The End of Another School Year

Ever wonder what these young people find so useful about these networking sites? Well, on the advice of some colleagues, I decided to set up some pages of my own. Hence this new blog, a twitter page and a page on Facebook. It's amazing what you can do with these things. I have found people I had long tried to locate, but couldn't because as past computers crashed, taking my electronic address books with them I lost contact. Also, I am learning to be less afraid of such services. I've always considered who I am to be my own business, but watching colleagues looking for work this year, and learning that having your "own" page can get you places (or prevent you from getting there), I realized that it's important to monitor what's out there. I like to write, but get nervous about what I put on the word processor or on paper. So, this may be an easier way to get what I want to say out there, as I said on my last post. So, here comes some stream of consciousness thoughts....

Recently, the pastor of our church challenged us to be "BRIDGEs" to bring those far from God to God. I realize this is an important part of our commissions as Christians, but the problems inherent in following through on this at my job as a teacher in a Public School can cost me not only my current job, but my career as well. If this is what God wants of me, I can do it, but I think I need to find a different venue to get the message out there than my workplace, which is bound by that sometimes ill-conceived concept of "Separation of Church and State" which the Constitution supposedly insists upon. As an individual, I am protected by Freedom of Speech AND Freedom of Religion, except when I am at my public school job. Of course, no one bothers to read that part of the Amendment in the Bill of Rights that says the government can't tell you what to believe as far as your religion (or lack of it) goes. It says nothing about whether I can talk about what I believe. Nonetheless, we have become so obsessed with "not offending anyone" that we are afraid to say anything in case we accidentally cross the line between being an individual and being "a part of the government". This is the catch-22 in which I as a teacher find myself. I feel God pressuring me to talk about my faith with others, yet I need the job and the paycheck it provides to feed my family. When many of my friends are already believers, it becomes a challenge to reach out to those our pastor refers to as "that kid", since there are few of those in my acquaintance.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that those students I teach should make decisions on what they believe ON THEIR OWN. I even developed a short course on how to use critical thinking skills to make those decisions. I also believe that my personal views should not be part of what I teach, unlike so many of my colleagues who allow their political persuasions to impact what they tell their students. I guess that's why I teach science, rather than social studies or literature or some other topic. The purpose for public education should be to produce adults who are literate, productive and able to think for themselves. Too often I see students who are none of those things, yet we are preparing to let them loose on the world. One thing I try to avoid is controversy over topics that have long been red-flags in my mind as those that can get me into trouble down the road. I like what I do, but bite my tongue more often than not on those topics I disagree with. I'd rather my students look at evidence from all sides and decide what makes sense for them to believe, support or act upon. Independent thinkers created this great country, built the millions of inventions we have created, and led us to this point in history. I can only wish what I see in my students that I have tried to impart, beyond the sciences of chemistry, biology or physics, will stick with them. Maybe I'll catch up with a few on these networking pages and find out what impact I had down the road.

As the description says, you never know what might come out. This may seem too "all over the place" but that's where I am at today. Maybe I'll expand on some of these things as the summer goes on. It's a great time to reflect for us educators.