Khaled chooses all my books

I was looking for a new book to read a few weeks back when I hopped onto the Barnes and Noble website. Having read The Kite Runner a few years back, then A Thousand Splendid Suns, I searched to see if this favorite author had any new gems that I had yet to discover. No new ones, but I did see a feature on the website that intrigued me: Meet the Writer. About midway down on the column, Hosseini lists his ten favorite books including a "what makes them so great" spiel.

My geometry teacher would be so proud:
I (H) enjoy Khaled's books (K) (so H = K)
he enjoys several books(B) (so K = B)
therefore, by transitive property, I would also enjoy them
(H = B).

That is how I mathematically discovered Life of Pi.

There is absolutely no reason why this book should be awesome. It is an unlikely story about a boy named Pi (as in 3.14) who is lost at sea with a tiger (as in Panthera Tigris) named Richard Parker. There's a story behind the name. Pi's and Richard Parker's. At 420+ pages, there's a lot of fishing, burning, enduring storms and fighting for survival. In fact, the actual plot doesn't even get started until about 150 pages into the book.

And yet.

The story will stay with me for the rest of my days. The book is fantastic on so many levels. Its similes and metaphors, analogies, and descriptive writing alone make the book drip red velvet (yum). It creates sharp contrasts between what is expected and what happens. It compares zoology and religion. The battle is as much about boy vs. cat as it is about hopelessness vs. faith. Even in the midst of horror is humor. And the last few pages. Blew. Me. Away.

I've avoided coming to a definite conclusion about the book mostly because I think that the way I interpret the book will say something about me. Kind of like the old "how do you see the glass?" type thing.

I'd love to sit and chat with you about what you think it's all about.

Since he's proven reliable, I've decided to stick with Khaled's choices for a while.

Next on my list is Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True.

Loose Lips

Judgey Pudgey. That's what he called me. The year was 1996 and I was in Mr. Jones's Social Studies room participating in a mock trial. I was the judge. One of my classmates started saying, "Here comes Judgey Pudgey," when I would walk down the hallway.

In terms of terrible taunts, that registers pretty low on the seismograph. But I remember it. And I remember how it made me feel.

I've been thinking lately about the power of words. It's simply not true that sticks & stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you. They can break your spirit, demoralize you and even steal your dreams. Not only that, but they do literally hurt you. A recent report in Psychology Today reveals the actual physical effects that bullying and hurtful words have on the brain.

The good news, however, is that as destructive as words can be, the opposite is also true. The right word said at the right time can build you up, encourage or inspire you.

Nothing brings this more to my attention than when I'm hanging out with my husband's family. My in-laws and extended in-law family are excellent at encouraging, praising, thanking, showing appreciation; you know, living in the good word world. The result is that after spending some time with them, I feel renewed, invigorated, and a new sense of strength.

They are better than a full night's sleep.

With enough of those types of words, the hurtful words lose some of their power.

The four letter word

So a friend of mine--a teacher--was sitting in a meeting when he let it slip that he has noticed that many students are getting more and more lazy. Cue gasp! No, no, no, he was assured. No student is lazy. We have to discover the underlying reason why they are not performing.

In the world of education where we don't let anyone fall behind, we fire off interventions like heat-seeking missiles whose aim is to seek and destroy, and save the day (and also our schools). Implied in several interventions is the idea that the student really wants to do well, but can't due to circumstances beyond his/her control. I buy into that for some students, but that shouldn't be true for the majority of a school population.

So when do interventions help, and when do they enable? When do they legitimately aid a student, and when do they encourage, well, laziness.

If being lazy is becoming an epidemic, how do you cure it? And why has it become a four-letter-word in education?

I recently read an article about Tiger Moms. While there is a LOT to disagree with in the article, one point that really stuck out to me is the research-based idea that is important for students to grapple with a challenging task. That is how students develop self-esteem and the belief that they can do something. Without developing that, we are basically facilitating a bunch of quitters. So many students look at a challenging task, decide it is too hard for them, and don't even attempt. They quit. However, in education, we can't let someone quit (our pay could even depend on it!).

In most everything in life, one must have a dedicated and focused work ethic. One must encounter a challenge, perhaps fail, try again, devote time, learn from mistakes, learn from others, and keep trying until one reaches success.

Sometimes, however, we are too lazy to go through that process. The path of least resistance is easier. The human body is designed to become more efficient in order to output the least amount of energy required. Laziness is tempting. And if we reward laziness, then it is not just a temptation, it is a cycle that will continue. And I think we need to realize that laziness is real; it's not a four-letter-word. It's something we can't afford putting off to deal with later. Especially in education.

The Bright Side

Boy was the news a downer tonight. Massive earthquake and destruction in New Zealand, four American yachtists dead after being held hostage/executed by pirates, the standoff in Wisconsin over the governor's ambition to bust up the middle class (don't be fooled), Crazy McCrazerton Gadhafi willing to sacrifice his own people (and send oil prices soaring), baby dolphins washing up on shore because of the massive BP oil spill....it's easy to get discouraged. I've often wondered, am I just getting older and more aware, or are these some really crazy times?

I've got to admit, my heart has been getting more and more heavy as I sympathize with so many of the hurting.

But

I have also been feeling extremely blessed. Even among all of this, there is hope.

One recent way in which I've felt palpable hope is in watching my son. I know, I know, cliche parent thing to say. But it's cliche because it's true.

My son recently colored a cute little picture and gave it to me for Valentine's Day. Sure, it was colored in nicely; he gave it some careful attention and time. But best, down at the bottom of the picture in shaky, sometimes backward, not really in line, all capital letters were four words: Mom, Dad, Caeden and Avery.

And I realized, my son is learning to read and write. If you've never seen this process take place, I hope you get to experience it some day. Truly, it is amazing. This little bug who at one point couldn't even hold up his own head, recognizes that letters have sounds, sounds work together to form words, and words have meanings. And that he can make those himself; he can write what he thinks is important. And, important to him, is us.

Not only that, but he, at four years old, can do what probably less than half of the entire world is able to do. He is literate. We are blessed to live in a country where he can become that. We are blessed that he has the ability to do that.

And that is amazing.

Selling Mexican Food, Selling Out Mexican Workers

So back in January, Chipotle was audited and some workers were found to be illegal. Following the audit, it appears that 700 of Chipotle's 1200 Minnesotan workers were fired without much explanation or without the opportunity to provide proper documentation. (In some cases, workers showed driver's licenses, but those alone aren't sufficient to show status. I wonder what I would have to show in order to prove that I'm a citizen. Not that I would ever be asked.)

Reading the paper, I doubt that I will ever get the full, real story of what happened, newspapers being unbiased and presenting both sides and all...

If you've ever been to a Chipotle, you know what I'm talking about when I say that you can feel the energy, enthusiasm, and excitement the moment you walk in. Things are hopping. The workers are quick, engaging, and....well, happy. They seem to like stuffing those mammoth burritos.

I'm not making a comment about illegal immigration, mostly because I'm not sure how I feel about it. In fact, I think that maybe my position changes when I'm viewing it from an American perspective and when I'm viewing it from a humanity stand-point. I don't claim to know the ripple effect of illegal immigration either.

But, I did go to Chipotle a couple weekends ago. And it was obviously less brown, and conspicuously more white. The lady who took my order rolled her eyes both at me and at her fellow colleagues. The workers chopping chicken were quiet. And it was ssssslllllllooooooowwww.

So I don't know everything about illegal immigration, or the real story about why 700 employees were let go. All I'm saying is that my last visit was different. And not for the better.