Spring 2012

Well, this year looks like it was the winter that never really was! A fall hurricane and October snowstorm that caused major power outages, makes me seriously consider installing solar panels on the roof. Seriously! I like the look of the newer panels I have seen and the cost is more reasonable. It is becoming a real possibility.
I have been contemplating the future and have come to realize a few things. As an educator, I am experiencing the drastic change in our younger generation's interaction with the world. Technology is such an important part of their lives and education in the traditional school system is struggling to keep up. Today, the traditional methods of teaching are not working for all. The school system was designed in the 19th & 20th centuries and students were trained mostly to work in industry as factory workers or on farms. Sitting quietly in a classroom, following an unrealistic schedule, taking solitary tests and using textbooks and worksheets isn't going to continue to work for students today. They need quick feedback, up-to-date technology, and lots of social interaction. If they don't get it in the classroom, their cell phones are out under their desk tops and they are texting each other throughout the class. They are teaching each other the latest game strategies or searching out the latest celebrity and style. We need to incorporate this into how we teach them. They need to move around and interact with each other. They need to quickly find the information they need and share it with each other. This is what they want and this is how they learn. This i
I am so torn as to how to teach them. On one hand, we are REQUIRED to teach to the standardized tests they have to take, but I know I am not teaching them the real skills they will need to be successful after high school. And, not all of them really need, or even want, to go to college. Teachers today really need the tools, training and time to help each student learn in their own, unique way and become successful in the world. They are our future and we all need them to become contributors to our society. They are the doctors, scientists, politicians, farmers, inventors, etc. we will need in the next decade and beyond.
My other observations have been guiding my plans for the future. I have noticed the gray hair on many of the people interested in creating things such as quilts, embroidered items and sewing. However, I see an interest in these creative activities by a growing number of younger people. Gardening is another area that seems to have many gray-haired experts. Most "Master Gardeners" I have met are older women. There appear to be a growing number of community gardens and school gardens "cropping" up in many places throughout the country. I am hoping the younger generation will begin to take more interest. At the middle school level, I had a gardening club as part of an after school program for the last few years and a small number of students really enjoyed starting and planting seedlings. Now that I am at a high school, I am trying to make use of the old, unused greenhouse at the school and get a few students involved there. It's such a small effort, but who knows, if I can inspire just one or two students to take an interest, it is worth it.
So, I am starting my pepper &and tomato plants, preparing for what looks like an early spring and having a feeling of that eternal Hope that all gardeners have, that this will be a successful and fruitful season.