Happy Thanksgiving. As a vegetarian in difficult times I have to think a bit about a reason for celebrating this holiday. The TV ads tell me it's about recipes, not overcooking the turkey, getting ahead on the holiday sales. My elementary school taught me to wear paper Native American (back then called "Indian") wreaths decorated with autumn leaves and to march down the assembly aisles donating my canned goods. We re-enacted the Pilgrims first Thanksgiving. My mom made "Indian" pudding, a delicious mixture of corn meal and blackstrap molasses, with a sauce that had real rum in it. There were the trips to see grandparents sometimes. But nostalgia only goes so far.
All right, I'm developing some present day meaning for myself. First, I benefit from being grateful. Psychology has confirmed this: make a gratitude list daily - at least five items- and you will feel better emotionally and physically. Second, the four day holiday gives me a needed rest before the downhill race to December 31st. Third, I can catch up on laundry, cleaning and homework assignments. Fourth, I can help out with one of the meals for homeless citizens. Five, I can avoid shopping and reflect on Life during the time I will save, not to mention money.
For students and teachers, Thanksgiving Week is wonderful. My students look forward to the food and to sleeping all day every day. It's wonderful until Monday, November 29th, which marks the season of the school year called Mid-Term, not Year End: exams, term papers, portfolio's, presentations. What was the blissful beginning of the school year has become the hard reality of Due Dates and Evaluations, with spring standardized testing looming in the shadows. Let me get back in bed. I plan to relax while I can. Happy thanksgiving.
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
holidays in the schools
Happy holidays? Why is that phrase fraught with mixed blessings in an education setting? Is it just the sugar?
More than 50 percent of my work as Artistic Director right now is teaching; collaborating on drama and /or poetry projects with grades K-12 in public schools. But I also get to see a snapshot of school "culture" when we perform our multicultural folk tales for school assemblies. Something every teacher probably knows: anxiety doubles just before school's out for holidays. When I remember this fact, I am much better able to give thanks for the joy of working with children and young adults, rather than feeling dismay at the challenges.
My first experience of the impact of days off on school culture was at Fremont High in 1993, when I was surprised to learn that students were often absent on Friday because it was the day before a weekend and on Monday because it was the day after the weekend. In this perception of the relativity of Time, Saturdays and Sundays sort of melted over into the days next to them. If you want data, you might look at the weekly list of suspensions. For example, the list for Oakland Tech High at the end of this week was twice as long as the previous week. When I was on campus there Tuesday and Thursday, I noticed students were twice as excitable as on other weeks and teachers twice as exhausted. When the closing bell rang Friday afternoon, heralding an entire week off for Thanksgiving, I felt as if the entire building, football field and portables breathed a huge sigh of relief, as they spit out students like watermelon seeds.
After Halloween, students are eating more candy, true. But in our warm up exercises in the high school class, few of the students were looking forward to the idyllic picture of turkey and happy family 'round the groaning board. Every Thanksgiving I get to review the inequity between the U.S. Consumer picture of Thanksgiving and the global reality of malnutrition and hunger. And I feel guilty about having too much to accomplish in class to make time to discuss the real meaning of the holidays with students. Am I just another person giving thanks that I'm not one of the people I just passed on the street holding a sign, "Hungry. Will work for food, God bless?" Is there something more meaningful I could say to people than "Happy Holidays?'
More than 50 percent of my work as Artistic Director right now is teaching; collaborating on drama and /or poetry projects with grades K-12 in public schools. But I also get to see a snapshot of school "culture" when we perform our multicultural folk tales for school assemblies. Something every teacher probably knows: anxiety doubles just before school's out for holidays. When I remember this fact, I am much better able to give thanks for the joy of working with children and young adults, rather than feeling dismay at the challenges.
My first experience of the impact of days off on school culture was at Fremont High in 1993, when I was surprised to learn that students were often absent on Friday because it was the day before a weekend and on Monday because it was the day after the weekend. In this perception of the relativity of Time, Saturdays and Sundays sort of melted over into the days next to them. If you want data, you might look at the weekly list of suspensions. For example, the list for Oakland Tech High at the end of this week was twice as long as the previous week. When I was on campus there Tuesday and Thursday, I noticed students were twice as excitable as on other weeks and teachers twice as exhausted. When the closing bell rang Friday afternoon, heralding an entire week off for Thanksgiving, I felt as if the entire building, football field and portables breathed a huge sigh of relief, as they spit out students like watermelon seeds.
After Halloween, students are eating more candy, true. But in our warm up exercises in the high school class, few of the students were looking forward to the idyllic picture of turkey and happy family 'round the groaning board. Every Thanksgiving I get to review the inequity between the U.S. Consumer picture of Thanksgiving and the global reality of malnutrition and hunger. And I feel guilty about having too much to accomplish in class to make time to discuss the real meaning of the holidays with students. Am I just another person giving thanks that I'm not one of the people I just passed on the street holding a sign, "Hungry. Will work for food, God bless?" Is there something more meaningful I could say to people than "Happy Holidays?'
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