seeking the connection in everything
The fields are painted with the palette of summer. Hidden amongst the wildflowers are glimpses of the goodness to come. In this time, when the seasons are turning, I am simultaneously filled up with gratitude for what has been and anticipation of what is to come. The miracle of life is so evident.
Happy September!
This tiny-voiced, big-hearted little man turned three a few days back. He loves to run fast and bike slow. He loves to cuddle and shoot things. He likes clean clothes and dirty hands. He holds on tight and lets go easy, when he needs to. He often seems wise beyond his years. I sure do love watching him become the man he will be.
Here are a few snippets from the places my mind has traveled in a day.
A holistic education is usually characterized by several core qualities. First, it encourages experiential learning. There is more discussion, questioning, experimentation, and active engagement in a holistic learning environment, and a noticeable absence of grading, testing, labeling, and comparing. Learning is more meaningful and relevant to students—it matters to their lives. Second, personal relationships are considered to be as important as academic subject matter. These learning environments strive to cultivate a sense of community and belonging, and qualities of safety, respect, caring, and even love. Third, there is concern for the interior life, for the feelings, aspirations, ideas and questions that each student brings to the learning process. Education is no longer viewed as the transmission of information; instead it is a journey inward as well as outward into the world. Fourth, holistic education expresses an ecological consciousness; it recognizes that everything in the world exists in context, in relationship to inclusive communities. This involves a deep respect for the integrity of the biosphere, if not a sense of reverence for nature. It is a worldview that embraces diversity, both natural and cultural. Holistic education shuns ideology, categorization, and fixed answers, and instead appreciates the flowing interrelatedness of all life. (Visit here for more like this.)
TWO: a bit from an aspiring mathematics educator
Instructional Setting: The classroom will consist of 20 desks. This means there will be five rows consisting of four desks per row. The desk will all face the front of the classroom facing a dry erase board. At the front of the classroom along with the dry erase board there will be a small desk and an overhead projector. On one of the classroom walls there are two bulletin boards and one bulletin board on the other side that displays concepts that will be covered during the class. For example, this lesson deals with Isosceles Triangles, therefore the bulletin boards will consists of concepts relating to Isosceles Triangles, how to measure them, and theorems that apply to them. There are also 6 computers that line one side of the classroom. The teacher’s desk is located in the back of the classroom. Beside the teacher’s desk is a table that consists of homework folders and class work folders for students. There is also a basket to turn in assignments. There are also supplies on this table such as: pencils, erasers, paper, extra textbooks, handouts, etc., for students to use.
Two very different places, aren’t they? The former is a bit of where we travel as we envision a different foundation for educating our own family. I say family, not children, because we are relearning right along with our boys. The latter is a snippet from my part-time work evaluating lesson plans for a teacher’s college.
My passion for a new view of education is fueled by the stale approach that is at the heart of my “work”. I feel extraordinarily grateful for the opportunity to pursue a different path and to travel that path with my family and amazing friends.
My “work” also leaves me feeling incredibly heavy. I want all children to have more than sterile classrooms and sterile curricula and an education where meaning is meaningless.
It gets a little confusing in my head, while at the same time being crystal clear.
May we all be free to examine how we are educating for our future with critical and flexbile minds and with an enduring love for our children, humanity and the earth.
Today was amazing. The kind of amazing you want to just keep thinking about. The kind of amazing that percolates into every thought, every word, every act you commit.
As we watched President Obama at Eagle Rock, I was surrounded by the hope of youth. Amongst the optimism, however, bitterness and contempt lingered. We heard it from the crowds that booed a man of a past we are eager to leave behind. I heard it from my contemporaries as they traded sharp words about a man we are all eager to usher out. And it would be easy to join in, in fact, I started to. But then it became so clear that it is time to move on. It’s time to remove our Bush bumper stickers and leave the resentment behind. It is time to fuel ourselves with hope and action. It is time to unite with everyone.
Every single one.
May this deeper sense of united only grow stronger, and when it feels weak, may we dig deep and know the well of understanding always exists.
Happy Inauguration Day!
Is so much bigger than four. But he is already talking about six.
Watching E-man grow up seems to get easier each year. His enthusiasm for adding a year to his life is contagious. With each year, we have shared more and we have more to share. It is a lesson in the exponential growth of gratitude.
Plus, there is the fact that he is still the cuddliest five-year-old alive. That’s really what makes it all so easy. For now anyhow.
There is so much to be grateful for. So many lessons learned, so much to enjoy in the here and now, and so much hope for the future. It can be a bit unbearable at times. Unbearable in the sense that you just don’t know what to do with all that gratitude–I just can’t squeeze those little boys hard enough.
So instead, we shout it out for the word to hear. We get to do that frequently around here. We are all about shouting, and running, and wrestling. Climbing, jumping and screaming. Twirling, cartwheeling and howling. Yup, there is a lot to be grateful for.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there that I wish were right here.
On 10/31 we found ourselves on the road, headed South to gather the rest of our belongings for the final leg of our move to Estes Park. We were a little sad to miss out on Haloween in Mayberry Estes Park, where the police close down Main Street to all vehicular traffic for a centralized costume show and goody bonanza. We heard the pinnacle of the experience is the free caramel apples that the local taffy shops pass out.
So what does one do when travelling on Interstate 25 with a bear and a construction worker in the back seat as dusk approaches on October 31st? Take the next exit, look for Main Street, and start knocking. G-man was baffled by the entire scene, having fallen sound asleep before our exit, he was abruptly woken up, adorned with the last pieces of his costume, and shuffled off to a stranger’s door with a bag in his hands and orders from E-man to say the required words. He caught on quick and was quickly greeting everyone with a joyful “Happy Ween!”
The residents of Walsenburg were tickled that we selected their home town for our traveling Trick or Treat destination. We were asked to return again next year. Despite the invitation, I think we’ll plan on giving those caramel apples a try next year.
Fall. My favorite season.
We commemorated this fall’s official commencement with a short hike around Bear Lake. The critters were busy collecting seeds and nuts, the berries were getting dark and plump, the leaves were doing their miraculous painting of the forest, the people were busy snapping pictures and the boys were busy climbing, exploring and rejoicing. E-man asked if we could return everyday, which his usual response to our outdoor excursions around here. It is amazing to live at the gateway to this beautiful wild space. I am awe struck and immensely grateful every day.
Any sadness that I felt for the garden we left behind in Taos was quickly dismissed upon finding a sweet, you-pick farm on the Front Range.
The raspberries are just beginning to ripen. We picked about 3 lbs. Three pounds is lot of raspberries.
Had we lacked self restraint we could have easily gobbled them all up in the car ride home. But we resisted and made some jam. We also baked up a beautiful clafoutis. I had never heard of a clafoutis until learning of them here, but they will most definitely become a regular part of our cuisine. De-lish.
We also visited a local dairy, where we’ll be getting our milk and freshly made cheese. Yum. We were too busy holding chickens, petting calves and laughing at the goats and sheep to get any pictures. The farm made a big impression on the boys, who are longing for their chickens. Fortunately the abundance of the wild, bugling elk in these parts compensates for the loss of their domesticated egg-laying friends.
When we do get some chickens again, I’ll be looking for one of these handsome white roosters. I find this fellow’s simplicity beautiful.
Every afternoon we walk to the end of the road to get the mail and pick apples.
The other day, someone else was eating the apples.
He would entangle his antlers in the branches and shake his head to make the apples fall. Then he would enjoy the fruits of his labor. Literally.
