Nostalgia in the Air.....

Ned, thinking outside of the box @ a young age.

There is something very nostalgic about the changing of summer into fall. The crisp, cooler air blows with a bit more energy than the hot wind of August. I get a nostalgic feeling this time of year that seems to revolve around going back to school. And so, this morning, I drove Ned to his new school. We are very hopeful that it will be a satisfying experience. The education system in our country is not very encouraging right now, and our local community is no exception. There are a lot of issues and problems with many aspects of it. All the testing, the big classrooms, and the inability on the teacher's part to veer off course into something that might be interesting because they have to stay on course for the testing...and so it goes, around and around.  If you are a student who thinks outside of the box and is interested in things other than the scientific tables or all of the wars our country has been in, then you are in for it.  You are basically in trouble if these things don't interest you. I was always (and still am) a hands-on learner. I don't just want the recipe for making bread--I want to make the bread--get my hands in the flour, watch it rise, bake it and then have the experience of eating it warm with butter melted on top. You can take something like making bread and teach the following: math (the measuring/cooking temps, etc.), history (the history of growing/selling wheat in various countries and times), science (why does the yeast make it rise?), english (write the recipe out so that it makes culinary sense, and write about your experience of making the bread), and you could also do all of this in Spanish, French or Chinese (if you need to take a language requirement!).I hope that as time goes on, educators with an interest in teaching about things that are more relevant to living will be able to move into the mainstream.  I am not implying that teaching bread making alone makes for a well rounded society. But interesting, exciting, innovative public education is crucial to our whole society. We have to keep kids interested in staying in school. This video clip of Sir Ken Robinson giving a talk on creativity and how current education standards and schools squash creativity in kids is one that I love. When I hear people like this talk, I am encouraged and know that I am not alone. He says that "Creativity is as important in education as literacy...." I could not agree more.

My favorite teacher of all time was Michael Kaplan @ Nichols Middle School in Evanston, IL. He was our science teacher. He had a long ponytail and wore hip-hugger pants. Before each class started, we could ask him 3 questions...about anything! If he didn't know the answer, he would get back to us tomorrow on it. As a way to teach us about science, he taught us photography. We made pinhole cameras and developed our pictures right in the classroom. He was dedicated and open minded and smart. For a long time, I was conscious of the fact that this is where I got my initial interest in photography nurtured. But it was only a couple of years ago that I finally realized that what I was really reacting to emotionally was how Mr. Kaplan was teaching us, not just what he was teaching us. He was interested in us and what we thought. He was listening and honoring our thoughts and ideas. I am 50 years old and writing about my middle school science teacher; I am very grateful to have had at least one teacher that I remember with great fondness like this.


Expect good things....