We Did Church Today
The building itself is like something out of medieval England, stonework, stained glass, candles.
The music was sweet, at times a bit upbeat, it effectively set the mood - reverence.
On the "church" calendar is was Sanctity of Life Sunday - a day to speak up against the sin of Abortion, and the sins of indifference and immorality that add fuel to the fire. The church had a special speaker, the wife of a pastor from another denomination with a powerful testimony. The "children's" choir sang a little song...a blast from the past. "The Butterfly Song". I could see my own little boys up there, being silly and singing off key, years and years ago. We sang "Holy, Holy Holy" and "Praise to the LORD". We took communion - "Body of Christ" given for you.
Father Carl is a friend of ours. He gives good hugs.
Things around here are pretty tense. Money is really tight and tempers are short. But we did Church today. And it was good.
6 comments:
This sounds wonderful, Maryellen.
I'm praying for you and I hope that you have a great rest of the week with your kids. We're getting ready for a site visit, not sure if you guys have those. Ours is Monday the 30th...big deal for the principals. :) Keep smiling!!!
Yep, we are in our three year of "Corrective Action" because we haven't made "AYP".
The main reason is Special Ed reading, so a lot of presure falls on me...
such fun...
i just want to teach!
Thanks for sharing about your doing of church. Also, Amen to "just want to teach". Here are some excerpts of a note I sent our principal regarding some articles he shared with us (from Bill Gates and the Daggett group etc).
First, I do agree with most of what you (our principal) are trying to do here at the high school in terms of raising standards for rigor and relevance while trying to keep avenues open for students in the arts areas (it seems for most that "rigor and relevance" equates to readin', writin' and 'rithetic). I also think I agree with much of what Daggett is trying to say too.
I need to rant a bit though on some of the assumptions from the readings and I am fairly certain you (and the authors) have heard them already.
First, when Bill Gates says we need to redesign schools with a new model that realizes all students can so rigorous work, I say, can they?.....really? Is it really about the model or is it actually about the attitudes of students, parents and taxpayers? In my opinion, yes, many students can do a great deal more rigorous work than they are currently doing. I don't believe it is necessarily the model but rather the attitudes. When a student says they are not going to take Integrated 4 or Precalculus but rather they will take Consumer Math next year because "that's what you really use", then it is not the model but the attitude of the student that is the "problem" (said student also wants an easy A). It might also be said that perhaps most of the math most people use on a regular basis is elementary school math up to possibly Algebra 1. This makes it difficult to show "relevancy" to people when one says everyone needs college preparatory mathematics. Bill Gates says "Every kid can graduate ready for college." I really wonder about that, especially considering current attitudes towards hard work and what people consider as relevant and also how rigor affects the almighty GPA.
Second, Denise Johnson and others talk about "smaller, more personalized learning settings" and "strong use of technology". I think about Bill Gates and his statistics about Chinese engineers and wonder if Chinese schools have as much technology as we do. I wonder if they have small learning environments. I am certain that student and parent attitudes towards schools, teachers, and learning are quite different than many of our students, parents and lawmakers here. I also have to wonder, who is going to pay for it.
I do agree that sustained professional development should be focused on the "improvement of instruction". I believe that teachers should be taught how to teach better, rather than talk about peripheral issues. Relevant here is the comment "High performing schools emerge when the district and state allow their limited resources to ASSIST teachers rather than REGULATE them." (emphasis is mine) The state and national governments also have a say in what is "essential" versus what is "nice to know but not critical".
Does any of this sound familiar in your state??
Inheritor of Heaven
Thank you for sharing your well thought out ideas.
The parent piece of the puzzel is very important. I want to say more, but lunch is over and the kids are back...later
I hear you...teaching isn't just teaching anymore...it's become so political and all about SCORES!!! Anyway, I'm glad to see that you still have time to blog...I've been having trouble finding the balance...I'm still praying!!!
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