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Mr. Edwards Letters for October 2007 |
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Control Your Temper
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Outstanding Ones!!
My brother, Mike and I shared a room when we were growing up. I can say that most of the time we were best friends. So much so that we went to the same college and shared an apartment. There were a few times that we disagreed and argued, and then there were even fewer times that we got into a fight. It usually meant we wrestled it out on the floor or in the front yard. We never hurt each other seriously, although the anger became outrageous at times. My brother tried to control his temper by hitting an inanimate object. So the bed, or fence, or counter, or wall was always in danger when Mike chose to get mad.
One time we argued about who was going to clean up a mess in the bedroom. It was probably mostly mine, but I thought he should help since the room was his, too. He disagreed. We pushed each other, then we wrestled a bit, then Mike got up and said in a rage, “It’s your mess and I want you to clean it up!” To reinforce his statement, he slammed his fist into the wall. This time was the only time where it went through the wall. All of a sudden the anger was gone, his and mine, because now we knew we were going to be in trouble with our father. We immediately started thinking about a solution. We went from arguing and Jeff vs. Mike, to being a team and trying to find a way out of the new predicament.
What would you do if you put a hole in the wall unintentionally? Most of you would do the same thing that Mike and I did. You cover it up. You hide it. We found my little brother’s two feet by three feet chalkboard and hung it up to cover the hole. It did a great job except it was set too low. The chalkboard tray was about eighteen inches from the floor. It was too low, but we were never asked about it. And in fact we forgot about it most of the time. That happened in 1970 when I was in the 8th grade. It stayed that way for years. We left to go to college and when we moved out Dad decided to remodel that part of the house. That was the first time he had seen the hole in the wall. Needless to say we had to explain things over the telephone. The point of this story is how does a person deal with anger? How do they control rage? Rage is dangerous when it is left unchecked. Listen to this quote.
“People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.”
Remember that even how a person deals with rage and anger is still a choice. We don’t have to hit something or scream at someone, we can make other choices that help us control the situation.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Be Truthful—Always
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Truthful Ones!
I don’t remember stealing much in my life, but I do remember the first time I took something without paying for it. I want to tell you about the first time that I stole something. I was just five years old and it was a daylight robbery. My mom had parked the car in front of the dime store in Blackwell, Oklahoma. In 1960, there was no Wal-Mart or Target or Kmart in existence. But there were dime stores. In those days, it was also safe for parents to leave a child in the car for a few minutes, especially with a big brother. So while my mom went into the store, we sat in the car. After a couple of minutes, I left the car and ran into the store and took a grape bubble gum ball from the candy section, and ran back out to the car. As soon as I was back in the back seat, I popped it into my mouth and was enjoying that great grape sugary taste. It was fantastic and was even more enjoyable because I had it and my brothers and sister did not. The flavor was so wonderful that I didn’t even think about the fact that I did not pay for it.
When my mother came out I was chomping on the gum and even drooling a little bit of the juice down my chin. Her first words are common among moms around little kids. She said, “What do you have in your mouth?” My pleasure of the gum ended immediately. She asked where I got the gum. Before I could answer, my brother Mike spoke up quickly and said, “Jeff took it from the store.” Seconds later, I was being held by one arm in the dime store by my mother and she wanted the clerk to talk to me about stealing. After that, she made me apologize and give the man a penny. Then I got my rear end spanked. That was the first time that my mom told me to follow this rule. Listen to these three words:
“Be truthful—always!”
For the next 14 years, until I left home, she reinforced the idea that I needed to choose to be truthful always. She meant for me not to lie, not to steal, and not to cheat. She wanted me to be truthful in all areas of my life. I have tried to follow her lesson, her rule for the last forty-seven years. I choose to be truthful. I challenge you to choose that route as well. Be truthful always!
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Gum Got Me
Monday, October 29, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Cougars!
Listen with attentiveness to this story about another one of my first grade experiences. It happened on a hot, muggy morning in October 1962. I arrived to school by bus, set my Roy Rogers’ lunch pail down by the classroom door, and immediately went to the playground to get in a few fast and furious minutes of play. Huston Elementary School had all outside classroom doors, so my stuff was better there than on the playground with me. I got me a swing and was having fun when my friend Ricky came up and wanted a turn swinging. I wasn’t willing to share at the time so he quickly offered me a piece of gum for a turn. It seemed to be a great trade, so in the next moment, Ricky is swinging like crazy and I am leaning against a pole chomping on a big piece of bubble gum.
The school bell shattered the enjoyable episode for both of us. I shouted something like, “Last one to Mrs. Dixon’s class is a great big yellow toad-sucker!” We blasted off at full speed and passed everyone and made it to the door at the same time. We argued who was first and got our stuff and went into the classroom. I put my lunch pail into a cubbyhole and went to my desk. As soon as my classmates were at their desks Mrs. Dixon told everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I placed my six-year-old right hand over my heart and began with everyone else. But after just a couple of words I recognized I was having a tough time saying the words because I had wad of bubble gum in my mouth still. I realized that if I got caught chewing gum I would be in big trouble. So since I was sitting in the back seat of the middle row I was able to take it out of my mouth and place it in my chair seat. I finished the pledge and then as a class we sang “America the Beautiful.” During that time I saw that Gary Cook, who sat next to me was absent, so as I sat down, I transferred the gum from my seat to his. I knew at that point I only needed to deliver it to the trashcan at an appropriate time. We got busy with our lessons and did things like write our spelling words ten times each, and take turns reading to the teacher in small groups. After a couple of hours, Mrs. Dixon said, “Okay, boys and girls, it’s time for your morning recess. Play nice.”
I was off like a jackrabbit racing to the playground with the hope of getting a swing first. As I remember most of my recesses, I had a good time with my friends for that fifteen minutes of freedom from lessons and the teacher. When it was over we walked back into the classroom and took our seats at our desks. I looked over and saw that Gary had finally arrived to school. It was at that moment that I remembered the bubble gum in his desk chair. I wondered if it had just suddenly disappeared or could Gary by chance be sitting on it. Now it was hot outside, but as a first grade student I didn’t realize that body heat was a whopping 98 degrees by itself. In a matter of minutes, Gary noticed he had gum smeared and stuck all over his rear. Mrs. Dixon wanted to know who had put bubble gum in Gary’s seat. No one had to respond because I had turned a bright candy-apple red. When she asked, “Jeff, did you do it?” I started blubbering about it being an accident. As much as Mrs. Dixon liked me, she didn’t believe that I had not done the deed on purpose. She took Gary to the sink and worked at getting the gum off his jeans, and then she returned him to my desk and made me sit on the floor at the back of the room until lunch. I cried quite a bit during the 60-minute stretch and watched all of my friends leave the room to go to lunch. I continued to sit on the floor and eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then Mrs. Dixon gave me an old butter knife and a piece of finger-painting shirt and had me clean Gary’s chair. I had to scrape all of the gum off, and the whole time I cried. I cried because I knew that I had disappointed my teacher, and she was the only person I had called “Teacher” to that point in my life. What did I learn?
I learned that Mrs. Dixon’s rules were a good idea. I learned that I should have shared the swing without bargaining for the gum. I learned that I needed to follow through on things, such as throwing the gum away at an appropriate time. I learned that Gary Cook could show up at any time. I learned that the human body could melt gum and make it a mess. I learned that I didn’t like to disappoint people that I cared about and that cared about me.
I have been meaning to tell this story for years to Sequoyah students in a letter, but I haven’t sensed the right time. Now I do. I need everyone’s help. I need students in the building to follow a simple rule. Please don’t bring gum into the building. Please don’t chew gum on campus. The rule is for everyone, but it exists because of a few.
What do I mean by that? Well, that’s simple, too. Ninety-nine percent of the students in the building will chew and throw it in the trash when they are finished. The 1% that purposely drop it on the floor or stick it to the bottom of the desk or throw it on the sidewalk have created the need for our rule. The problem I had in first grade was because I didn’t throw the bubble gum in the trash. Even at 52 years old, I still love bubble gum. But I never chew gum at Sequoyah. The rule isn’t a teacher or principal rule. It is a rule for students. I choose not to chew gum at Sequoyah out of respect for the students and the restriction you have.
Listen to these anonymous words:
“People that respect themselves will always respect rules made for a good reason.”
Again, I ask for your help. Please keep our school clean by leaving gum outside it and off the campus. I will continue to do so.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Believe in Your Own Skills!
Friday, October 26, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Academic Ones!
Most of you are aware that we like to bring authors into our school. We have already had three this year enjoy the Sequoyah campus and students. Dan Gutman has visited our school twice in the past and I would love to get him here this spring for a third visit to Edmond. He visited in the spring of 1999 and then in the fall of 2001.His books have been popular books to check out of the media center. They connect to students through several issues.
One common topic has been sports. A number of students have read The Million Dollar Shot. It is about a young student in Louisiana that gets chosen to participate at half time of Game One of the NBA Championship Series. He was given the opportunity to shoot a free throw for one million dollars. He knew that he was a pretty fair shot and with his focused practice he had reached a 90% success rate. That means that he was making 9 out of ten shots. This worried the sponsor of the contest. He was going to go under financially if Eddie Ball made his free throw. So he made an offer to Eddie. He tried to give him a sure thing with a bribe. If he missed the shot on purpose, he would get a job for his mother and his college education paid for at a school of his choice. Eddie had actually thought about it, but turned it down before he left Louisiana for the game. The man tried again moments before Eddie took the shot at Madison Square Garden. Again Eddie turned it down.
He told the sponsor, Mr. Finkle no, with these words.
“I didn’t come this far to take a dive.”
Minutes later, Eddie Ball took the shot. If you have read the story you know what happens after that, but the point that Eddie made with his decision was that he would pass up the sure thing and keep confidence in his own ability. He knew he could make the shot. To him it was not a roll of the dice. It was not a question of greed, but was a commitment to stick with his own skill. What would you have done? What would you do if you were exceptionally skilled at something, but were offered a bribe not to use that skill? Almost everyone would choose not to sell out.
I encourage all of you to believe in your own abilities and skills. Don’t take the easy route. Don’t purposefully quit. At this point in your life, you have come too far to take a dive. Believe in your own skills!
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Tricks On Your Mind
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Amazing Ones!
Listen to this quote carefully.
“When you see an illusion, your mind plays tricks on your eyes. When you prejudge a person, your eyes play tricks on your mind.”
A former Sequoyah student gave me this quote a couple of years ago. I love it because it shares such a clear word picture of what prejudice is. Prejudice is a problem in this world that just won’t go away without people wanting it to do so. Listen to the comments that this particular student shared with me. She said that most people are prejudice in some sort of way. If someone is not what society dictates as good-looking, or if they are overweight, or if they wear a certain type of clothing, then people may react differently or unfairly towards them. She remarked that a lot of people say that when you see a magic performance, it’s just an illusion, and your mind plays a trick on your eyes. She says that with prejudging someone it’s just the opposite. She said that she has seen it happen with students in the halls of her high school and with adults in places like the mall. Your eyes poison your mind with bad thoughts that you don’t even realize you’re thinking. Then those thoughts cause you to make wrong decisions about a person. Without the prejudging of someone, you may find that you become friends with the person; in fact you leave open the opportunity to become best friends.
The student suggested that it would be interesting if people would imagine that they blindfold themselves when meeting a new person. It would take away some of the prejudging. They would then be able meet the real person. That would lead to them getting to know the real person.
Keep in mind that some discrimination is so deep that it goes beyond appearances. It’s rooted in wrong beliefs. An example came up from an article I read last month on singer Ray Charles. He became blind at a young age. Living in Florida, he was fortunate that a school for the blind existed. Listen closely, here’s the discrimination; even though all the students at the school were blind, they kept the black and white children separated. Isn’t that crazy? The kids could not prejudge each other based on the color of their skin, yet the school officials kept them apart.
Can you see past the outside of a person and view the inside? Can you pretend to blindfold the eyes so that they do not play tricks on the mind? I hope that everyone makes that effort in his or her life to battle prejudice.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Face the Sunshine
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Magnificents!
Here’s a quote that is important in the life of middle school kids and middle school principals. I guess it really is important to everyone.
“Keep your face to the sunshine and you will not see the shadows.”
This quote sends a definite message to all of us. If you focus on the good things in life, it will be hard to notice the bad. Think about the truth in that sentence. If you are having an absolutely awesome day, you tend to concentrate on the good, positive things. Whereas if you are having a lousy day on the grand scale, you tend to notice every little bad thing about your day, no matter how insignificant it happens to be.
There’s no doubt that in our life, we usually rely on the good things to get us through our day-to-day routines. Just think about this for a minute. If everyone stayed focus on the bad things, we wouldn’t see any one around that would smile or have any pleasantness in their life. They wouldn’t find happiness and our world would lack joyfulness and just be pretty miserable. Before long, everyone would be too disappointed and sad to do anything. Our world would be paralyzed with gloom and doom. That would be based on the choices that everyone would make to be focused on bad things.
Let’s come back to the present. If our day starts off poorly, just remembering the wise words of this quote could change the direction of the day because it would change the focus of our attention. I believe this so much that I will make this offer. If you see me in the hall and it looks like I am focusing on the bad things, you may tell me to face the sunshine to get your principal refocused. Unless it is the most difficult of discipline situations, I promise to tell you thank you.
We all have a choice about life’s attitude. This means that you can either choose to be an optimist or a pessimist, but being an optimist means your highs will always be higher and yet your lows will be higher than normal as well. Optimistically some one thinks of things better so they will always be happier than the one who looks at things from a pessimistic perspective. It really is a choice. A person can argue against that until their face goes from blue to purple, but it still really is a choice. Each of us will choose to keep our face to the sunshine or we will focus and peer into the shadows.
So my question is, are you going to keep your face in the sunshine?
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Help Others Anyway You Can
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Givers!
Do this—help others anyway you can. That seems simple enough; so let me ask you some questions. How do you personally contribute to the betterment of the world? Have you brought food or other gifts for those in need? Have you ever brought school supplies to school for others in another school in another country that have nothing to use to study or learn? Since you are all under 17, I know that you cannot give blood yourself, but have you encouraged your parents to give blood to the Red Cross? Have you given monetarily to the relief organizations that work to help others around the world? Even pennies help them. How will you help others? By what method will you contribute to making the world a better place?
We all have the power to give something positive. We can touch the lives of people distant and most us do in some way. Can we do more? Would letters from school children across the land written to our government and from around the world written to the United Nations provoke the countries to do something about the genocide on the African continent? How can we contribute to an improved world? Every generation has always dreamed of making the world a better place for the next. My generation and yours are no different. The next several generations will also have the dream.
Even though we can and do help people in other parts of the country and the world, I sometimes wonder if we focus enough on helping each other. We do have a responsibility to be kind and help each other. Listen to this.
“Benevolence is the medicine for all ills.”
The medicine that it means is that if we tend to give of ourselves, we tend to forget what we may perceive as ills for us. For example, if you think things are bad for you in your life, then maybe if you served meals to the homeless in downtown Oklahoma City for a while, your perception might change. Or if you make time to have a conversation, or find a few moments to play cards, or read a newspaper with an elderly neighbor, then you will recognize the importance that you have in some one else’s life. I think one of the gifts that a young person can give the elderly is an understanding of the newest popular technology. Our own personal ills become smaller and less difficult, and they seem little the less we dwell on them.
If you think you have an unfair life, then find ways to be benevolent. Practice it, practice it, and practice it again. You can turn it into a life long habit and skill. You can contribute to making your world and this world into a better place.
Do this—help others anyway you can.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
It Is Your Destiny!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Students!
One of my favorite series of big screen movies has been Star Wars. The first trilogy (episodes 4, 5, 6) was an amazing series of DVDs to own. I was stunned twenty-some years ago when I found out that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father. Then to go even further, Darth Vader told the young Jedi, Luke, his own son; that it was his destiny to go to the dark side. This comment came during a one-on-one battle between father and son with light sabers. Can you imagine what it would be like to have your father say that you were going to be allied with evil and there was nothing that you could do about it?
Here he was in the middle of this struggle, recruiting his son to ally himself with the Emperor and the forces of evil in the universe. He was trying to convince his son that he had no choice, but that destiny was going to drive his life.
He was partially right. Destiny was going to direct what happened in his life, but it was not a destiny that relied on accidents and circumstances of life. For Luke Skywalker, his destiny allowed him to choose what was right for him. He was choosing with the gift of decision-making. His father was not choosing for him. Luke controlled his own destiny. Being responsible enough to make your own decision is what determines your destiny.
William Jennings Bryan was a master lawyer and a respected public figure in the early part of the 20th century. He said it this way.
“Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.”
His statement is true for all of us. For example, I believe that it was my destiny to become a middle school principal. Therefore, I made the right choices to get myself here. I could have chosen differently, but it would have changed my destiny. I believe that every student’s destiny is to become contributing members to a great school called Sequoyah and later to a great society in America. I also believe that each of you will have to make the decisions necessary to become one of the contributing citizens.
Will each of you do that? Will you make the attempt to help the future generations by taking care of your own responsibilities? Most of you will do so. Why do I believe that? It is your destiny. You live in the United States of America. Around the world, it is known for its free choice. It is your destiny to choose. It is your destiny.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Genuine Help
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Care-givers!
When is a friend really helping you for your benefit and when is a friend helping you for his or her own benefit? What motivates a friend to help you? Do you know when it is genuine help? Do you recognize when you think you are helping someone, but it really is an unwanted criticism? Not only unwanted, but actually harmful? Why do people criticize each other? I know these are a lot of questions, but they are important. One of the things I see when people interact is that it doesn’t make any difference whether they are adults or kids; they sometimes make criticisms that could be made towards them. They think they are helping, but are they really?
I hear a student make fun of the way another student appears, and yet if they were with a different group they could receive the same criticism. I might criticize someone for being too dressed up; with a tie and jacket and high dollar shoes. I may think that it is too much in appearance. But I am sure that people criticize me for not shaving my beard and looking more professional. I know that there are some people that think I should wear a suit, but that is just not who I am. I have actually had parents comment about me cleaning up my act so to speak. A couple of parents have even said to me to at least stop wearing Hawaiian shirts in Oklahoma.
One thing I know and have learned about criticism is that we have to spend more time examining ourselves first. We must be willing to look at our own faults before we examine others. Listen to this proverb from the Chinese culture.
“Do not remove a fly from your friend’s forehead with a hatchet.”
This proverb says to me that if we do help a friend by criticizing, that we should do it with loving care and interest in doing what is best for them. It means that we also do it in privacy. It means that we also do it with concern for the friend’s welfare. And finally it means that we are willing to help the friend make the change needed based on the criticism.
Our criticism should never be like acid that destroys, but it should be medication that heals. What kind of criticism do you use, destructive or healing? I challenge you to be a healer, not a destroyer. It is the rewarding choice and your friends will respect you for it. You will end up having more friends in life and will be held in high self-esteem.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Having Fun!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Fun-Seekers!
Some of the best fun I have ever had in my life has been at the Disneyland Amusement Park in Anaheim, California. I grew up about four hours north of the Walt Disney-dubbed “happiest place on earth!” The first time I visited the park was in 1968, and I was twelve years old. My family usually did not do vacation things, but my parents had invited a couple of cousins to spend some time with us that July. We convinced my mom and dad to take us to southern California to visit Disneyland. In those days the place of fun opened at 7:00 a.m. and remained open until 1:00 a.m. the next morning. We knew that we would have 18 glorious hours of fun and laughter, and more fun.
My siblings and my cousins were geared up for the super assault on the fun park. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and found our place in line and waited to purchase our tickets. Also in those days everyone needed to buy a ticket for every ride. There were no such things as all-day passes. If you ever hear an old comedy routine where a person says that you need an “E” ticket for that ride, it comes from Disneyland. The “E” ticket was for the best rides. “A” tickets were for the simplest rides or attractions. “B”, “C”, and “D” tickets were everything in between. It was a complicated system looking back at it now, but it still worked because everyone wanted to be at the amusement park.
Why did everyone want to be there? The reason is simple; because they wanted the fun that went with being there. Fun is important in life. Sometimes we get so busy that we forget that fact. Actually if we aren’t having fun once in awhile, we aren’t doing life right. The following quote says it very clearly.
“Having fun is not a diversion from a successful life. It is the pathway to it.”
Fun is what makes life worth the living. Fun is enjoyment. It is pleasure. Having fun is an amusing experience. That’s why we call Disneyland, and Six Flags, and Frontier City amusement parks. Fun is found there.
When you are with the right people you can have fun just about any place. I have seen it a number of times in a school. Again it is being with the right people. Here’s the bottom line about fun and a successful life. Laughing and having fun will add years to your life. Your physical life will be better and it will be extended.
Remember having fun is not a diversion from a successful life. It is the pathway to a successful life.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Journey or Treadmill
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Learners!
Please listen with your best attention to this anonymous quote.
“In our lives as learners, we choose to either be on a journey or on a treadmill.”
When each of us started our formal learning experiences, we all began the same way. We took a step forward in our learning journey. We worked at learning to read and write. Everyday most of us made a genuine effort to be successful at school. We found different ways to be proud of what we accomplished in the classroom. Probably the most common was showing our work to someone and we got a smile in return or lots of positive words. Or maybe we even had our school work posted on the refrigerator with magnets. When my kids were little, we had so much of their stuff covering the refrigerator that you no longer could see the appliance.
Not all of us, but most of us chose to like our teachers and we tried to do our lessons in a way that brought positive comments and affirmation from them. Most of us wanted to please the teacher in the classroom, and of course we wanted to please our parents with what we were learning everyday. We all began that learning journey about the same time, and then unfortunately, by time we were in fifth grade some of our fellow travelers had decided to get off the trail of the journey and instead step on a treadmill.
Let me say that again!
For some reason, some of us reached a point where we choose to step off the path of our journey and instead make the decision to get on a learning treadmill. What does the learning treadmill look like? Well, imagine if we took a tread wheel from a hamster’s cage and enlarged it 25 times its size. It would be a wheel that would barely fit in our school lobby. It would be impressive in size, but not much in a form of transportation. In fact if we put a student on it and ask them to run all night long, when we came to school the next morning the mileage calculator may read 20 miles, but the student would be in the same place. That is what it is like for those few students that step off the learning journey and onto the learning treadmill. No change of location, no growth into a more experienced better prepared person for life. When students stop doing their school work and stop using their school time to become more educated, they are on this learning treadmill. When they choose to not care what happens in their life they have jumped on this learning treadmill. They are going no where as fast as they can.
My hope every year is that all students will choose the learning journey. Unfortunately this year again, we have a few students that are choosing to be big hamster on a tread wheel going no where. That’s not sad by itself. What is sad is that they actually know they are on the tread wheel and it is impacting their future negatively.
That actually hurts my heart!
I encourage everyone to make the best of their learning experience by choosing the journey over the treadmill. And you know what is great and amazing? It is that even for those that have chosen the hamster’s wheel in their past, they can make another choice and get back to living their learning journey.
An example is the Explore test that the eighth grade students will take on Wednesday. I challenge you to do your best on it by reading each question carefully and picking the right answer based on sound judgment and prior knowledge. A student that does that is on a learning journey. A person that just bubbles in the bubbles is on the treadmill. This test will help demonstrate where you are on the journey. Do your best.
Another example is the benchmark test that every one takes through out the school year. I implore you to do your best in preparing for them and then in actually taking them. Every benchmark test you take; every standardized test you take reflects on you and on your school.
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Tangerine
Monday, October 1, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Cougars!
On Friday, October 12, we will have the opportunity to have young adult author, Edward Bloor visit our school. Those students that qualify and are interested in hearing Mr. Bloor will get to do so. He has written several books. His first title that was published was Tangerine. It has been recognized as a popular sports book and focuses on soccer and football.
The reason the two sports are part of the central theme of the book is because two brothers are becoming acclimated to their new home in Florida by using the sports. Erik, the oldest brother, is a Prima Dona place-kicker on the high school football team and Paul is a fairly talented middle school soccer player that loves the goalie position best. They are brothers that don’t relate to each other very well and the reason for that dysfunction comes out in the story itself. The protagonist is really Paul Fisher and we follow his transition most closely. The obvious characteristic that others use to tease Paul is that he wears thick-glasses, that again, happen to be tied in some way to an act of betrayal that has its roots with his older brother. We find out very quickly what Paul already knows about his brother. He is a huge jerk, a bully on the mega-disrespect-of-others level. Erik is self centered and immature and thinks that he is a special gift to the Lake Windsor football program. The problem that surfaces for us, as well as Paul, is that his parents are unable or maybe unwilling to see the true Erik.
If you take the time to read the novel, you will find that Paul is pretty normal as a middle school kid. He has to deal with teachers that misunderstand his needs, and those that know exactly what is most helpful in his life. He makes good friends and then finds a way to lose his best friend with a mistake. He has to put up with parents that see his brother as a “glory child” and miss how good a kid he really is. Paul has to face some tough dilemmas like confronting racial prejudice, recognizing economic diversity, and the sudden death of someone important his life. Throughout the novel he is trying to work his way to the conference championship in soccer while his brother tries to steal all of the attention sneaking towards a high school football championship.
Keep in mind his brother is a jerk of a bully, and not well liked by many people at the school. His arrogance eventually catches up with him, and you will love it if you read how it happens. Listen to this quote that defines two different actions seen in the book.
“Teasing is a fun thing you do with friends—with people you care about. Taunting is a choice to bully someone you don’t like. Taunting is bullying.”
What Erik did in the book was taunt others. He was a jerk! He was a bully! Schools fortunately don’t have to permit people like Erik to continue to create problems for others. His school in the novel didn’t want that type of behavior. And I know that the students of Sequoyah dislike it. Our school doesn’t want to have bullies and jerks walking the hallways. I encourage you to read Tangerine. You’ll like it!
With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
-Melodic Time- · Mon Jun 16, 2008 @ 04:37am · 0 Comments |
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