There’s a big sense of calm around the house, but also a big sense of loss, still. I hear stories almost nightly about missing the jingling of his collar, or how he looked startled when the drugs hit his vein, or about how some things just remind us of him. (admission: I’m tearing up a bit while writing this). I’m not a dog psychologist, so I can’t read Chewie’s mind to see what she’s thinking.
But, life goes on. I think there will be at least a few people who are glad to have April over this year. We just found out one of our church friends is in the hospital with a suspected case of meningitis (Becki C., for those of you around the church). Other people have problems too, but I’m beginning to wonder how we keep soldiering on. I mean, is faith that strong, to continue to make us get out of bed and face a new day? Or is it something else, a type of ennui that just slides us along like a moving sidewalk along the corridor of time? I don’t know, but as I said, life goes on.
I’m really tired. Laureen hit another six week grading period, so last night was spent in a grading and recording frenzy. Fortunately, she has a computer gradebook to help dicky around the numbers, but the consensus is this: most students in Laureen’s class just plain don’t care about anything except what is told to them on TV, what is shown in the movies and music videos they see, and the oppressive rise of street culture, which, whether or not it is applicable to a particular area, has influenced people to believe that no institution is there to really help them. Instead of working toward racial understanding, there seems to be a greater division BY THE KIDS THEMSELVES. “We seek our own for comfort and protection” doesn’t really lend itself to many of our visions of harmony and peace. Student’s in Dallas ISD can do absolutely nothing for six weeks but sit in classes (or sleep in classes) and still get a district-mandated grade of 50.
Was this type of thing happening when I was growing up? I know some of my high-school alumni were graciously allowed to graduate, but when I was younger, I guess I thought that school was uniform for everyone, and that everyone would get the same benefit out of it.
{{LINK http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/04/23/education.report.ap/index.html This}} is one of the more telling things I’ve seen in a while. After calculating that Laureen lost one-sixth of her school year to high-stakes testing, I think I’m going to start an area on this site devoted to educational improvement. The current model that Ross Perot and the great businessmen at {{LINK http://www.achieve.org Achieve.org}} have really done what Linda McNeil (an education professor at Rice) called “taking education out of the hands of educational professionals and putting it under the control of businessmen with a businesslike mentaility for improvement. (NOTE: this is a paraphrase of the highest order. Google Linda McNeil to find the actual article.)”
So, I’ll work on that. And maybe I’ll write some more on things. I just haven’t felt like writing lately; it isn’t the dog, but it’s just that life goes on.