Would you like some cheese with that whine?

I clearly remember saying these exact words to my mother, whether it was because I had to do the dishes or clean my room, the whine from my voice made it clear that I really didn’t want to do that specific chore. I’m not a mother myself (yet) but these are the words I hear from my students. When it’s time for book clubs, I hear…”I don’t want to do it,” surprisingly, I also hear these words at math time. In response I ask, ” I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly, did you just say you don’t want to? Too BAD!” I know, I’m so caring and compassionate…can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my words?

Eeons ago, I mean many years ago, when I was an elementary student I would never have dared respond to my teacher this way, that would have been impolite and rude and just plain bad manners. Yet today there is a new era of youngsters who apparently think they are in charge. When did this happen? Was I napping during this revolt? What does this mean for our future? Will our youth not want to care for the elderly because they just don’t want to? Will they use these same 5 words in response to an assignment their boss has given them? Perhaps I’m being too judgmental; predicting what characteristics these youngsters will retain into adulthood. Maybe they’ll grow out of their lazy rudeness. Or maybe they really don’t like math or reading. So instead of a generation of rude individuals who could care less about their elders or their jobs, we’ll be *blessed* with a generation of ignorant ones instead.

Yes, I know, every current generation thinks the up and coming  generation is a pile of nimcompoops! Yet over my 8 years of teaching, I’ve definitely seen a change in student’s attitudes towards directions given by adults. They either can’t follow a direction at all, they remain off task continuing to draw their dinosaur instead of reading their book, or they whine “I don’t want to.” So here is my plan to change the future (I have that power as a teacher.)

• Continue to be a hard a** and demand a good work ethic.
• Use positive reinforcements to motivate the lazy ones.
• Continue to complement the ones that work and do their best, even without the brides reinforcements. (Making a huge deal about those students seems to whip the others into shape.)
• Constantly remind the students about their manners. Good manners gives a good first impression, which is what people remember most.
• Never give up on them…..somedays they surprise me.

Have you noticed changes in the younger population? Are you currently a parent who is working hard to mold those little buggers into shape? What experiences do you have with generational attitudes?

I’ve been feeling lazy lately. Instead of pedaling my way to work on the majority of week days, I’ve been tapping the gas pedal instead. I can blame it partially on the weather, the cooler weather makes it more difficult to get going in the morning, which makes me run out of time for cycling. Of course, this week we finally had some much-needed rain, and that too curtails my riding. If only I could figure out a way to ride in the rain without getting wet!

Wednesday, I rode to work after a rainy beginning to the week. I felt much more alert and ready to teach my 24 students how to write an expository piece on city wildlife. Yesterday, after driving a mere 5 1/2 miles, I felt sleepy and forced myself to look peppy. I quietly told myself on Wednesday, that I would ride my bike again on Friday. But of course,  I woke up to a rainy morning and just can’t justify getting soaked on the way to school.

So how do cyclists in cities like Copenhagen do it? Well, for one they have an awesome bicycle infrastructure. Their bike paths are clearly marked and safely separated from vehicles. Another bonus, when a large number of people commute by bike it encourages others to do the same. I know that if a few hundred people were also on the streets bicycling to and fro, it would motivate me even more (I’m also secretly competitive so I would be out there peddling more often!)

Most cyclists in Copenhagen commute roughly between 2 to 8 miles a day (I found a very rough estimate in kilometers and estimated it into US miles, so it’s not exact). In contrast, most people in the United States including myself, commute a little further every day. When I ride to work, I end up riding a total of 11 miles round trip. Due to the distance of my commute it takes me about 45 minutes, and in inclement weather exposes me to the elements for a longer period of time. My one experience riding to work in light rain left me slightly drenched from the knees down. My rain attire only covered me from my head to my thighs since I needed to move my legs for pedaling.

Until I find the ultimate rain gear or humongous umbrella to cover my body while riding, I will continue wimping out. So, kudos to those mighty Nederlanders and their riding through rain, sleet, or snow! If you’re interested in city cycling, check out Cycle Chic, it’s a really inspiring bicycle site from Copenhagen.

As the national economy has been in a deep recession this past year, the state I live in has been hit quite hard. My state is basically broke. There’s little to no money available for education or children’s services. In response to my state not being able to balance their budget and cut less important services or inflated salaries, the state has decided to increase state university tuition by 30% next year. Yes, that’s right by 30%!

This definitely affects me as I have gone back to school this year for a teaching credential. My goal is to pay for the program in cash and not take on any student loans, as I still have old ones I am paying off.  Instead of paying $1,900 a semester for part time classes, I may be paying $2,470. I had originally budgeted the total cost of my credential at $7,200 (for a total of 4 semesters.) Now, I’m looking at closer to $9,880.  That’s $2,680 more than what I budgeted. Yikes, that hurts!

The next question would be, is my credential worth the cost? Well, yes. I have been teaching for 8 years as a substitute teacher and have stayed at the same salary base all these years. As a credentialed teacher, I’d immediately get a pay raise of about $10,000 for the year. This out-weighs the cost of the credential program. This, however, assumes there will be teaching jobs available when I finish my program. As of now, my state is in such a bind that they are cutting education monies and increasing class sizes. When class size increases, teachers are let go. This year alone, about 1,500 teachers were let go in the district I teach in. Our district is threatening laying off another 7,500 teachers, unless they agree to a 12% pay cut (my current salary would be affected by this cut as well.) It’s a ridiculous amount they are talking about, but they are desperate.

Many positive things could happen within the next year that could remedy this depressing outlook. But for now, I’m not holding my breathe. I have to plan on where the additional funds are coming from to cover the potential increased costs of my credential. I currently save about $400 a month towards my credential program. With the 30% increase looming, I would have to eek out another $150 a month for a total monthly savings of $550. As a last resort, I could always apply for a small student loan, but this will be in desperation. A brief outline of my plan:

• Save $550 a month for 5 months = $2,750 (each semester is separated by about 5 months August through January)
• Complete my credential program by Spring 2011 (or Fall 2011 at the latest adding an additional $2,750 to the total cost)
• Get a job by Fall 2011 (hopefully the job outlooks will be more promising than this coming year)

I’m currently working on a research paper for school, so my mind is a little cluttered at the moment. The class is teaching diversity in the classroom, and my topic I’ve chosen to research is environmental racism. So far, I have read a couple of books by Jonathan Kozol, a prominent author  in detailing segregation in our schools, that describe instances of environmental racism. I chose this topic because 1) I am an advocate of cleaning up our environment, 2) our cities are very segregated for the most part due to poor city planning (this poor planning also affects my bike riding!), and 3) I grew up in a desegregated school district that had enforced busing, but has since discontinued this practice leading to more segregated schools.

Kozol’s books specifically focus on apartheid education and how there is great resistance to move towards integration. In part, this is due to people’s ignorance and the government’s unwillingness to do anything about it. A couple of things that have struck me, and why I chose my topic of environmental racism, is how poor communities are surrounded by manufacturing and industrial plants. It’s not that these people have chosen to live near the paper plant that occasionally has a toxic chemical spill, instead the paper plant chooses a community that they know won’t fight them. The poor community doesn’t fight the plant moving into their neighborhood because they don’t know how to or who to contact, and they usually don’t have the financial means to do it or, unfortunately, the education to even know that they can fight something like this.

How can we expect children to learn in such a decrepid environment such as East St. Louis?

Another interesting topic that Kozol’s research shows is that some communities have literally segregated their racial populations by physically altering a neighborhood or cutting off one section of town to another by removing a bridge or building a freeway. For instance, East St. Louis (a prime example of environmental racism) built a bridge, that the neighboring suburban community had fought, connecting a poorer neighborhood to a more wealthy neighborhood. During an Independence Day celebration, the wealthier suburban neighborhood blocked access across the bridge so that the people from the other side couldn’t partake in the festivities. They claimed that the reason this was done was because they were worried about violence and crime. However, they completely segregated themselves from what they perceived as a racially inferior group of people. How truly unpatriotic for a July 4th celebration.

The biggest contention I have is that so many of our cities are poorly designed with no central meeting area or community center that makes a community feel connected. If we could redesign some of our suburban areas, our cities would most likely become more desegregated on their own, which would lead to desegregated schools. Desegregated schools allow children to become familiar with many cultures, which is a more accurate picture of what their adult lives will be like. Children learning in a desegregated environment are more comfortable in social situations, and social skills are just as important as academic ones. As I continue researching how chemical toxins affect children’s learning capacity and how communities purposely segregate themselves because of their own ignorance, I will update my posts to include my findings.

The other day I wrote a post about urban education guiding children towards specific careers, mainly blue-collar jobs that are meant to keep them off the streets. My problem with this method of teaching is that 1) it is based on a consumerist economy and 2) it limits these kids’ interest with the idea that they can’t perform more complicated or intricate tasks that would lead them down a higher achieving career path. Yet, what really enforced my belief behind allowing all children to explore more options is an article I read at Grist.org a couple of days ago. It was entitled “Ponziconomy: Our Global Pyramid Scheme.”

The imagery in this movie poster encourages people to continue with their obession. (I didn't see this movie, but I know in the end she turns her life around).

The main topic of this article was how our mega-consumer based economy was exploiting our resources to the point of a potential no-return option. Basically, we aren’t paying enough money for the items we consume. The reason we aren’t paying enough for these items, is that our economy is based on a never-ending consumption model. This really caught my attention, again thinking about how children of today will have to pay dearly in the future for the mistakes we are currently making. If we don’t arm our children with higher-level, critical thinking, and problem solving skills, they will be completely at a loss in the future. And our problems will just continue in a never-ending cycle towards oblivion.

I’m not necessarily saying that we must depend on the future generation to clean up our mess. I think that as a country, as an economy, and as individuals, we need to begin changing our lifestyles and our consumer ways now. It’s much easier to teach by example than to tell children, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Some ideas I’ve outlined below are a good start for teaching a more sustainable economy and lifestyle to children. If adults can follow these steps themselves, then children will more likely imitate them:

• Purchase items that are necessities and limit frivolous expenses.
• Reduce the quantity of ‘stuff’ and in doing so, you limit the amount of trash created.
• Purchase and use reusable bags for shopping (keep some in the car, near the door, in your purse).
• Recycle cans and bottles, turn them in for cash value. Place that cash in a ‘savings’ jar or piggy bank for one special item.
• Purchase and use a reusable, bpa-free, water bottle. This can easily fit inside a reusable lunchbox.
• Recycle clothing and breathe new life into it by sewing patches and embellishments on stains or holes. This extends the life of clothing, especially if the item gets handed down to another child in the family.
• Walk, ride a bike, or take public transportation whenever and where ever you can. Today’s kids are at a loss for navigating their own neighborhoods, this will build up navigation skills and get them outside and keep them active.
• Limit the amount of television for the whole family. So many commercials are full of crap (excuse my language) and encourage our consumer-based economy. Things don’t make you happy, experiences do. Play a board game instead, or go outside and play with a Frisbee, or read a book to one another.

These are just some ideas that will help reduce the amount of items we consume. The last bullet point I mention helps kids build those problem-solving skills and encourages them to think outside the box, instead of vegging-out in front of one.

Are their some points I’ve left out that readers would like to add? Does anyone agree or disagree with the exploitation of our natural resources through our consumer-based economy? Please feel free to add your comments, I truly appreciate them.