As we come to the close of 2018 and approach the beginning of 2019, I find myself looking back on the events of the past year as well as looking forward to prospects of the coming year. This past year has certainly been a momentous one for us collectively as well as for me personally and the coming year promises to be equally memorable- for better or worse. I find my head filled with all sorts of random thoughts and observations about the silliness that our life is made of and the events that make moments memorable. So, indulge me if you will as I share some of these random observations and comments. As always, I welcome your thoughts and insight as well.#IAmOffended
It seems like with every passing year people become more and more offended by more and more things. Why? Is everything that may cause you the slightest irritation cause for you to take indignation to? Why does everything have to be offensive to somebody? Just because you don't like something or are irritated with it is not a reason to claim that you have been offended. When you, or anyone, takes offense to anything and everything it cheapens and degrades the things we should be truly offended by; real racism, real bigotry, real hatred, real abuse. Those are the things that are worth our indignation and offense. To be offended simply because you don't like the message or disagree with the idea is tiresome and ridiculous. If everything is offensive, then nothing is offensive because that visceral reaction loses all of its impact and meaning.
Myself, I find very, VERY, few things offensive. Life is too short to be offended by much. I would much rather immerse myself in topics, conversation and thoughts that I enjoy rather than wallow in the depths of despair and annoyance. If you hear or read something that you don't like or agree with move on, change the channel, scroll past it or walk away instead of working yourself into a froth of imagined and manufactured fury. My advice to you for a better life is this: be offended less- A LOT LESS!, smile more- A LOT MORE! Be angry less- A LOT LESS-, laugh more- A LOT, LOT MORE! Find humor in the jokes, laugh at life's foolish insanity, smile at the foibles and follies of yourself and others. Be indignant and angry less. Save your enmity for the things that are truly worth it. Trust me, you and society, at large will be the better for it.
Politics Doesn’t Have To Be Personal
One of the most disturbing trends in politics today is that it has become so entrenched and tribal. Political beliefs have become so personal to so many that they find it hard to separate their identity from their political beliefs. Too many people allow politics to determine their personal relationships. For many to disagree with their political beliefs or for someone to subscribe to an opposing political viewpoint is a deeply personal attack. To me, this is absolutely ludicrous.
Unless your political views require you to view all others as subservient, inferior, and as an enemy people who have differing political views than yours are just that- people who see things differently and that's all. Trust me, you can still like, respect and be friends with these people. And if your politics require you to see those who disagree with you as somehow less intelligent, inferior or otherwise beneath you than it is not others who are substandard, but you.
Republicans don't have only right answers. Democrats don't just have wrong ideas. Both are equally right and wrong. Capitalism is not the only answer. Socialism is not pure evil. Both are just different spectrums on society and both have inherent positives and negatives. To subscribe to one of these ideas and philosophies instead of the other doesn't make you any more right or wrong than anyone else. They're just ideas and beliefs and you can still be friends with and respect people on the other side. If you allow politics to determine your circle of friends and acquaintances your belief in your political leanings must not be very strong if you feel threatened by those who hold opposite views.
People are just people regardless of their political affiliations.
I Identify As...
Now, hear me out: I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM AT ALL WITH TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM! I truly believe, and always have, that there are instances where people are born into the wrong body. I truly believe that happens and I have no issue with people trying to get into the body should be in. I have been taken aback by the sudden rush recently of people who claim to be transgender. This sudden wave of people claiming transgender status seemed to come from out of nowhere. What does really shock me is when people introduce themselves to me or write next to their signature the pronouns they identify as. Such as, "Hi, I'm Jim and I identify as..." My response to all of this is very simple: I really don't care what you identify yourself as, what you wish to be called, what religion you identify with, what color your skin is, or who you find yourself attracted to. All I care about is that I can identify you as a decent human being.
Education Mindbenders
Has there ever been a time in history when we haven't been trying to "reform education"? Seems like there has always been some effort to reform the perceived shortcomings of education. And people in education have always seemed attracted to educational reforms like moths to a flame. People love to try to reform education and people in education love to get reformed. Now, here is one inescapable truth; for literally centuries numerous education reforms have yielded very little in the way of truly making education better and people are always convinced that younger generations are always not as smart as theirs, therefore, the education system is to blame for that. Here is the reality- no generation is ever smarter or less so than any others. Education has certainly changed over the years, but in terms of its ability, or lack thereof, in delivering knowledge it has improved or degraded very little. Another nugget of truth; education reform always seems to go in cycles. Usually in 15-20 year cycles. An idea comes up on how to revolutionize education and make it better, education leaders flock to the idea and immerse themselves in that idea for about 3-5 years until a "new and better" idea arrives then the old idea is discarded because "the results weren't there" or "research shows" this idea is better. This process is repeated over and over again. Until 15-20 years have passed and then the old ideas begin to pop up again just with different names and the cycle is repeated. As I am entering my third decade in education, I can attest this is very true and is quite amusing.
One of the most frustrating problems with all of these reforms is that they are usually created by people who haven't been in the classroom on a full-time basis in years! I can't tell you how many times I've sat in meetings listening to someone extoll the positives of some "new" method from some researcher and have the presenter say something like "Dr. Soandso has years of classroom teaching behind them as they were a classroom teacher for 26 years." Impressive. Then you find out they left the classroom in, say, 2001 to go into research! Now, I'm not good at math but this tells me that they have been out of the classroom for almost 20 years and they began teaching in the 1970's! Of course this just a made up example, however, the realities are not. All too often recycled ideas come through with new names being pushed as the latest silver bullet for education from some educational researcher who may have years of classroom experience but none recently and they usually began teaching when reel to reel films, overhead projectors, and mimeograph machines were the best in educational technology. So, why don't current classroom teachers create their own educational reforms? Sometimes it does happen, but not very often. Why? Ahhhh, that leads me to my next point.
Demands. Teachers today have sooooooooooooo many demands put on them that it leaves very little time for them to create new, innovative strategies that would allow them to take control of education and begin to direct its course. Teachers have so many assessments that they must administer, so many IEP's, 504's and other student needs that must be met, benchmarks that have to monitored, and then there are the meetings. UGH! THE MEETINGS!!!! SO! MANY! MEETINGS!!!! Team meetings, content meetings, level meetings, cross-curricular meetings, committee meetings, staff meetings, meetings to plan meetings, meetings to discuss past meetings, meetings to discuss past meetings and plan next meetings. Like acronyms, education has never met a meeting that it didn't like. Warren G. Harding once said, "If at the end of a meeting you decide to have another then nothing was accomplished in the original meeting." Judging by his presidency, Harding must have had a lot of meetings. But his message does resonate. The goal of meetings should be to have fewer meetings. If you decide you need more meetings at the end of a meeting then what are you meeting for in the first place? Trust me, nobody-especially teachers- has ever said, "Gosh you know what I would like? More meetings!" or "Gosh, I wish this meeting was longer." If we really want to improve education and teaching there is no better way, in my mind, than allowing teachers to be in their classroom and doing what they do best- teach. Free them of the demands and meetings and just let them teach. That's all.
Family: The People You Enjoy The Most And Are Frustrated By The Most
Not a day goes by that I don't enjoy my family. Not a day goes by that I don't shake my head in disbelief because of my family. This past year has been a momentous one and eyebrow rising one in the Munholland household.
My wife, Stephanie, is as wonderful today as she was the day we got married 18 1/2 years ago. She still makes me smile and laugh on a daily basis. I literally look forward to her coming home from work every day just so I can see and talk with her. She is the highlight of my day. Even if her standards for a clean bathroom are so high that not even Martha Stewart could meet those expectations. This year has been difficult for her. She now has two teenage boys who need her less than they used to and have teenage boy attitudes which can be very offputting. They just aren't her little boys anymore. They no longer have that sweet smell they used to have after getting out of the bathtub. They now have the rather unpleasant smell of a teenage boy which is a mixture of B.O. and the pachyderm house at the zoo on a hot August day. she can't cut their hair the way she would like it cut anymore, which really is a shame. The boys have shaggy, crazy hair which they think looks really good. They are wrong. This has been a difficult transition for her, but she has handled it well I think and while Steph may not think so, she is still the boys' mother and she is still important to them and needed in their lives.
Our oldest, Ayden, has had quite the year. He finally passed his driving test, after failing the test two previous times. Within his first month of driving, he was in two accidents, both of which were not his fault. He got his first job and has a wonderful young lady as his girlfriend. His grades and his outlook on life have steadily gotten better each year since his low point as an 8th grader. This past semester his lowest grade was a "C". Yea! His politics and view of the world still bewilders and stuns me. There are times when I honestly don't know how to respond to his bizarre views of the world. I will probably never agree much with his politics but my hope is that over time his views at least begin to reside on planet Earth and not in some weird universe where they currently reside.
Cameron continues to be Cameron. Funny, lighthearted, and oblivious to the world around him. However, over the past year, his vocabulary has become more and more limited. He has seemingly forgotten a great number of words over the past year. If I can get more than two to three multi-word sentences out of him over the course of a day I consider that a minor victory of sorts. My usual conversations with Cameron usually consist of grunts and groans and maybe an occasional word that sounds a little like "Yeah" or "Okay". However, I am not all that concerned about his seeming decline in vocabulary because I do hear him have very detailed conversations with his friends on XBox Live as they scheme and plan how to win at whatever game they are playing. Perhaps, in order for me to have a conversation with him, I just need to put on a McDonald's drive-thru headset and pretend that we are playing Fortnite.
So there you have it. My random thoughts and views on this past year as we prepare to hang a new calendar in the kitchen. I hope that you have found some joy and happiness in the past year. I hope you see the absurdness and silliness in the world around you and embrace it as you laugh at it all. If you don't, the absurdness and silliness in the world around you will weigh on you like an anchor tied to your ankle. Life is too short to be sad, angry, and depressed. Laugh, smile, and live. You won't get out of this life alive so enjoy it while you have it.
Merry Christmas and have a wonderful 2019.
