(Ele)Civil Disobedience

"A couple girls, a couple guys. Just going to take 'em back with me." Friggin' hilarious. She probably almost died of fright, thinking she'd have to take immediate action.

They say the best way to learn is to teach. One thing I learned fast is why all the techniques used on me as a kid were in-effective. I really didn't give a rat's ass about what was going on around me, neither do many other children. You can shout louder and threaten a kid to do what you want, or offer them ninja points and attain their cmplete attention. It's the teacher's choice, really.But I wish I could have taken a ruler to the backside of many kids I had. And I'm talking one of thse thin, metal ones you see in architecture studios that strike more fear than flesh. It would have solved both our problems.

I have two children in the public school system. My oldest has always had the ability to absorb information just from reading the textbook. She rarely has to study to get decent grades, but on the other hand, she also has a hard time thinking ?outside the box?.Now my younger child is a completely different story. She has trouble retaining the most basic information, but give her something abstract and she can run with the idea. The farther out in left field, the better. I don?t think she even sees the ?box?. She?s just wired differently. And luckily most of the teachers she?s had over the years have recognized this fact. Teachers who can do that are worth their weight in gold.

I hope you retain that freshness you're showing, because having male teachers in primary school really is important. I'm lucky -- the school where my boys go have an almost 50-50 split between male and female primary school teachers.It is also those individual differences and talents that school programs don't immediately recognise. A mark at the end of the school says how well they can add up numbers, spell and write, but don't say anything about artistry, imagination, social skills or complex thought.Good luck for the future!