Sometimes Super Heroes Die

In my last post, I talked about the new "Justice League" movie.  I hinted to the fact that Superman is missing from the movie and that the answer could be found in "Batman vs. Superman:  Dawn of Justice".

Spoiler alert:  Sometimes super heroes die.

And it sucks.

Big time.

This past week...past few months...we have watched the super hero of my husband's family slowly loose his super powers.  We tried many things to help him regain his powers, but after 89 years, the farmer's super strength, super will, and super heart gave out.

This whole year I have been giving you examples of super heroes on the big screen and what we can do to be more like them.  Why wasn't I looking in my own family to share with you about the super hero I am related to?  Many of you didn't know my father-in-law John; and while it may be selfish on my part, I am going to take the time to share with you some of his super powers in hope of inspiring you to look for these powers within yourself and within others.

Big John was strong, both physically and in his character.  People told us stories of exactly how strong he was when he was younger.  Nephews relayed stories of him having Popeye arms in his younger days.  When I started dating John, Big John was in his 60's.  His physical strength at that time was different than those younger days but his strength of character was as strong as ever.  If he said he was going to do something...he did it.  He followed through with tasks, sometimes even putting the task you had asked for yourself before the tasks he needed to complete for himself.  His character was strong until the end.

Big John was selfless in his giving.  Like those super heroes on the screen, he never questioned the intentions of someone who was crying for help.  He dove in and helped.  Whether it was time, money, a job, machinery, help in the fields, or even the shirt off his back, he gave when he saw others in need.

Big John was caring to all...human or animal.  He loved animals.  They say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat animals.  He let strays in (both human and animal).  He was able to convince a new momma that he wasn't going to harm her new calf.  He was able to tame the wildest horse by continuing to jump on when he was bucked off.  He didn't give up on the people or animals around him.  He was always looking for the good in every animal and every person. 

Big John was a man of actions and not words.  He said very little.  He let the way he treated people and followed through on tasks speak more about him than the words he said.  When he did speak, his words were short and to the point.  He didn't sugar coat things.  If it was bad news...he said it.  If it was good news, there often weren't any words, but rather a gentle smile.

My father-in-law need not get bitten by a radio active spider, come from another planet, be frozen and genetically altered, or even have a million dollars to buy the coolest gadgets to have some of the best super powers out there.  Where did these super powers come from?  I imagine from his parents.  He must of had a great upbringing:  One that taught him to work hard, be honest, have faith, and love fiercely (I say this because I see the same super powers in his sisters).  I also imagine it was from how he saw the world and how the littlest things we do are often big things for others.  Lastly, I imagine it was from having a conscience and he just knew that treating people with kindness was the right thing to do.  Every one of these super powers costed him nothing to gain.  There was no science experiment involved or journey to another planet.  Each one of these are things we all can gain...these super powers lay within all of us.  It is just a matter of awaking them to do good.

On Saturday, Jon Gordon tweeted the following phrase, "One's legacy is carried on by lives impacted and stories told.  Give people great stories to tell about you."  Think about the legacy of the super heroes we have talked about this year.  There have been great stories written about them.  Stories that people still share.  Wouldn't it be great if we all could have stories that great told about us?

Within all of us lies the power to be good.  To show good.  To give good.

Awaken these super powers.  You too, like the great farmer in my life, could then have great stories told about you.

The Justice League

Has anyone seen "The Justice League"?  Yes...another superhero movie.  But not just any superhero movie.  This one has Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg.  Some of the best of the best coming together to save the world.

Where is Superman you ask?  Did you see "Batman vs. Superman:  Dawn of Justice"?  The answer lies there...

As you watch those two trailers, there are so many lines spoken about superheros or by superheroes which relate to teachers.  We talked about some of the things at the beginning of the year...coming together...working together for a better cause...finding hope.  All of these are things you each do every day.  Keep it up.

With superhero movies is there is always something in the current release that builds up to the next movie.  In "Batman vs. Superman" we were introduced to Wonder Woman and her stand alone movie.  There are teasers embedded in these films to introduce us to characters or future movies.  The big thing for all us superhero geeks is the ending credit scene.  Directors as put these teasers midway through the credits and more traditionally after all the credits have shown.  These teasers give us an indication of who the next movie is going to be about...who will be the next superhero or supervillain we will meet.  I can tell you that no matter how bad I have to use the restroom after a movie, I stick around until the end of the credits.  I do not want to miss the first glance of the next superhero and their movie.  It gives me something to be excited about and to ponder how they will tie all the stories together.  Granted you can go and find these teasers on the Internet down the road, but there is something about staying in that dark theater with the faithful to see what lies ahead.

Boy...don't you wish teaching was like that?  That we got this little teaser of what the next day would bring?  Or how what just happened today would relate to what will happen tomorrow?  How does it all tie together?  Are my intuitions right?  While our gut will sometimes be that little teaser for us,, we are not fortunate enough to get a movie reel to play it out for us.  We have to live the day and adjust.  We have to pick ourselves up when the end credit scene doesn't go as planned.  We have to remember that tomorrow is another chance for us to try.  We have to stick it out with the faithful to see how it will play out.  And like these movies, we sometimes have to wait two or three years to see what happens (Can you say maturity?).

Perhaps the best end credit scene came after "Spiderman:  Homecoming" which was release this summer.  Spiderman is part of the Avengers (Ironman, The Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor).  Throughout the movie, we are shown public service announcements by Captain America which are played in Peter Parker's classes. Like always, I waited and waited for that end credit scene.  It was after Iron Man that we saw them find Captain America's shield.  It was after Captain America when they found Thor's hammer.  What would this teaser bring?  I was sure it was going to be good! It brought me a good laugh...and good advice.

Have a great break!

So You Want To Be a Teacher

It was my daughter's sixth birthday on Saturday...which meant we had about four days of partying to celebrate.  We had cupcakes at school on Friday and celebrated the last sleep as a five year old.  We had a cake, a SDSU football game (you know...SDSU played that game for her since it was her birthday), tailgating, a combine ride with McDonalds, and presents on Saturday.  Sunday brought another cake and another round of presents.  This morning she celebrated because it was her first day of school being six.

There was a pile of toys at our house last night.  I was hoping she wasn't going to want to open any of them right away.  Part of the reason is I like to save a few things for when she gets bored of what she has and part of it is selfish on my part.  You basically have to have a chainsaw, blow torch, and the strength of Superman to get anything out of a box.  Once you get the box open, you then have about a hundred rubber bands and plastic screws you have to try to loosen holding things into place.  And don't get me started on what they do to doll hair to keep it looking nice in the box.

There were a lot of boxes with the word "Barbie" on them.  I have a soft spot for Barbie.  I had TONS of Barbies growing up.  I never took their hair out to brush...I left them the same as they were in the box.  I kept track of every shoe, necklace, and other accessory.  I loved Barbie.  Back then, Barbie seemed more about fashion than anything else.  Barbie these days is a girl on the go!  She can do anything!  Think of a job and they have Barbie doing it.  Any job.  Barbie has taken on the role of empowering little ones to imagine they can be anything!

My daughter received Farmer Barbie as a gift yesterday.  Farmer Barbie is dressed in a plaid shirt, blue jeans, brown boots and is holding a chicken.  Seems like just a basic Barbie, but for those kids who do not live on a farm, this Barbie allows them to imagine a world that is different than their own.

She also received Teacher Barbie.  I must admit...Mattel needs some help with this one.  It is a little unrealistic.  First off, Barbie only came with one student.  Not sure what you have to do to get the other 24 that should be in her classroom.  Teacher Barbie also had high heels on. Um...yeah...no.  The longer I have been in education the more I have realized the smartest investment in your wardrobe is comfortable shoes.  I would like to meet the teacher who could do recess duty, run down the hall after a kid, and just function all day in heels.  That being said, there were some realistic things.  Teacher Barbie only came with one piece of chalk, one pair of scissors, and one bottle of glue.  She also looks very kind...which is exactly the kind of teacher I would want!

As I watched my daughter play with her last night using language I know she has heard her teachers her recite, I thought about the "what if".  What if she wants to be a teacher?  Would I encourage her?  Would I discourage her?  What would I do?  Would I let my experiences both negative and positive influence her?  Would I tell her to NOT choose a profession that causes you to drag home so much emotional baggage?  Would I tell her it sucks to have people question the decisions you make?  Would I tell her I often think about other kids before I think about her...and I don't want that for her kids?  What will I tell her?  Will I tell her about the look on the first grader's face when they could FINALLY read that book all by themselves?  Will I tell her about the days when kids come up and say thank you?  Will I tell her about the sense of pride you feel for your students and staff when the accomplish something great?  Will I tell her about the great people you work with that become your second family?  (Writing this has caused me to tear up. I think it is because I need to remind myself of the great things about education...especially in this week that is all about education.)

I think for now I will let her play.  I will let her imitate those people she looks up to and admires.  I will let her model the things she see the great people in this building doing and saying every day.  I will let her think of her teachers as some of the greatest people on the planet.  I will let her play.

Thank you for all you do.  You make a difference.

Days Gone By

I am officially starting to feel old.

Maybe it was on Halloween when kiddos under the age of eight asked me who I was dressed up as.  I responded with Princess Leia from Star Wars, many kiddos asked, "Who?  You mean Rey?".  Sigh.  

Then today while covering for 9th grade computers, I asked if the students would like to listen to some music.  They let me pick and I chose 80's pop.  Prince came on.  A student stated, "Is this that guy from Minnesota that died that was one of the ones they called the Prince?" Ugh.  Stake right to the heart!  That guy from Minnesota?  That guy who was one of the ones called Prince?  No...he was THE ONE.

This got me thinking about living in the past.  Am I stuck in my childhood?  Did I binge watch the second season of "Stranger Things" last weekend because I wanted to know what was going on with the Hawkins lab and the Upside Down or was it because of  the giddy feeling I got when watching a show with all that 80's music, high-waisted jeans, flipped up collars, and awesome hair? (If you have not watched "Stranger Things" on Netflix...do it.  Then stay up and watch "Stranger Things 2".  Each season is only 8 episodes...8 hours.  YOU CAN DO IT IN A WEEKEND NO PROBLEM!)

Am I living in the past or is it nostalgia?  I am going to go with nostalgia.  I am not still feathering my hair, wearing jelly shoes, or dousing myself in Love's Baby Soft. That would be living in the past. But I do get a great feeling that you get when I hear a certain song...see a certain toy I had...see a certain movie from my childhood.  There is somewhat of longing to return to that time.  Let's face it.  Life seemed way simpler then.

While we can long for that feeling of simplicity, we cannot live in the past.  Not in our lives and especially not in the classroom.  Here it is...again...you cannot teach the same year over and over again.  You cannot teach in the past.  You have to adapt to the times.  You have be willing to embrace technology.  It is here.  Get used to it.  Use it.  Saying "I am just not good with computers" is no longer an acceptable response in 2017.  You have to be willing to offer the "floor" to your students.  You have to let them talk...share...research...become experts.   You have to read recent research and use that information to think about your teaching and your kiddos. You have think outside the box on how to assess your students to play to the world around us.  You have to prepare our students for jobs that haven't been created yet.  Teaching in the past will not allow you to do that.   

Teach our kids about the past for it is on the backs of those in our past that our future is built.  Just don't teach like it is 1999.  We are closer to 2020 than we are to 2010.  What have you done to prepare your classroom and yourself as a professional for the future?