1 year in the books

I am currently sitting in my classroom watching as my last final exam of the school year is being taken. The first year at a new school is always the hardest. It's especially been hard because: 1. It's a completely different state. 2. I went from a 7-period/day schedule to a block schedule. 3. I am teaching from a completely different textbook. 4. I teach one more section than I did last year. 5. My class sizes are about 75% larger than last year. 6. There's no in-school athletics. 7. I am teaching three different levels of class compared to teaching just one level last year.

Needless to say, it's been an adjustment. The good thing is, I am really looking forward to next basketball season because I have been offered the position of head girls basketball coach and accepted, of course. That's a goal I reached about 2 years earlier than expected.

It's nice to get this year out of the way! Thank God for summer vacations!

Autism Treatment?

You should go to this website www.ageofautism.com and read the latest entry. I regularly read the blog of John Elder Robison and can recall about a month ago when he talked about starting this experimental treatment. It's really exciting to me that there might be some true possibilities coming out of it. Mr. Robison is someone who is very intelligent and, although aspergian, can truly express himself, at least in the written word. This makes for a good test subject because he can relay the differences he feels with accuracy. I'm always excited to hear about possible treatments for autism and hope that one day we can afford some of them.

Right and Wrong

This, as a teacher, is something I deal with in different degrees on a daily basis. For instance, I had a student today offer me a 62" plasma TV if I would give him an "A" in my class. A couple of years ago, a student offered me $150 or some "good drugs" just to pass him. Lately, I've been talking to a few of my students about the O.J. Mayo situation. In case you don't know, this is a college basketball player who allegedly has been receiving money under the table from a sports agent since he was a sophomore in high school. One student in particular told me that, through playing AAU basketball, he has met lots of players who are receiving money and gifts from agents and college coaches. He went as far as to say that, if they were offering it to him, he'd take it, too. I discussed with him why this is wrong and what can happen. In the end, like in the case of O. J. Mayo, there may not be a lot of consequences for anyone except for the school that he has just left to join the NBA (he just declared representation by the sports agent that had allegedly been giving him money). My student responded by talking about what you should do if you're really poor. I told him that doing the right thing isn't easy, it's just right. I truly believe this and try really hard to stick to it. A lot of people don't like Bobby Knight because of the way he coaches. I don't like the way he coaches, either. There are two things I respect about him, though. In 40 years of coaching, few coaches compare to him when it comes to graduation rate of players. Also, he has never come under question for violating any rules. Those are two things I hope that can be said about me when my time coaching is done. How might things change if people weren't so driven by the almighty dollar? Ethics seem to be no more than a college class taken only because it is required for some degrees. It seems to be one of those that you do just enough to pass and forget it all when you're done.

Going to Texas?

So, a couple of months ago, we told our oldest, James, that we were probably going to Texas this summer for a visit. This was before gas cost $4/gallon. We thought we might even make a road trip of it. Now, we're reconsidering this idea but his brain has run with it. He's been telling other people that we're going to visit Texas this summer as I've been telling Irene that we may have to rethink taking this trip. In fact, I really don't see how we would be able to afford this trip. Travel cost is ridiculous right now and we're not exactly rich. So, how do you tell a 9-year-old that has problems with fixation on certain things (TV shows, comic book characters, trips to TX) that we may not be able to take that trip? Ugh! I'm not looking forward to that conversation.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

I was reminded to day of a friend of ours when Irene and I were still in college. We were already married and we had some friends that were engaged and now have been married for about ten years. At the time, we would all four go out together to eat dinner or see a movie or just, whatever. As was typical of that time also, Irene and I would have small disagreements and, sometimes, not as small disagreements. This would happen with our friends sitting in the backseat. Our friend, Brian (a.k.a.-The Goat), thought these skirmishes were funny and would consistently interject, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" This usually resulted in an immediate difusion of the situation. I always appreciated that, especially because I win very few arguments. This usually left it at a "draw".

Putting the F-U-N in FUNDRAISING!

That title is not really true. In fact, it is the exact opposite of how I feel. I live in a state that we shall call Delaware(instead of where I truly think I am, at times). In this state, public schools scarcely fund their extracurricular programs. Especially in the district where I am, where they had a $13 million budget crisis a couple of years ago, they limit funding to "necessary" items only. This means that, if I want to run a girls basketball program and do it well, I am going to have to do a ton of fundraising. I will have to do this year-round! This sucks! When I was growing up, I was the kid that never won anything during fundraisers because I DID NOT DO the fundraiser. I was okay with that. Now, it has become a MUST. So, periodically over the last few weeks I've been going out and asking people to give money to a program that has only won 2 games over the last two years. It hasn't been easy but I've got to do what I've got to do, right. We expected our players this year to pay dues as part of being on the team. I think it's a travesty to come to that point in a public school program. When I was in school, I was supplied everything I ever needed to play in the program from Freshman year to Senior, from my jockstrap to our varsity warm-ups. I never paid one cent and never fundraised one either. That's how it should be!

Why?

I was reading Irene's blog today which has addressed the fact that we have not been very faithful about going to church on Sunday mornings. We do occassionally but have not gone much lately. This is a huge difference compared to when we lived in Texas. We were very faithful about going to church and those times were highlights of our week. We had even gotten to the point that we were attending regularly on Wednesday evenings for the first time in years. Since arriving in Delaware, we have not been as dedicated. It's very disheartening for us but there are reasons for this; even if they're not very good reasons. The best way to explain this is to describe our church experiences from TX and DE. So, let me elaborate.

TX: Large church, lots of options for adult Sunday School classes, all of the kids had Sunday School classes to attend (even John), large assemblies filled with lots of kids which means John's voice stims are less noticed, lots of friends who were encouraging about having us in church with John, wonderful Care Groups that changed each year allowing us to make friends with lots of people within the church, always a feeling of edification.

DE: Smaller church, not many options for Sunday School, James's Sunday School has kids 2-3 years older than him, there's no Sunday School for John, smaller assembly makes John's voice stims feel like every person is turning to look at us, fewer friends, Life Groups that don't ever seem to change (you're in one group for life), not feeling very edified.

These are no excuse for not being faithful to attending. I've realized, the older I've gotten, that there is a specific reason behind God calling us to meet together. It's not because we can't be saved unless we go to church every Sunday. It's because we need that constant encouragement from our brothers and sisters in Christ in order to be able to face the world around us. Also, as parents, it's our responsibility to put our children in a routine of meeting with other Christians. They don't pick that up on their own. If we're not going to church, we're less likely to give that encouragement to our kids. We notice that, when we're not in the routine, James is very aversive to going. Back in Texas, there were times that he didn't want to go but when we were going regularly, it became an expectation. That's a good habit! I pray that God will help us settle in and become a part of a church here. In the meantime, we dearly miss our friends and family at the A&M Church of Christ!