Service

What is the purpose of public school?

As defined by the Texas Education Agency, it states, “The mission of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) is to provide leadership, guidance, and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students” (2007-2011). The ideas of leadership, guidance, and resources are crucial pieces of any profession in America. Or shall I say, those three ideas are factors that can be developed and used to create a successful business and or organization. Now, in to articulate those three components to a student can be a challenge. Especially, when public school is set up to evaluate students on a “core” of subjects. Which those subject may not always fall under the three ideas being fostered in the mission statement of the TEA.

In other words, the skills needed for a student to successfully in their “core” classes is another step in education. Developing the leadership skills, guidance skills, and the use of resources, in each student seems like a subject in it’s own-right.

As we all know the power of the “test” has remained and continues to remain a critical tool in sustaining a public school system in Texas and other states. TEA website states, “A system of accreditation was created in 1885 when high schools sent selected test papers for examination by the faculty of the University of Texas. If found satisfactory, the school was considered to be affiliated with the university and its graduates were admitted without examination” (2007-2011).

“To the victor go the spoils.” For the student’s who understands the importance of the “specific skills” which are not developed in public school, yet are critical in learning the material in the “core” classes. The tact skills which are not found in most citizens of the United States are skills for-fronted in the mission statement of the Texas public school system. “To the victor go the spoils;” for although, not all high school graduates go to college, they most certainly become citizens of our country. Even more interesting is how services jobs, are the one of the most crucial establish job- sectors needed for big business to stand on.

We need to push our youth to aspire to go to college and participate in extra-curricular activities that develop their own leadership, guidance, and resources skills. Because not matter the future holds for the youth of tomorrow, a citizen who is aware of their own personal abilities is a person who will be a productive citizen of the United Stated no matter the service job they take.

The Unschooled Mind

The unschooled mind is actually a book title, but the title captured my thoughts long after I saw the book. Institutions can provide a perspective on life which is adopted by the majority of people due to the fact that most people go to school. Yet, even under the pressure of an institution, people stay very much the same. No  matter how influential the institution.

For example, even though a person takes on a new profession, doesn’t mean that he or she is only good at that one profession. Following orders is just that, “Following Orders.” When people adopt new values or a new awareness about life, then the person can change.

But change, it does not come easy for many people. Especially those who have developed a strong tie to their initial perception of life. Many people, especially those who have learned from their own cycle-of-mistakes, often have very incite-ful and critical things to say about others who are in the learning process. Yet no matter what anyone may say, to another, change can only come to those who are ready. So, institutions continue to thrive due to the fact that people don’t often change.

Institutions, no matter the value system, are created due to the simple fact that “sameness” functions in life. The better question that one should ask to an “unschooled mind” is “why do we do as we do?” What purpose are we trying to achieve by our actions, cyclical-actions?

The unschooled mind should be schooled for a purpose. I can only hope that each individual’s purpose is to live a good and meaningful life and make choices that only nurture that purpose.

Happy New Year 2012

Puzzle: Re-visited

“… I will not forget how you crumbled before my face, and how I felt I had to put you back together…heart and mind. I sift through the pieces I have left to complete the picture. As I push through the pile, I find some pieces that are complete in small sections. These pieces were saved and left whole in their fragmented state. The reality of the mess that once was. I am putting it back together in my bedroom. I will find my match.”

Many people go along in life collecting fragments of a moment. Good times, Bad times, and moments that leave behind a lasting impact in our lives. As time goes on, events continue to take place sometimes with or without our control. And we, gather up moments. Even this gathering will take place with or without our control; even at a subconscious level.

People may crumble just in the memory of a moment. Because the memory can be so-real, we may lose ourselves for a short time. In the re-collective moment, we must  not forget the larger pieces. The reason why we chose to remember those moments-the reason behind the memory. The smaller pieces that are kept together in their “fragmented state.” Gaps, in our memory, we will fill in the blanks with our preferred desires.

Why do we fill in the gaps with falsehoods? Because, we are only human. We desire a “perfect match:” A perfect childhood, perfect love, and perfect life experience. The time we spend picking out the pieces we prefer to remember is meaningful, but you have to remember that the larger picture is the point. We use our past to draw out our present-life. The puzzle of life.

It Continues

Each one of us has a responsibility. He, she, her, him, you, us, and we have a responsibility to ourselves. This is a selfish quest. A selfish search that can only happen over a course of time. The search for a purpose not an easy one. The creation of a life, we desire to live, can be a challenge.

Yet, for some, the search for purpose doesn’t happen without distraction. Those distractions will alter our pursuit for our selfish purpose. Instead of a making choices that scaffold a meaningful life, we make choices that only feed our selfish immediate desires. There is a fine line between the selfish-immediate and the selfish-meaningful. The only way to decipher between the two, you must have a purpose. Yet, the span of time spent one’s purpose is not important; it is actually taking the time to discover one’s purpose is what is important.

Maybe, we just need to be pulled away from our distractions; in order for us to make the time to start the thinking process.

At the End of the Book

Writing on the last page of my journal was a good experience. As I flipped through some of the previously written pages, I was able to see various streams of thought. Among the streams, I could find lapses of forward thinking. It was almost like hearing the same song over and over again. Expect this time, I took no pleasure in reading some of the situations I had “yet again” gotten into. Because, in the end, the outcome was always the same.

Toward the end of the journal, I read about a person who was fighting against the “normal.” She was challenging herself to behavior and react differently in order to stop the cycle of “yet again.”

Finally, on my last page, I was able to recognize where I have come from and who I have become. I do not expect people to change. I just realized that I shouldn’t put-up or support negative behavior around and in my life. So, I ask God for guidance and for strength with help; in order to, find the path he has chosen for me.

No way can I say, “I do not make mistakes.” I am far from perfection, but I strive to live a life that I can be proud of. Because, I want to be proud of myself. And I want to be honest with myself, no matter the given situation which may arise.

 

Opening the Cans

As the days wear on, she begins to notice how it affects her. In the afternoon, she walks over to the kitchen. Does she feel hungry? Most people will take action due to their desire, so once she arrived at the kitchen area, she is struck by the fact that she had no desire to eat. Yet, she is in the kitchen.

A simple action or lack of action can draw people to many conclusions. Those conclusions can awaken the sleeping consciousness. Yet, she wonders; why does she find herself in the kitchen? Yes, the routine! The conscious mind reverts back to what is familiar. The conscious mind reverts back to what is comfortable. Back to what she does without thinking, she grabs a can of soup of the cabinet shelf.

As she rubs the lid clean with the edge of her shirt, she thinks about nothing else accept the next action. No hunger, no desire to eat, yet the only things that drives her at this moment is old fashion custom. Once she reaches for the can opener, she snaps back into and out of the routine. In her awakened consciousness, she states, “Yes, I eat my soup at this hour because I have to take my medicine an hour later. Yes, of course, hunger doesn’t account for the desire to live a good health life sometimes.”

The logic is life. The reason behind the mindlessness monotony is purposeful. Even though at times, the reason for doing things might escape us. We should never forget that actions never escape a reason, and that reason should be a purposeful one. As she opens the can, she is reminded of the reason to live a good life.

Holding onto a Dream

I still hold on. Tightly, I hold on to the idea that you and I share.

Keeping my Word

At  the moment I decided to become an educator, I made a an oath to myself: That I wouldn’t let the system change my beliefs about what educations stands for.

The idea of attaining higher education can be undesirable. For so many Americans, the idea of pursuing higher-ed seems impossible. The impossibility stems from the assumptions that are created from the unknown. Once the person is confronted with the unknown, the most common reaction is retreat. If not retreat, it is dislike or detest.

Education asks to much from us. The fact of the matter is education asks for time. Time that people rather dedicate to other things. Things that result in immediate gratification. For example, you make a phone call, they person answers. You talk to that person the instant you desired to do so. Education is more like a phone call that you must leave a message, and you will get a reply much not after much time. The reply is not a guaranteed positive replay, but education will definitely let you know what you are doing aka grades.

The public school is a system that has the ability to develop a student’s confidence, but the student has to make a choice for themselves to participate. At a deeper level, the student needs to have the resources to participate: the transportation, the funds, the familiar support, and the encouragement. I want to be that encouragement for my students. Even, if they resist me.

O, they do resist me. Forcing the eyes open of a person who doesn’t want to see is not a simple task. I am an educator who hold a belief. I clutch it tightly.

You Move Forward

“…the strengths and weaknesses-the discovery is our individual responsibility to act.” Blink p. 276

This passage harks back to the philosophy of how I live my life …Action – Reaction – Free will – Change.

Among all the various events that consume our daily lives, the search of our true selves is important. For so many, time to think about the self is never held as a priority. Often time, the time allotted to the self is unattainable. Those who work hard do not find time to think about the things that do not affect the tangible in life. By tangible I mean, the objects and things that keep life together: the home, food, water, clothing, and all the things that keep the necessities to live life available.

Yet at the core, the search for the self is what keeps those necessities long-lasting. So with or without or control, people will continue the search for the self. Because every day, events will continue to pass. And beyond the search, events will take place in our lives that will affect and change us. Further more, those events will happen with or without our control. Even if we don’t make time to discover our strengths or weaknesses, we will continue to change. That change will occur as a chain reaction.

I am beginning to think that relationships do not last because people do not want to share the time in the search for the self. Especially when there already isn’t enough time in a day to think about ourselves….finding time to share is even more challenging. For the most part, people are selfish or reluctant to verbalize how life affects them. What I mean is, as time goes on, events will occur with or without our control. But if we do not articulate, with the person we are with, how that event affects us or changes us than the time for discovery of the self is not shared. Instead the person must assume that the other person understands how that person has been effected. Assumptions….and isolation continues to occur.

The key word is want. People have to want to share the time of the search for the self. Because the person will continue to experience life and change with or without their control, but the person has to want to want to vocalize how a specific event made them feel and how the result made them feel. The person has to want to share that change or else the relationship will fade, and the discovery of the self will be a solitary one.

Disturbing the Sleep

To so many, the ordinary day to day activities hold no joy. The joy of the ordinary are to simple. The simplicity is not complex enough to be seen as valuable enough to be examined. To be given a second glance, I look over the every day acts of life.

As the evening begins to ware on my body, I lie in bed. The darkness fills the spaces where the light does not reach, and I cover up the light from the digital clock that sits against my night stand.

The daily activity seems mindless at time. The coming and going of the same familiar comfort. Until, my restful mind is disturbed by the unfamiliar. As shooting pain hits me sharp and forceful against my left leg, and I try and resist it. Yet, the feeling is strong and relentless against my leg.

The awareness of the unfamiliar always strikes those who do not know otherwise as painful. Because, that is what awareness is–a zombie come to life. It is not until I am forced to acknowledge its presence. Yes, I am forced to acknowledge that I am sick. I need to get it check out by a medical doctor.

For the past several months, I have not gotten a good nights rest. I must not let this pain continue to go on because even those who live a life in a monotonous haze need an awakening.