Too, Too Fast

Much of the time, these days, I think that the world and my walking in it, are moving much too fast. Opportunities to stand back and take stock of myself and the world I live and move in are precious. These gifts, no matter how long they last are vital to my keep on keepin' on.

I've spent the past week with 3rd and 4th graders as a substitute teacher. I learn many things from being with young people. Yesterday was a particularly difficult one for several of them. There were little skirmishes that broke out intermittently during small or large group activities. Usually, when folks were focused on the task in front of them, they were fine. When it was time to work with a partner or in a larger group, we'd have to stop what we were doing and I'd have to ask the people who were pushing or pulling one another, talking when they needed to be listening, or jumping around when they needed to be in their seat, to turn their behavior around. Eventually they'd work it out, and we'd all move on.

I wonder what would happen if I applied my classroom management strategies to adults. I'd ask them, "Can you two step out into the hall and work this out?" I wonder how often people would really work things out and how often they'd choose to walk away, harboring hurt feelings and resentment.

Yesterday, I saw three 3rd graders work things out in a matter of minutes, at the request of their regular classroom teacher. Their disagreement involved misunderstandings, hurt feelings, hearsay and words that needed to be further explained, taken back and apologized for. They got through it, got over it, and moved on. The disagreement was forgotten in a matter of minutes.

What's up with the adults?

Good Listening Skills

Apparently, Scholastic, Inc. has had second thoughts about their relationship with ABC's "The Path to 9/11" (to be aired on Sunday 9/10 and Monday 9/11). There have been some changes made to the so-called curriculum materials that had originally been posted on the Scholastic website for high school teachers to use in conjunction with their students' viewing and discussion of the program and the events of 9/11.

PowellsBooks.Blog reports:

"In the aftermath of the furor over ABC's controversial TV movie, The Path to 9/11, publisher Scholastic is removing its tie-in materials from its website and replacing them with new materials that "focuses more specifically on media literacy, critical thinking, and historical background."

Powell's continues:

"They're also taking out the photo of Saddam Hussein marrying Osama bin Laden, despite the fact that bin Laden looks resplendent in his white gown. Close inspection has revealed the photograph to have been doctored."

At this point, I don't think anyone would be surprised about a doctored photograph being freely disseminated to the masses.

Tell the Media to Do the Right Thing

Yet another "documentary" about 9/11 will be aired by ABC on 9/10 and 9/11. Here's some background information from http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc

"On September 10 and 11, ABC Television is planning to run an inaccurate film depicting the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. The film was written by an avowed conservative and it largely places the blame for failing to prevent the attacks on the Clinton administration while whitewashing the failures of the Bush administration.

Our review of the film shows it to be full of such inaccuracies. Its distorted version of history is inconsistent with the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which it claims to be based. The events leading up to September 11, 2001 are too important and too tragic to play politics with the facts."

You can go to http://thinkprogress.org and easily e-mail a message to the decision makers at ABC, expressing your opinion about their (non)truth-telling. It takes about a minute to do this.