The Sketch

I have returned to a former state of life.  The supplies have been bought and lay in a box by the wall near my computer.  I now have time which I didn't have before I retired.  I used to draw, people even.  Then I stopped; the muse silent for so long.  Could I rouse the spirit?  I take pencil in hand and start with the head  working my way down to the legs.  Shade and change; draw and erase.  I have created something.  It is a copy of a wooden facsimile.  It is my second attempt at sketching.  Writing is not my forte.  I am better with numbers and my hands.  Art and math seem to go together, at least for me.

I am trying to start a Math class for parents of middle school students through Putnam Valley Parks and Recreation.  I want to be able to help the students by making math more comfortable for their parents.  Parents readily help primary students with their homework.  Middle school is another thing, a daunting time in their lives.  Most parents don't have fond memories of those days and don't want to return.  Many a parent has admitted to having a difficult time with math.  The kids suffer for it.  I hope to make a difference.  The class hasn't started yet.  I've reviewed my preliminary lesson a bunch of times.  Now I wait.  A void to fill.

Will sketching fill the void?  It's rewarding when it turns out to look remotely like what you want it to be.  It's a start.  I don't know how far I will go with it.  My next subject may be my cat.  I have a cute picture of him peeking out from under a pillow.  We'll see how that works out.  Nothing ventured; nothing gained.  Here goes.

A Bloggerless Blogger

Once I was known as “Preacher Teacher”.  Not so sure if it applies.  I haven’t blogged in a year.  Guess I had nothing to say that seemed profound.  I have been retired for 2 years, and I thought my life would have gone on different path.  I imagined so many positive changes that have not occurred.  I have since learned that we are responsible for our own destiny.  At least we are most of the time by the choices we make.  Other times possibilities are given to us and we have no choice.

I chose to retire from the teaching profession 2 years ago.  My time had come to move on.  Sorry for the cliché.  I would have stayed for the kids, but not for some of the parents or the administration.  The administration was starting to look at me as being “out of touch”, a bit “old fashioned”, and oh yes, overpaid. 

I loved my job of being an AIS Math teacher.  That meant that I got all the students who didn’t score well on the NYS Math Assessment.  I was to be a resource for them to get back on the straight and narrow path to righteous math.  I did my job diligently for 6 years with what I saw as a great success.  Not success for me as a teacher, but success for my students as they learned to navigate the math labyrinth.   As Oprah would say, I lived for the “Ah Ha moments” that many of my students had.  One young lady, who forever will be etched in my mind, came running into my room after being with me for about six months.  She announced that it was the first time she had ever received a 100% on a math test.  What an achievement!!!

That’s all in the past now.  I’ve fallen into a new routine.  I exercise in the gym 4 days a week for 6 hours.  Helping out at Green Chimneys once a week in the Equestrian barn is one of my joys.  It’s true when they say the horses know things.  They know when we are upset or sad and they respond in their own way.  The horses I work with are used for therapy with students who have severe learning problems that run the spectrum of alphabet soup from ADHD to PDD to various levels of Autism and onward.  What we all have in common is our love of horses.  I think they are therapy for me too.

The horses are ones that have been rescued from abusive situations or donated by various individuals.  The children learn to identify with the myriad of personalities displayed by the animals and see that they are not so different from us.  They learn to care for the needs of the horses and to also care for their own needs – a symbiotic relationship develops.  What once was looked at as abnormal, now takes on the look of normalcy.  This also extends to the other farm animals housed on the property and the rescued wild animal as well.

My life has taken a turn in the road here.  Think of it as the “road not taken”.  Thank you to Robert Frost.  In a routine physical it was discovered that I was anemic.  This discovery has snowballed into a diagnosis of multiple myeloma or bone marrow cancer.  The dreaded “C” word rears its ugly head.  The thought now is, “How does this fit into my plans.”  I‘ve had to endure several unpleasant procedures, such as, a bone marrow biopsy and a fat pad biopsy (the most egregious of the two).  Now I await the verdict.  How will it change my life?

My wish has been to travel.  We just came back from an amazing trip to Alaska and the Yukon wilderness.  We saw some spectacular scenery and were privileged to see amazing wildlife.  The people we met on our journey will live in our hearts forever along with lessons learned.  We spent time in Curacao and the Sea Aquarium (animals again).  We’ve just come back from the Mayan Riviera and Playa del Carmine.  The life journey continues however short or long is of no consequence.  We simply go on – day by day.

Parenting Our Parents

It's been a while, but I am finally back to share my experiences with you.  I'm still on my new journey.  I have spent the last year helping my eighty-five year old mother cope with the beginnings of demetia.  This is a series of events for which we are ill prepared.  I spent a year trying to convince her doctor that something was wrong.  She wasn't herself.

We tried counseling when she stopped driving and going to church on a regular basis.  The counselor got her to drive again for a short time, but then we had a significant setback and she stopped altogether.  I took her to a neurologist whose initial diagnosis was depression with the beginnings of demetia.  He sent us to a psycologist for testing.  She tested as having the beginning of demetia with a good deal of short term memory loss.  She was also extremely sleep deprived from lack of sufficient sleep.  This sent us back to the neurologist who sent us to a psychiatrist after an initial anti-depressant caused problems.  The psychiatrist did the trick.  She was prescribed a low dose of Prozac and we began weekly counseling wiht a psychologist. Things were progressing well and she was slowly getting better.

During this entire period she was becoming more and more reclusive.  She only left the house to go food shopping with her friend once a week.  She wanted me at the house constantly; finding little things for me to do in order to get me go to the house so she had company.  She would not alow anyone else in the house.  We were going on a trip to Alaska that we had planned the year before.  What to do?  Eventually, we had to hire somone to come and spend 2 hours a day and help with her food since she "forgot" how to cook and then just refused to use the microwave.The calls home were fraught with anger about us not being there.

It became increasing evident that staying in her house was no longer an option.  My sister found a wonderful independent living facility in North Carolina, the Dorchester.  My mother moved there in late October into a two bedroom apartment.  She can go to the dining room for dinner if she doesn't want to cook.  She goes there regularly, and my sister supplements her food.  She leaves cooked meals that can be microwaved.  However, she has to call my mother and "walk her through" the process to reheat the food.  I wish she would get more involved in the community activities, but I suppose all will come in time as she gets used to her surroundings.    She struggles with her sense of time and dates.   This has made her exceedingly anxious so I bought her a "talking clock".  You can ask it for the time and date and it will answer you.    We will see if that helps.  For now at least she is safe if not totally happy.  Maybe in time that too will come.

A New Beginning

Being newly retired has its challenges.  I’m taking another step toward my future.  This past Wednesday, March 16^th, I spent the day at Green Chimneys School in Brewster.  I went with my friend Jean to see their Equestrian Therapy team with the intention of volunteering my services.  I was pleasantly surprised and delighted with the day.  The weather was no help at all.  It rained most of the time we were there and we were in and out of the rain until an hour before we left.  I met some amazing people there- some instructors, some interns, some volunteers and some students.

The concept behind Green Chimneys is Animal therapy for children.  There are so many animals there that have been rescued or donated for this purpose.  There are exotic animals such as llamas, an emu, eagle, and various owls as well as the common raven and crow.  They have farm animals that include cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and ducks.  In the Equestrian area they have many horses, as well as, miniature horses and donkeys. 

I plan to offer my services in the Equestrian Barn.  There I will help to take care of the horses by cleaning out their stalls, bringing them out to their outdoor pastures, grooming them for riding classes, and helping the students during the riding classes.  I am a novice rider myself and I have a lot to learn in this new field that I have chosen.  As I get more and more experience with the horses, I will be more comfortable with the daily chores.

I feel that it is a time in my life that I want to give back for all that I have.  The students that I met were polite and respectful of both the teachers and the animals.  It is amazing to see how their demeanor changes when they are with the horses.  They are more relaxed and confident as they control these animals that are far bigger than they are.  I learned a lesson in courage from a boy named Danny when I watched him ride the largest horse in the arena and he was the smallest in the group, only about 4 ft. tall.  He looked like a “knight in shining armor” as he sat astride Jackson and commanded him around the course with such presence.

I think I have found my niche.

"Coddled" Students vs "Misguided" Parents

Is tough love the answer to the lack of student initiative? Have parents gone too far in coddling their children and sheltering them from the consequences of the real world? My life as a teacher "was no crystal stair". I had my share of student rebellion and parental overreaction. You have to be so careful of how you say things, worry about who may misinterpret, and yet still be true to yourself.  I treated my students as if they were my own children (I had taught my own son Math for 2 years in elementary school.).  Did I make mistakes in things that I said to them?  Of course. 

We are all fallible and human.  To demand more than humanity from teachers is unrealistic.  If you have made a mistake in what was said or done to a student, what is wrong with sitting down with that student, either alone or with the class, and discussing the incident.  Mistakes are not bad; they just need to be corrected.  Children need to see that teachers are willing to apologize when they are wrong.  Just as students need to do the same with their teachers.

Here is the article that prompted a response from me.  Read it and form your own opinion.  What follows is mine.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41618492/ns/us_news-life/
 This teacher, Natale Monroe, wrote in a blog like this one her feelings and assumptions about her students.  I'm sure, like most of us in the education biz, she was not referring to all her students.  Just those "nuts" that are harder to crack.  By that I mean those that do not seem to understand the importance of an education. 

I was once told by a superior that: "I didn't not understand middle schoolers today.  That they were not the same as when I went to school.  They became rude only because they were embarassed to be scolded in front of thwir peers."  The truth was that I did  understand them, and I would not accept anything but their best.  Hard work does not come easily to many students, but if encouraged they will eventually see it's value.

Tough love has it's place, because many times we are tougher on ourselves and our performance.  Never did a time go by that I did not question my role as a teacher, or my beahvior in a situation.  You can never go wrong if you are true to yourself and your beliefs.

Parents need to stop feeling guilty for working and not spending as much time with their children as they would like.  They have to stop overcompensating and overprotecting them.  They need to listen to all sides of an argument and not jump to the conculsion that their child is never wrong or never misunderstands.  They need to sit down with their child and the teacher and rationally discuss the best methods for their child to achieve success.

I don't know too many teachers, who are in it for the money.  They are dedicated individuals with high moral values who dedicate their lives to a profession that lacks respect in the eyes of some.  We need to bring back the respect and work together with the parents for the good of the students.  We need to listen to one another and hear what is said for the good of the children in our care.

Virgin Blogger

This is my first attempt at blogging.  I am a recently retired Math teacher of middle schoolers.  When I told that to a saleslady today, she said that I was a SURVIVOR.  I guess you can say that I am a survivor of the system.  Teaching is a difficult, but satisfying occupation.  For the last few years of my career, I taught students who had difficulties comprehending math.  My job was guide and navigator of those rough waters.  My kids did well.  Many of them overcame years of fear concerning math.  They looked at it as so many rules.  I told them to see patterns, no rules just patterns.  Those patterns made sense to many of them and opened doors that had been closed for years.  I will share with you, my fellow bloggers, ideas that I have and random thoughts that I will form.  For now this is my first and there will be many more to come.