This is kind of what's happening at work lately.
I admit that my enthusiasm for planning events at our Free School, I CAN, has, well, been curbed somewhat in the preceding months.
When I announce, "Let's plant a vegetable garden!"
I hear, "How long will THAT take?"
When I prepare an adventure-based field trip, "Let's go rafting in Gunma!"
I get, "Not interested."
So I try to turn the tables: "So, what do YOU guys want to do??"
"Whatever."
It is sometimes hard to stay motivated when your surrounding environment is so, well, unmotivated.
Here are some thoughts: Maybe I should just LET the freeschoolers have their relax time. Don't pressure them to do the things that I think are good for them. Like I tell the parents: You don't have to hold expectations.
The question that has been with me since I CAN started is this: How much of a "kick in the ass" is good for kids, and how much is too much?
Okuchi Keiko and the Tokyo Shure gang seem to think that kids programs should be 100% kid-centered, with no adult curriculum set, no expectations, no pressure.
While this appeals to the lazy side of myself, I am not sure kids do their best with NO expectations.
This topic needs more thought and more discussion. Feel free to comment.
Charlie.
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environment. Show all posts
7/25/2007
When the Earth Quakes...
Man, that was a big one!
Growing up in California got me kind of used to earthquakes. I was in San Francisco in '89, walking home in the weird, electicity-less twilight.
Almost 20 years later and patterns repeat, the earth still moves. This time, right under the largest nuclear reactor in Japan. While the TV cameras showed the black smoke billowing from the nuclear energy plant, the on air announcer assured us that the media had been assured that there was no unseemly damage.
More than a week later, and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (I think) have had their inspections delayed because the damage is unexpectedly bad. Kudos to the government of Niigata, though, for shutting them down. Should get interesting in August, when energy demands skyrocket.
Immediate fallout? Well, figuratively speaking, I had a beach barbeque cancelled because the managers of the participating free school thought their may be some radioactive waste flowing into the ocean water.
Radioactive, human, industrial. The beaches here don't discriminate on waste.
Have a great summer!
Growing up in California got me kind of used to earthquakes. I was in San Francisco in '89, walking home in the weird, electicity-less twilight.
Almost 20 years later and patterns repeat, the earth still moves. This time, right under the largest nuclear reactor in Japan. While the TV cameras showed the black smoke billowing from the nuclear energy plant, the on air announcer assured us that the media had been assured that there was no unseemly damage.
More than a week later, and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (I think) have had their inspections delayed because the damage is unexpectedly bad. Kudos to the government of Niigata, though, for shutting them down. Should get interesting in August, when energy demands skyrocket.
Immediate fallout? Well, figuratively speaking, I had a beach barbeque cancelled because the managers of the participating free school thought their may be some radioactive waste flowing into the ocean water.
Radioactive, human, industrial. The beaches here don't discriminate on waste.
Have a great summer!
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