Fairness

In my Educational Psychology class today we watched a very interesting video on Learning Disabilities. A group of teachers, parents, administrators, psychologists, etc were put through a simulation of what it would be like to be a student with a learning disability. As a future teacher it gave me a lot to think about in terms of how we think of and treat learning disabled students and all of our students in general.

At the end of the video the person who conducted the simulation (sorry can't remember his name, it might have been Lavoie??) was talking about fairness. He said that if we treat our students with learning disabilities differently than "regular" students parents will surely say it isn't fair. It isn't fair that they are given extra time or extra help or different resources. His rebuttal went after our definition of fairness.

We always think about fairness, he argued, as everyone should get exactly the same thing. We should teach all students in exactly the same way and provide them with exactly the same opportunities. We apply this elsewhere in the real world as well. When things are distributed unevenly, it isn't fair. He proposed that that is not the real definition of fairness. He said that if you look fairness up in a dictionary it will say that everyone gets exactly what he or she needs, not that everyone gets exactly the same thing.

I thought this was very profound. If we accept this definition of fairness our view of the world changes. We must give our learning disabled students the resources and exercises they need to succeed in the classroom. We are not being unfair by not providing those resources to all of our students as long as those students' needs are being met. My professor challenged us that if we adopt this view of fairness it should also be extended outside the classroom, influencing our view of social and political issues. With this view how can we argue that welfare, healthcare for all, student financial aid or food stamps are unfair to the taxpayers who fund them? The people receiving these services are simply and fairly being given what they need. Those that can are not in need of these resources and are blessed to be able to provide for themselves do not need to receive them. That seems fair to me.

You Have Him

I was watching Lost reruns online the other day and found a fabulous quote in the season two finale. Desmond is hanging out in the hatch on the island before the plane crashes and he is about to kill himself. Then a letter from his girlfriend Penny falls out of one of his books. Part of her letter says, "Please don't give up, Des. Because all we really need to survive is one person who truly loves us. And you have her." Which is very sweet and makes Penny and Desmond fans (like me) very happy and smiley.

But I love the meaning behind it. That all we really need is one person who loves us. One person who will be there to support us and be there for us when we need someone. Someone to listen when we need to vent, to dry our tears, to make us laugh, to celebrate our victories. I am lucky enough to have many of these people in my life.

As I was ruminating on this quote I thought of another profound implication. Change the "You have her," to "You have Him" and the meaning becomes quite different. The Him being God. I began to like the quote even more. All we really need to survive is the love of God. With him we can do anything, be anything. His love and sacrifice for us allows us to survive eternally with him in Heaven. So if you are ever feeling depressed or unloved remember the wisdom of Penelope Widmore and don't give up. All you really need to survive is one person who truly loves you and you have him, God.

Knoxville :)

Hi everyone!

I just got back from spending an amazing week in Knoxville for Spring Break. I went on a trip through Campus Ministries. A group of fourteen beautiful women went to Knoxville and served at the Florence Crittenton Agency there. The Center houses 28 teenage girls who have been in some sort of trouble with the law. It was a fabulous experience for me. I formed connections with 13 other wonderful women of God and they made the trip a blast!!! Working with the girls who live at Crittenton was a really special experience and I hope that our being there left an impact on them and that God was able to work through us.

It was fantastic to see what the girls who lived there taught us. I was having a conversation with a girl I met there, who I ate pretty much every meal with, and she said, "We're not bad people." Of course I immediately said that we knew that and didn't think that they were. And it was true. Meeting these girls and getting to know them and form connections really helped me to see that. Not that I went there thinking that everyone who breaks the law or does drugs or drinks alcohol is a bad person, but I certainly had stereotypes going into the trip. But meeting these girls, I saw that these were great girls who came from tough, often broken, families, who had made some bad choices, but who, for the most part, wanted to change their lives. We Michiganders talked about this one night and how we judge people so quickly based on what we've heard about them or how they look or act on first glance. But I think that this trip helped open our eyes and helped us to see that we need to hold off on judging people and get to know them. It helped us to see that we are not that different from the girls at FCA and that with a couple of different choices in our lives we could have been in their shoes.

Another really wonderful thing this trip made us all think about was how lucky we are to have the childhoods and the families that we do. I am so thankful to my amazingly supportive and loving family who has always been their for me. And my fantastic friends as well. A lot of the girls we were working with didn't grow up in those types of environments and don't have that kind of support. Those of us that do should thank God every day for the blessings he has given us of family and friends.

It was awesome to see God working while on this trip. He brought 14 fabulous women on the trip and helped us to bond and share to together and laugh and laugh and laugh :) He also worked through us to help the girls at FCA. All week I was eating with on particular girl. We always had conversation and were laughing and getting along, but I am shy and I was worried that I wasn't doing enough to, I guess, help her, make a difference, be a good role model. I'm not really sure was I was expecting, but whatever it was I didn't think it was happening. I kept thinking if I had been less shy that I would have made a deeper connection with her and had more of an impact on her. Well, God must have known I was feeling that way because the last night we were there, we had a movie night with the girls. We gave them all a bag of candy and a card, in which we had written a note. While we were watching the movie, the girl I had been eating with tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a note she had written to me. It said thank you for coming and helping out. It said she wished that the week had lasted longer and wished us a safe trip home. It wasn't long or overly profound, but it showed me that I had an some sort of impact on her. Hopefully I planted a seed in her and God will continue to work to grow that seed and help her turn her life around. Thank you to all who were praying for us while we were there! Now it is back to real life and school and I am already missing my fellow Knoxies, but we had a fantastic trip!!

That's it for now I guess. If you want to hear more about the trip, I would love to tell you, so give me a call!!

Age as an excuse

Something I've been seeing a lot lately has really started to bug me. People (mostly famous people) using their young age as an excuse for the illegal things they have done. First, Michael Phelps, now A-Rod. Both have been caught using illegal drugs. When Michael Phelps apologized he mentions that he is 23 years old and acting youthful. During A-rod's press conference he many times referenced being young and ignorant. Both offered up their age as an excuse for their wrongdoing. As if being young somehow means it's ok for you to break the law.

Now I'm not saying that I think they are bad people or should be thrown in jail, but I am very tired of people excusing or explaining their bad behavior because they are young. There are millions of teenagers and twentysomethings out there that know it is illegal to do drugs and don't. There are many major league baseball players who were young, but didn't take steroids. Why can't you just say you were stupid and ignorant and leave it at that? Which is true, they were stupid and ignorant. But why bring your age into it?

We all make mistakes, but take full responsibility for your actions. I see blaming it on your age as not taking full responsibility for what you have done. "Yes, I did it, but only because I was young." That isn't an excuse or a reason.

Ok, that rant is over... :) I do respect A-rod for admitting what he did and stating that he would like to take part in anti-steroid advertising, but I still think the guy is a scumbag :)

p.s. personally I think that they should put lovely asterisks next to all of A-roids records and stats and if he passes the homerun record it should be met with nothing but boos!!!!

more poems :)

Hi!

I was watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition. It was incredibly sad. This family's house burned down. Then they were at this lake and the dad was carrying the little girl on his shoulders. The dad started drowning and the 18-year old brother swam out to try and save them. The pushed the little girl to shore, but the dad and brother drowned. There were two other brothers and another sister at home. It was horribly sad and the little girl thought it was her fault, that her legs were too tight around her dad's neck and that was why he drowned. I was bawling my eyes out the whole time. So, inspired to write by my creative writing class I wrote this poem:

Baby girl,
Do not shed those tears,
Do not carry that burden.

You sat upon my shoulders,
laughing and splashing in the cool water.
I loved having you so close to me.

Then my foot slipped and couldn’t find ground,
my face plunged underwater and
my only thoughts were of you.
I couldn’t let you be sucked under with me.
I struggled against the suffocating water
that invaded my lungs
making me cough and choke.
I tried to keep you above the water,
keeping you out of this watery coffin.

I felt the hands of an angel
take hold of your shoulders
and then I couldn’t feel your skin on mine.
I knew that you had been taken care of.
I didn’t need to worry about you anymore.
My strength was waning as the angel reached for me.
Grabbed my shoulders, pulling,
but it was useless, my lungs were full and heavy.
Air would do me no good anymore.
I stopped struggling and after a few long moments
so did the angel.

But my snowflake,
my precious precious snowflake,
it was not your fault,
you are not to blame,
your legs did not hug too tight.
I know you are sad,
but please darling daughter,
do not feel guilty.

I want to see your glowing smile,
hear your playful laughter
as I watch over you from Heaven.

Creative Writing

Hi,

It's been awhile...not even sure if anyone even reads this, but I'll keep posting. I am taking a creative writing class this semester and really loving it. I find myself inspired to write often! I am going to post some of the stuff I think is good here, just because it feels like I should do something with it besides save it to my computer :)

This is a poem we had to write with repeating lines:

Worth It

You are worth it,
when your hair is a mess
and you’re wearing sweats.

You are worth it,
when your Prince hasn’t come
and you aren’t sure he will.

You are worth it,
when he breaks your heart
and makes you cry.

You are worth it,
when your friends abandon you
and you feel alone.

You are worth it,
when your parents yell
and tell you about the divorce.

You are worth it,
when they say you can’t
and you believe them.

You are worth it,
when you feel you can’t go on
and you want to give up.

You are worth it,
when you make a mistake
and your world falls apart.

You are worth it,
when you can’t take it anymore
and you want it all to end.

You are worth it,
Jesus died on the cross
and he did it for you.


(I'm working on another one that is due Wednesday that was inspired by our very own Holly Mae Plewa....)

Gymnastics :)

Hi!

Today was my last gymnastics class of the semester :( I am really going to miss it. I had a great time in the class, cheering on my friends and laughing with them when one of us did something silly. I also met all kinds of people I never would have met outside of class.

It was also a really worthwhile experience. Going into the class my only gymnatics experience was in elementary school gym. At first it was a little intimidating because some of the people in my class had been real gymnasts and knew what they were doing. But as the semester went along, I made friends and none of us really knew what we were doing and we just had a good time.

I also learned to do so many cool skills I never thought I would be able to do. I rolled over the bar and round-offs off of the beam and backhand springs over these rolly mats. It was really satisfying to take on these challenges and think "I'll never be able to do that" and then prove myself wrong. I learned that I can do a lot of things if I put my mind to it. I mean I've always been able to work hard at school type stuff, but this was something totally new to me and it felt really good that I was able to improve a lot over the course of the semester.

A lot of the credit goes to my fabulous professor Marene Van Farowe. She is wonderful. She knows how to push us out of our comfort zones, but still not push us past our limits. She never made us do things if we really felt uncomfortable, but was always there to help if we wanted to try. She was also great at telling when someone needed positive feedback. I was not that confident at first and she was always giving me compliments, slowly building up my confidence. By the end of the semester I was ready for anything :)

Today was our Olympics and it was so much fun! Bragging a little bit, my routine went really well and the judges gave me all golds :) I'm going to miss my friends, the fun and hanging out on the balance beam!