Back to (building for) the Future

I had such an incredible winter break. Everywhere I went, family was there. Spending loads of time with Nolan and Lynn in Philly, though I was disappointed to not catch up with Sean, Josh, Brent, and the Philly/Jersey/Balto crew, and the living with almost the entire crew at Ktopia I (I'm certain enough that we'll be going back to start appending roman numerals, maybe there will even be subtitles in the future), and getting to the Sharp Edge for a Wednesday was exactly what I needed. It gave me back a lot of energy and desire.

BUT... January's come around and it's time to be in grad school again. Time to start building the foundations for my future as an educator. This quarter is more like classes than the last. There's definitive time where we're covering lesson planning and literacy. Still, the comprehensive aspect is still there, as we go through our barrage of readings.

Speaking of which, I promised a 'digest' of readings I've found particularly useful and interesting. Last quarter was a lot of psychology and philosophy, but we also looked at some history. Maybe it's just because history is my thing, but I found Spring's The American School to be a very interesting look at where our schools have come from, the philosophies that public school has been built on in the past, and how that's affected where they're going.


I think that every educator should have a general understanding of the basic ideas of some educational theorists, but despite the importance of their ideas, I don't know how useful it is to actually read the works of Dewey, Vygotsky, and Piaget. The philosophy/psychology side of me loved it, but I'm sure others could just get the Cliff Notes versions or look it up on the internet. Not as in-depth as their full work, and it may not internalize as well. If you really want some titles let me know.

Last quarter I started writing a conference paper on at-risk student dropouts in inner city schools. A lot of the most interesting research I've read is from that. I'm looking forward to finishing and distributing that work. Don't worry, if you want it, I'll get it to you.


I've gotten two subscriptions/memberships. I'm now a member of the National Council for Social Studies, which has a great monthly called "Social Education." Brent, I don't know if you read this, but this is a membership you should get. I've also subscribed to "Rethinking Schools." It's a progressive look at schools that's seeking social justice, but not from a completely unreasonable angle, i.e. they're not trying to impeach Bush, but they are mobilizing support for the soon-to-come battles against NCLB. They also serve as a commercial portal for educational resources that align with their goals and ideals. I'm usually not into this kind of stuff, because though I agree with it, I find it very biased. I'm not claiming they aren't, but I like this publication more than most of its kind.

This quarter we've been dealing with a lot of racial and multicultural issues. I've had "Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" recommended to me before, but I somehow hadn't actually picked it up. It's an extremely insightful look into the construction of racial identity. Valuable enough to rent from the library at any rate. Same goes for "Other People's Children" by Lisa Delpit. I think they both get a lot from John Ogbu, who has written more in the way of journal articles. Anyone with access to his work through a university should definitely examine his writings on voluntary immigrant minorities vs involuntary non-immigrant minorities. Those basic principles can explain a lot of the "attitude towards education" issues that many students of color have.



[A word about that last phrase I used: "students of color." I had a HUGE problem with this and was amazed when people used it out here. At first I thought it was just a west coast thing, but I've seen it used more and more in the recent literature. I know in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia this term just wouldn't fly, but apparently in academia this is the current term. I still don't like using it, but I've had to assimilate in order to converse out here. Very strange though...]

Segueing again, the transition to the NW has been interesting. People here are more or less friendly, at least in Olympia. However, there are some differences. People are a bit slower here, and there's a sort of 'wait time' in conversations. I keep wanting to move faster, speak faster, just BE faster; it's just not the way. Maybe the cities are different, I need to get to Seattle and Portland more. I'm legitimately ashamed at how little I've indulged myself in the outdoors and in trips to those two cities. Of course, part of this is the immense amount of work we're given as students. It's also been an abnormally cold winter here, so the outdoors have been inaccessible too. Sean's right in his previous comment, it was the natural beauty and the laid back attitude that I came here for, and if I don't get to actually experience enough of it, I'll probably be moving either back East, or maybe South to California to be close to my sister, K2, and potentially, Jenna, Nesta, and Jamo. Portland is still, of course, a main runner. I need to be sure though. Right now, I like the NW, but I'm missing the Metro-East Urban I-95 corridor more. Nothing's settled though, for sure. There's definitely something incredible about looking up on a clear day and seeing Mt Rainier to the east and the Olympics to the north. Check out a map, and yes you can see that far. Cause they're that big.

I do miss playing as much ultimate as I used to, and being a part of a team. There's some whispering about forming a more competitive men's team in the Olympia area, and maybe I'll try to find time to play with them. Wherever I go next, it will certainly need to have a bigger scene than this. I may go play in a Seattle rec league if I can manage it. Of course, what I really miss is having teammates focused on a goal. Of course, I don't know who I'd play with anywhere else, so who knows how that'll factor into future plans. I'd love to be playing with at least some of my old teammates, but I feel like Truckstop has its own thing going for it (no offense intended, I'm very happy that my friends on that team have that going for them; I'm sure they're having an awesome time, I just feel like that social group has its own dynamic that I may not fit into, and I don't think how much I can contribute for them on the field), and Pittsburgh still doesn't seem like a probability. I think those are the only existing teams I know people on, and I don't know if other players I enjoy would be interested in coming together to create a competitive team. But who knows what the future holds?