Coffee Talk

It's no secret that I love a good cup of coffee.  It's not just the taste of it, but there's something about sitting down with your wife or good friend and having a good conversation over a cup of coffee.  I believe that with a little time and different flavors, caffeinated or decaf, that I could win a person over who does not like coffee.  It all started with Folders when I was a kid.  That's all we had in the house, yes in the metal can, not plastic.  Then, my dad ventured out to Kroger coffee.  It had a really nice taste.  He was introduced to Bunn coffee makers, spring water, and the tank was always hot and ready to brew.  It was pure heaven.  As time passed, I developed my own taste for coffee and Starbuck's emerged, then Duncan Donuts.  I used to be a real sweet fan, with cream and sugar.  Now as I get older, I still love cream, but only use one Splenda.  After converting my whole household into coffee drinkers, they all have their own special flavors and the way they like to drink it.  If you were a guest in my house, you wouldn't have to worry about coffee, whether it be ground from whole bean, K-cups, or pressed coffee.  It's a staple in my household.  Still when I sit down with a cup of coffee it reminds me of all the conversations I used to have with my dad before he passed.  Two friends and a cup of coffee can change the world.  Go out with someone you miss talking to today and enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good conversation.  You'll be so glad you did!

Influence

You know, the word influence has been thrown around the last five years with all sorts of subject matter.  He/she has been influenced this way.  I am influencing my children or people around me.  I have other people say, "you are a good influence on this person."  True influence means that how you act, talk, and handle situations is then carried out by another to try to be like you.  When people substitute teach for me, I get good reviews about my students.  They tell me, "they are soft spoken, respectful, and you must have influence on them."  While I am not taking all of the credit for some of my students, the majority come from a home that is either split or a single parent home, so my influence plays a role.  I was once accused back in high school of being a bad influence on someone's child.  Where I went and who I hung out with contributed to this.  I knew this wasn't true, but I didn't let it change who I was.  After I stopped hanging out with this person for about six months, I saw the parents later and they told me that they had misspoken.  That it wasn't me, but it was their son's fault.  Mind you, I don't claim to be a saint or have it all together.  I still work on not being short fused and sometimes speaking out of turn, but my point is when you speak the truth, good or bad, politically correct or not, sometimes it hurts, sometimes it heals, and sometimes it helps others.  Try to be a positive influence on someone this week.  You never know when someone needs it or when you can make a difference.

Life Skills

In today's society we all know how to do certain things, some better than others, but we had to learn it from someone.  Either we watched a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle, or a teacher in school.  It ranges from checking your tire pressure to sewing on a button.  I hate to inform you, but these life skills have drastically taken a plunge in the last 30 years. It all started, in my opinion, when they decided to stop teaching home economics and life skills in schools. It was a required course when I went to school and it was fun and impactful. Today I have people and employers come to me at school and they are not concerned with the content your covering in your particular pathway, they want life skills added to your curriculum as well. Just the other day I ask my junior and senior class to address an envelope to a business. Out of 18 males, not one got it right! Then I went to the nursing program and asked, " How many of you know how to check the tire pressure on your vehicle and where can you find the proper inflation chart on your car?" Not one student. Parents, we have to do better teaching our kids at home and not relying totally on the school for getting them ready for life. I hope I am not the only teacher that is addressing this problem.  If so, we are in for a rude awaking for the generation that is going to lead our country.

State Testing

It's that time of year when our students in elementary school and high school are ready to take the K-PREP in Kentucky.  I realize that there has to be some way to test students knowledge and make sure schools are being held accountable for providing students with a quality education.  However, there are some things state testing cannot accurately measure.  For example, what if a student came into your classroom who was three grade levels behind, and grew two grade levels that year?  This student may still not score a distinguished, but their growth has been remarkable.  State testing doesn't take into consideration that this student has grown more than the average student over the course of the year.  What if some students just aren't good test takers, but perform on a high level in the classroom?  These students are judged based on one test, rather than a year of hard work, determination, and persistence.  Maybe the student has a terrible home life and didn't get any sleep the night before, or went to bed hungry the night before and hasn't eaten anything before the test.  Yet this same student came to school and gave it their all.  State testing may be required, but it definitely should not be the only way to judge a student or a teacher for that matter.  Testing is such a stressful time of year for both teachers and students.  Teachers also feel they are judged on the way their students perform.  The difference is that good teachers see how far their students have come, how determined they are to learn new things, the difficulties they've overcome, just to come to school and try to better themselves.  Yes, it may be required and the only option we have for now, but remember that one test cannot determine who a student is, or what they will become.

Bullying

Bullying is a very real threat in today's society.  I remember when I was a junior in high school.  We had an individual that was a person with special needs with his arms and legs.  He had had multiple surgeries from the time he was 5 until 15 and wanted so much to be "normal."  One day we had a scheduled fire drill during lunch.  We knew it would happen that day, but not when.  As we all raced toward the exit I saw my friend trying to slowly make his way out.  Three of the football players that I knew thought they were going to be funny and call a defensive play out loud and ram the opening of the doors.  So "bull, bull" was called and I watched them rush the doorway just to push people and have fun.  They did not realize and didn't care, but shoved 10 people into the door facing and my friend was at the door trying to get out.  His arms were shorter than everyone else's arms.  As he tried to reach for the door with his body the players came through.  He fell flat on his face because his arms weren't long enough to catch his body.  He got up fighting mad and the rest of us were fighting mad as well, because they didn't care who they hurt.  They were just being destructive.  You might not think this is bullying at all, but this was a situation where the perpetrators did not care if you were a certain color, gender, or special needs, they were proving they were dominant and could have fun at everyone else's expense.  They had repeatedly made fun of this boy due to his disability.  This would be in my opinion, bullying in the highest form, but back in those days no one got in trouble.  The administration knew it was a fire drill and in high school no teachers were involved because we were at lunch.  Let's imagine this was a real fire drill and there was a loss of life due to the players bullying behavior.  Would you hold those football players accountable for their actions?  My friend told administration that he and everyone at the door got shoved while trying to get out and they said this was just consequences of a fire drill because everyone was trying to get out.  Coincidentally two of the administrators were football coaches.  Everyone knew it was just a drill, due to the morning announcements, so there was no need to rush like this.  So my question to you is, is bullying for real, or is it just a drill?

Deer in Kentucky

Remember that it's that time of year where deer are running across the road and threatening to ruin your vehicle.  My wife experienced this first hand on Saturday when a deer came out of no where and leaped in front of her car, causing damage to the front end.  Thank goodness everyone was okay.  Vehicles can be replaced, but lives cannot.  This is just a reminder to keep an extra eye out for these creatures who may be lurking around the banks of the road and waiting to reek havoc on you and your vehicle.

What is Church?

What is Church?  Is it something that we consider four walls that we go to twice a week?  Is it a group of people Jesus talked about so many years ago?  I personally think that it is a group of people that get together, pray for one another, share each others burdens, learn and study His word, and meets in a home, hotel conference room, or a building, I believe that we have failed to fulfill the great commission.  He said to go and preach the gospel, pray for the sick, and take care of the widows and orphans.  We have a lot of widows these days, not due to death, but due to a lack of commitment in a marriage.  We have a lot of orphans for those that are not being taught about God. As the scripture says, "teach them the way they should go and when they're old they will not depart from it."  Times have definitely changed.  What the disciples wrote about that Jesus taught is so relevant today.  We just have to consider the meanings of the words He spoke and apply them to today's world.  We often get confused about why people act the way they do, or why we have to have a go fund me page when people are either sick or have lost something in their life, or for that matter, have to bury someone.  It should have been the church, the community of Christ to pick the slack up, but we have failed.  When there are kids in school without clothes, proper housing, or food at night, we have failed.  The biggest thing that disturbs me is that we are afraid to share who He is and why we believe what we do.  His greatest commandment was to love your neighbor as yourself.  We need to remember this and go be the church.