There's something I noticed during my first eight years of public education: In all that time, I never once had a class in which we completed the textbook. This means English, Math, Spelling and History, especially History. It seemed like every time we got close to World War II, it was already the last day of school.
I think the reason for this was that the History teachers were alive when World War II was going on and remember that period very vividly. To talk to students about things they lived through probably made them feel old, so they probably delayed getting to that subject as long as possible and spent a lot more time on the Civil War, which they likely didn't experience (although I don't know about some teachers I had).
So when we came to my first period English class on 12/07/77, the teacher asked if we were aware the occasion that this particular day marked. None of us knew. She got really upset and went on this rant about the importance of this day and how we should know what happened in 1941.
None of us knew what to say. I mean, we all knew about Pearl Harbor, but no one ever made a big deal about the date. She made it seem like it was our fault we were ignorant. It wasn't. I felt that if she felt so strongly about everyone knowing what December 7th was, she should have been a History teacher. We probably would have been better off.
However, I will point out that she made no mention of the anniversary for 11/22/63 when that came to pass two weeks prior.
I will say this: After that incident, I always knew what December 7th was about.
So this makes me wonder if the events of 09/11/01 will be regarded in the same fashion come 2037. Eighth graders that year will have been born in 2024, which is just 11 years from now. Will they know the date, or will they just know about that time that terrorists crashed jets into the World Trade Center? It also makes me wonder how much history students are going to have to learn at that point in time. It seems like every year, we gather more and more history. This means some stuff gets pushed out of the way.
Friday, December 6, 2013
What's the big deal about 12/07/41 anyway? It's not like it's 09/11/01.
There's something I noticed during my first eight years of public education: In all that time, I never once had a class in which we completed the textbook. This means English, Math, Spelling and History, especially History. It seemed like every time we got close to World War II, it was already the last day of school.
I think the reason for this was that the History teachers were alive when World War II was going on and remember that period very vividly. To talk to students about things they lived through probably made them feel old, so they probably delayed getting to that subject as long as possible and spent a lot more time on the Civil War, which they likely didn't experience (although I don't know about some teachers I had).
So when we came to my first period English class on 12/07/77, the teacher asked if we were aware the occasion that this particular day marked. None of us knew. She got really upset and went on this rant about the importance of this day and how we should know what happened in 1941.
None of us knew what to say. I mean, we all knew about Pearl Harbor, but no one ever made a big deal about the date. She made it seem like it was our fault we were ignorant. It wasn't. I felt that if she felt so strongly about everyone knowing what December 7th was, she should have been a History teacher. We probably would have been better off.
However, I will point out that she made no mention of the anniversary for 11/22/63 when that came to pass two weeks prior.
I will say this: After that incident, I always knew what December 7th was about.
So this makes me wonder if the events of 09/11/01 will be regarded in the same fashion come 2037. Eighth graders that year will have been born in 2024, which is just 11 years from now. Will they know the date, or will they just know about that time that terrorists crashed jets into the World Trade Center? It also makes me wonder how much history students are going to have to learn at that point in time. It seems like every year, we gather more and more history. This means some stuff gets pushed out of the way.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Piano Lessons
Since I was a little kid, I had wanted to learn how to play the piano. It drove me nuts when we went to someone else's house and they had a piano. I wasn't permitted to touch it because I didn't know how to play. (Years later, I would understand the logic of that statement because it's very easy to knock pianos out of tune.)
I had asked my parents several times over the years to learn how to play. The answer was always "no." It actually had to do with us being poor until we owned apartments and collected rent from them. So, imagine my surprise when Mom asked me if I really wanted to learn piano. My favorite rock star at the time was Elton John. I said, "Yes!"
My parents bought an upright piano that they kept in their bedroom. My teacher was a preacher's wife who gave lessons to a lot of other older students. The girl whose weekly appointment was scheduled before mine was three years older than me and she was starting at the same level.
I was actually glad that I didn't learn how to play piano until I was 13. At that point, I had a greater understanding of music and how the notes corelated to the keys on the piano. I got to start out learning to play chords. The funny thing is that I never learned how to play "Chopsticks" like everyone else did.
A lot of the kids that I knew when I was younger who took piano lessons actually stopped by the time they reached the age of 13. Many didn't see the point since they had decided not to take part in the school music programs. For others, music was stuff only sissies did and it wasn't cool.
Mom told me I had to practice an hour every day. This wasn't a problem at first, but after a few weeks, I got tired of having to play kids' songs, even though I was playing chords. I also tried figuring out to compose. The only problem was that I had only learned three chords up to that point. (I understood the cliche that rock musicians only know how to play three chords. While it's technically true, you figure out that the three chord structure makes for a very familiar sound. All those minor, suspended and 7 chords just make it sound more interesting.)
Another issue is that I would make a lot of mistakes. It didn't matter how much I practiced, I could almost never get through a single song without making at least one mistake. It was very discouraging. Mom would accused me of not practicing enough because there were a lot of kids out there who played the piano and never made mistakes. Like my handwriting, my fingers could not move as quickly as my brain. This is what caused the mistakes. I would also have the same issue when I was learning how to type in the ninth grade.
The only real problem I had with learning the piano that that Mom and Dad decided to allow Loyd to learn how to play guitar at the exact same time. He was ten years old. I thought this was very unfair because I wasn't offered that opportunity when I was that age. And it wasn't like that cost anything at first. My aunt Cind had a guitar when she was younger and my parents borrowed that for Loyd to learn on. Why couldn't they have done that for me?
However, I doubt my parents would have let me take lessons to learn both instruments. In the end, I lucked out with the piano because when I got electronic keyboards later in the future, I didn't have to tune them.
But I still think they should have made Loyd wait until he was 13 before he got guitar lessons.
I had asked my parents several times over the years to learn how to play. The answer was always "no." It actually had to do with us being poor until we owned apartments and collected rent from them. So, imagine my surprise when Mom asked me if I really wanted to learn piano. My favorite rock star at the time was Elton John. I said, "Yes!"
My parents bought an upright piano that they kept in their bedroom. My teacher was a preacher's wife who gave lessons to a lot of other older students. The girl whose weekly appointment was scheduled before mine was three years older than me and she was starting at the same level.
I was actually glad that I didn't learn how to play piano until I was 13. At that point, I had a greater understanding of music and how the notes corelated to the keys on the piano. I got to start out learning to play chords. The funny thing is that I never learned how to play "Chopsticks" like everyone else did.
A lot of the kids that I knew when I was younger who took piano lessons actually stopped by the time they reached the age of 13. Many didn't see the point since they had decided not to take part in the school music programs. For others, music was stuff only sissies did and it wasn't cool.
Mom told me I had to practice an hour every day. This wasn't a problem at first, but after a few weeks, I got tired of having to play kids' songs, even though I was playing chords. I also tried figuring out to compose. The only problem was that I had only learned three chords up to that point. (I understood the cliche that rock musicians only know how to play three chords. While it's technically true, you figure out that the three chord structure makes for a very familiar sound. All those minor, suspended and 7 chords just make it sound more interesting.)
Another issue is that I would make a lot of mistakes. It didn't matter how much I practiced, I could almost never get through a single song without making at least one mistake. It was very discouraging. Mom would accused me of not practicing enough because there were a lot of kids out there who played the piano and never made mistakes. Like my handwriting, my fingers could not move as quickly as my brain. This is what caused the mistakes. I would also have the same issue when I was learning how to type in the ninth grade.
The only real problem I had with learning the piano that that Mom and Dad decided to allow Loyd to learn how to play guitar at the exact same time. He was ten years old. I thought this was very unfair because I wasn't offered that opportunity when I was that age. And it wasn't like that cost anything at first. My aunt Cind had a guitar when she was younger and my parents borrowed that for Loyd to learn on. Why couldn't they have done that for me?
However, I doubt my parents would have let me take lessons to learn both instruments. In the end, I lucked out with the piano because when I got electronic keyboards later in the future, I didn't have to tune them.
But I still think they should have made Loyd wait until he was 13 before he got guitar lessons.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Dealing with death
While I was going to school, I was aware that a couple of fellow students had perished. I didn't really know them except as faces in the hallway, so I wasn't really affected by their sudden lack of presence.
One Sunday evening, my Mom told me she had gotten a phone call that one of my friends had died riding his motorcycle. I guess he got hit by a truck. I was stunned. I didn't know what to think. I went to my room and all sorts of thoughts went running through my head. I thought about how he was trying to get somewhere and the person in the truck was trying to get somewhere, and how my friend was never going to get where he wanted, but the person in the truck would likely get to arrive at his planned destination. I was not angry at the person in the truck, because I didn't know who was at fault. (I actually never did find out.)
I thought I was only one of a few students who knew about it, but when I got to school the next day, everyone was talking about him. He was one of my classmates for first period English and when I went into the classroom, I saw my English teacher talking to another teacher. While I couldn't hear the conversation, I could tell by the look on her face that she was being given the news for the first time.
Two days later, the funeral was held. Students were permitted to leave school to go to the funeral. My father took my brother and me out of school. The funeral was being held at his church. After picking up my brother, we drove by the only funeral home in town. There were two of my classmates waiting outside. Apparently, they thought the funeral was there. We offered them a ride to the church.
We were seated for about 10 minutes before the services began. The family members were ushered in. I remember one woman crying and screaming out loud. I was rather disturbed by this showcase of emotion because I certainly wasn't feeling anywhere near that bad. I wondered if I was supposed to be acting like that. No one else was, so I figured not.
I don't remember anything said during the service. We eached walked by his casket and then went outside to watch the pallbearers move the casket into the Hearse. We became part of the funeral procession and slowly made our way out to the cemetary. This was all new to me. I really didn't know what to think of it. I was really confused as to why we had to go to the gravesite since the services were held at the church. Whenever I saw funerals on TV, everything took place in the graveyard. I would later realize that this was the pattern for virtually all funerals.
I would also discover that this would be the beginning of my own pattern for attending funerals. I've never shed a tear at funerals, not even at those of close family members. That probably has something to do with my possible Asperger's in that I just emotionally detach myself from these situations. However, I should note that I always see Loyd get choked up at those funerals. I don't know how I'll be at the funerals of my parents or my brother, but I can wait to find out.
UPDATE (07/11/17): My father and his wife passed away in October of 2016. However, I will be writing about that experience in a blog post way in the future.
One Sunday evening, my Mom told me she had gotten a phone call that one of my friends had died riding his motorcycle. I guess he got hit by a truck. I was stunned. I didn't know what to think. I went to my room and all sorts of thoughts went running through my head. I thought about how he was trying to get somewhere and the person in the truck was trying to get somewhere, and how my friend was never going to get where he wanted, but the person in the truck would likely get to arrive at his planned destination. I was not angry at the person in the truck, because I didn't know who was at fault. (I actually never did find out.)
I thought I was only one of a few students who knew about it, but when I got to school the next day, everyone was talking about him. He was one of my classmates for first period English and when I went into the classroom, I saw my English teacher talking to another teacher. While I couldn't hear the conversation, I could tell by the look on her face that she was being given the news for the first time.
Two days later, the funeral was held. Students were permitted to leave school to go to the funeral. My father took my brother and me out of school. The funeral was being held at his church. After picking up my brother, we drove by the only funeral home in town. There were two of my classmates waiting outside. Apparently, they thought the funeral was there. We offered them a ride to the church.
We were seated for about 10 minutes before the services began. The family members were ushered in. I remember one woman crying and screaming out loud. I was rather disturbed by this showcase of emotion because I certainly wasn't feeling anywhere near that bad. I wondered if I was supposed to be acting like that. No one else was, so I figured not.
I don't remember anything said during the service. We eached walked by his casket and then went outside to watch the pallbearers move the casket into the Hearse. We became part of the funeral procession and slowly made our way out to the cemetary. This was all new to me. I really didn't know what to think of it. I was really confused as to why we had to go to the gravesite since the services were held at the church. Whenever I saw funerals on TV, everything took place in the graveyard. I would later realize that this was the pattern for virtually all funerals.
I would also discover that this would be the beginning of my own pattern for attending funerals. I've never shed a tear at funerals, not even at those of close family members. That probably has something to do with my possible Asperger's in that I just emotionally detach myself from these situations. However, I should note that I always see Loyd get choked up at those funerals. I don't know how I'll be at the funerals of my parents or my brother, but I can wait to find out.
UPDATE (07/11/17): My father and his wife passed away in October of 2016. However, I will be writing about that experience in a blog post way in the future.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Things I actually liked about junior high school
For a lot of people, junior high school was the worst place imaginable as far as public education goes. While I tend to agree that there was a lot to deal with emotionally (and physically), it wasn't all that bad (even though I've done nothing but complain about it up to this point).
The number one thing I liked was that I was not required to take Physical Education for the two years I attended. I had just been through two years of torture with Athletics in intermediate school. It was a nice break from being pushed around and bullied by any P.E. teacher that I would have gotten.
On that note, I also enjoyed not having to stay after school for Athletics. I was able to just leave school at the end of the day and go straight home. I realized later that staying after school didn't really do anything but keep me there for an extra hour every day.
I also did not have to take Science classes. Don't ask me why they didn't force this upon us for two years. I'm actually surprised that anyone signed up for Science. Science wouldn't have been so bad if I'd had a decent teacher, but I always got the feeling that the teachers were somewhat forced into a subject they had no interest in. If the teacher didn't really put in the effort to show that he had command of the subject, then I would have no interest in showing respect for the subject.
I got to take Choir for an actual class. And the class was right before lunch, right after two solid hours of English. It was a great way to get to the midway point of the school day.
In the eighth grade, I had Arts and Crafts for my final class of the day. It was a nice way to wind down. (However, in ninth grade, I had Algebra for my final class. I couldn't really wind down then.)
The lunch room was a lot more spacious. It had this really high ceiling and it just felt like there was plenty of room for everyone. Quite frequently, I was able to have one table all to myself.
And of course, there was knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with my parents at school for the two years I was there.
Yes, there are times when I am very negative about a lot of stuff, but from time to time, I am able to find a few bright spots here and there, especially in places where other people cannot find them.
The number one thing I liked was that I was not required to take Physical Education for the two years I attended. I had just been through two years of torture with Athletics in intermediate school. It was a nice break from being pushed around and bullied by any P.E. teacher that I would have gotten.
On that note, I also enjoyed not having to stay after school for Athletics. I was able to just leave school at the end of the day and go straight home. I realized later that staying after school didn't really do anything but keep me there for an extra hour every day.
I also did not have to take Science classes. Don't ask me why they didn't force this upon us for two years. I'm actually surprised that anyone signed up for Science. Science wouldn't have been so bad if I'd had a decent teacher, but I always got the feeling that the teachers were somewhat forced into a subject they had no interest in. If the teacher didn't really put in the effort to show that he had command of the subject, then I would have no interest in showing respect for the subject.
I got to take Choir for an actual class. And the class was right before lunch, right after two solid hours of English. It was a great way to get to the midway point of the school day.
In the eighth grade, I had Arts and Crafts for my final class of the day. It was a nice way to wind down. (However, in ninth grade, I had Algebra for my final class. I couldn't really wind down then.)
The lunch room was a lot more spacious. It had this really high ceiling and it just felt like there was plenty of room for everyone. Quite frequently, I was able to have one table all to myself.
And of course, there was knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with my parents at school for the two years I was there.
Yes, there are times when I am very negative about a lot of stuff, but from time to time, I am able to find a few bright spots here and there, especially in places where other people cannot find them.
More on the (a)bus(e) to Park Junior High School
I thought I would visually demonstrate the major problem with blaming the late bus on the junior high students.
I would like to think that some kind of agreement was reached between the principal and the students, or maybe they just made the bus leave earlier. I don't know.
I would like to think that some kind of agreement was reached between the principal and the students, or maybe they just made the bus leave earlier. I don't know.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Predators at Park Junior High School
My mother had warned me to be careful during lunch time at junior high because there were a lot of boys from the high school who would, during lunch, cruise along the stretch of road behind the school next to the playground. (Actually, it wasn't a playground. It was a big field where the junior high football team practiced after school, but I don't have a better way to describe it.) I wondered why anyone would want to waste gas driving around the junior high school for a half hour every day.
I found out why the first day. The high school boys were coming over to pick up on the junior high girls. They were always there, every single day. It didn't matter if it was raining or snowing, they would drive up and down that road, pull over from time to time and talk to any girls who would approach their cars. And there were always girls who would get in and ride.
The boys who would do the lunchtime cruise were not the best and the brightest from the high school. The Alpha males, like those who were on the starting and secondary lineups of the football team, did not need to troll the junior high to get dates. The ones who did were more apt to wind up as employees of the refinery once they graduated from high school or dropped out when they were 16. (Yes, back then, you could drop out of school at the age of 16.)
I actually regarded these guys as losers. That says a lot coming from me. I swore that I would never sink to that level to get a girlfriend. When I got to high school, I actually understood why those guys were driving around the junior high school. The girls in high school were either dating the Alpha males or dating older guys who were no longer in school because they had already graduated (probably because they picked them up when they were in junior high). I kept my promise to myself and during the three years I was in high school, I never once drove by the junior high during lunchtime. I kept that promise even though I only ever had one girlfriend all during high school.
Since my mother had warned me about the high school boys, this meant that this had been going on for some time before I started eighth grade.
The problem did not just end once those boys graduated or dropped out of high school. There were actually a number of what I call the scary punks from the refinery. These were the 16 to 22-year-old guys who never had to worry about school again. Unfortunately, they had to worry about getting girlfriends. Since most of them had done the lunchtime cruise while they were still in school, it was something they never got out of their system that this was how they were supposed to get girlfriends, especially since cruising by the high school was a waste of time because all the girls there already had cars and didn't stick around the campus for lunch.
So imagine that for at least for seven years, guys as old as 22 (maybe even older) could go over to the junior high school to try to pick up on girls who were as young as 13. Chris Hansen would have a field day with this. I don't know if the cruising situation had anything to do with this, but when I was in high school, some interesting changes took place. First, they started classes at junior high at 8:45am. This would put lunch at 11:45am. The high school lunch didn't start until 12pm. This cut the time for cruising by half. I wasn't around the junior high, so I don't know what, if any, impact this actually had. It likely meant less time for high school boys to stake their claim and cut down on the competition for the scary punks who worked the night shifts at the refinery and didn't need to heed by regular lunch hour restrictions.
I know that after I graduated from high school, they put up a fence around the field at Park and declined to let anyone leave the campus during lunch. I'm pretty certain the cruising came to a stop after that. They also put a fence around Zia and closed the campus there as well, even though they didn't have a predator problem.
But for a long time, parents and teachers seemed to put up with this behavior.
I found out why the first day. The high school boys were coming over to pick up on the junior high girls. They were always there, every single day. It didn't matter if it was raining or snowing, they would drive up and down that road, pull over from time to time and talk to any girls who would approach their cars. And there were always girls who would get in and ride.
The boys who would do the lunchtime cruise were not the best and the brightest from the high school. The Alpha males, like those who were on the starting and secondary lineups of the football team, did not need to troll the junior high to get dates. The ones who did were more apt to wind up as employees of the refinery once they graduated from high school or dropped out when they were 16. (Yes, back then, you could drop out of school at the age of 16.)
I actually regarded these guys as losers. That says a lot coming from me. I swore that I would never sink to that level to get a girlfriend. When I got to high school, I actually understood why those guys were driving around the junior high school. The girls in high school were either dating the Alpha males or dating older guys who were no longer in school because they had already graduated (probably because they picked them up when they were in junior high). I kept my promise to myself and during the three years I was in high school, I never once drove by the junior high during lunchtime. I kept that promise even though I only ever had one girlfriend all during high school.
Since my mother had warned me about the high school boys, this meant that this had been going on for some time before I started eighth grade.
The problem did not just end once those boys graduated or dropped out of high school. There were actually a number of what I call the scary punks from the refinery. These were the 16 to 22-year-old guys who never had to worry about school again. Unfortunately, they had to worry about getting girlfriends. Since most of them had done the lunchtime cruise while they were still in school, it was something they never got out of their system that this was how they were supposed to get girlfriends, especially since cruising by the high school was a waste of time because all the girls there already had cars and didn't stick around the campus for lunch.
So imagine that for at least for seven years, guys as old as 22 (maybe even older) could go over to the junior high school to try to pick up on girls who were as young as 13. Chris Hansen would have a field day with this. I don't know if the cruising situation had anything to do with this, but when I was in high school, some interesting changes took place. First, they started classes at junior high at 8:45am. This would put lunch at 11:45am. The high school lunch didn't start until 12pm. This cut the time for cruising by half. I wasn't around the junior high, so I don't know what, if any, impact this actually had. It likely meant less time for high school boys to stake their claim and cut down on the competition for the scary punks who worked the night shifts at the refinery and didn't need to heed by regular lunch hour restrictions.
I know that after I graduated from high school, they put up a fence around the field at Park and declined to let anyone leave the campus during lunch. I'm pretty certain the cruising came to a stop after that. They also put a fence around Zia and closed the campus there as well, even though they didn't have a predator problem.
But for a long time, parents and teachers seemed to put up with this behavior.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)