A 68 year young bus monitor, in upstate New York, was verbally assaulted by a group of Middle School (MS) students. The abuse was caught on video and broadcast on YouTube and all over Facebook and Twitter. According to the article/CNN report, the students will be facing disciplinary actions, and the police are involved in this action.
I’m sure, by now, you’ve seen or heard about the video. The CNN link above only has a fraction of it, and I would not post the entirety of it here. The students who did this need consequences for their actions, not further hits on the video. I do send out my thoughts to the woman who was attacked. My hope is she can find some strength in the fact that she held her own, did not sink to their level and attack back, and that the majority of those sounding off on this are on her side.
We have our share of bullies in all age groups, in all parts of our society. Yet, the majority of our focus is on the school bullies. When I went looking for bully images to use with this post, there were few images that dealt with adults: one adult yelling at a group of kids; one woman berating another. The rest were signage, the red line through the word BULLY and the like.
Alongside issues of bullying in schools, which is desperately needed, I feel all adults (Parents, the workforce, police, politicians, teachers, principals, etc etc etc) need the same sort of awareness programs, if not more so. Not only do they need to learn how to properly deal with this behavior from students, the adults need to see what THEY do that constitutes bullying.
I saw it in action, recently, in working with an older population group. I have seen it in action in schools and business. It seems to be not only a common practice from management to workers at times, but along the peer level. Bullying tactics are not relegated to just children.
Adult bullies, to other adults &/or children, is a seen behavior that is picked up by the young. If an adult does it with little to no consequence, then why can’t a kid? They may not go through that exact thought process, but it’s there: we teach our children outright what we want them to learn, but we are not careful about the rest of our actions, what they observe and take in.
I think we need to label bullying, if we have to label at all, for what it truly is: a hate crime.
Bullying wasn’t okay in elementary school and it isn’t okay now, especially when it comes in the form of a U.S. Supreme Court decision. John Doolittle
Some people won’t be happy until they’ve pushed you to the ground. What you have to do is have the courage to stand your ground and not give them the time of day. Hold on to your power and never give it away.
― Donna Schoenrock
Here are two student video reactions to the bullying of the bus monitor.
Do you: Go with your gut reaction? Weigh the pros & cons, and come to a decision you can back up and justify? Do you follow what your friends/family/confidants say &/or do, without question? Do you go against what you believe due to outside pressure?
On my way home from a great Interactive Theater workshop in NYC, I turned on the local NPR station (WNYC 93.9 FM). The program This American Life was on, and just in time: I had been hearing the teasers for the program and was hoping to catch it. A group of 5th graders (ten/eleven years old) were undergoing an amazing Process Drama:
“What if, say, the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 had been decided, not by Ronald Reagan, but by a bunch of middle-schoolers?”
The students were led on an amazingly detailed program. Three rooms were set up for them: a press room, a command center, and the President’s office/war room. Split into three groups, the students were in role, being asked to make the hard decisions that adults with “experience” in these matters had struggled with almost thirty years ago.
I don’t want to spoil it for you. I included the link above (first one) so you can listen to the program (there are two other “acts”: one with a 14 year old discussing Global Climate changes and a school in Brooklyn that is governed by…the students). I hope after you listen you’ll come back here and leave some comments.
The second link is from the blog Woman Wielding Words about an amazing experience with practicing drama with kids from a very different culture.
The third link: really, the nuts and bolts of what I love to do with students: have them make personal discoveries and to think for themselves. Weigh it all out, find out what they feel is right or wrong, and then also look at how someone else see’s the same situation; How it is sometimes hard to make a decision at all.
There are applications for Arts in Education in all core curricula, as there is in Art in all aspects of life. That is part of what creativity comes into play.
I am not 100% sure how I came upon Woman Wielding Words, Lisa Kramer’s blog, but I am glad I did. (PS: she thinks it was something to do with LinkedIn.)
I found a kindred spirit, overall, in what she has written, and this guest post only cements that.
It is a pleasure to introduce her to you here.
The Creativity Series: Guest Post
Creativity isn’t About Being Perfect, It’s About Living Life with Passion: Lisa Kramer
No matter where I am or what I am doing, one statement crushes me, causing me to want to scream.
What is this horrific statement?
“I am not creative.”
I hear it all the time; in college classrooms, in discussions with friends, and perhaps most painfully out of the mouths of children. How could a child not be creative? Or perhaps I should ask, what does society do to suck the creativity out of children, or their belief in their ability to create?
In my experience, everybody is creative, but there comes a point where creativity is frowned upon as something less worthy or less “normal” in some way. That is a loss. If you look at the dictionary definition of creativity, you will find the following:
. . . the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination (dictionary.com)
How could anybody not welcome the “ability . . . to create meaningful new ideas . . .etc.”? Why is creativity something that society seems to fear rather than embrace?
I don’t have the answers, but I fear for a world that stifles creativity in children at such a young age, and a society that seems to be trying, on a daily basis, to silence anyone who thinks outside of a restrictive social norm. I’m sure some might say that I exaggerate, and that children lose their creativity as a natural result of getting older. However, the problem is not simply an issue of growing up.
Several years ago, at a week-long puppet-making workshop for grades K-6, I offered different puppets for different age groups. For the Kindergarten and First graders I decided to make fish puppets, based on The Rainbow Fish. The Kindergarteners took their instructions and ran away with it, adding color and scales, eyes and glitter in any chaotic fashion that suited their fancy. It was a fast-paced burst of creative energy, and I loved the result especially the fish with two eyes one side of its head and thee on the other.
In the first grade, things were different. Many of the kids censored their creative impulses. If they couldn’t do it “right” or make the “perfect” fish, they wanted either my assistant or I to do it for them. (We didn’t, of course).
In Being Perfect, Anna Quindlen writes that “being perfect [is like] carrying a backpack filled with bricks every single day.” (11) Where do we pick up and fill that backpack? What happens between kindergarten and 1st grade that allows us to catch this terrible disease? Perfectionism is, in many ways, the enemy of creativity. I am not saying we can’t strive for perfection in our creative endeavors, but that pursuing perfection often paralyzes our ability to create.
Often the people who say, “I’m not creative” are also the ones who slog their way through life just doing what they have to do following all the rules as they go. Perhaps this comes from a narrow definition of what it means to be creative. Creativity is not limited to those people who can put words on a page, or images on a canvas, or write music or whatever you think of as creative. Everything we do involves a creative choice, especially if we take even the tiniest step away from the “rules”: how we dress, how we set up our desk, how we cook our food, how we decorate our house, even how we sign our names involves creative choices.
Imagine a work place where everything must be done in one way, and one way only. Your office or cubicle has to be decorated under precise parameters. Every word you write, whether a memo or an e-mail must be worded following protocol. Imagine yourself as a worker in this place, who suddenly realizes that there is a better and more productive way to accomplish XYZ, but you do not speak up because it doesn’t follow the proscribed rules of the company. Slowly you learn to stifle those creative thoughts, and become a corporate drone. Life turns gray.
I am not saying that all corporations suck creativity out of every individual. I’m not even saying that people who don’t think they are creative can’t enjoy life. Instead, I argue that in order to make change and embrace life, everything we do must incorporate creativity. If we lose the creative aspects of ourselves, then what do we have? So my response to a person who says, “I’m not creative” is, “yes you are, you just don’t see it.” And my response to the question “Why creativity?” is simply, “Life is creative.”
Lisa A. Kramer is a freelance theatre director, educator, and writer. After graduating from Smith College with a double major in Theatre and English Language & Literature she spent some time teaching English conversation in Japan. This led her to expanding her understanding of theatre and pursuing and MFA in directing from the University of Hawai’i, Manoa as well as a Ph.D. in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University. She enjoys directing theatre for all ages, developing new works, incorporating non-western techniques in productions, and exploring cultural and social issues through theatre. She hopes to develop shows using multiple cultures, languages, and generations to help build bridges.”
I had the misfortune of meeting a very ugly woman. Outwardly, she was dressed very well. She was put together. Some of you, if you looked at her, would’ve found this woman in her early 30s to be physically attractive. The ugliness came from inside.
I was at the courthouse parking lot in White Plains, which also serves as the parking lot for the White Plains Library. It waiting our turn to pay for the meter, somehow some conversation started at wound up about what was going on in New York City Wall Street occupation. I know that I mentioned, more under my breath than anything else, that 100 of the protesters had been arrested instead of giving up the space in the Park.
Her next comment: ” I know. Those lazy bastards need to get a job.”
Are you stunned?
My comment: ” Are you kidding me!? I am out of work. I can’t find a job. You… get me a job? Huh? I need a job?” And she just walked away from me as fast as her pointy expensive shoes could take her.
The haves and the have nots.
I had just had a discussion with some one the previous night (someone whose opinion and knowledge I respect and admire: NOTE – all facts that I am going to present are from this person. She presented this information while I was discussing my feeling feelings and opinions; so, I am supporting what she presented to me in total accord) about the occupation of Wall Street and in other areas of our country. It is costing the municipalities a tremendous amount of money for a protest that, while semi-peaceful, has absolutely no purpose other than to say ” I don’t like what you’re doing.” There is absolutely no clear concise agenda or, in my mind, anything that deals with solving the problem. Any problem.
I have railed here often about that fact; if you going to complain, come up with some solutions and do something about it. Playing the complain complain complain game is a total waste of time and it completely diffuses and obfuscates the real problems. Case in point: the Bank of America withdrawal of personal accounts when they decided they just wanted to make more money off of the common person. An action was decided on, it was enacted, and Bank of America backed off.
I believe in protest, but I believe in problem solving more.
I do not believe in violence and nonsensical rhetoric. It gets us nowhere.
Why do I feel that this is part of the creativity series?
It is time all of us to find creative solutions to the problems that we face is very un-united United States. If you think that this country is not a laughing stock to the rest of the world, imo, you are sadly mistaken.
What we are doing right now is not working. Doing the same old again and again and again is putting this into a spiral that goes far beyond the financial crisis of the world. I am not sure I have the intelligence or the finesse to offer any problem solving myself. I do feel that we do need extreme critical and creative team work to take care of the problems that we face.
I started BornStoryteller in January of 2011. In the eight months of writing this blog, I’ve written about a lot of topics. In the beginning, I had no clue as to what this space was about or should be about, and eight months later:
I’m asking myself that same question.
So: I am asking YOU to please vote in the above poll. Tell me what you like to read on BornStoryteller. What should I spend most of my writing & thinking energy on?
PLEASE don’t throw it back in my lap, as many seem to like to do with the “write what you feel like” etc.
I am asking a question(s) here for the simple fact that I would like to know my readers opinions. Like many blogs, I get a lot of hits but no where near the amount of comments percentage wise. Comments help: they tell me I’m on the right track. But, I do an interview with almost no comments, and I almost triple the number of hits on the blog.
The above poll lists the main topics I touch on. I am thinking of making BornStoryteller a three or four times a week blog, posting content only on certain days. My schedule for writing my novel and other submissions is beginning to get tight, and as Ray Davies sang: Give the People What They Want!
“We look at parents as partners. We’re partners in working towards their kids’ success. The last thing we want to do is to get in this adversarial relationship, but when you’ve exhausted every available option, there must be some bottom line, and there must be some point where you say you must obey the law.”
Education of and for the children is 24/7, 365 days a year. Period. It does not happen solely in the school building, or whatever “institution of education” you subscribe to. If a parent is NOT involved, then they are not doing their job. It’s a shame so many have to work with hardships (financial; little to no familial support; etc). I do empathize. BUT…once you’ve brought a child onto this planet, YOU have a commitment that has to override everything else: take care of the kid, show him/her discipline, focus, love, and leading a proper path (which to me is do no harm to yourself or others, and work to the best of your abilities..and then go one step more).
When you baby your babies, you are doing them harm. When you force the school systems to baby your babies, you are really doing them harm. When you support your child’s laziness and bad habits, you are doing them harm. When you threaten but do not follow through with ANY type of consequence, you are doing them harm. When you reward your baby for doing what they are supposed to do, you are doing them harm. When you create an adversarial relationship with your partner-THE SCHOOL & TEACHERS ARE YOUR PARTNER-, you are doing a tremendous amount of harm.
If you don’t see any of the above as actual problems in your parenting style, then you are REALLY doing them, your babies, your children, your charges, your wards, your life… harm.
There are many parents to applaud. I do really believe that, with everything I write. I also believe that there are many teachers, administrators and school systems that are applaud worthy. I do. They need the press MORE than the negative ones that make me and others like me vent.
We should Celebrate more then rehash our venting, so…
I HAVE A CHALLENGE FOR ALL OF YOU:
Write a paragraph or so and send it to me about an AMAZING parent/teacher partnership; an amazing parent/school partnership; ANY outstanding Parent/Education partnership.
I really want to write about these things and post them, especially as we are soon ready to enter the new school year.
Let US know. Send me that email and YOUR story, or another, will become it’s own posting.
Questions I had/have/will continue to have, and answers I’ve been getting. One of the key things that I feel needs to be done here is to provide a forum for voices, on either side, and that dialogue will happen.
The other thing is: I hope it causes even ONE person to get off their complaining duff and DO SOMETHING. That was t
The whole point of yesterday’s Che quote: if you can even spark something in one person, who knows where that lead.
I do kinda sorta expect something to come out of all this. I’m in the process of making connections to do just that: DO SOMETHING. I want to find a way to take this blog to “the streets” and help facilitate some change.
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. Bertolt Brecht
Thanks to this blog, I have had the GREAT fortune to become acquainted with Ms. Sharon Holzscherer Principal, Mississippi School for the Arts in Canada. I have really treasured our correspondence and phone discussions, and I plan to go to Canada sometime in the Fall to see her school in action. In regards to sharing her personal info here, Sharon said: “I am across the border and safe from witch burnings!”
(Sorry, but I had to do that! Well, I’m not really sorry, but…well, you know…if it floats like a duck…)
1. Why do you care about the educational system of today?
Education is the foundation of society. If we neglect the children then we can only imagine what kind of adults they will become. Education is the medium whereby we pass on history, culture, social mores, and skills. Without education each generation starts from the beginning as raw animals. Education, by the way, does not happen exclusively or even mainly in schools.
2. What is your background (short bio)?
I have been a teacher for over 20 years, in the private sector. I have, just recently, completed my Masters of Education. I am principal of a small private arts high school in Canada. I am also the very proud parent of 4 adult children, all products of my own educational views, and doing great!
3. What do you feel is an overriding problem(s) educators are facing today?
Educators are being asked to take over more and more of the responsibility for the raising of children as parents either abdicate their responsibilities or are too busy to fulfill them properly. Parenting is a full time job. Along with all this responsibility, teachers are being given less and less freedom and power. They are also attributed all the blame when society goes off the tracks.
4. How do you feel this problem (these problems) can be solved?
Teachers need to be respected for the professionals that they are. They need to be given the power and freedom to teach. However, they also need to have better training in pedagogical practices, apprenticeship programs for beginning teachers (at least two years), an independent self-governing body (like doctors and lawyers), and lose the union. They cannot have all the perks and safeties if they really want the freedom to do their jobs. No one can have it both ways. We turn our children over to teachers who have often had barely two years of training for lesson plans, etc. and minimal practical experience. Doctors and lawyers go to school and article or intern for several years. Are their professions harder than ours?
5. What changes/paradigm shifts do you feel are necessary?
Sir Ken Robinson!!! School is not a factory or production line. It is a garden where children grow, exposed to the best in all fields that our society can offer them. We need to rediscover the individual while instilling a respect for others. Nurture the single plant to support the whole garden.
6. What is your view on Process vs. Product?
Economics is not the basis for life. (Heresy! they scream. Burn her at the stake!) Truly, people, when everything is based on its monetary value then we are reduced to products. Production is a by-product of people being healthy, happy, and inspired. Bored, obese, resigned employees produce the minimum necessary to get by. Focus on the process and the product will take care of itself.
7. Do you believe Arts-In-Education are important? Yes or No, can you please explain why you feel that way?
Arts-in-Education are crucial. They not only pass on and develop the culture of a nation, without which a nation dies, but also stimulate creativity. Innovation is the tool of the future. It is always what has made America great – from its innovative approach to governing to its vision of reaching the moon. Imagination has much more power than complacency. Look at your history. When nations stopped doing new things and just strove for more and more of the old, they declined.
8. If you believe we should replace the Standardized Testing process, what form of assessment do you feel the students would benefit more from and the policy makers would be “happiest” with? If you agree with Standardized Testing, could you please explain why?
Standardized testing is a tool. It can be used for an appropriate reason, such as seeing if students need additional help or are too advanced for the proposed curriculum. It has got out of control whereby policy makers no longer care what is being tested as long as Americans score in the top two or three. This need to assess is based on a mistaken belief that teachers are wasting taxpayers’ money in classrooms. The money is being wasted at the bureaucratic level and they should be held accountable. When a doctor gives one a test, the doctor is not then assessed himself and the patient is not assessed against other patients. Let teachers, with their professional training, assess the children and discuss it with the parents. No one else should be concerned. As for the spending of taxpayer money, follow a dollar and truly show how little of it makes it to the teacher’s hand.
9. What role do you feel parents/guardians should have with the schools?
Parents are and always should be responsible for their children. Their job is to partner with the teachers and schools so that their children can be given the skills and knowledge that they cannot give. Schools should deal with academics and cultural experiences. Parents should deal with behaviour, mores, prejudice, respect, and responsibility. Parents should do their job and let the teachers do theirs.
10. You can create the ideal school: what THREE things must be in place that are non-negotiable?
1. Absolute control of the curriculum. 2. Absolute control of hiring and training the staff. 3. Clear understanding of the expectations of teachers and parents and students.
11. If you have one, what is your favorite quote dealing with education?
So many of them are negative that I have yet to find a really positive one that I like. I would welcome suggestions since I collect sayings )
12. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Until teachers leave the safety and comfort of their secure union jobs and truly demand the power and respect they need to do their jobs, there will be no reform. Teachers are the only ones with the knowledge and training to achieve relevant reform. “Life shrinks or expands in direct proportion to one’s courage.”
Thank you Sharon. Comments are Most Welcome!!! More of the Q&A to come!!
Some of you are probably going “What did you do to Stu? Who are you, oh evil twin? AHA! That’s why you grew a goatee! Evil Universe Stu!”
Ahem… I’m not always a curmudgeon. I DO care strongly about the arts, Arts-in-Education, and Education in general. I feel that surrounding my rants I offer some positive thoughts/problem solving ideas to help not only generate creative and critical thinking, but to get someone to Do something. Then there are the times when I just need to vent.
Not this time around.
On Facebook, I posted the following:
“Thank An Educator That Has Made a Difference in Your Life Day!”
Yeah, no such day. But, why not? The following people posted:
Roy A. AckermanSue Katzman/Finklestein,PhD- my hats been off to you for more than 47 years.
July 21 at 8:01am · Like
July 21 at 9:09am · Like
Lisa Dennett One of my FB friends is Ira Lipton, psychology teacher in high school. Thank you Ira for being such a … person… not just a teacher.
July 21 at 9:56am · Like
Milena SherryMrs. Wolinitz. Kindergarten. I was sooooo shy and she made everything feel safe. Loved her.
July 21 at 12:10pm · Like
Lisa DennettThank you Pat Sternberg, Hunter College, undergrad, for nurturing my soul with theater for children.
July 21 at 2:05pm ·
For me: Thank you Dr. Beverly Brumm. Your notes to me on my scene from “A Man For All Seasons” from way back in 1975 still resonate, inspire, and touch. Thank you.
I would also like to thank my 1oth Grade Honors English teacher. I have NO idea what his name was, but he was really inspiration for me in many ways: I was a staff member and editor on the DeWitt Clinton HS newspaper (solely because of him) but most of all: he took us (the Honors Eng students) to Broadway and Off Broadway shows just about EVERY Wednesday (matinees) and opened up my mind to a variety of theater and movies, which we would then have to discuss and write about the next day in class.
I also have had MANY positive, memorable teaching moments of my own:
When finishing up Romeo & Juliet with a Fourth Grade Class, some of the girls left the class, crying. Their teacher was upset with me at first: explaining that they were touched and connected to the death scene, that they had reached a place where the work of art resonated with them, and then seeing the look on that teacher’s face…priceless. Never was questioned again, by that teacher, about the work I did.
Holding a regional Professional Development day in my classroom, and having a Process Drama class of mine present in front of teachers from other schools. The kids just blew them away with their commitment and deep understanding.
Having my Drama Club kids perform at the New Victory Theater on 42nd Street in NYC, and then have the Director of Theater of NYC Schools tell me that he thought my kids presentation was his favorite of the evening!
A student telling me that I gave her a headache after a pretty grueling Process Drama class. She was amazing in her inquiry throughout the entire process.
One student wrote and presented a monologue so strong and moving that I choked up in class, and that’s not like me. She also got the only standing ovation from her class
That’s just five; there are many others.
What Positive Educational Moments Have YOU Experienced? Do You Have An Educator You’d Like To Celebrate?
I was asked to write about What Writing is to me. It is…
Freedom
Creative
FUN
Humbling
Inspirational
Galvanizing
Informative
Spiritual
Time well spent
Secluded, but not lonely
Educational
Writing gives me another creative outlet to express myself. Here, on Bornstoryteller, it’s about critical thinking and how I feel about Education, Arts In Education, Storytelling, Performing and being a Teaching Artist. On Tale Spinning, I have the chance to explore fiction and poetry as it interests me in the style I choose to write in/ play with. rules be damned, as long as I can tell a story.
To know more about “Writing to me…” check out “How I Write” and “Interview with Stuart“. Hopefully it will fill in any gaps I left out here.
Here are the others doing this blog hop. Please check them out and give them some nice comments, hugs and stuff. Twit, Stumble, Digg, Reddit, FB and whatever else makes you happy in sharing.
Now, at the time I write this, I also received a blog award:
This was awarded to me by the talented Sulekha Rawat through her blog Memoirs. In accepting this award, I am asked to tell you seven things about myself. Since this is a more professional blog, I’ll stick to that area:
I have two Masters of Arts: one in Educational Theater and one in Oral Traditions
I created and ran my own theater company for twelve years: The Brothers Grinn, in improvisational interactive performance storytelling troupe.
I have worked FOUR sides of the Educational system (Teacher, Arts Administration, Teaching Artist, Performer) which I feel allows me to speak the four different jargon.
In 1999, I organized a National Benefit against Violence and Hate Crimes through the improv community
I have had a number of non-fiction articles published on storytelling and a few on education.
As of July 31, 2011, I will be a published short story author.
Nothing gives me more jazzed energy then doing a great show where you know you have the audience in your hands.
I’m also supposed to give out this award to seven other bloggers. At this moment, I need to think this through, and I will take care of it
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