Tech

I know I should have written something about this a while ago. But what to write? I don't know. Living here in the Shenandoah, of course, all this tragedy is only a few hundred miles away. Practically everybody knows someone who goes to Tech. All of us at work were updating the live feeds from Google News all day on Monday, watching the numbers climb. Shock and disbelief were the overriding emotions.

And now the aftermath, right?

Tonight, my church had a special devo. A lot of people were wearing orange and maroon. We sat right behind a girl who is a freshman at Tech--not surprisingly, she came home to see her family. I don't know how close she was to where the shootings took place, but I'm sure that all of the students feel like they dodged a bullet.
Amy was there, and both her little girls were wearing Tech cheerleader dresses (I think their dad is a fan). I pointed that out to JC and he said, "You know, that's kind of disturbing."
"What?"
"The babies cheering for death."
"They're cheering for a community in recovery and mourning. Not for death."
But I thought about it, and I could see his point. All around our community, orange and maroon are "the new black," and I was caught between the sadness and sweetness of their smiling faces above the VT logo--which has come to symbolize something a great deal more than a football game. The older one will be college-age in a decade and a half. Will she remember this day? I wondered. Will she remember why she got to wear her cheerleader outfit to church? I hope not.

I've been trying to figure out the first tragedy I can remember. I think it was the Challenger disaster, when I was three. I don't think that I really understood it until I was much older. When I was eleven, I saw an IMAX movie about space travel that mentioned it, focusing especially on Christa McAuliffe. Seeing the preflight interview footage with her, all the while knowing what came next, made a real impression on me--but I'm sure I didn't understand it when I was three.

What am I going to say to Teen Girl Squad, I, who have been telling them how much fun college is? April is the oldest--I think she's graduating this year--and she looked especially haunted tonight.

And what shall I say to my younger kids? I really don't know.

A lot of disturbing news has come down the wire. The shooter's plays, published on AOL (I read snippets...the blocking would have been very difficult), the speculation about what he was doing in those few hours...
Oh, and those jerks at the Westboro Baptist Church, stating that they will protest at the funerals of the victims. These people claim that the victims were being punished for not being true Christians. From the CBS story: "'The evidence is they were not Christian. God does not do that to his servants,' Phelps-Roper said. 'You don’t need to look any further for evidence those people are in hell.'"

Uhm. How about the self sacrifice committed by people in several of the classrooms who held doors shut so that others could escape. Many of them died in the process, and that heroism lends hope to the story. No greater love has man than this.

Those people make me sick. I'm just glad that I had to go looking for the story on that, when a friend told me about it. The media doesn't seem to be giving them the time of day, which is definitely a good thing.

And for now, all we can do is work and pray and reach out in love. The tragedy unfolding is almost surreal, but I have people in front of me to love and care for.

Review: Gospel Light

Review of the Network 34 curriculum from Gospel Light:

++ in-depth coverage of Biblical themes (like, a whole quarter on the life of Joshua)
- Refers to the Levant as "Bible lands." Not to be a snob, but...just sayin'.
+ Uses graphic organizers to help students understand Biblical text.
- involves songs with hand motions. These songs are not the hymns you're likely to encounter in morning worship, therefore they don't help kids prepare to become adults in our church community. Plus, my kids don't sing. They especially don't sing songs that require hand motions. Ever.
++ Uses maps.
--Pretty slim Bible time to Popsicle-stick-crafts ratio.
+ Kids' take-home activity sheets include questions that require them to open their Bibles.
- Said take-home activity sheets also include a recipe for some sort of frozen yogurt/banana snack. Which has what to do with the lesson? Or anything else, for that matter?
-- Denny's kids' menu style games--mazes and such.
+ Hand out includes a cartoon rendering of the Bible story. That's kind of cute.

Over all...well, I'm not incredibly impressed. I feel like this is the least Sunday school curriculum could do, right?

And now I have that hymn about "send the light, the blessed gospel light" etc. stuck in my head.

Josh

Tonight I went to Duane & Elizabeth's wedding shower. It was a lot of fun, and I got to learn about how he proposed (rented out the movie theatre, got the manager to put on a "film" of his own making, Elizabeth cried. :)

Josh and his mom came, and he and I chatted for a little bit. He was reading Shiloh--apparently there are three Shiloh books now, and he had them all bound in one volume. That made me feel old--when I was a kid, there was just the first one, and we had to read it every year in school because the author was from WV. Now there are three? We talked about how the middle book isn't as good, and how that seems to be the case for a lot of trilogies. I love kids (and people) who read, because they always have something to talk about.

During the "opening the presents" portion of the festivities, I ended up talking to Josh's mom. Josh is going to be the first kid to hit the 25 point benchmark and win some kind of prize--we're thinking of taking him out for pizza and ice cream or maybe, if he takes a really long time to get those last two points, we'll do Green Valley Bookfair (next open--May 12), aka The Happiest Place on Earth (Disneywhat?). His mom seemed pretty happy about that--especially when I mentioned that none of the other kids are anywhere close.

Talking with Josh, I realized how much I really like him. Sometimes you get these glimpses, with kids, of the people they're going to be, barring unforeseen horrible events, and that's exciting. I sort of got that, talking with Josh tonight. He's a smart guy, and a good reader. He's good at school without trying. And he's kind. I think that the best part about all this is that his mom hasn't a clue that he's going to turn out just fine. She's so wrapped up in the minutia of his life, of making sure he eats and sleeps and plays and studies, learns proper table manners and the multiplication table, that she can't see this bigger picture human that he is. "I really like having Josh in class," I said.
"Josh is a pretty smart kid. He likes your class a lot," she told me, "and he's learning so much." It just struck me as funny, because the thing I like the most about having him in class isn't that he's a smart kid--I've known smart kids who were no fun at all to teach. I probably was a smart kid who made teaching a real chore for some people. Josh is a good person, and that is what makes him a joy to teach.

When I was a kid, I thought it was all about winning the science fair. And I did, basically every year. It wasn't until I was in college that Rick, my professor--who was also my mentor and friend--told me that he knew I had a good brain, but that what he valued was my heart. Had anyone ever said that to me before? I don't know. If they did, I don't remember it. I'm certain that my parents wanted me to be, at least, a well-behaved person. I got in trouble for being unkind. But I was praised for being smart. I can't remember being praised for being kind. My parents probably thanked me on the rare occasions when I did the dishes without being asked. It wasn't the focus, though. They were good people, and I think that they did a pretty good job raising my brother and me. This is just one little thing they forgot to tell me, and another person stepped in, and filled that hole in my education. When I was in college, I babysat two beautiful girls, Phoebe and Helen. By the time I left school, they were five and eight, respectively. I went back to visit them the next year, and I asked Helen how life was going for her. She told me that she was doing well in school. "Yes," said Phoebe, "Helen is a lot smarter than the kids in her class."
Helen blushed with feigned modesty. "Well, not all of the kids."

I looked her in the eye, and said to her what Rick had said to me, because I wish that someone had said these words to me when I was nine. "You have a great brain, and that is wonderful. You'll be able to do a lot with your brain. But you have a good heart, too, and that's just as important to me." Helen looked at me like I was from another planet. I couldn't blame her, but I hope she remembers that and thinks about it someday. Anyway, her dad is an ethics professor--what could I possibly have to teach her that he hasn't already gotten to?

I don't know how I will ever teach my own (future) children how to value goodness as highly as intelligence. You don't hand out trophies for being a nice person--in fact, that's antithetical to the point. Even the kids I know are truly good at heart--like Joshua--clearly think that people care mostly that they get good grades. That's what we tell them every day.

In my class, I wish I could teach them to value goodness, but it's awfully difficult. You can't even talk about it, really. That misses the point. They are all very good people. They aren't particularly well-behaved, but that's not necessarily a measure of goodness. Lachlan and Josh are easier to work with --not coincidentally, they have very stable home lives. Amanda and David are both living in stressful situations, and it's harder for them to focus on much of anything. It makes me wonder--was I like that, when my parents were going through their divorce? I don't remember having a hard time in school or anything, but maybe my teachers were tearing their hair out just having to talk to me.

I'm looking forward to watching them all grow up into whatever kind of people they are going to be. I hope they remember when I thank them for a great class, with lots of eager questions and kindness to one another. I hope they understand.

Review: DiscipleLand

Review of DiscipleLand

First the "Core Bible Curriculum"

+++ Kid colorful handout sheets actually involve USING BIBLES to answer questions rather than, you know, word searches or something.
++ Handout also includes encouragement to memorize books of the Bible
++++ Handout has a full page WRITING ASSIGNMENT.
++ Suggests singing songs that are, if I'm not mistaken actual hymns!
++ Teaches historical context (in a lesson on Stephen's martyrdom, it actually recommends bringing in a basket of fist-sized stones to give the kids some idea of the persecution members of the early church faced).

Overall: I like. I might even consider recommending this curriculum to our Education committee. At least it focuses on the Bible, which is something you want in a Sunday school curriculum. I'm curious as to whether there is an denominational affiliation going on here. Said committee can be kind of fussy about that, and I can be awfully oblivious.

OK, let's check out their other product: The Adventure series.

Wow, was this even written by the same PEOPLE?
- campy cartoon children
-- using a "decoder" to solve a puzzle, rather than the Bible.
-- a word search!!! My eyes!!!
----- Class consists of...doing a worksheet together? Wait, seriously?

Overall: Huh? I wouldn't teach from this curriculum if you paid me. And you can't afford to anyway. How is this even from the same publisher as the other one?

Completely bizarre.

Writing these reviews makes me feel like the lady from the (now defunct) Ugly Wedding Dress of the Day website. Does anyone remember that site? I only wish that my copy were as good as hers...and my visual aids so hi-larious.

Review: Walk With Me

Here's a review of the "Walk With Me" Sunday school curriculum from Faith Alive Christian Resources (anyone heard of them?). As usual, I'm reviewing the materials for the age I teach. Since they don't have a 3rd & 4th grade bundle, I'm looking at 4th & 5th. Let's do this guy with plus and minus scoring

+ Based on multiple intelligences learning
+ non-dated curriculum allows reuse of materials from year to year.
- one year repetition cycle (our classes go in two-year cycles)
-- "retelling" of the story rather than asking the kids to read the scripture for themselves.
- singing along with a CD
-- Said sing-a-long involves hand motions
--- Completely absurd Bible-time to play-time ratio. Seriously. Bible time--and I'm including time directly talking about the story, rather than playing Go Fish--for these classes averages only about 10-15 minutes.

Overall:
Thumbs down!
And it looked so promising in the beginning, with all the talk about multiple intelligences and such. Have the people who wrote this ever met a ten-year-old? Yeah, they'll crawl around and do songs with hand motions... right. Several of these lessons would be really great for the 1st and 2nd graders, I think. Not for my kids, though.

Getting it in Gear

Ok.

Enough.

I spend a lot of time wondering if I'm making a difference in the world, in people's lives. I was raised really believing that my gifts would ever matter. My parents taught me that the point of my life should be to help other people. And then I think about my friend Rachael, who is in the Peace Corps, serving people on an island so small, you can't even find it with Google Earth. Alex, serving in the worst part of LA with Teach for America. And me? Safe little nine to five desk job.

Sometimes I really kick myself over that. JC and I are in the process of buying a house and I keep thinking about the people who don't have any shelter at all. The sea levels are rising, and I remember the people who live on tiny islands--the poorest people in the world, lacking resources to cope with the planet's changes. And what am I doing?

Really, I don't know.

I teach Sunday school, and I try to tell myself that that matters. Maybe it does. I miss Rob--he would talk me out of this funk in about thirty seconds, and make me feel (rightfully) embarrassed for being in it in the first place.

The more I teach, the more I realize how education is a moral issue. I don't just mean whether or not children will be taught evolutionary biology--in fact, I mean everything but that. Without teaching our children the humanities, can we expect them to understand the Bible? The Bible is a social document--it does not exist in isolation from culture and history.

My teen girls were shocked to learn that George W's dad was president too. That we were fighting in Iraq fifteen years ago, give or take. That the Romans who were living in Israel during Jesus' day weren't exactly welcome. One of them enjoyed class last week because she learned a new word: "Pacifism."

The kids in my Sunday school don't know words like "anxious" or "cease." They're in the third grade. Did I know those words then? I honestly don't remember, but I'm guessing I did, when we were in Iraq the last time.

I had to explain to my teen girls how taxes work, because great big chunks of Jesus' teachings don't make much sense without the basic principals of taxation.

We have to teach math so that parables about stewardship make sense, so the enormity of the temple can be comprehended (David said in class on Sunday: "Is it as big as two Super WalMarts?" :) Pretty close, I think).

If we don't teach geography, how can we talk about the Israelites wandering in the desert (and how can we wonder how they could possibly have wandered for forty years in a desert so small???), Paul's missionary journeys, the spread of Christianity through Europe and Africa?

Without science, do the gazillion metaphors and parables about farming make any sense?

Without critical thinking skills, can one ever make a true case for one's faith when confronted?

Religious education in America is failing; secular education in America is failing. Christians have long been upset about the whole mess because it meant that their own individual kids weren't learning the skills they needed to get into decent colleges and get good jobs. They should be upset that education makes deeper faith, and children--in the church and out-- are losing.

So.
Enough whining from me.
Seriously, enough.

Goals:

• By the end of May, I will have put together my list of materials from the library of congress and made at least one research day there.
  
• I'm going to resume interviewing people about their own religious education--it doesn't have to be Sunday school. It doesn't have to stem from childhood. I just want to know what you had to learn and how you had to learn it. If I haven't interviewed you yet, leave a comment or shoot me an email and we can have a discussion.
  
• I'm also going to get a little crazy and email famous Christians. Who knows, I might get an interview with someone.
  
• I'm going to dig through the piles of curricula I've got around and review them--maybe I'll find something that doesn't make me want to scream.
  
• I'm going to consider this my mission, for the time being, and take it seriously as such. I will teach children to think, to ask tough questions, and to search for their own answers. I will do this, not just with the four to six children in my class, but with as many as I can reach. Maybe Rob is right, and I'm writing a book. Or maybe I'm just nuts. At the very least, I hope this blog sparks some discussion about what religious education is and what it should be.
  

The Wisdom of Solomon

Well, we tried to talk with the kids about Solomon on Sunday. Parts of the story, I think they found very interesting. They liked the idea that Solomon got what he asked for--and also all the things he might have been expected to ask for. They were quite thoroughly appalled that he had three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines. "At the same time?" asked Lachlan.

"How did he remember all of their names?" David wanted to know. Good question.

We proposed the problem of the women with the infant. "How would you figure out who the true mother was?"

"Roll dice," said Amanda.
"Have them pick a number between one and ten!" said David.
"Flip a coin," said Lachlan.
"So, you'd let chance decide?" I asked. They all agreed that it was the fairest way. When we revealed Solomon's solution, I don't think any of them got it. Everyone thought it was gross (even though he didn't actually cut the baby in half!). None of them were interested in the value of positive proof that one woman was the true mother (or, if not, at least the better mother).

Amanda said something interesting: "It's like the lady who nailed the guy in the head." JC and I took a few minutes to figure out that she was talking about Jael. This story had basically nothing to do with Jael (except that they're both pretty gruesome), but I felt gratified that she remembered something we had talked about so long ago. Certain stories have really stuck with her--she mentions Rahab a lot (and kind of out of context) too.

We tried talking about Proverbs. That went well in that they had a lot of questions. We had them take turns selecting a proverb for the class to talk about, but they were so impatient that they would only wait until the other student's proverb had been read before shouting out their own. "Wait," I would say, "I want to talk about Amanda's proverb first. Then we'll read yours and discuss it." It was in the discussion that the whole thing fell apart. I always make the mistake of forgetting how literal kids this age can be. "Why does it say that a wise son is the joy of his father, but a fool is the sadness of his mother? Wouldn't a fool make his father sad too?"
I asked David what he thought the proverb he chose meant. "I don't know," he said. "That's why I chose it."

The kids really like the times when we allow them to chose text--even if it's at random, as with the Psalms. I think they like having some kind of ownership. I think they like being able to say, "In my Psalm, the rocks rejoice."

So, I guess it went pretty well. They were a bit on the hyper side, but that's forgivable--at least they were excited about what we were working on. So...good!

I tried talking with Amanda's mother about figuring out some way to reward Amanda's good behavior (rather than bad) with "mom time." She said, "Well, Amanda knows that the reason I'm in there on Wednesday nights is because of her behavior."
So, the logic is...if the kid knows that it's supposed to be a punishment, then she won't like it? I remember being a kid--time with a parent, without one's siblings, is the most valuable thing a kid can get. Who cares if it's "supposed" to be a punishment? I give up--but I hope I remember this when I have kids of my own.

One other thing--kind of disturbing. JC and I tried to talk to the kids about Ali's father's death. I was shocked to discover that they talked about it like something they had heard on the news--completely unconnected with this man they all knew, with his daughter who was their friend. When I was in middle school, a girl in the youth orchestra lost her dad to a brain tumor, and I hardly knew him, but I was affected by it. I remember fearing that my own parents would die young, and trying to imagine what it would be like to go through my life without one of them. I expected some kind of emotional response from my students...but got none at all. One of them--and I shall leave out which--said, with almost a smile and the most placid tone of voice imaginable, "That must be heartbreaking!" (JC later commented: "At least they know how they're supposed to feel...")

I shouldn't judge them for just being young things. At that age, can you really understand death? They probably had a completely natural response. I don't know how I handled death at that age--I was a few years older when the girl from orchestra lost her dad, and a few years makes a big difference at that age. I don't think anyone close to me died until I was in high school, so maybe I just lack any basis of comparison.