimberly Fobbs (feel free to ask him about that, but god luck getting a response). John Waldron is going to need all the help #OKLAED can muster, as will many others.

School has started well. I mean, when Deborah Gist makes an appearance on the first day, you know school really started. And while I was being the old curmudgeon teacher breaking the rule of going over my syllabus on the first day, I did add jokes. I have all 8th grade courses. My morning groups are under 30, but My 3 afternoon courses are all 30+ and possibly growing, but hey, what’s life without challenges??? I cannot wait to see how many state legislators want to visit and see what we are doing to learn about this country and what it means to be a citizen.

I have a number of kids I had last year, so a lot of the relationship and culture building is more of a “dusting off and remembering” exercise, than building from scratch. I hope this allows us to move a little quicker and dig a little deeper. I really cannot describe how excited I am for this year.

I also got to enjoy my birthday present this past week. My daughter is a BIG Coldplay fan, my sister and I bought tickets, and one for her, last spring. We couldn’t tell her until the day before, but with her treatment and recovery going well she got to see them and I really enjoyed watching her much more than the show itself, which was extraordinary.

 
 

So, there, I blogged… This week should provide material as we discuss the French and Indian War, and go over the anti-bullying culture we are creating in our building…

Something new... A book review... Sacred Hoops by. Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty

I’m going to do something new because I did something I haven't done in a while… I read a book, cover to cover, in one afternoon. I went to Barnes and Noble the other day and purchased a few books I was hunting. This is one of them. Go buy it. Now.  

I’ve been looking for Phil Jackson’s books for a while, and looking for time to read them. It's summer break and I have two pools at my apt complex. After making it home from the store I realized I had nothing else to do for the day. I headed to the pool, book in hand. A few hours later, a few breaks, here and there, and I was done. It's a very well written book and this review is definitely meant to coax you into putting your eyes on a copy. There is a lot of wisdom in the pages and incredible insight into what it takes to lead people towards a common goal. 

First off, I grew up in the 90’s. Many of my most vivid memories are watching the greatest athlete of all time win 6 rings with the Chicago Bulls. My friends and I would watch them together, my dad loved watching Jordan play. I think now, he liked watching the Bulls play. I always knew there was something special about that team, there had to be. How else did they win so much? I was way to young and immature to see it then. Reading this book confirmed my suspicion, those were special teams. 

Phil Jackson was the coach of the Chicago Bulls during their two 3peats. He inherited Jordan as a member of the team. The other parts, and the development of their success was a collective effort, lead principally by Phil Jackson. 

Phil mentions, as many have already speculated, and believe, the idea that “anyone could have coached the Bulls with Jordan”. Well, while there is truth to that, and one can even hypothesize with the evidence in the text, anyone could have coached the Bulls. But they would not have won 6 titles. This book helps show why and how they managed to win 6 titles in 8 years. 

I was always intrigued by professional coaches. How did they do what they did? Surely, an NBA practice was more than drills and lay ups? I know those are the basics and all, but what else did they do? Also, it was weird to me that they did that for a job? Was practice 8 hours a day? What all else did they do? Of course, I was comparing this to my shallow knowledge of the game. Little league, and middle school ball. As I’ve grown, I’ve understood a lot more. And in that understanding, I have learned to find ways to learn and develop. I love learning new things, and there was a lot in this book. 

The book begins with a discussion over competing ideologies. This conflict serves as the thesis for why Phil is the way he is. 

Phil Grew up in a remarkably strict and devout Christian home. He discussed the influence of his mother and her faith.  Her strength and knowledge is a testament many in this country can relate. Later in the book this incredible piece of understanding clarifies how Phil allowed this to shape his being and actions. 

The value of our identity, all of it, is critical to our development as a person. Phil's ability to move beyond the binary understanding of our being and use all elements of our humanity to reach people is something we should take into account as teachers. Much like teams, our classes are remarkably diverse. All walks of life, all experiences, all income levels. This has to be a part of our understanding. And we have to be aware of this in decision making, classroom management, and how we conduct our classroom overall.

Throughout the text, Phil discussed his Zen philosophies and beliefs. He discussed his understanding of Christianity and how many of the attitudes and values were universal. The strength of compassion and care was not only discussed, but emphasized with moments. Phil worked to impart a philosophy and practice within his players. They were a part of something, and that something was going to be as great as they allowed to be. They were more than just players winning a game. During a playoff run Scottie Pippen lost his father. Phil and the team's reaction was not only personal, it helped deflect suspicion, innuendo, and criticism from outside. During the second 3peat Toni Kukoc had joined the team. Toni was from Croatia, which was in the midst of a bloody Civil War. While no one could have honestly sympathized or felt what Toni was going through, they worked to understand and made accommodations for Toni, as best they could. 

Side note: I remember this story and use it in my class. There is an ESPN 30 for 30 Documentary Once Brothers, over the former Yugoslavian basketball team. Dino Radja, Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc, and Drazen Petrovic were all parts of this team, and all made it to the NBA. Go watch it and tell me it isn't a compelling story. 

Back to the Review: The word mindfulness is mentioned several times. And if you've ever had the chance to hear Phil discuss this in an interview, mindfulness is one of his favorite words. It would be a big one on his word cloud. He defines mindfulness as simply paying attention to what’s actually happening. When this practice is applied to all the other resources, a shift in awareness occurs (p. 5). People can become attuned with one another, and if you recall (how can you forget) how smooth and poetic the play of the entire Bulls teams, they were in tune with one another. 

I appreciate how Phil contrasts this with a more common view and understanding, the Puritan Work Ethic. Phil was raised in a home where "idle hands and minds were the devils tool." The constant necessity to be "doing" or "working" is something we can all, in some way, understand. This is how we live in this country. This is how we are forced to teach sometimes... What I took from this reading, and what I have learned as I've grown older is speed isn't everything. Taking our time to understand, taking a breath to pause and reflect, simply paying attention to "what's going on" can be powerful. Mindfulness isn't a scary or bad thing... 

The answer to one of my earlier question is, coaches do a lot. And a lot of it has little to do with the sport they coach. The egos, the personalities, the talent, the resources, the goal, all have to have shape and purpose. That's what coaches do. Phil found ways to elevate their talents. He found ways they could grow and learn. The religious discussions within the text often turn to spiritual conversations and journeys. Something much more palatable and workable in the unique dynamic of teams and even classrooms. Wisdom is rarely certain and always cautious. The necessity to be right and to win can often cloud true victories.

One thing I love about we humans, is regardless of the uniqueness the situation, we are a predictable and pattern-happy bunch. So much of what happens on a sports team can be applied to our classrooms. They can be infinitely applied to our competitive world of business and economics but, that's not what I do. I truly appreciate how Phil applies such selflessness and community into his coaching. That can tear down walls and create magic in our classrooms. 

I want you to read it so I won't keep writing about it. Something special happened this season in the NBA the Warriors went 73-9, besting the Bulls regular season record. They didn't win the title though. What the Warriors did (then didn't finish) was remarkable. Steve Kerr, the coach of the Warriors was, of course, a player under Phil Jackson during a few of those championships. I haven’t read a lot about Kerr’s coaching philosophy but I would be willing to bet it was no accident a pupil of Phil Jackson’s was the person to coach a team past his regular season record, even if they didn’t “get that ring”. 

I hope you go read this, in spite of my endorsement... 

Orlando and American Violence

I'm not really sure what or how to say what I've been thinking this past week. I’ve been thinking a lot about a lot of things.. What happened in Orlando was what can only be referred to as an expected surprise. That is, we didn’t know where, who, when, or why, but let's be honest and admit we were all resigned to the fact that there WOULD be another mass shooting. It was just a matter of time. According to numbers we often do not have to wait long at all for one of these catastrophes to occur.

It leads us to the benign and redundant questions…

Why does this happen here?

Why or what is it about the people within these borders and violence?

Why can’t we do a damn thing about it?

Now, I’m a history teacher and valor-filled violence is the title track to our nation’s melodious mayhem. We are 240 year riot in progress from indigenous interaction (colonization), The Civil War and slavery, to Jim Crow. The Indian Wars to reservations and Indian Removal, the Dawes Act, and later land runs. Violence is a big part of our story.

The framing of these events, of course, is everything to our perception of good and bad violence. History lets us clean it up, but a better understanding of all elements would give us a better chance at knowing what to do today.

Our history is multi sided and we MUST start acting that way.

Of course, I spent most of my life blind to the other half of that history. As a white male, my rights have NEVER been in danger in this country. I haven’t had to fight for too many of mine. From my comfortable privileged positions I can always frame a furtherance of liberty and freedom as “just” and “benevolent”. I can even lament the awful tragedy of “it's about time”, not considering the “why” behind why it took so long…

This attitude should rightly be seen as patronizing and demeaning. I now know not to see things this way. As if a government made of white guys needs to tell women, POC, the  LGBTQA community, and religious minorities they can have rights!?!? The audacity in the belief this government “gave” those constituencies rights is ignorant at best, or at worst, a further protraction of White Hegemonic Power and control, cloaked in the praises of “Freedom and “liberty”. Being honest about this can start the healing…

This is critical because, as Hasan Minhaj pointed out so eloquently (clip here whole speech is worth watching tho) “Civil Rights are an all or nothing thing.” And as Obama noted in his 2004 Address to the Democratic National Convention (another speech you should watch if you haven’t already) “We are the United States of America” and if one person’s rights are violated, or one person is hurting unnecessarily, “...that hurts me too.”

This attack was on American values. This attack was targeted towards the LGBTQA community. And as long as elements of our culture attempt to degrade and belittle the experience of their fellow citizens, events like this will continue.

There have been remarkable outpourings of support, condolences, and raw emotion for and within the LGBTQA community. I read account after account, and reaction after reaction and cried (I can be a crier). History is valuable and knowing all our brothers and sisters history is by far, the best way to combat the fear and hatred that is allowed to fester.

If we continue to allow this blindness to continue, violence and misunderstanding will always be with us. We will never rid the world of evil, no matter what a pundit or politician says. But we can minimize it and make it hard to thrive. Fire needs fuel, Humans need food, water, and oxygen, hate needs ignorance fear. Let’s starve it out…

Unforgiving Debtors

I keep getting ideas from long ago stuck in my head. That’s not all that abnormal. But, finding way to tie them into teachings, and current events is getting weird. For instance, I woke up this morning with the 1812 Overture in my head. Now it is testing day, so maybe some subliminal motivation was at play but, other instances get even weirder. I haven’t attended a Sunday School or church service in several years but, as I stated in posts before, my upbringing involved a lot of church and Sunday School. I recall a number of stories and sayings from my time in those classes and buildings. The ones I enjoyed were always the parables. My current financial state has me thinking about poverty a lot, so  perhaps the parable of the Unforgiving Debtor coming to mind earlier this week isn't all that strange. And I haven’t been able to shake it. I love stories. And I love applying them to situations and lessons. I feel like I should take a swing at this so, here goes… 

First, the text of the story. For those that do not know, its from the book of Matthew chapter 18 (this is the living translation)

. 

Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor

Matthew 18:

21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[a] who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![b]

23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[c] 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[d] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[e] from your heart.”

I think we can learn from this a bit… or at the very least, point out some problems with what is going on right now in Oklahoma. We find ourselves in the midst of a crisis. The Oklahoma legislature gets to pretend they are doing something about it for another month or so. The problem is money, or lack thereof in the state coffers, and solutions are needed. 

I would say don’t worry, they are working on it, but that is mostly the problem. That “they” are working on it is a large part of the problem. Their reputation for dispensing water bottles to drowning people is evident in their legacy of legislative labors.And they come thru in shining fashion here. The Governor has found some places where money can be collected. Much like the gentleman in the story above, our state leaders are looking to the vulnerable and defenseless to make up the shortfall they helped create. Former State Representative and Gubernatorial candidate Joe Dorman laid out a brief history and analysis of how taxation kind of works in Oklahoma. You can find it here. OK Policy discussed the history and situation regarding tax cuts in the Oklahoma legislature here. It is a situation entirely man-made. Some samples of the suffering and desolation can be found here, here, and here. These actions have hurt millions of Oklahomans, in more than one way, and if they didn’t know it would hurt then, we do know it hurts now, and we have to stop… 

The majority leadership in our legislature is loaded with timidity and fecklessness when it comes to taxation. There is a severe mental block in their ideology that says any kind of tax increase is bad, and the voters don’t want it. That is remarkably untrue here in Oklahoma, as shown here. In fact, a deeper study of that chart (which is from OK Policy Institute so its awesome!) shows the leadership advocating the LEAST POPULAR CHOICES as their alternatives!!! Perhaps we should become a bit more vocal in making sure our wants and wishes are being listened to and acted upon. 

They don’t have a lot of time left and are definitely counting on us to give up (as many of them seem to have done). Giving up and giving in can only make things worse. We cannot keep living with the mantra “it can’t get much worse” because we sure keep blasting below that threshold. Keep contacting legislators, and telling your stories. Get to know the litany of candidates that are running for office this fall. Let's keep moving and shaking this state!

Changing History...

It will come as no surprise to anyone that has taken the time to get to know me or read any of this blog that I am a huge fan of  The West Wing, As I re-watch series on Netflix I remember why I liked it so much. My world view has changed since this show was on TV. I can now see how my conservative friends could still watch this, and how it also simultaneously drove them up the wall. Of course, now I'm running up the other wall.. It amazes me to see how conservative the show has become to the world view I now subscribe to. And how conservative it wasn’t back then, and for a litany of reasons, (one glaring one) how we chose not to see it. 

Who cannot love waxing nostalgic on the technology gap the show provides today. In season one a story breaks that is not something the White House likes, the mention of it “being on the web now, so it'll be on the news tomorrow” just made me laugh and yearn for the lovely time that was the late 90s. The early Internet, when we didn’t quite know what all it could do. 

It truly brought progressive issues for the time. There were episodes covering Gay rights, women's rights, education, taxes, the list goes on… intelligent arguments, some before their time. Just go watch it, it's a good show, with good actors. It's corny and remarkably preachy at times but still good. I find myself now both punching holes in the “progressive at the time” stances, and asking the rhetorical question “how did we not see this then?” Of course, the glaring answer I spoke of earlier is, we didn't want to see it. A number of people did and have seen it and spoke about it. They were the “radical fringe” of the time. Our country and culture was focused on other things. I also know and have to take into account this was a show that started before, survived, and ended on the other side of 9/11. 

While I could pontificate for hours on this show, its merits, it's wit, its charm… But what it really got me thinking about is history. How much perspective and time have on situations and poeple. History gets all sorts of bad wraps but, one that is doesn't ever deserve is its attempts at bettering itself. It's not easy to admit mistakes. It's even more difficult to expose dishonesty and atrocities. But if we don’t, what are we here for. 

I had a discussion with my youngest son the other day about what he was doing in school and what subjects he liked. He enjoys history and loves learning and hearing about new things. I love it because I get to talk about stuff I enjoy. The other day he asked the question about the “the other side of the story”. One of my favorite quotations that always finds itself on my syllabi is the African Proverb “Until Lions have their historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”. We talked about that for a while and it reminded me, while things don't change, they always do. We have a responsibility to the truth and honoring all of history and its actions, or at least, as much as possible. 

We have to be careful about this, and we aren’t going to make everyone happy. Some love to take any tinkering as sacrosanct to the history they were taught. And while “what you learned was wrong” is a harsh statement, it's hard to validate “Andrew Jackson Frontier patriot and hero” or “Christopher Columbus exploration hero” as legit history now. To look back at the “things” that were and are legal, is a tough pill to swallow. Discomfort is not enough of a disqualification to reduce the severity of actions. Embarrassment is not cause enough to keep events true magnitude muted, especially when that willful blindness continues to cause problems. 

Part of what we have to understand is history is us, and us is mistake-prone. It's you and me, and everyone else, doing things. Some of those things are awesome, some are awful, and really, most if it is boring… But when we realize it's us, we should also realize that should come with an understanding. That understanding is it's not always going to be perfect and we must own our mistakes if we are to expect credibility on the issues we did and do get correct. 

Another element of our dilemma is time. Or our lack of respect for it. We move fast, and that is a statement to our progress. But the rapid production of information does not always provide the appropriate amount of time for context and understanding to be reached. This dilemma is tough because some things cannot be rushed, and when we do, it doesn't end well. 

This process doesn’t come with a lot of instructions or comfort. But it is the right thing to do. When should we do it? When it's called for. I get that’s not a really good answer, but I don't have one. I'm just one teacher, that's what we all have to do. That's what we all have to work towards. I’ve mentioned this often, since it's a big part of what I am instructed to teach. We have to find that balance again. Somewhere between abiders of wisdom, and agitators of the cultural norm. Surely we can find it, we are pretty smart… 

And so the fun begins...

Well its filing time which means two things. One, we find out who we get to vote for this year, and current state legislators will begin to do their jobs. Gov Fallin accidentally told the truth a few weeks ago. When asked about the budget process she mentioned that some legislators are probably waiting to see if they draw an opponent. See, if they don’t draw an opponent they don’t have to listen to their constituents. And they don’t. So some of the occupants of offices will probably find in in themselves to make a tough decision or two after seeing pictures like this

and stories like this.

It seems several someones have upset the applecart. I noticed a tweet earlier today that said today’s filings eclipsed the total day one filings by lunchtime...

Followed by this later in the day... 

This is good and this is how democracy works. And this is the only way democracy works. We are living the direct result of a disengaged population. I like that it's changing and people are getting involved. Win or lose, a difference has already been made.

I attended a state budget meeting prior to the beginning of session in which Rep. Scott Inman made a very valid observation. He stated in the several years the Republicans have had a majority they have never provided a bill to effectively raise teachers salaries. When times were good, they wanted tax cuts. Now that times are bad and we have no money, they see two democrats win special elections in traditionally republican districts and all of a sudden we had several Republican sponsored bills for teacher raises.

Our country is an experiment. It always has been one. Its an activity and inactivity doesn’t work. I’m glad several are stepping up and I wish them luck. And its a good thing too given this is a good account of what our current leadership sees as good ideas to fix the budget. We are better than this... and we have to work to show it. Let's lose this mindset.

We have to do better, and this is how its done better. There are two more days of filings. Then the work begins…

Here is what we started on Wednesday...

Troy Dyer,House District 3 Ag Educator

Collin Walke, House District 87, Former Educator, Pro Public Education

David Dickerson House District 82, Parent,Public Education advocate

Jim Beckham, House District 42, superintendent

Forrest Bennett, House District 92, public education advocate

James Albert Campbell, House District 19, public education advocate

John Croisant, House District 37, educator

Jacobi Crowley, House District 64, educator

Kelly Dodd, House District 82, parent and public education advocate

Mickey Dollens, House District 93, educator

Troy Dyer, House District 3, educator

Toni Hasenbeck, Senate District 31, educator

Judy Hopper, Senate District 47, retired educator

Brian Jackson, Senate District 37, education nonprofit employee and spouse of public school educator

Johnny Jump, House District 101, educator

Lisa Kramer, Senate District 25, local school board member

Chris Kidd, Senate District 31, former educator

Lee Ann Langston, House District 14, educator

Greg McCortney, Senate District 13, public school parent

Kelly Meredith, House District 87, public school parent and higher education educator

Matt Meredith, House District 4, local school board member

Darla Milligan, House District 12, educator

Monroe Nichols, House District 72, education nonprofit employee and Career Tech board member

Jean Oliver, Senate District 29, educator

Dewayne Pemberton, Senate District 9, educator

Roland Peterson, Senate District 19, educator

Jack Reavis, Senate District 9, educator

Jacob Rosecrants, House District 46, educator

Paul Scott, Senate District 43, spouse of educator

Shawn Sheehan, Senate District 15, educator

Paul Sullivan, House District 69, public education advocate

John Waldron, Senate District 39, educator

Tammy West, House District 84, local school board member

Rhonda Harlow, Senate District 19, Pro public education, reading specialist

Marilyn Rainwater, House District 28 Pro Public education advocate

Jeremy Wayde Coleman, House District 41 Pro Public Education Advocate

Joe Wilhelm, House District 5, Educator

Macy Gleason House District 29, future educator

This is a list as of earlier today. You can check updated filings here

These are my numbers... What are yours???

Gerry Brooks posted a video that has gone #oklaed viral (if that term has not been used can I take credit for it?) discussing bumper stickers and numbers. I can't find it, but it was all over the place...

It got me thinking about my numbers and what my “metrics” would look like. My father was a CPA (or as I told people when I was young a C3PO). I wasn't ever a big fan of math but I can count, and I do have some organizational tendencies. I try to hide them but they are there... Unfortunately I don’t have the time or resources to be exact but I know what I’ve done and I can put together some things.So here it goes...

I’ve taught for nine years in three schools. that is 18 semesters, 36 nine week periods. I’ve had, 3 Superintendents, 7 Principals, taught with easily over 50 teachers, and by my conservative estimates over 725 students have come through a classroom for which I was responsible. I’ve been a part of over 150 parent meetings and conferences.

I have logged over 150 days of Professional Development. I have attended 15 content specific lesson workshops for my current discipline in the past 4 years. Over all I have attended approximately 25 conferences, meetings, workshops, and events. I am certified in every social studies subject for Oklahoma Secondary Schools. And with that I have taught over 25 separate “preps” for social studies. (Yeah, some of these are the same course but I had to reinvent and prep due to class size, school mission, and student capability.) I have used over a dozen textbooks as classroom resources and countless internet and library resources (I really don’t know if I could remember all of the stuff I’ve used… )

I have been in  a school doing my job for 1,544 days. That is 11,508 hours. I’ve taught 7,131 specific class periods (not counting Advisory or study halls, that would add another 15 class periods). I have conservatively assigned 2 graded assignments a week, that totals over 469,000 grades. One exam a month means I've tested my kids at least 80 times.

What does this mean? Well, this is one way of looking at what I’ve done with my life for most of the past decade. There is a part of this job that is absolutely maddening to me, and it gets at why you can’t quantify what we do into an algorithm. These numbers represent what I’ve done, but there is no way of knowing what would have happened if i hadn’t done it. Well, the easy answer is someone else would have. And we’ve now come to the unholy and dangerous intersection of “Savior” and “who cares”. We have to find our balance somewhere in there. Somewhere between savior and cog in the machine…

Perhaps we could find a balance in our numbers, it couldn't hurt to try. I'm glad I did this, and I would encourage you to do the same. I am well aware and would love to see the incredible numbers some of us can put up. Let's see what we've done, and allow it to motivate us. And once we have seen what we've done, we know what we can and will do.

Acts 17:30 Ignorance isn't bliss... Anymore...

Out of nowhere things pop into my head. I watched a TED talk not long ago about finding and harnessing your elusive creative genius. The link is here  and its definitely worth a watch. I love the Tom Waits story (starts at about 12:28 (text below).

And for me, the best contemporary example that I have of how to do that is the musician Tom Waits, who I got to interview several years ago on a magazine assignment. And we were talking about this, and you know, Tom, for most of his life, he was pretty much the embodiment of the tormented contemporary modern artist, trying to control and manage and dominate these sort of uncontrollable creative impulsesthat were totally internalized.

12:52But then he got older, he got calmer, and one day he was driving down the freeway in Los Angeles, and this is when it all changed for him. And he's speeding along, and all of a sudden he hears this little fragment of melody, that comes into his head as inspiration often comes, elusive and tantalizing, and he wants it, it's gorgeous, and he longs for it, but he has no way to get it. He doesn't have a piece of paper, or a pencil, or a tape recorder.

13:16So he starts to feel all of that old anxiety start to rise in him like, "I'm going to lose this thing, and I'll be be haunted by this song forever. I'm not good enough, and I can't do it." And instead of panicking, he just stopped. He just stopped that whole mental process and he did something completely novel. He just looked up at the sky, and he said, "Excuse me, can you not see that I'm driving?"

Technology helps. Thanks to Google, iPad, iPhone, and my laptop, I can, and do, text and message myself ideas. a lot. I use pretty much every internet device I have for most of my posts. They are consistent works in progress. And I like that I always have access and can add and revise stuff all the time. 

The idea that shot through my brain this morning was Acts 17:30. I’m not really what you would call religious, anymore. I was. I still know enough to refer to the books as Second Corinthians and not Two Corinthians  (unless of course two Corinthians were walking into a bar…) I was raised in a remarkably conservative church. We had legit Sunday school with memory verses and everything. I was taught what was in the bible and while I’m not going to discuss theology here I do remember the words, and regardless of personal religious views, good social critiques are always fun…

The verse comes from Paul's sermon on Mars Hill . Not that Mars Hill, the real one in Greece. The one that didn’t swindle people and destroy lives across the Great Northwest. At this Mars Hill Pal is talking to the Greeks about all their gods and how they’ve got it all wrong. Verses 29-31 of chapter 17 reads, (from the King James because old language is awesome!!!) 

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

You can have all the rabbit hole fun about guilt, and original sin, and absolution on your own time but I want to reference this idea to our current socio-political climate. We are living in the world set up for us. So, forget the theology, (remember that's not what this is about). And don’t pay too much attention to God winking at you (the image is cool tho right?), and pay attention to his argument. The message here is  that up until now, ignorance has been an understandable defense, but it can’t be anymore. 

We didn’t make the decisions and shouldn’t be answerable to the “sins of our fathers”. However, as Paul remarked to the Greeks, “once you know better, do better.” 

We have obvious power to change and alter a lot of things, decisions made and practices, traditions, policies, and ideas that formed and were implemented before our time, we didn’t have control over. But we do know now what we know now. And that’s important. We all got to see President Clinton step in it  last week, and step in it again, trying to defend and walk back his defense of his Sec. Clinton's words and Pres. Clinton's legacy. I won’t digress on his statements too much but you can read a remarkable analysis of what he said and why it was so wrong here and here. 

Here’s the thing, for all we hope and wish of our leaders, and for all of our thoughts and likes and dislikes, they are most likely doing the best they know how to do. I don’t doubt for a moment any candidates love of their country and desire to make things good, it's just how and whether or not they are capable that disagreements abound. When Bill Clinton signed the Crime Bill in the 90s it radically accelerated the prison industrial complex. It created a remarkably efficient pipeline to ruin the lives of millions over issues, and with policies we now realize were trivial at best, and downright racist at worst. We. know. That. now. (see vs 30). Regardless of how right we thought we were, we can’t expect that wink when the evidence is obvious. 

From a cultural standpoint it would be soooo much easier if we were to create a cultural reset button. We can’t. And bad ideas have the same power as good ides, if believed in. Many of those flawed, racist, evil, and wrong views are still in belief and practice today. We have to fight against that. We don’t get to say “that’s not my fight.” Whether it's education policies we KNOW hurt kids, practices we know do not produce results, or if its institutions and social norms that we know disenfranchise and harm whole communities for no other reason than being different. We have to be brave enough to confront racism and bigotry. Sometimes that means calling it what it is, and making things uncomfortable for ourselves and others. When you think of the discomfort so many others have felt for centuries, it should put your "sacrifice" in context...

We have to be better than that and I know we are, we just have to start acting like it. We have to call a spade a spade, ESA's  are not savings accounts, they are vouchers (we did good on that one). School choice does exist, its just not the parents or students choice, it’s the private institutions… (we are doing good on that one). 

The issue isn’t oil prices, its revenue generation (we are doing good on that one too). Slowly but surely we are removing the opportunities to allow the feigning of ignorance. I’ve said so often when discussing issues of privilege, supremacy, oppression, and bigotry it is very difficult to convince many people, but once a person sees it, it cannot be unseen. And we are doing a good job of it. Stories like this show we are collectively waking up and getting to work. We have to keep it up. And we have to be willing to continue to learn, adjust, and grow. 

We have to also demand more of our leaders. We have to have the courage to know how right we are (when we are right, and we are right on this one). We have to make their ignorance disappear. Can we make them smart?  Probably not, but we can make it obvious their ignorance is willful. 

If those decisions ended with those generations, we wouldn’t have the issues we do now. If it were that simple our lives would be a lot easier, its not, so lets get to work...