Air Force One
Interesting thing today-as I was driving to the gym and playing taxi driver for the kids, I noticed what looked to be a presidential marine helicopter sitting on the ground out of the corner of my eye. It was parked in a schoolyard field. I then noticed news crews not too far away from the helicopter, so of course, I had to pull over to attempt to find out what was going on. I was told by an onlooking by-stander that the aircraft had been traveling with President Obama’s team on their way back home to Virginia after his visit to the Jersey shore. Supposedly, the helicopter hit a bird which resulted in their emergency landing. I read tonight on the news report that it wasn’t a presidential trip nor did they mention a bird strike-go figure. Regardless, my son enjoyed seeing the helicopter. I felt badly for the pilots, though. Stranded in a field wearing flight suits for hours during the heat of the day is no fun. I know because I’ve worn those same suits when I was a flight doc. They do not breathe!
Seeing the aircraft reminded me of the days when my husband worked as an Air Force One agent while I was in medical school. If you’ve ever seen the movie, “Air Force One” by National Geographic, you would have seen him. He is featured working with the pilot of Air Force One taking care of the plane while President Clinton was in office. I actually had the opportunity to tour the plane on the ground a couple of times, and it is beautiful. I presented a paper on presidential physicians when I was in medical school and was able to meet one of Clinton’s physicians on a trip. There are fun little presidential trinkets in my house such as Christmas cards sent from the White House and presidential M and M’s that you’d dare not eat now. I used to have high hopes of practicing medicine in some unique arena such as that. Little did I know these people called “children” would reroute my life!
In that vein, I must prep for what lies ahead whether it’s teaching on great pieces of literature or running a Fortune 500 company. I can still dream:)
George Dennison
Reading a short blurb on George Dennison…The below statements are taken from Wikipedia.
“As an educator he promoted the idea that relationships, not instruction, promoted real learning. As such schools needed to be places where freedom of choice created the trust that allows for a full relationship between teachers and students. These ideas were considered radical because they questioned compulsory attendance and the focus on external student behavior to enhance student management. Since the focus on controlling student behavior interferes with relationship, his work suggests a preference for small schools and an implied criticism of large schools, especially in their ability to be effective with high risk students. He believe teaching was an art, not really a science and, as such, it was never technique that caused learning to occur, but rather the full complexity of individual relationships between students and teachers that were not reducible to the predictability of technique. Further, he felt that much of significant learning occurs strictly within the students individual motivation and between students, when the teachers are wise enough to stand aside and allow it to occur.”
The F-Bomb and others
Sports is a part of our lives..watching, playing, coaching. Even though our kids are of a young age, they’ve heard their share of profanity on the fields or courts by players, coaches, parents, and spectators.
Tonight, my oldest son (age 10) wanted me to tell him all of the “bad words” in existence. He mentioned he had heard a few of them on the field tonight (soccer tournament). He wanted to go through every letter of the alphabet to make sure that we didn’t miss any. He also wanted to know if there was a pattern (no, homeschooled kid, there’s no pattern). So, I proceeded to name all of the bad words I could think of. I’m sure I missed some. Did I say the actual words? Yes, I did. Why?
My rationale in this scenario and with almost any other scenario is that I want our kids to hear things first in our home so that we can discuss them. Doing things this way helps them to not be so taken by surprise when they come across things being done or said differently by their friends or the media. I”m not saying I know what I’m doing or that I even recommend it. It’s just how it works in our house.
Which leads me to a question… Why are certain words considered profanity? Why aren’t words like “java” or “orangutan” the “bad words”. I mean, can you imagine saying, “Oh, orangutan!”?
I’ll have to research this question more. Wikipedia states the history of profanity goes as far back as Shakespeare and the Bible. Might make for an interesting research paper..
Ivy League Homeschooling 