I Worry About the Future
Mamacita says: I worry about the future.
I worry about the future for different reasons than most people’s reasons. I worry about the future because present generations aren’t learning about the past.
Seriously. Our students don’t seem to have anything to make connections to, these days. They believe ridiculous things on Facebook updates. They don’t associate Lincoln with the Civil War. They think the Disney versions of fairy tales are the original versions. They don’t know that the Little Mermaid died. They don’t know any nursery rhymes. They can’t finish a line of poetry. They don’t know why Paul Revere rode through the streets. They don’t understand the difference between a comparison and a contrast. They are uncertain about antonyms and synonyms. Most of them have never used a thesaurus. Some of them have never heard of a thesaurus, and when they hear the word, they think it’s a dinosaur. Most students think a dictionary is good only for a definition, and if they don’t know how to spell a word, they can’t find it.
I worry about a future wherein the so-called “educated” population has nothing filed away in their heads, but rely on Google to find out the simplest things. I worry about a future that has me picturing, in my head, surgeons googling the whereabouts of the spleen with the patient on the table. Already, we have a population that doesn’t know how to do math without a calculator.
TV shows make stupid people seem like the norm, and ignorance seem like the ideal. Our schools are emphasizing conformity and punishing creativity. Physical ability is trophied even while much of the population’s physical ability is atrophied. Academic success is pretty much ignored lest some kid’s self-esteem suffer because he/she can’t do “it” as well.
Excellent work that, a generation ago, would have been put up on the wall so all could see and benefit and honor it, is now hastily shunted away because not everybody can do that well. Kids who can’t do that well now no longer have examples of what things could be like if they worked harder, etc. Bright, fast kids are advised to slow down, and ignorant teachers “reward” them by giving them more of the same or, even worse, relegating them to the hallway where they spend the day tutoring slow kids.
I worry about the future because people know nothing about the past these days. I worry about the future because people are spending the present letting other people think for them.
What kind of future is in store for our children if they are not taught about the past, and encouraged to do things more than one way, and encouraged to apply and connect this with that, and that with the other?
Education is about connections. If our students have nothing in their heads, lives, or experiences, what sense can they make about anything? How can things be relevant if there is no relativity?
I’ve had students who couldn’t follow the directions on a box of brownie mix. Oh, they could read the directions, but they weren’t sure about teaspoons, tablespoons, and measuring cups. Imagine.
Speaking of “imagine,” I’ve had students who had a hard time imagining anything because imagination requires connections, too. Image-ing is possible only with prior knowledge – schema. How can we create the “magic” part of “i-mage-ing” unless we know as much as possible about as many things as possible?
The more schema we can bring to the table, the more connections we’re able to make. The more connections we make, the more we can understand. The more we understand, the more we learn. The more we learn, the more we know. The more we know, the better able we are to cope and improve the universe. Not to even mention those sofa Jeopardy wins.
As for those teachers who advocate “no memorizing, no studying, no homework, no proving knowledge or mastery, and almost total dependence on electronics,” I have only this to say.
Bullshit. You’re all full of bullshit.
And this from Mamacita, who advocates tech so thoroughly and enthusiastically that my students who don’t use the social networking that they were told to use are left out of the announcement loop altogether.
P.S. Dear Students: Midterms are this week. If you skived off class and didn’t check Twitter, Facebook, Google +, or email, you’ve got a big surprise coming.
And if you aren’t able to make connections, it won’t do you much good to show up, anyway.

Nuts and Balls
Mamacita says: I’m going to miss the huge shagbark hickory tree in the front yard (we’re moving) but I am so tired of walking on nuts. I’m tired of hearing them flop and fall all over the place. I’m tired of a constant barrage of nuts trying to dent the car.
I’m tired of my ankles turning because of the nuts. I’m tired of mowing over the nuts and flinging them towards someone else’s yard.
Everywhere I turn, it’s nuts, nuts, nuts.
I can’t even walk without stepping on nuts and tripping.
I’m reminded of a fall drive we once took, when the kids were small. We drove past a farm, and as usual slowed down so the kids could see the animals. In this case, pigs. Huge pigs. Huge male pigs. Huge male pigs who could hardly walk. And why, you might ask, couldn’t the huge male pigs walk around in their pen?
Same reason nobody can walk around in this yard. They kept stepping on their darn nuts.
The kids still talk about that trip. Well, not the TRIP, per se, but the sights. That one, in particular. In fact, the kids still quote me. I guess it IS pretty funny, what I said, but the truth was, I was flabbergasted by the sight of those huge nuts being stepped on by those huge sharp hoofs. I’d tell you what I said, but I’m afraid you might not respect me any more if you knew. Besides, one of my kids will probably tell you all in the comments anyway.
We used to have the same problem with balls, but that, like this, was purely seasonal.
Bring it on, Google.
Ten Things I Still Haven't Done Yet
Mamacita says: Here are Ten Things I Haven’t Done Yet. Still. At this point, why hurry?
1. I still haven’t ever used an ATM machine. Someone told me you had to put money in there to get money out. Well, that lets me out of that one.
2. Oprah’s off the air now, so my claim of “I’ve never watched Oprah” will stand unchallenged forever.
3. I’m still not tired of reading and re-reading the Harry Potter books. I find something new every time.
4. Still not bored with listening to Jim Dale’s sexy voice reading Harry Potter – unabridged – out loud to me as I grade papers.
5. I still won’t admit that an abridged version of any book is anything remotely positive. I never will – because abridgements are the devil. Yes, THAT devil.
6. I still can’t conceive of a teacher NOT embracing tech being of much good; refusing to keep up with the world brings students down, when a teacher’s job is to help students soar.
7. I’m still not completely moved out of this house into the other house. I’m living in a house with one chair, a table, a few appliances, and a bed. Everything else is in the new house. We’re waiting for our mover to come down and save us from our obvious insanity. Oh, is that politically incorrect? If the shoe fits. . . .
8. I still haven’t stopped believing that most euphemisms are stupid.
9. I have not yet given up the absurd notion that nobody deserves anything he/she hasn’t earned.
10. I haven’t changed my mind about public behavior, ie decent adults do not melt down in public, period, and people of any age who won’t/can’t behave properly in public have no right to spoil an occasion for anyone else. Wanna fight?
Here’s Number Eleven. Consider it a bonus.
11. I firmly believe that if you are using someone else’s money, no matter how or why you got it, you should be prepared and willing to jump through a few hoops for it. After all, it isn’t really yours because you didn’t earn it. You want my money? Cut my grass. That the last sentence there is a near-rhyme for “kiss my ass” is a mere coincidence.
Being broke sucks. Being broke and watching someone else buying ice cream and steak with my tax dollars sucks even harder.
I should stop going to the grocery store on weekends.