The Money Tree

It seems like every day the government is giving out money. They gave away stimulus checks and now they want to give money for gas every month. Sure, getting money from the government sounds great!

But wait…where is this money coming from? Is it from the Money Tree?

I remember growing up and my parents always telling me that money doesn’t grow on trees. Yet, it seems like someone has forgotten to remind the government of this fact.

I’m not heartless that I don’t want to help the needy. I give to charity. I knit hats and prayer shawls and give money to my church. I try to help those who need help.

But everyone needs to stop and ask themselves where this money is going to come from!

People need to realize that this money is going to come from our taxes, mostly property taxes. Most of the money is going to help those who don’t own property. By doing this, the government is distributing my hard-earned money however they want to do this.

This kind of action hurt those on fixed incomes such as the elderly. Most people on fixed incomes will find their money no longer stretches the way it did. Suddenly those people that use to be able to be independent and pay their own bills will become those who need help. Now we have a larger group of people who will become needy.

How does this help our economy? Does the government think that making more people poor, it will make our country better? Are we rewarding those who don’t work and expect a handout while punishing those that work hard? This doesn’t make any sense.

This reminds me of this version of Aesop’s fable of the Squirrel and the Grasshopper. The squirrel prepares for the winter by laying up supplies while the grasshopper does nothing. In the winter, the grasshopper dies because he didn’t work hard to prepare for the winter. You don’t see Mother Nature taking the squirrel’s supplies to keep the grasshopper alive. Read the rest of this selection to see what happens in the alternate version of the same fable!

I pray that people will wake up and see this. The only way I see that we fight back is by contacting our legislators and urging them to stop giving our money away. I hope that people will fight back by voting against those who think giving away money is the way to go.

Stop thinking there is a Money Tree somewhere!

Photo by micheile || visual stories on Unsplash

Spring Season

Spring has started and clocks have been changed.

I can’t seem to get my feet back on the ground. I used to have a rhythm that kept me being productive during the day but lately I can’t seem to find it.

My body still hasn’t gotten used to the time change. I find myself noticing the time and saying what time it would have been. My body is still working on that time which throws me off of everything else.

Spring also brings allergies with it so while my body hasn’t adapted to the new time, my sinuses and head feel like I’m foggy. I feel like I’m moving through a thick gelatinous fog. Everything about me is moving in slow motion while the whole world is going fast forward. I try to take a few minutes every day to just stop and relax. I feel that when I do that, it give my body and the world time to get synced back together again.

I try to remember how I’m feeling so I can understand how my students are feeling.

Many teenagers are feeling the same way and then they have teenage hormones going at the same time. Their whole world is chaotic.

It is during this time that I think having a visual schedule available for all students is helpful. Knowing what to expect and what is expected of them is a helpful reminder. Allowing some downtime to regroup is also useful during this time.

How do you help students adapt to these changes? Please share.

Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash

The Way of the Warrior

“The NVIV (Next Vista Inspiring Video) series of posts are written by Rushton Hurley and designed to provide students and teachers with fascinating discussion prompts.”

In The Way of the Warrior, Rushton features Kiyomoto, a doctor in the daytime and a teacher of yabusame—a style of combat involving archery on horseback, in the evening.

He gives the following prompts to accompany this video:

“What do you notice about the training from watching the students? Have you ever experienced anything like what is in the story?

There are all kinds of possibilities for your future, and if you are willing to apply the time, patience, and effort, then no matter when you start, you can use what you learn to become something special.”

This is a great story of how someone is trying to keep something from their culture and history from getting lost in the modern-day. I like the idea that there are that many students at this school trying to keep this skill from disappearing. As a knitter and a spinner of fiber, I can relate because it seemed like no one was knitting or spinning until recently. Now fiber art is becoming alive again.

Please check out the video and think of other prompts you might come up with. Please share.

 

 

 

 

Uncomfortable conversations

Here is a question from the textbook that I use in my class.

“As a teacher, how would you talk to a student who comes to you with accounts of early sexual experience? What would you ask? What would you say, and how would you say it?”

I was very shocked and concerned by the answers from my students. This question doesn’t say how old the student is or what circumstances the student is in so the answers were quite different. Many wanted to sit down with the student and hear the story, Some wanted to tell the student that it was okay and they would not be judged. Some wanted to talk about birth control.

I want to share my response to all of these teachers:

NEVER have this discussion alone with a student! Always involve a guidance counselor or an administrator, who is specifically trained to deal with situations like this. This could be a situation involving abuse and you are not an investigator! Anytime a legal or medical issue is brought to light, you should always involve your administration. You may have strong feelings about this situation, but you are not trained to judge or give professional advice about any legal or medical issue.

I encourage any adult who finds themself in this situation to not put themselves in a position that could have disastrous results. There could be legal ramifications to dealing with this situation on your own. You don’t know if this is an abusive situation that must be reported or you would be breaking the law. You don’t know what the parents’ position on birth control may be and it is not your place to make this decision. You don’t know if this situation is causing any health issues that should be addressed.

I know as a teacher, you would feel honored that the student would feel comfortable talking to you about this uncomfortable situation. I know you would feel compassionate towards this student but I urge you to make the decision to protect yourself first. It is like flying in an airplane during a crisis. They say if the oxygen masks drop down, put them on yourself before putting one on your child. You are no help to anyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first.

How would you answer this question? Please share. 

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Useful Information In and Out of the Classroom 3/25/22

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found this week, thanks to my PLN. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Note: Each resource is labeled with a level and subject area to make it easier to use.

Levels: E: Elementary; M: Middle; H: High; G: General, all levels; SN: Special Needs; T: Teachers

Subject Areas: LA: Language Arts, English, Reading, Writing; M: Math; S: Science; Health; SS: Social Studies, Current Events; FA: Fine Arts; Music, Art, Drama; FL: Foreign Language; PE: Physical Ed; C: Career; A: All

Mouse for Sale - “Enjoy this CGI animated short film about Snickers a lonely mouse in a petshop, craving to be bought by someone. But he’s got one big problem: his huge ears. The kids entering the store keep laughing at him. Will Snickers find the buddy he so desires, someone who will take him for who he is?” (L:G; SA:A)

Speakpipe - “Receive voice messages from your podcast listeners” (L:G; SA:A)

National Museum of Computing - “The National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) has virtually opened its doors for anyone to visit and take a tour of the world’s largest collection of working historic computers. Wherever you live, you can now journey through the history of modern computing from its very beginnings to the present day at TNMOC - from the comfort of their PC or device. You can stroll through our new, virtual experience – unguided or with one of the museum’s experts for a live, virtual tour where you will gain first-hand insight and knowledge about the 50,000 artifacts in the museum’s unique collection.” (L:G; SA:A)

Photographer of the Year Awards - “From beguiling pictures of Alaskan mountains and Louisiana swamps, to stunning wildlife images taken in Kenya and Canada and mesmerising depictions of life in Syria, North Korea and Turkey, behold the winning images in the 2021 global Travel Photographer of the Year awards. Some 20,000 images were submitted by photographers in 151 countries, with the judges declaring that they present ‘a diverse and glorious view of life on our planet’.” (L:G; SA:FA)

Make Your Own Wordle Type Game - a video by Richard Byrne; “In the following short video I demonstrate how to create a Wordle-style game with Flippity's WordMaster template.” (L:T; SA:A)

Original photo by Pat Hensley