I never realized that having kids would cause me to re-learn everything I THOUGHT I knew from my own elementary school education. Now that T1 and T2 are moving into specific areas of study like science, social studies, and more complicated math than basic addition and subtraction, I am finding that I'm learning along with them.
I have been helping in their classrooms two mornings a week...one morning in each classroom. Turns out there is a universal School Scent. Every school I've ever been in smells the same. It still smells like the school I went to when I was a child. It has a strong undercurrent of cleaning supplies (which, when ordered from a catalog must say "School Smell Cleaning Supplies), a chalkiness, or maybe essence of crayons, a hint of wet construction paper, and just the most subtle nuance of pee...like someone in the room didn't quite aim accurately when they went to the bathroom and got some on their shoes or something.
But the amazing thing I am finding is how much more information they have about the subjects they are learning. T2 has in his classroom a big book about Christopher Columbus, and it has details in it I never learned as a child. Both of them are learning about the Pilgrims at a much, much more realistic level than I ever learned in the happy, fun way it was presented back in the days when I made construction paper turkeys. They are learning the true story about how these people nearly all starved, and entire families were wiped out while they tried to make it through their first few years. They are also learning about how the Native Americans were also nearly destroyed by all the new diseases the Pilgrims (and others) brought with them. And T1's class has also been learning about rocks and minerals in her science unit. She is now rattling off facts about what the earth is made of and how different rocks are made that I'm pretty sure I didn't know until high school.
The Reenactor and I have both discovered that the way T1 is learning to add two columns of numbers is very, very different than the way we both learned it. The language involved is different. You no longer "carry" a digit from the first column to the second. They are being taught to "re-group." I can tell that I'm going to be in over my head in helping them with math sooner rather than later.
The fun part of this is that subjects that I normally wouldn't bother to read or study are in front of me now, and I'm re-learning too! I can maybe take a mid-life GED one of these days and see if I pass!
So campers, what "true fact" did YOU learn in elementary school that you now know is complete nonsense? Or what did you learn that still sticks with you today as a tool you use often?
Oh, and one more note...if you ever think that teachers are overpaid, just spend two hours in a classroom. I truly don't know how they aren't all stark, raving mad at the end of the day.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election Day, 2008
Notes from Nov. 4, 2008
1) I was filled with a sense of calm, and amazement after I pressed Obama's name on my voting machine. Just this sense that I had made a contribution to history.
2) The Reenactor and I were so disappointed that The Commonwealth was the first state officially called in favor of McCain. However, given the political and cultural climate of this area, it was no surprise.
3) I couldn't sit still for the first three hours of the evening. I flitted around the house in nervous spasms of attempting to clean and put things away, obsessively checking the current tallies on the computer, and watching anything BUT the results on tv. We even watched a special "presidential" edition of Dirty Jobs. The Daily Show was our election coverage up until the time that the election was called. Just because I was feeling especially goofy, I checked out Faux News momentarily. Long enough to see Karl Rove trying to logically explain why everything he has done in the last decade has been nothing short of disasterous (well...not what he was really talking about, but I was wishing it was).
4) The kids wanted to stay up until it was "over" which of course we had no idea how long that would take. We let them both lay down with pillows and blankets, and they cratered just minutes before the election was called. We tried to wake them up to watch O's acceptance speech, but they both whined and went back to sleep. I'm going to have them watch it on the internet tonight.
5) Champagne that we have been saving to celebrate the sale of our house was instead popped open to sip while McCain conceded, and during Obama's magnificent acceptance speech.
6) I probably should have put this first, but it is a stream-of-consciousness thing so bear with me. I want to put this in writing for the virtual family campfire that is my blog (and for those of my friends who humor me by reading it as well)....
My sister Alice, and her husband John have spent hours, and hours, and hours, and hours volunteering for Obama's campaign in Ohio. They have knocked on doors, made calls, canvassed, done grunt work like picking up signs to place in their county, and I don't even know what all...
Today, they are my heroes. They are two of the legions of people who made this change possible. I hope they take a well-deserved vacation or rest now, and bask in the glow of the triumph they were so much a part of.
7) I know the world isn't going to change immediately, but for the first time in eight years, I have hope again. I remembered last night how we took T1 to the polls to vote with us when she was just 2 weeks old in 2000, and how optimistic I was that evening. I remember the feeling of dread that I had as I was up with her over that night giving her feedings and watching the fate of our nation change by the minute, and by the suspect votes of a few counties in Florida. I still believe that election was stolen, and that our world would be very different if Gore had won. So to go from that to having her curled up next to me cheering every time a state went "blue" last night was a bit of compensation for the feeling of helplessness in the last few years.
8) The power of one vote is just amazing. My homestate of Missouri was called with just something like 4000 votes difference. The senate race in Minnesota is at this moment divided by just 400 votes. The mayoral race in my town, which I think everyone assumed was a shoo-in for the incumbent, is only 50 votes different. Your vote matters, it really does.
9) I hope that this election begins a trend of eliminating the use of smear and negative campaign ads and emails, as it is very clear they didn't work this time. Case in point, the Senate race in N.C. Elizabeth Dole lost her bid for re-election in large part because of an ad she ran and approved saying that her opponent didn't believe in God. Even for the hardiest of evangelicals in her state it was a slap too many.
10) I wonder what Joe the Plumber is doing today? Maybe his job for a change? Unclogging a sewer line or something? I hope we don't hear of him again.
That's all for now. I'm happy. I feel like I'm represented again (although not at a local level).
Yes, we can!
1) I was filled with a sense of calm, and amazement after I pressed Obama's name on my voting machine. Just this sense that I had made a contribution to history.
2) The Reenactor and I were so disappointed that The Commonwealth was the first state officially called in favor of McCain. However, given the political and cultural climate of this area, it was no surprise.
3) I couldn't sit still for the first three hours of the evening. I flitted around the house in nervous spasms of attempting to clean and put things away, obsessively checking the current tallies on the computer, and watching anything BUT the results on tv. We even watched a special "presidential" edition of Dirty Jobs. The Daily Show was our election coverage up until the time that the election was called. Just because I was feeling especially goofy, I checked out Faux News momentarily. Long enough to see Karl Rove trying to logically explain why everything he has done in the last decade has been nothing short of disasterous (well...not what he was really talking about, but I was wishing it was).
4) The kids wanted to stay up until it was "over" which of course we had no idea how long that would take. We let them both lay down with pillows and blankets, and they cratered just minutes before the election was called. We tried to wake them up to watch O's acceptance speech, but they both whined and went back to sleep. I'm going to have them watch it on the internet tonight.
5) Champagne that we have been saving to celebrate the sale of our house was instead popped open to sip while McCain conceded, and during Obama's magnificent acceptance speech.
6) I probably should have put this first, but it is a stream-of-consciousness thing so bear with me. I want to put this in writing for the virtual family campfire that is my blog (and for those of my friends who humor me by reading it as well)....
My sister Alice, and her husband John have spent hours, and hours, and hours, and hours volunteering for Obama's campaign in Ohio. They have knocked on doors, made calls, canvassed, done grunt work like picking up signs to place in their county, and I don't even know what all...
Today, they are my heroes. They are two of the legions of people who made this change possible. I hope they take a well-deserved vacation or rest now, and bask in the glow of the triumph they were so much a part of.
7) I know the world isn't going to change immediately, but for the first time in eight years, I have hope again. I remembered last night how we took T1 to the polls to vote with us when she was just 2 weeks old in 2000, and how optimistic I was that evening. I remember the feeling of dread that I had as I was up with her over that night giving her feedings and watching the fate of our nation change by the minute, and by the suspect votes of a few counties in Florida. I still believe that election was stolen, and that our world would be very different if Gore had won. So to go from that to having her curled up next to me cheering every time a state went "blue" last night was a bit of compensation for the feeling of helplessness in the last few years.
8) The power of one vote is just amazing. My homestate of Missouri was called with just something like 4000 votes difference. The senate race in Minnesota is at this moment divided by just 400 votes. The mayoral race in my town, which I think everyone assumed was a shoo-in for the incumbent, is only 50 votes different. Your vote matters, it really does.
9) I hope that this election begins a trend of eliminating the use of smear and negative campaign ads and emails, as it is very clear they didn't work this time. Case in point, the Senate race in N.C. Elizabeth Dole lost her bid for re-election in large part because of an ad she ran and approved saying that her opponent didn't believe in God. Even for the hardiest of evangelicals in her state it was a slap too many.
10) I wonder what Joe the Plumber is doing today? Maybe his job for a change? Unclogging a sewer line or something? I hope we don't hear of him again.
That's all for now. I'm happy. I feel like I'm represented again (although not at a local level).
Yes, we can!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election Day, 1980
I remember quite clearly my first opportunity to vote in a presidential election. I was a student at Drury, and after my morning classes I drove to my hometown, 20 miles away, so I could vote in the courthouse there. After voting--which seemed like a surreal experience to me--the poll worker gave me a "I voted" sticker. I drove back to Springfield and since I had missed lunch in the Commons I went to the CX--the on-campus dining spot with the best chicken noodle soup I've ever eaten anywhere.
So I'm sitting there at a table, eating my lunch, probably reviewing some book for an afternoon class, and a man sitting at the next table says to me, "I see you voted." "Yes," I replied proudly. "Who did you vote for?" he asked. "Carter." I replied again.
His face turned beet red, and looked at me with great disgust and said, "Well THAT was the stupidest thing you could have done." He turned away from me and sat over his food shaking his head.
I was absolutely shattered by this comment. I was majoring in political science and felt like I had really educated myself on the issues that were important to me, and the viewpoints of both Reagan and Carter. Carter was way more in line with my way of thinking, especially on environmental issues, which were extremely important to me (and still are). This was the first time I had ever voted, and I had no idea that someone--a total stranger yet--would be so offended by my choice.
It was also the first time I experienced the idea that someone could completely dismiss my choice as "stupid" without taking the time to ask WHY I had chosen Carter that day.
This encounter has stayed with me lo these many years. It is one of the reasons I am passionate about politics. I still am, even though my poli sci degree is definitely gathering dust. I am passionate about the process, and the way people choose their candidate. I am also passionate about the idea that people DON'T vote. I can't imagine why you wouldn't. I was explaining to T1 and T2 last night that it has only been over 100 years or so that women could vote. They were aghast at that idea. I also explained to them that in many countries women can't vote, can't own property, can't make any legal decisions for themselves. Again, they were aghast.
The disgust in this man's face when I said "Carter" has also stayed with me. It is the reason that if you email me some slanderous crap about my candidate, I'm right back on ya with MY viewpoint, and hopefully a fact-checked version of events.
So tomorrow if you want to vote for the GOP candidates, by all means go ahead and do it. And thank God you live in a country where you HAVE THAT RIGHT. I will be voting for Obama. (I haven't made that plain in this blog, have I?) And God help anyone I encounter who treats me with disgust over MY choice, MY vote. It is the one thing I CAN do to change this mess we're in. I'm not a young college student, scared to defend my choice to a stranger anymore.
So I'm sitting there at a table, eating my lunch, probably reviewing some book for an afternoon class, and a man sitting at the next table says to me, "I see you voted." "Yes," I replied proudly. "Who did you vote for?" he asked. "Carter." I replied again.
His face turned beet red, and looked at me with great disgust and said, "Well THAT was the stupidest thing you could have done." He turned away from me and sat over his food shaking his head.
I was absolutely shattered by this comment. I was majoring in political science and felt like I had really educated myself on the issues that were important to me, and the viewpoints of both Reagan and Carter. Carter was way more in line with my way of thinking, especially on environmental issues, which were extremely important to me (and still are). This was the first time I had ever voted, and I had no idea that someone--a total stranger yet--would be so offended by my choice.
It was also the first time I experienced the idea that someone could completely dismiss my choice as "stupid" without taking the time to ask WHY I had chosen Carter that day.
This encounter has stayed with me lo these many years. It is one of the reasons I am passionate about politics. I still am, even though my poli sci degree is definitely gathering dust. I am passionate about the process, and the way people choose their candidate. I am also passionate about the idea that people DON'T vote. I can't imagine why you wouldn't. I was explaining to T1 and T2 last night that it has only been over 100 years or so that women could vote. They were aghast at that idea. I also explained to them that in many countries women can't vote, can't own property, can't make any legal decisions for themselves. Again, they were aghast.
The disgust in this man's face when I said "Carter" has also stayed with me. It is the reason that if you email me some slanderous crap about my candidate, I'm right back on ya with MY viewpoint, and hopefully a fact-checked version of events.
So tomorrow if you want to vote for the GOP candidates, by all means go ahead and do it. And thank God you live in a country where you HAVE THAT RIGHT. I will be voting for Obama. (I haven't made that plain in this blog, have I?) And God help anyone I encounter who treats me with disgust over MY choice, MY vote. It is the one thing I CAN do to change this mess we're in. I'm not a young college student, scared to defend my choice to a stranger anymore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)