Sunday, October 25, 2009

Grown-Up Bullies

I will never understand some people.

Today I experienced an act of veiled vindictiveness. This is from a person that I barely know, but for some reason doesn't like me. I happened to see her today. She began to talk to me (which was odd, because usually she pretends I don't exist). I realized why she was talking to me after I heard what she had to say. She mentioned some publicly known circumstances that might put my job in jeopardy in the future. She didn't say it outright, but it was clear to me that she was exulting in the fact that I might lose my job.

You know, I prefer that people who hate me just let me know outright. These little digs and jabs are incredibly stupid. Who are they trying to fool? Are they planning to deny they said anything wrong? Who's going to accuse them? Not me.

My master plan has always been to totally ignore hurtful comments. My observation is that if a bully knows she is getting to you, it makes her work harder. But if she thinks that no one notices her little innuendos, she gets deflated and quits.

What do you do when people cut you with nasty comments?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Education

I don't understand the U.S. education system.

I thought it would get clearer as I learned more about it, but in fact, it has become more and more confusing. In addition to being confusing, it seems to be just plain stupid at times.

One example: the federal government (and to some extent, the state government) really pushes technology. They even pay for most of our technology (smartboards, calculators, subscriptions to web educational services). However, we don't have enough people working on our technology to set it up and keep it working. I suppose there's no money for that; I'm not sure. So all this lovely technology ends up being practically useless because it's not working.

Another example: the state is trying to get students to make gains on standardized tests. That's good. But in their effort to improve education, they ask us teachers to complete scads of paperwork. When are we supposed to do all this paperwork? We already spend hours outside of school getting lessons together and grading student work. I can probably speak for most teachers when I say we just throw something together at the last minute to turn in. Does this help the students? Not likely.

Most of the projects they ask us to do are good projects. The sheer number of them, however, overwhelms. I have often said, and I will stand behind this, that only a superperson could complete everything that a teacher is asked to do.

Honestly, the state and federal government could improve education by encouraging families to stay together. Nothing too drastic, perhaps make divorces harder to get? I suppose it would be too much to ask for our government to take a moral stand. In the meantime, the educational system is being pulled in seventeen different directions, none of which is going to improve education.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Why I Can't Write an Interesting Blog Post Today

Maybe I should blog on Friday nights instead of Sunday nights. On Fridays my head is buzzing with the events of the week, but by Sunday, I have mellowed into a perfectly relaxed person who is content with letting things be. And being content is not a good beginning for writing anything.

The creative process germinates in restlessness. At least it's that way for me. It's those times when I would rather be punching someone that I can really write something good. When I am perfectly happy, my writing is perfectly bland.

This is probably why the most creative people are also some of the hardest people to understand. They seem to be driven to create by some kind of inner turmoil. The examples are endless: Van Gogh, Poe, Mozart, Picasso - all of these creative geniuses were, shall we say, crazy.

I'm not saying that I'm a creative genius in any way, but perhaps I do have something in common with these people. For me, getting my frustration out through creating something helps me deal with anxiety and stress. Maybe it is the same for them.

What helps you to be more creative?