[An Abecedary of Cape-Wearing] H is for Helping

Superheroes are helpful. It’s sort of their job. They help ladies in distress on a regular basis. They help save bus-fulls of innocent victims from certain death. They save folks who inadvertently fall off tall buildings. And they save cities and planets from evil-doers and imminent destruction.

Some superheroes wage an internal battle with their superhero status, but are convinced as they are continually called in to help and generally save the day.

brainknowsbetter.com

Some superheroes wage a similar and equally internal battle to stay away from polite society in order to save folks from themselves. The Hulk for example. His main role as a superhero is to keep himself from hurting the wrong people--to try to be in the right place with the right amount of control to unleash fury on the baddies, but keep it away from the nice folks.

Either way, the nice folks get used to it. Metropolis, Gotham City, New York City, Smallville, Earth…the buildings collapse, the subway goes off the rails, the bridges break and the people call for their hero to help. At first they are there without a hitch and the crowd cheers. Later, they are waylaid by multiple and simultaneous disasters or nefarious evil-doers and the crowd questions their loyalty. Why aren’t they there right away?  Why are they allowing this to happen? Why do the bridges keep falling down (okay, they don’t ask that last one, but I totally would)?

At this point the iniquitous, the vile, the power-hungry, the vengeful, the diabolical--the baddies figure it out. Make the people believe the hero doesn’t want to help, won’t help, can’t help, and they will turn on him. Hold him prisoner so that he can’t, threaten him with the death of his tortured love interest, convince her she is out of control, blow up his mansion--make it so they can’t help and let disappointment to their dirty work.

cnn.com

At this point you may be wondering where I’ve hidden the silver lining, and you are right to believe it is here. Each time this happens (and it happens so often you’d think they’d figure it out more quickly), our heroes come to a similar conclusion. One person can’t be the only helper. One person alone can’t save the city. The hero has to start helping the city help themselves. Rebuild the building, shore up the dam, support the good guys. That’s how to truly save the city.

There will always be political rhetoric in education. We have made the grand and important statement that all children have a right to a free and appropriate public education. That is no small feat. We as a whole have embarked on a project that will continually require every bit of our strength, stamina, and heroism to achieve. It can’t be done by one person, one agency, one program. Each of us has some level of experience in education--as a learner, as a parent, as a teacher, and we are all stakeholders.Education and education reform require a daily promise from all stakeholder to do well by our children. We are each superheroes in this commitment and we are equally responsible for saving the day.

[An Abecedary of Cape-Wearing] A is for Caveat

Let's start off 2014 with an ABC book!  Let's call it the... Abecedary of Cape-Wearing! Let's start right now!

is for Caveat

Wait... what? Did I mean to do that?  Yes, and it's making me giggle. While that doesn't gurantee that it's actually funny, it does prove I did it on purpose and like it.  How, in the name of education, can I start an abecedary with the word Caveat?  How do I dare take a standardized structure like the ABCs and then start with the letter C?  For many reasons actually, but let me explain in a meandering sort of way.

Along with Mentor Text Mondays, Amy (of aforementioned powerhouse and does-what-she-says-she-does fame), and I agreed to try to post an abecedary to get ourselves blogging again. Click here to follow Amy's Abecedary of Reflection.

I ran through a variety of topic ideas over the last weeks of 2013 and eventually decided to go back to the roots of Wear the Cape--my belief in the empirical super powers of teachers. I have many (too many) opinions about super heroes and their application to education. I talk about it often enough that some folks might think I'm just a childhood superhero fan trying to thread my hobby into my work. Truthfully, I had to learn about superheros from scratch a few years ago. Click here to read about my Aha! moment while watching the Green Lantern movie. While I won't pretend it is laborious to watch movies and read comic books, this is still a learning curve for me. As I learn, I'm continually reminded that I'm right (hee). The history and mythology of superheroes has a depth to it that is often misunderstood. I recently started reading this book that relates intense philosophical ideas to superhero lore. It's a complex read!  Fascinating, to be sure, but not fluffy.

Why start the Abecedary of Cape-wearing with a caveat then? Well, it comes down to the capes. See here for a quick context-setting video:

So you see how a blog called Wear the Cape getting ready to post an Abecedary of Cape-Wearing might need to start with a caveat.

ca·ve·at

ˈkavēˌät,ˈkäv-/

noun

1. 1.

   a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.

   synonyms:

   warning, caution, admonition; More

My caveat is this. As a super teacher you  may or may not choose to have a cape--literal or figurative. While I am a fan of capes as a fashion statement, when I refer to capes I am actually referring to any symbol that reminds you (and the world) that you do indeed have super powers as a teacher of children or leader of teachers. With this caveat an Abecedary on Cape-Wearing can be applied to all super teachers--cape or not.As the Wear the Cape Purpose Statement reads:

It may be that teachers need a dose of super powers in order to truly commit to the education of children. Without this magic the daily grind can be too much. At times we may forget we are, indeed, super, and might need to don our capes as a reminder. Sometimes, it isn't enough to be the super teacher in our hearts. Sometimes you gotta wear the cape.

Teaching is a deeply personal profession. Education professionals care so deeply and for so many hours a day, that we just sort of assume they will keep on caring so deeply and so consistently for ever and ever--no matter how hard it is, no matter what the news says about us, no matter what the current political tide. And we will--it's what we do. But it's hard work to maintain such a high level of vigilance and expectation of work, of ourselves. We need to pat ourselves on the back, refresh, renew, and giggle sometimes. My solution is to wear a cape. On a daily basis, my cape is only in my head. When absolutely necessary I am not averse to putting an actual cape on to make my point--either to myself or to others, but I usually mean the one in my imagination.

So, tuck my caveat in your cape pocket and join me as I work my way through an Abecedary of Cape-wearing. If you are reading this (and even if you aren't, it's just harder to prove) you have a cape. Let's celebrate it!

Things to think about as we go along:

Who is your favorite superhero? Do you have a cape?  Do you want one?

Nesting

Amid the hurley-burley of the new school year each little Lovie shakes out their feathers, stands up on their wobbly legs and knobby knees, and begins to explore their newest nest.   We watch them.  Let them try out their squawks and their chirps.  Let them tear through the day or tiptoe.  Let them push away our attempts to connect or to teach, or both.  Let them stand closer, move further away, and stand closer again.

All of the Lovies have come despite the fact that our school buses were cut from the budget.  Many are walking, some are on public transportation, and many parents have moved their schedules around to get them here.  We've tracked down bus passes for the poverty-stricken families, and researched bus routes for the less able.  They are here though, and hoping to stay.

We assess them, ask questions, try to learn about what they need, what they bring to us, and what they hope to take with them when they go.  Some are bigger versions of themselves these first few days.  Louder, more forceful, more likely to be the smart ass or to argue.  Some are smaller versions of themselves.  Quiet, taking up less space, unwilling to take a step out.  Both are finding the balance between who they are and who they will be in this classroom this year.

Some have come back from last year.  They came in with confidence and smiles, pointing out how they have changed over the Summer.  Some are taller, leaner, more serious.  Some are still goofy, silly, ready to have fun.  They look around the room and point out what has changed or stayed the same.  They dutifully report to the new ones that "this shelf used to be there" or "that is where the collection of blue things always is".    They ask for familiar performances of hiccup cures, magically changing white folders to "yellow," and the swiftness with which a caped teacher might don her cape.

The visitors start to arrive.  First two boys from the previous two years who were kicked out of their high school summer school, but plan to "get it together real soon." Then two more who were successful in summer school, but are nervous about high school starting.  The next day, a boy that has been in juvenile hall and came to say hello.  He leaves with a quiet "thank you."  They are all tall, and confident, and proud.  Eager to use our first names in conversation, but slipping immediately back to Ms. right afterwards.  Quiet, looking for familiarity, checking to see if the nest they built in previous years is still there.  It is, it just looks a little different.

All of this... it is an amazing way to earn a living.

We Do What We Can...

I have a request...

I am looking for a bunch of small flash drives for my students.  I was shopping online and realized that lots of companies seem to be handing out little flash drives with their logos on them for advertising.  I don't need tons of space on any one flash drive, just enough for each student to have an alternate save space for their work (because of a temperamental network).

So... my point?  I am wondering if any of you fine folks have any of those little, freebie, flash drives laying about your workspaces that you don't want.  Yes, this is, in effect, begging.  I am thinking though, that there may be more than one secret stash of practically useless flash drives around that you would like to recycle.  If this is the case, may I request that you send them my way?  I will gladly pay postage, or coffee, or...  well that's all I'd actually pay I think.

If, in your search for useless flash drives you find other useless objects you think a poverty-stricken classroom might use, I will gladly take it off your hands.  Budget cuts, you know...

Please feel free to ignore this message if you are thinking any of the following:
"Ummm... what?"
"Budget cuts?  I'll show you budget cuts!"
"Flash drive?  Useless?  Never!"
"Who IS this?"

It's sad, but true

California isn't the only state making huge cuts to schools, but it is one of the few states with a movie star governor and movie star parents.  So, we get videos like this.

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green from Megan Fox