January 2021

 Since my last entry, much has happened.  Nothing I type here should obscure the fact an additional 200,000 Americans have been killed by Covid-19. We could very well see over 400,000 dead by January 20.  Yesterday, 3,895 Americans died from the virus.

Speaking of yesterday, the political world around President Donald Trump came tumbling down.  January 6 is the day set by law for Congress to count the Electoral College results for the office of United States President.

First, President Trump attended a rally of his supporters in Washington, D.C. and spoke to them.  After encouraging them to fight against the results of the election, they did just that.  Thousands marched to Capitol Hill and illegally entered the building to vandalize it and terrorize the members of Congress assembled as required by law.

Watching this unfold on CSPAN was fascinating to watch.  Both chambers were in session to debate the validation of Arizona electors, then communication became muddled as the leaders of the debate had to recess and all members were told to retreat to safe areas.  For the next several hours, the President Trump supporters ransacked the building and offices.  Just after I got home, Congress reconvened and they worked until 2am to finish their work.

After winning the popular vote by over 7 million, Joe Biden was confirmed by the Electoral College with a 306 - 232 victory.

In just over a year, we have seen peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations met with violent police responses, and yet these Trump supporters were able to forcefully enter the Capitol with little to no resistance.  As I write, Democrats are calling for the Vice President to invoke the 25th Amendment.  Members of the White House staff and even the cabinet are resigning.  With two weeks remaining in his presidency, this is a fitting end to Donald Trump's reign.

That was not what I thought I would be writing back in August.  And yet, I should have seen this coming.  With a President feeding his base multiple lies and baseless conspiracy theories, this was a predetermined outcome of sorts.  For a man on the precipice of greatness, President Trump was simply too lazy to embrace it.  He could have led an entire nation into defeating a virus, but instead chose to essentially ignore it.  It was somehow below him to inspire people of all walks to simply put on a mask and stop the spread.  Likewise, his supporters saw any attempt to take on this virus as an affront to their cherished freedoms.  

In the end, Trump will walk away like Nero playing his fiddle as Rome burned to the ground.  

As strong as our Republic is, we barely survived this test.  That one man would be given so much power and influence over a country is exactly what our Founding Fathers fought against.  They would have been horrified by the 12th Amendment which cemented the status of political parties.  They would have been likewise shocked by the behavior of our elected representatives.  From the President to Congress, this has been a year of complete failures on many levels.

As we stare down the possibility of 500,000 dead in one year from a virus, let us never forget the lessons of History.  Together, We The People will succeed. Divided, as the saying goes, we will fall.

Never Vote for Trump

Reasons that I'll never vote for Trump.

1.  My Grandmother, Mama Flo.  She came from Germany in the late 1800's.  Yes, born in 1887, she came to America, sailing by the Statue of Liberty which had been in place for barely a decade.  America was built upon the hard work of immigrants, and represented a promise made for all people.  They could come here to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.  We have laws concerning immigration, and rightfully so.  Put into place by Congress, President Trump has instead chosen to enforce those laws to intimidate and scare off that dream for so many. 

2.  My Grandfather, Curzon Taylor.  Giving up his job as an architect in New York wasn't even given second thought after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He left his wife and 8 year old son at home, and served in the Army.  Due to his physical ability and education, he served on the team which provided information about the coastline of France.  Yes, he was a spy, and intelligence gathered by his team helped plan D-Day.

3.  Which brings me to my Dad, Colonel Cortlandt Mulcaster Taylor.  After graduating from Yale in 1955, he joined the newest United States military branch, the Air Force.  He worked on the NASA projects in Florida, but really found his love for being a navigator, and flew around the world.  In 1971, he was assigned to Saigon, Vietnam.  For a year, he suddenly found himself following in the footsteps of his father, and became an intelligence analyst.  Even as the fighting drew close to Saigon, he worked for a year, helping to identify the movement of the enemy.  Dad closed out his career as a Deputy Director for the DIA.  

Both of these men represent a love for country, and I hopefully carry some small part of how they felt about America.  Both also represent the hard work done by our intelligence community.  Dad gave me a tour of the Situation Room in the Pentagon.  America has learned to guard itself over the years, and the information gathered every minute of every day for our President is done so for a specific purpose.  

If you don't know where I'm going with that, let me be very clear.  President Trump has shown a public disdain for our intelligence community, even before entering office.  His clear lack of understanding of the hard work behind the information presented to him on a daily basis is a direct insult to my grandfather, my Dad, and all those in that community.  The facts around the coronavirus pandemic can appear muddled at times, but let there be no mistake.  It is muddled on purpose to hide this administrations complete disrespect for the information they were presented which would have given our country a leg up on this pandemic.  (Note:  death count at 150,000 and counting.)

4.  My wife, mother-in-law, daughter, and my Mom.  I have been surrounded by strong women all my life.  The last thing they probably need is for me to stand up for them.  But, I've had enough of the disrespect shown to all women by our President.  Beginning well before winning the highest office in the country, President Trump has shown absolutely no remorse for his behavior toward women.  He has publicly declared he knows how to take advantage of women, graphically so in some circumstances.  Now is the time for men to unabashedly support the efforts of women to make our country a better place.  Now is not the time to brag about grabbing women inappropriately, or to celebrate those under investigation for trafficking women.  Read about what authorities had to do to find Ghislaine Maxwell, and you'll probably wonder why President Trump 'wished her well'.

No, now is the time to celebrate the women of our country.  We The People will be much better when we fully embrace their leadership. 

5. Political parties.  I was recently accused of being a Democrat.  I proudly joined the Republican Party in Texas as soon as I moved here in 1982.  While voting primarily Republican in elections, I also vote across party lines.  As I have learned more and more about our history, voting blindly for candidates based solely upon party affiliation is a mistake many make.  And, that is exactly what the 2 party system wants.  Never before have the intentions of Democrats and Republicans been more clear.  They simply want power, and the only way to do that is to enforce their will upon the public in elections.  Both parties spend enormous sums of money, hundreds of dollars per vote in some places, and the Supreme Court has only ensured this will not stop anytime soon.

6.  Which leads me to the money.  I was also accused of not caring about my retirement savings if I vote against Trump.  If this election is solely about our money, and not about America, then we are surely lost.  The world looks to us for our leadership, exceptionalism, and democracy.  Submitting ourselves to greed will rob us all of that which we hold most dear.

If you've read this far, thank you.  You're probably guessing I am voting for Joe Biden this year.  As much as he represents the DC establishment, and all that's wrong with our enormous government, I'm afraid I must do so.  The amount of lies, exaggerations, sarcasm, unfounded allegations, incompetence, lack of temperament for the job, and basic decency represented by President Trump simply will not allow me to vote for him. 

I didn't vote for President in 2016; I left the choice  blank.

I will not make the same mistake again.

You are what you eat...

Disclaimer:  people's sexuality and personal political beliefs are none of my business.  What you do with your body, and how you involve yourself politically are not the point here.  I am trying to document this historic event.
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It's hard to believe this was happening just a few months ago:
https://www.today.com/popculture/ellen-degeneres-defends-sitting-next-george-w-bush-nfl-game-t164126


I was honestly surprised at the reaction to President Bush sharing time at a football game with Ellen DeGeneres.  Isn't this what the rich and famous do? 

The simple fact is exactly what Ellen said.  We have to interact with people, even those who don't share our same beliefs. 

Within the past week, our President has claimed total authority over the United States when it comes to re-opening the country.  Suddenly, we all became 10th Amendment experts.  President Trump took the 26 word Oath of Office, and he certainly cannot selectively uphold only parts of the Constitution pertinent to his beliefs.

I did not vote for President Obama.  I lost my doctor due to the Affordable Care Act, and that singlehandedly made him the bad guy.  On the other hand, millions of Americans suddenly had access to healthcare.  I eventually found a new doctor, and President Obama is one of our great leaders.

That said, I watched a lot of Fox News during his presidency.  I'm an NBC News guy, but I enjoyed the alternative views of FOX.  At the time.  Now, I can't stand FOX.  They consistently repeat President Trump, word for word, as absolute truth.

If we need to learn anything right now, it is the fact we should be watching the actions of our Congress.  As I type, they aren't even in session.  Most, if not all, aren't even in DC.  President Trump has threatened to adjourn Congress so he can make some recess appointments.   This should concern every citizen, even though Democratic leadership says they won't approve any type of recess.

I leave you today with some well-documented government responses to the Coronavirus.  Many don't pay attention to these reports simply because of the news agency.  Many deny the dangers of this virus, and they endanger all of us.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-total-authority-boast-should-ve-enraged-republicans-instead-ncna1184806

No matter where you fall on this historic event, I hope your opinion is well-informed and sticks with the truth above all else.  We live in the greatest country in the history of our world. 

Together, we will keep it that way.

Take care of yourself.  And each other.

A Conundrum of blessings

Conundrum.  I feel like all of us have been living in a conundrum for the past 5 weeks.

Let's start back in March.  Specifically, let's start at Spring Break.  I had planned on staying home and doing all kinds of things in and around the house.  My wife had wedding planning to do up in Estes Park, so it was to be just me and our zoo.

I got home on Friday, and the plan was soon hatched for me to also go to Colorado.  Mind you, this required loading up a 100lb pig into a cage in our car, along with 3 dogs.  This plan was only complicated by the pig getting car sick around Eden, TX.  We got to Lubbock, dropped off the pig and a dog, and proceeded onto Denver with 2 dogs and a very pleasant smelling car.

Denver is an incredible city, located near the amazing Rocky Mountains.  We had enough time to check out our daughter's new apartment, enjoy a nice meal, then head over to Estes Park.  We arrived late on Sunday night.  Of course, the town was shut down at 11pm.

Little did we know, but many of the stores would not open while we were there.  With no skiing in Estes Park, many businesses close for the winter and open around mid-March.  Not this year.  This was the beginning of our living conundrum.

We stayed for a few days literally right on the edge of town.  We had several meetings planned with various vendors.  The weather was amazing; we even had several inches of snow and lots of elk came down from a nearby hill to graze.

While we certainly enjoyed the area, we also kept an eye on current events as they unfolded.  Little did we know.  We had planned to be back in San Antonio by Thursday night so we could enjoy the weekend.  Before we had arrived home, our break had been extended by a week.  By Sunday, we knew we wouldn't be back in the classroom until the end of March.  Within a few more days, all of April was turned into distance learning. 

There is no denying the overall beauty of Colorado.  I, however, am partial to our incredible state of Texas.  Travelling from the Great Plains, through the North Central Plains, and then here to the edge of the Hill Country on the Coastal Plains is always a very spiritual journey for me.  I have traveled these roads at all hours in all types of weather.  This trip was no different.  God's blessings are readily seen on the open roads of Texas.  For some reason, this trip was highlighted by a wonderful sunset and sunrise as we drove through the night.

A few hours later, we went to Sam's.  Within the beauty of Texas and all we had seen the previous few days was the most emotional outpouring of human panic and concern for an unknown enemy.  In spite of our blessings, I could see the absolute panic in the eyes of ordinary people.  The 30 foot high shelves in Sam's were quickly emptying. 

As I write and recall the last 5 weeks, I remind myself I have my health, a paycheck, and a house.

As I write, I worry about many of my students.  Many took part in distance learning as we started, but soon dropped off.  I am fortunate only about 10 of my students have never come into our Google Classrooms.  But, how are they doing?  I set up Zoom classrooms, but no one showed up after accepting my invites.

Therein lies my conundrum.  We have some interesting ways to connect to our students, but is History the class they really need right now.  I have purposefully made some easy lessons so all my students can respond successfully.  I send a video message every day.  I try to send a comic strip every day to bring humor to the proceedings.

As we prepare to return to campus in a few weeks, I anticipate what our students missed the most was our community, our teachers, their friends, and a constant predictable schedule.

Current events may have blinded our middle school students from their blessings, and with good reason.  Parents might be struggling with work, or a sick family member.  The list is endless. 

With all these things happening at once, I am just like my students.  I cannot wait to get back to campus.

The EndGame

As we approach the final 5 weeks of this school year, I am reminded of several items.

First, finish strong.  This is the time of year to try new and fresh ideas in your classroom.  This work is usually what the students will remember next year.  Once upon a time, we would spend 2 weeks allowing the students to create a business, and then actually open it.

Year after year, 8th graders would come tell me how much fun they had with the business project.  They never mention the Alamo, or the explorers, or oil, or the Great Depression.  As I write this, I am almost tempted to put together a plan for a business project.  I just haven't found the trust with this group to do so.

Which leads me to my next thought:  trust.  It has been in short supply with this group.  As an overall group, we recognized the issues with these students last year as 6th graders.  They had an inordinate number of fights, and quite frankly were impossible to corral.  Our fears have been mostly realized this year as other behaviors have shown us this group is very immature.  We just haven't seen the growth we have seen in previous groups.

Finally, I did learn I just cannot afford to be rude to my students.  Middle schoolers just cannot get out of their own way, so being rude seems like second nature to those of us at the receiving end, but it's just not in their nature.  We have to nurture politeness, sometimes very firmly (read:  sternly) but we can accomplish many lessons here.

That has been my biggest regret over the past few years.  I had a vision for our school, but somehow it never gained a foothold.  I had some administrative support, but everything takes a backseat to academics in our setting.  I just regret we couldn't work in some life lessons for our students to consider life outside this setting.  Next year, we don't even have a shot at this non-curricular plan since our entire schedule is being turned upside down.

And, on we go, already planning for next August when our kids need us in the here and now.


Peace 

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"No amount of money has ever bought a second of time."
-Avengers

Lessons with a student teacher

I have taken on the responsibility of working with a student teacher.  So far, so good.  Some caveats.

First, let go of your classes.  We become so attached to our students, even with all their quirks and annoyances, that we forget to share them.  We indeed own our students for a school year.  With a student teacher, I've had to let go of them.  In all honesty, I have been pleasantly surprised how our relationships have grown.  We all kinda own a stake in this new teacher, and it's been fun.

Second, step back and take inventory of your own effect in the classroom.  I have had time to realize I had so many dreams for my classes this year, and then the business of the year gets in the way.  Certainly, having one of my real life kids getting married only added to the madness.  But, we're through all that, and now I can remember some of the things I had planned for this year.  My students and this new teacher will surely benefit as we move forward.

Finally, I had my formal observation last week.  It went really well.  I was very pleased with what admin saw.  And as much as I hate hubris, I'm starting to become more and more confident in my methodology.  I'm not perfect, but I hope all new teachers realize how important their own confidence will serve them as they progress in this profession.

It's been a very trying year for so many of us.  But, I've never worked with a better overall group of teachers.  Our students are incredibly lucky to have these folks as their teachers.  I've even luckier to be working with them.

Peace

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"I'm surrounded by nothing but great people. I've been blessed with that, so really, I have no choice but to be an all-around good person."
-Tim Duncan

I sat in my classroom yesterday, listening as the students in the last class of the school year screamed lyrics in unison to their favorite songs.  It was an interesting moment to see what motivates 7th graders. 

I think the music was a definite motivational factor.  But, the singing and screaming was done by 4 girls who quite frankly just did not get along at the beginning of the year.  And yet, there they were, singing together at the top of their lungs for each song they chose from an endless playlist.

I'm sure I rolled my eyes a few times, but they laughed at me when I pretended to enjoy the beat.  Dancing is not my forte, but I enjoyed their good-natured ribbing when I caught myself jamming along.

Then, it occurred to me last night.  Our students get to see 8 different rock stars everyday during the school year.

Like in the picture above, our students might see U2 in their fully involved showmanship and technology.  Or, they might see Bob Seger simply sit up front and play his songs for himself and for us to enjoy.  They might see Huey Lewis on a hot sweaty night in Helotes.  They might see Chris Stapleton from the floor of the AT&T Center as he sings about life.

What all musical artists have in common is how they connect to their audiences.  And isn't that exactly what teachers have in common with each other?

The simple fact is this:  I work with some true rock stars.  5 years ago, I never thought I would be here writing about this particular middle school in this way.  We have some of the most challenging students and circumstances in our district.  The numbers simply do not lie.

And yet, from our administrators on down, we have embraced this population.  It's not for everyone.  We see lots of teacher turnover each year.  But, that's okay.  I know certain teachers are brought here for a reason, and they leave for others. 

I recognize this school and this year for what it was.  And, I will use it next year to again work at  being a rock star for my students and colleagues alike.

What an honor.  What a privilege.  What a blessing.

Peace

"The problems of today will soon be buried by the sand of time."
-Chinese Proverb