I Believe That Children are the Future...

There is one thing that I am really passionate about...and that is young people. Kids are the most honest people in the world and it's so refreshing to hear their thoughts about stuff. They are usually so un-biased, and believe it or not, they are usually on the money with their observations. Most of the time, people don't give them a chance - they write them off and treat them like crap. I always fight for the underdog, that's why I'm such an advocate for kids...and the biggest reason why I wanted to be a teacher in the inner-city. But lately, I've been seeing a lot of stuff that literally wants to be sing like Marvin Gaye..."Makes me wanna holler, and throw up my hands."

After losing my job in the insurance industry, I had a hard time getting a job; but I have one as a scorer for a testing company. Basically, I score state standardized tests for the 8th grade level; when I read these papers it just depresses me. They are from all over the state, and from all different school districts. You can CLEARLY see the difference of students in rich and poor school districts...and it breaks my heart.Here's an example; one day while I was reading these essays, I noticed that there were a majority of misspelled words. Now, I know that I'm not Akilah and the Bee...but these words are basic...I wrote them down. Take a look...

conquer - concur
courage - curaj
father - faughther
obstacle - opstickal
doubt - daut
experience - expereenz
innocent - inknowsent
rely - relie

A majority of the kids are doomed. They lack the basic reading, writing & comprehension skills in order to be successful; and they are in the 8th grade...if they are struggling in 8th grade, you know it's over when they get into high school. If they can't read & write, you damn sure can't expect them to do math and other things. What is going on with them? I can't blame BET for this one...OK, I can give them some of the blame...LOL. I know it starts at home, but how do we (Educators, etc.) we fix this? What can we do to help them? What becomes of the kids?

Lemons & Lemonade...

Trying to see the good in a bad situation is a hard thing. I didn't get admitted into the New York City Teaching Fellowship Program. I REALLY wanted to get in...but, due to budget cuts, the economy...they cut their co-hort in half. While I'm disappointed as hell about the whole thing...I'm glad I didn't make it for a couple of reasons:

- I would've had to move to NYC within a month's notice with no cash (which is impossible), so I would've had to turn it down anyways.
- They only give 7 weeks of training before you're thrown into a class & expected to teach these kids.
- Since I won't be in NYC, I can finish some projects and actually pay off my car (and other debt) this year...make it to the family & class reunion...and take that Vegas vacation in October...

I'm not knocking the NYCTF at all - I understand where they are coming from - they have to protect their neck and make sure that they don't accept more people than jobs are available. I just wanted to be out of a bad situation - it's not bad, but it isn't what I want right now (living at home, no money, temp job, etc.) ASAP. I wanted to relocate and start a new life...but that will come later than sooner (yes I mean to say it that way).

This setback is allowing me to make preparations for my come-up...I'm going to go through the traditional route and get my Masters in Education...that way I know what to expect...I'll be working too and I can save to make the right move so that I'm not struggling...

When life hands you lemons...make lemonade! So for now...have a cold glass on me!

Dear God...

Dear God:

It’s me, SLC. I haven’t talked to you in while, so I figured I’d give you an update. The past six months have been absolutely awful, and that is an understatement to say the least. I don’t mean to complain, but can you clue me in? Am I doing something wrong? Now, I do realize that I’m not perfect, but I attend church, treat people the way I want to be treated, I tithe, and I am active in ministry. I try hard to make a positive difference in my life, and bring something positive in someone else’s, but lately my motivation is seriously waning and when I lose my motivation, things can start to get bad because I’m gonna stop caring about stuff…and that can get dangerous. What do I have to do in order for things to turn out ok? You know what…you don’t have to answer that.

God, I’m going to ask a small favor from you. I’m not asking for much, I don’t need a ton of money (although it would be nice) or anything like that. God, I would just like to have one thing….just a little bit of good news. Something that will brighten my day and make me walk down the street smiling and singing to myself. That’s it, God…just some good news…please. Thanks for listening and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
SLC