Lead by example

Precious few people seem to realize a fundamental law of adult life: Children will listen.

While it is true that all people (and not only parents) should pay heed to their influence on each consecutive generation – this fundamental law should be the foundation all teachers build from. We are, after all, right there. In front. Teaching.

All. The. Time.

School came out an hour early today, in order for all of us to prepare for the "TussenOnsFees" – an annual festival here in town. This year, our school was responsible for the food and drink at the festival. I was on the Braai Team (braai = mega bbq) with some of the other male teachers today, and had a lot of fun seeing these men more relaxed and jovial. We were also joined by a few learner volunteers. Obviously getting free access to the festival grounds worked extremely well as an incentive for them to want to help out *chuckles*.

Soon the crowds started growing and the festival kicked into gear. Entertainers sang, merchants plied their wares, cars were showed and lots of food and beverages kept everyone fed and happy. It wasn't the largest festival I've ever been to, but it was fun!

And then it happened:
As the day grew old and the beer tent grew full, I grew restless as I saw what the children saw and heard and felt: Grown-ups getting stupid, with parents and family misbehaving as the inebriated do.
The kids were watching, listening and learning.
They were learning from their elders.
They were being taught what they were to be taught against
come Sunday: "Do as I say, don't do as I do."

I wasn't in the position to do anything about these people acting the fool in front of their own children, but I was able to show that there was another way of doing things. Living sober is not the easiest choice to make all the time – but it is the only choice worth making.

This has to be my mission outside the classroom:
to do as I say, so others may do as I do... should they choose to.
I believe all teachers should lead by example.

All. The. Time.

Life Orientation: Required but not Respected

Something that struck me right on the noggin today was how utterly neglected the school subject of Life Orientation was, despite its incredible importance. Yes, it is true that the subject is one of a select few that all students are required to take – but that is about as much attention as it gets. While passing the subject is required to complete one's secondary schooling, grades earned in it are not included in any tertiary admission criteria in South Africa. On the contrary - those grades are actually subtracted from one's final grade point average before tertiary admission is considered!

No wonder learners have little interest in Life Orientation during the FET-phase. It also doesn't take a genius to figure out why LO is considered "the subject Schools assign to teachers when they don't know what to do with those teachers".

School in its entirety should prepare one for adult life, this is true. That being said, no other class in school creates the safe space which allows for the discussion of supra-curricular life questions faced by learners, as LO does. Nowhere else are learners given the sense of security and support to talk about anything they are facing, dealing or struggling with. Life Orientation is the class that helps us discover what it means to be who we are; it teaches us life- and business skills; it fosters both individual and communal wellness; it encourages independent thought; it humanizes both the curriculum and the scary meta-curricular web of the wide world waiting outside.

Life Orientation has the potential to heal, enable, activate and give wings to the most powerful citizens of the world! Why should it not be treated that way?

A four day week

Four furious yet fabulous days of found fortitude and fulfillment!

This is how I choose to think of the week that has passed. Although it is true that there were terrifically trying times – where time itself was an issue alongside temper-teasers and tiny tots playing at tyranny. At the weekly end of the everlasting eddies in the Euphrates of education, everyone eases into either joyous entropy or enlightenment.

In other words: It is undeniably necessary for both teachers and learners to reflect, rethink and resume our days and weeks in peace – and with blank slates. I cannot harbor grudges or disheartened opinions against the kids I encounter at school. School is both a changing and a changed environment. As are the people within it. It is meant to be a place of learning and growing, and these processes include making mistakes, testing choices, relationships and barriers, finding our truths in ourselves and, hopefully, changing the world for the better.

If I am to be successful at teaching happy, healthy people - I need to be one, and love them all equally.
Come what may.

Zapiro loves: Oscar Pistorius

120807tt - Oscar Pistorius

Compliments for Strangers

thetrevorproject:

Thanks Davey Wavey for putting a smile on more than a few people’s faces with this random act of kindness.

"It Gets Better" — Love, Pixar

True Colors: it gets better

turn up the volume

and view this in full screen

thank you to the Gay Men's Chorus of LA!

Teenage Dream

oh them heart-strings be hummin'

if i could be a teenager again *lol*
i agree with BosGuy

Joel Burns reaches out

... and I hope many more will stand up for the cause of love and acceptance.

If your child, or a child you know of, is self-identiefied or even perceived to be lgbti - PLEASE reach out to him/her in love and acceptance. Even if you do not understand it yourself - does that matter when you're saving a life?

And if your child, or a child you know of, is bullying others - PLEASE take action, and save another life - as well as his/her soul. Being - or believing to be the cause of another's death, is also life-threatening and soul destroying.

Lastly, let us all take a moment to remember where children get their ideas from: We are culpable. We are responsible. We form their opinions, their attitudes and beliefs - and however indirectly, we guide their actions.

Did my silence/rashness contribute to someone's feeling of hopelessness?

Did my invisibility contribute to a suicide?

Did yours?

following role models: interesting snap by Paulo Coelho

i digg this snap of a statuette he found on one of his walks. can anybody identify it?

if only...

from Geoff's page:
 

Rollmodel: Jasyn

yet another "feature" i want to add to my blogging regime, is to post interviews with people i find inspirational. i'd call them rollmodels :0)

this is the first installment.
___________________

i met Jasyn online - and after checking out his blog decided that i simply HAD to kick off my Rollmodel feature with him. i am in love with his art - especially his cool icons! he lives in PingTung City - here in Taiwan, but the peace and inspiration i get from our conversations are universal.

Have you always lived in PingTung?
Almost, but to live anywhere else that is all the same for me. Because I know who I am, I know my life style.
What attracted you to creating art?
Emotions

I noticed that you have various styles - some of your work being more iconic (Chinese Astrological series) compared to your portrait sketches.
Which is your favorite medium/style to work in?
Well, I do many styles more than you have seen. Depending when I am interested in something.
But I would like to say just paper with pencil is my basically favorite thing.

Do you have a favorite subject matter?
Anything can touch people's heart, including myself.

Has any of your work ever been published/sold?
I have published a book with a friend, and some illustrations for magazine, book's cover.
Also some posters, GPS receiver designs, etc as I work at a small GPS company right now.

If art is your hobby - what is it you do at your "real" job?
Design

How does your job influence your creativity?
For working at my job I need to keep learning skills to complete and always to refresh my designs.

That is a plus for my creativity, isn't it?

For sure!
Are you a good cook?
No, I am not. But cooking isn't to hard for me. And I like to cook sometimes.
What is your favorite food?
Any food my mom cooks for me, cause cannot have them any more, missing that so much.

Have you ever found your sexual orientation to be an obstacle/inspiration in daily life? And in your art?
Of course.... But anything all has pros and cons, and in opposing.
So when you get it. That is not a big issue to yourself.

Where do you find the time for your art, in between work and other responsibilities? No, I don't find the time. Time is anywhere anyhow anyspace. Art is same too. Anyone is creating art in their life anytime.

Finally, do you have any tips, suggestions or advice for people who also want to develop their skills? To be friends with me, haha...