Point to ponder...

Yesterday was a teacher workday. No, let me correct that, some of it was work time but at least half, as usual was "meeting time". We all grumble as we trudge to the cafeteria for the obligatory faculty meeting and then trudge to a classroom for a department meeting. Usually the department meetings at least have the potential to be more interesting because teachers usually feel freer to bitch about whatever is bothering them (for example the faculty meeting :) ) and because the announcements are usually more relevant. However, some of our time had to be dedicated to our "book club" meeting. The new administration required that all teachers read a book about educational leadership and have regular book club meetings about it. I think I am safe in saying that no-one read any more than the one chapter they were assigned to present to the group. And at each meeting there was no mistaking the "sorry, guys, they are making me do it" look on the presenting teacher's face.But I will say that one thing came out of yesterday's book discussion that I think is worth pondering.
The presenters posed the question "if you could do anything you wanted to motivate achievement in students, what would it be?" No money or rule restrictions, just an open brainstorming session. One idea that had been floated before was raised again. Meredith re-iterated the idea that if responsibility = privileges then if the school allowed increased privileges when a student showed responsibility and the student would lose those privileges with a lack of responsibility that we might be able to increase performance and reduce behavioral concerns.
Interesting concept. So let's say a student has no behavioral record for conduct or unexcused absences would be allowed to leave the campus for lunch. Wow! We already have a program in place for allowing seniors to exempt final exams if their grade is high enough and they have a reduced number of absences. Or possibly study hall for students with a grade below 75, free time in the computer lab or even outdoors for those whose grades are B's or above. Parking spaces are already tied to performance. I think there is a real possibility to motivate the vast number of students here. Of course, there are those who will not be moved no matter what carrot you put in front of them, but we may at least make that number smaller. Worth thinking about.

My "Priceless" list- with apologies to MasterCard

Watching those MasterCard commercials that look at the costs of some things and then describe the ultimate result as "Priceless" I was prompted to think of the things, besides obviously my family, that are priceless to me... So,here they are...in no particular order.

1. The book of Valentine poems I've written for my husband over the past 34 years that chronicle all the ups and downs of my married life.
2. All of the incredible amount of details that I've managed to collect on the family geneaology over the past 30 years that are kept in the antique steamer trunk. It has been a labor of love and I can only hope I will live long enough to write a narrative that puts it together into something readable.
3. My occasional opportunities to sit and watch the nature going about their everyday existence in my back yard. It is soothing and puts all the problems in my world into perspective.
4. Seeing the look of surprise on children's (and sometimes adults!) faces when I show them the goodies baking inside the Dutch oven on the hearth at Smith Plantation.
5. The predictable patterns of life that reassure me such as the daily phone calls when I'm driving home from my husband, setting the holiday table at my mother and dad's house where the china and crystal are like old friends, the chimney swifts whose nestlings in my chimney every year drown out my favorite t.v. shows, and the Christmas ornaments I unwrap that evoke memories of family vacations and momentous events. There are so many that glue together the fabric of my life.

Sometimes someone will ask,"If the house catches on fire, what would be the one thing, besides your family, that you would save?" Well, maybe the Valentine book, everything else is already with me.