An Education In Education- Part 2

First, I want to make clear that I do in fact know that the program implemented at my school is Outcome Based. I specifically asked the head teacher in a face to face meeting if it was and her answer was, “yes”. When one looks at the course syllabus it is obvious it is (after learning the term) but it was never called by that name during the screening, pitch process or on any other piece of information sent home with the parent.

I find this elimination of information deceptive as the program was pitched as ‘new’ and ‘cutting edge’; yet research shows implementation of this philosophy as far back as the seventies with ground work that stems from one hundred years ago.

I feel this deception was used as a way to gain funds for the school. Last year the district threatened larger classrooms and letting go teachers because of a massive budget deficit. Our school posted a whopping $475,000 deficit. Parents were asked to do all they could through fundraisers and donations, they were thanked but I couldn’t find the total amount of money that was raised.  I find it hard to believe our community of roughly 1000 kids, 2000 adults made the goal. If every parent gave 25 dollars that comes out to $50,000, then if all the gift baskets the classes auctioned sold for $100 that amount roughly is $6,000, then there were other events and fundraisers that I have no idea how much was brought in but let’s go high and say $100,000. We must account for the deduction of two teacher’s salaries for the ones that were let go and the total roughly is $254,000 eliminated from the deficit leaving, $221,000 to go.  I also haven’t heard of the deficit being brought up this semester. So where did the remaining money come from? Remember what the 20 minute video (9:10) from part 1 said about how the system works? Under Goals 2000, Clinton rewrites the funding mechanism for funding education; the Elementary/Secondary Education Act, which is rewritten by Congress every five years and says in a nutshell, “if you want some of your money back; you follow the plan, we’ll give you some of your money back.” With the history of the districts boundary changes in 2010 and the deficit in 2011, this piece of information lead me to ask the Area Supervisor over our school to investigate where the money for this new program was coming from. She called me back with this curt response, “I spoke with the principal and she informed me the parents are highly involved and the funding came from them. Somehow that answer just doesn’t satisfy me. Essentially, my tax dollars and your tax dollars are funding this program; one that has a proven failure record and I am not happy about it.

Does this game playing done by the Federal government with State government through Acts (mandates) such as; America 2000 (Bush), Goals 2000 (Clinton), No Child Left Behind 2001 (Bush), Race To The Top (Obama), School to Work Opportunity Act 1994, America Competes Act raise a huge red flag and a myriad of questions. Why would an exemplary school implement a program parents across the nation have protested and some successfully ousted from their district? Are our children being sold out for funding?

Needless to say, I wrote my State Legislature and District about my concerns. I have heard from three district members. I have asked each one if the Outcome Based System is part of the Master Facility Plan set to be accomplished by 2015 and overseen by Meria Carstarphen, the Superintendent. No one has given me a yes or no answer. The website that shows the plan initiatives states community and outside input have been gleaned in the process for creating Austin’s strategic plan, yet they only give a link to a summary that sates generalities. They promise transparency yet only give limited information. Are we really going to trust a summary? I want to see the data.

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself…so I’ll explain in part 3 what outcome based education stands for and show what other States (outside input) have experienced.

An Education in Education- Part 1

Do you ever feel like your life is built upon some big cogwheel factory that keeps a routine for your many responsibilities so they can be made more manageable? It’s kind of a rhetorical question, of course humans are like that; we go out of the way to find the easier way especially when it means the possibility of less stress. It is evident in our culture through the onslaught of advertising. Staples slogan comes to mind with their “That Was Easy” button or the, “Do It Your Way” motto regurgitated by countless companies to gain business. Technology is another example with the myriad of options to get boundless information at the touch of your finger. These are not bad things in a general sense; there are times we need a quick fix and the amazing innovations out there have gone as far as to save lives but I want to focus on one particular aspect of this Rube Goldberg scenario we participate in by either voluntarily or rote pattern. In this great system of society and culture, the norm to follow certain standards can cause individuals as well as generations to become lax or in other terms, to fall asleep at the wheel. We make decisions based on many factors; family influence, personal choice, limited options but how much thought and research do we really put into these daily activities that make our lives function and does it matter?


“Surely it is time to examine into the meaning of words and the nature of things, and to arrive at simple facts, not received upon the dictum of learned authorities, but upon attentive personal observation of what is passing around us.” Francis Wright. Her political and social activism are the opposite of what I believe in yet her words when applied to the subject I am going to try to lay out, make the point that if we don’t pay attention to what is happening around us, we are made into ‘useful idiots’.  

I recently had an experience that has called for searching out words and the nature in which they are used; the first catalyst in putting together facts was parental instinct. I also believe the Holy Spirit was directing, leading and teaching me so I could make the right decision. With all that said, I’ll get to the story and see if I can piece the facts together so any parent or grandparent who truly cares about children and the future of America may have some useful tools through articles, books and videos that I find have a strong correlation to my own experience.

It is not a new thing to hear half hearted phrases of complaint against America’s public school system. It seems the masses know it is, ‘screwed up’ yet the ball of disaster just keeps rolling and getting worse. I found myself entangled in that ball and for the past three years of sending my daughter to an ‘exemplary’ public school system, I just rolled along with the flow and dealt with the idiosyncrasies as they came. No system is perfect and I know my responsibility as a parent is to oversee the education of my child and I thought I could supplement and adjust accordingly.

My ears perked up when a ‘new’ program at my daughter’s school was pitched. I was cautious yet excited that this may be a way off the ball and finally someone was trying something good and new to make sure this generation was going to succeed. The principle stated, “This is not for everybody” when talking to the parents at a screening meeting and “this is a dream come true for me and I wish other teachers would try this” as a confidence booster for putting trust in the 'new' system. It was sold as a cohort style, multi-age, strength based system where it would fit the child’s ever changing needs.  I signed my daughter up and immediately started key word searches under the title of the program hoping to find some information to help me understand what to expect. I didn’t come up with much but what I did find seemed harmless. Parents chatted and wondered about the ‘cutting edge’ system as they were told to not e-mail or phone the teachers involved as they were working hard to prepare for the new school year. I was a little leery of that but shrugged it off as a respectful thing to do. I asked people I knew; teachers, parents, friends, family if they new about this system, had it been tried in their schools? I got a fifty-fifty response on the issue. Some had experienced this sort of thing and felt it was no good, some had no opinion as they did not know about it and others loved it. I got a mixed bag, so I let things progress thinking I did a pretty good job investigating. I was wrong.
 
I prepared my daughter for the first day of her third grade year in a new program. I told her things may be a little different but you’ll adjust. The perk of it all was she had her previous grade teacher. I really wasn’t worried as my daughter is highly social and assimilates to new situations with ease. The first week of any school is getting to know the student and beginning to go over old material as a refresher but there were minor clues things were not right. I asked her every day at the end of school what she thought of the new program and what she was learning. I was met with silence and a look in her eye that seemed a little confused. I figured it is a new program, sometimes kids can be overwhelmed and not know what to say, we’ll have to give it time. Yet, that was not like my daughter. She always was ready to answer my questions and tell me at least one thing she learned or liked about every day, it was our habit to chat about school in the car ride home or before bedtime. The end of the first week approached and she seemed more nervous and still wasn’t able to tell me anything except she didn’t like being shuffled around to different rooms because she was just getting into her assignment and felt like she couldn’t finish or focus on the material. Again, it was a new program and time is needed to adjust, so I told her I would chat with the teacher and see if I could help in any way. That seemed to put her at ease and I sent off the e-mail to the teacher. The teacher was nice about handling things and asked that she have a one on one chat with my daughter to smooth things out. I asked her how the chat went and she said it went well and felt a little better. My instinct said to not dismiss this yet. During the day, I checked out the blog the teachers put up for parents to show assignments the class was doing. I was a little unnerved at one technology assignment.The question that pricked my instinct more was regarding what your parent’s rules were about going on the computer at home. I knew this was a cohort but why was this question on an assignment? Then my daughter told me about a section they were discussing that had to do with perspective and paradigm change. My hair stood up on the back of my neck, the subject matter the class was discussing was harmless but when an institution is talking about paradigm change one must pay attention, as this can lead down many paths. I listened with a silence of my own, knowing something just wasn’t right. Little red flags were beginning to cause my intestines to wrench. I still couldn’t pinpoint the why but I was alert. My daughter just didn’t seem her whole self so I asked the teacher to let me observe the classroom as I might be able to help my daughter with the transition if I knew how the structure worked and could reinforce support as needed. I was deterred with these rebuttals; my request was given in too short of notice and it is so early in the semester you might upset students with your presence. I was not pleased to see a parent wasn’t wanted in the classroom and one that is known to not cause undue stress as I was active in this teacher’s classroom the previous year. I was patient and understanding but I wasn’t going to let this go. I decided to go back to researching deeper into things. I punched in ‘behavior in education’ by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, no doubt, on a website I trust and a 20 minute video made my jaw drop, my heart rush and my fingers fly on the keyboard sending an e-mail to withdraw my daughter from the program immediately; and not until I pressed the send button did my nerve racked gut calm down. Now I understood why my daughter was not herself. The video described the program my daughter was in in eerily similar terms, as well as the philosophy behind it; and it had a name and a history rap sheet a mile long, not to mention failure with a capitol F.

After I told my daughter the news, her countenance changed, you could see relaxation flood back into her frame. She then told me a few more tidbits of information. She said, “Mom, I didn’t like the test where they asked if I like studying in a dark or light lit room.” Why wasn't this assignment posted on the blog for parents to see? She also mentioned feeling confused much of the time and my daughter is precocious in nature not just by my estimation but by many that meet her, not one to be confused easily. She said, "I felt I was back in Kindergarten." She never looked back on her last day in that program and was excited to leave.

Now, one could argue that this program just wasn’t meant for her, you read too much into things and you did what is right for you but why tell others to stay away from this system?  Believe me, I was grateful we dodged a bullet and was glad to be back on the ‘normal’ curriculum (which has hints of this system in it too), but I have never felt so compelled to warn people. The further I dig the more I see this system is one of abuse on many levels and variations of it exist not only in public schools but in some private ones as well. If one parent steps up to the responsibility of properly overseeing their child’s education, I am glad to have had my experience and the detailed research of others available to them.

I asked a question in the beginning of this paper, does it matter?

If your principles, values, privacy, family structure and freedom matter to you then please read more about why Outcome Based Education is designed to challenge and change those core beliefs at the destructive cost of the individual.  

Growth Requires Pruning

After the Rain By: Loneangel

I was reading O Pioneers, by Willa Cather, a book about the Swedish land settlers of Nebraska. The main character, Alexandra, is a strong-minded, resourceful woman. She stoically takes over the family farm after her father passes away and creates a successful , thriving business that expands through risk, hard-labor and sacrifice but with a price of loneliness.  She is nearing middle age when a past love interest returns to the homestead. Before she can even begin to think about the possibility of settling into happiness, Oscar and Lou her brothers, make their case against any companionship for Alexandra. They site many selfish reasons for her to withhold going forward in a 'foolish' decision to get married; her love interest is a loafer and wants to be taken care of, he wants to take the property from the family, she is too old for thinking of marriage and should have done that when she was young and they finally get to the crux of their real concern; they worked harder for the land then she did. They disregarded her wit, slighted her ingenuity and her strength to make hard decisions against the grain of the town and come out on top. They essentially wanted more even when they had plenty and at the cost of someone else's happiness.

They went as far as accusing her of being hard on them...
                            "Hard on you? I never meant to be hard. Conditions were hard.
                             I didn't choose to be the kind of girl I was. If you take even a
                             vine and cut it back again and again, it grows hard, like a tree."


Her last sentence stuck with me and shouted out the goodness behind God's pruning sheers on my life.

I have two rose bushes in my backyard that the previous owner planted. One Fall day I was looking at the gangly things and not exactly knowing what to do and not caring too much I whacked them down to the ground. I figured, I don't really care for rose bushes anyway and not having to look at the mess of unorganized leaves was better then trying to shape them. When I was finished I looked at the nubs poking out of the ground and thought I did them in for sure. I even chuckled at the bad haircut I gave them thinking some avid rose gardener would scold me intensely. Not a thought entered my head about those rose bushes until the next Spring when I had a mass of red flowers blooming that were breathtaking to view from my kitchen window. The beautifully mounded bush had every inch covered in color, and I began to like the rose bushes against my fence. They brought birds and bees to the backyard to watch and enjoy.  My harsh pruning brought forth a beautiful display.

This is also true of our walk with God. Many lessons can be learned from the harsh pruning God wants to administer to us in our walk. I happen to be going through one of those right now. Circumstances are sheers in which He prunes away the branches that don't bear fruit. He looks at the shaggy parts, even when we think they aren't that bad and artistically cuts a branch here, trims a leaf there or even knows that when harsh conditions are prevalent a total cut back of the plant will be a life saving  decision in the long run. The plant may look ugly or dead but it can do one of two things; it can wilt and die or it can rest in the Winter season so it can thrive and grow to produce a bountiful harvest in the following season.

I have had my share of tears, fears, worries, emotions and questions but it comes down to this...am I going to trust that He knows what is best for me even when the outside view seems foolish, ugly or unfair? He is the artist, the tender of our spiritual garden, the grafter of vines and branches, the master gardener along the narrow path. Unlike my unthoughtful onslaught on my rose bushes, He removes those branches tenderly at the right time and in the right way. All we have to do is be aware, willing to respond and be patient in waiting as the growth takes place for the next season where we can bear fruit and be a strong, beautiful testimony to His handiwork.

Alexandra made a great point when she said, "cut it back, again and again, it grows hard like a tree." There is something to being harshly pruned, stripped to nothing; it builds character and a resolve to keep growing into something unmovable. (James 1, Hebrews 10:32-39 and 11)

By the way, I've let those rose bushes grow on me, they now have a special place in the backyard where I'll let them be.

John 15

Jeremiah 18

Cookies Corpulent Cravings

Cookie the Character in our Story when she's not so Corpulent

Alex Guest Posts in conjunction with her Mother:
A story for your bedtime enjoyment!

Note: Alex is learning the techniques used in story writing in her grade this year, one of them is using descriptive words to describe the character and what is going on in the scene, hence, our hopefully entertaining story....Read and tell us what you think..

There lived a gerbil who loved to eat. Her name suited her well for her master called her Cookie. Cookie nibbled on grains and seeds, timothy hay, fruits, nuts, and sometimes for a healthy treat, spinach. One fine day when the sun was shining and the breeze rustled the treetops  a new discovery awaited the active gerbil. Her master placed a new item in her food bowl; it was a sight to see. It layed in the food bowl on its side as a sunbeam glistened through the window onto its surface. Cookie wondered, "What could this delight be?" She carefully tiptoed over to the oval shaped comestible and touched it ever so slightly with her front paw. She stared and glared intently at the colorful markings and sniffed ever so deeply with her nose close to touching the shell. Then, she lifted the treasure from its spot and placed her front tooth on the hard surface giving a little pressure on the shell causing it to crack open like an egg freshly opened by a pecking chick on Easter Sunday. For a split second Cookie felt a rush of panic at the thought she destroyed the treasure and as she began to let the feel of sorrow enter her heart she saw a tiny, smooth pearl like core inside the shell. With great excitement her little paw tore off the shell like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning revealing the glorious, most scrumptious, delightful seed in all the rodent kingdom; the sunflower seed.

As Cookies taste buds exploded with the flavor too good to compare to chocolate, her eyes were involuntarily scanning the food bowl for another packaged treasure. Her impulsive desire caused her to dive headfirst into her bowl in search for more. She resurfaced with little bird seeds stuck on her cheeks looking at her master with questioning eyes just as her master's hand entered the cage with bountiful supply of more tantalizing treats to wet her appetite. She greedily tore into the new supply like a kid picking M&M's from the mountain trail mix bag. She ravenously stuffed her mouth as if she were kin to a pig. In her gluttonous delectation, her slender body began to grow as she ate and consumed and devoured to overflowing capacity; her body mirrored the action with rapid reaction. The once slender gerbil now resembled Henry the VIII, King of various voracious appetites. Her cravings called out for more as she sat idly in the corner of her cage filling in her corpulent crevices.

What was needed was an intervention!

Her master picked her up from her comfy corner and examined her in jaw-dropping awe wondering how a gerbil could expand her size in such little time. Her master shook her finger in a motherly fashion at Cookie as the inevitable words rolled out of her mouth, "Cookie, you're going on a diet."

The End

Collaborated together with: Cookie, Alex and Chandra

HG Research

I have a gerbil and a hamster and I wanted to see what made them alike and what made them different. So I deceided to make a list of my observations. You may be surpirsed at what I found. First, let's look at the differences between the two rodents.

The Differences List:

GERBIL                                                                                     HAMSTER

Goes Potty Everywhere                                                             Potty trained/picks a corner

Has a long furry tail                                                                   Has short stubby tail

Has Small Ears                                                                          Has big Ears

Awake on and off day and night                                               Nocturnal

Has scent glands on belly                                                          Has scent glands on hips

Does not have a cheek pouch                                                    Has cheek pouches

Does not have paw pads                                                            Has paw pads

Can hop                                                                                     Does not hop

Squeeks                                                                                     Screams (only if scared)

List of Likenesses:

My gerbil and hamster are BOTH

From the rodent family

Must chew for their teeths health

Like sunflower seeds

Are close to the same size

This is Mr.Nibbles, My hamster

This is Cookie, My gerbil

Thanks for reading my observations on HG research. (Note: HG Research stands for Hamster Gerbil research)

Making Changes

Earlier in the year I mentioned changing the decor in my daughters room to a apprehensive little eight year old. Her big eyes and resounding remark,  "I like it mom, I don't like change,"caused me to hesitate for a nanosecond before I thought, "I don't like change that much either but sometimes change is necessary."

Now changing a rooms decor doesn't necessarily fall under the "need" category in life's gamut of demands but when a room becomes cluttered with too many styles of decor and becomes a hodge podge collecting mecca without a decent eclectic model to follow, it is time to bring the chaos under control.

As a stager in the real estate field, I am constantly trying to come up with innovative, budget friendly suggestions to save my clients money, get a bang for their buck and impress the critics so the sellers property can move off the market and they can move on with life. So, I took that approach with my daughter's room. What could I do to make her comfortable with the process of change yet keep some of those "my taste only" comfort accents with the end result being an age appropriate room that could last for a few years and still have room to expand for creative projects later.

The room still has a crazy, fun feel with the bedding but can be toned down by flipping the bedspread over to a solid pink color. The bed skirt can also be toned down by eliminating the dog bed skirt and leaving the white polka-dot trimmed one on. It turned into a multi-faceted room, just about any color in the pastel range can be used and black and white furnishings will work as well. It is no longer a hodge podge mess but more of a hodge podge form . For now the wall color can stay pink, at the insistence of Alex, but Mom has plans to paint the walls a calm, ocean blue (think along the lines of Caribbean beach water blue) down the road when she is ready for a little more change.

And for anyone thinking about a little decor change but may be stuck in a rut, don't let cost stop you from trying. I scavenged supplies, figured the design and execution myself all for under $100 dollars. In fact, I hit two birds with one stone, we got a fresh new decor along with hours and hours of crafting pleasure.

Alex's verdict is still out on the change but maybe it'll grow on her.

Inspiration: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
Scott Adams (American cartoonist)

The Butterfly and The Bumble Bee

Lone thistle stands among lofty pines
a butterfly lands on tubuler spines

A graceful dance as nature sings
upon sunlit transulcent curtained wings.

Purple tinge begs nectars delectation
stentorian bumble bee intends full participation.

Butterfly insists on drinks first right
as bee is ejected with mighty blight



Butterfly on a lone thistle among lofty pines
ousted the bumble bee, imbibing in supreme sublime.

Chandra Brown

Photos taken: Look Out Mountain Trail, Colorado
By: Chandra Brown