Basic Training

I have been involved in a 'Basic Training' class at church since September. Each Saturday for 2 hours a group of men gather, and discuss our homework for the week. We have books to read, Scripture to memorize, a bible study and questions to answer. We are currently in a module where we get to examine how we relate to our wives. In one chapter of Gary Smalley's book we had to answer 30 questions and then grade ourselves. I'll just give a few examples:
1. Do you make your wife feel good about herself?
2. Does your face spontaneously break into a smile when you see your wife?
3. Can you accept your wife as she is instead of having several plans to redo her?
4. Do you enjoy introducing your wife to your friends and acquaintances?
5. Do you believe you know at least five of your wife's major needs AND how to meet those needs in a skillful way?
6. Does your wife feel she's more important than anyone or anything else in your life other than God?
I'll stop but imagine answering 24 more of these thought-provoking questions. What a book, page after page that can make a marriage better because it makes me quit thinking about myself first and my wife second.

Winter Storm

No school, the phone call that starts to wheels in motion, teachers to contact, sidewalks to clear, and snowshoes to use! I love walking through Mt. Hope and these are a collection of photos from this morning that show the peaceful setting that God through His weather can create.

Recommendation

I am nearly finished with Catching Up or Leading the Way and recommend this book as essential reading in the fight against NCLB and testing as the way to determine student progress. Zhao traces the failure of centralized education in China, Japan, Singapore, and everywhere else it has been tried. His most powerful comments come in the form of comparing our history of scoring very low in tests that rank nations (we always have) and yet we continue to lead the world in innovation and places many people want to live. To reconcile this discrepancy one must always remember that the U.S. has valued creativity which leads to innovation and invention which keeps us on top. The high performing nations on standardized tests are all abandoning the centralized education system and moving toward decentralizing while the U.S. is moving in the opposite direction. Can someone explain???

The Joy of Cats

Our home never lacks excitement. Boomer, the black and white cat, is taking liquid medicine for his bad breath while Rocky is on antibiotics for a bladder infection that returns about every six months. The vet told us the best cure was to give him a sex change operation, I had to wonder if humans have the same reason for doing that procedure?? We used to just do shots, easier to hit a cat with a needle than give one a pill but then we noticed he reacted to the shots and lost fur at the site of each shot. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that in a few years we would have a bald cat plus he didn't really enjoy that process either. So with cost and disfigurement we decided to return to pills. What an adventure.

Failed

Video from August trip to Door County, just found time to upload. I guess getting sick has benefits.
The island shown in the video is wonderful, no motorized traffic of any kind. Various trails allow you to walk the entire outside loop of the island in less than three hours. There are nice beaches, picnic areas and tent camping. A very short boat trip takes you to the island where you can spend a few hours, the day or several days. The walk from the lighthouse down to the beach is exciting and well worth the few nervous points along the way. This is, by far, the better part of Door County. The northern side of the peninsula is for tourists, stay away if you want any kind of an outdoor experience. If you like dozens of expensive shops selling trinkets at inflated prices to rich city folks who think they are experiencing Walden then spend your time there but I would head for Washington Island and Rock Island.

Reading

I am currently reading, "Why Don't Students Like School," by Daniel Willingham and since very few people ever find this blog I can write about what he says about tracking without fear of being discovered.

"I don't accept that some students are "just not very bright" and ought to be tracked into less demanding classes. But it's naive to pretend that all students come to your class equally prepared to excel; they have had different preparations as well as different levels of support at home, and they will therefore differ in their abilities. If that's true, and if what I've said in this chapter is true, it is self-defeating to give all of your students the same work. The less capable students will find it too difficult and will struggle against their brain's bias to mentally walk away from schoolwork. To the extent that you can, it's smart, I think, to assign work to individuals or groups of students that is appropriate to their current level of competence." (Willingham, p. 16-17)

Differentiation of instruction. If this became common practice, excellent practice, thoughtful practice, might some tracking be done away with? What if teachers were given the time to actually reflect on current practices with other teachers? Might this be accomplished?

While adding wild random thoughts. . .I have heard it said that there is no more important work in schools than what teachers do in their classrooms every day. As I sit here typing, the thought leaps to mind, then why are teachers paid far less than administrators. Even if we are of equal value then our pay should be closer to equal??? What if teams of teachers ran the schools and taught? Developed budgets, disciplined, counseled, and taught according to skills acquired through graduate classes? Time for reflection.

Long Time Writing

It's that time of year. Shorter, cooler days, longer nights. After having four years of excuses our church offered a men's class on Saturday morning. Since September twelve of us have met from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in a class called "Basic Training." We are supposed to have about two hours of homework but since my brain doesn't memorize well I usually have to spend far longer to get my memory verse internalized. It has been wonderful. We have read several chapters of Ortberg's book, The Life You've Always Wanted and now several chapters of Farrar's book, Point Man. I have listened to taped messages by Howard Hendricks and Bill Hybels. I have been confronted with the disciplines of the faith. I have been found wanting in my commitment to serve. The week I had to memorize Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," I learned I am a very anxious person.
I am anxious because my house remodel hasn't been completed, I am anxious because I am not the teacher I desire to be, I am anxious because money is more of a stress than it was, I am anxious because my 92 year old dad isn't in good health and the list could go on. Why am I not thankful for a job, for a wonderful wife, for a loving family, for a church family that has brought blessings that we can never repay, for the people I work with who make going to work a pleasure instead of a pain, for a group of men meeting on Saturday morning who are willing to take a risk and share their joy and pain. Why am I anxious? I am told not to be. I am told to be thankful. I am resolving to allow the Lord God of all creation to begin a work in me, to change me, to take my anxious heart and mind and give me peace and rest.
May this same God do the same for you. Peace.

If your church doesn't have a Basic Training class for men, contact me and I will send the information. It will change your life.