Paw To Pen: My Surgery

Arf Arf to my four legged fans. I will be absent from The Education Depot for a few days. My person discovered a large growth on my leg joint( a location similar to a human elbow) She and the Vet, Dr. Dan were very sad and determined that surgery was necessary to remove and biopsy it. My David person has been very upbeat and has been sending positive vibes all week.

In my absence,I will miss Stuart the mailman, Keisha the UPS lady, the police officer who brings me a dog biscuit every day, the businessman in the store next door who barbecues a lot and always seems to have some delicious bone for me after the weekends. I shall return with a slight limp,and an awkward gait but ready, wiling, and able to accept any and all treats . ARF ARF for now Max

Back To School 2011

The back to school season is getting longer and longer in the metropolitan Chicago area. The Track E CPS schools went back August 3. The CPS Charter schools and some suburban schools start on the 15Th. The parochial Schools go back the week of the 22Nd.. The rest of the CPS schools go back the week of the 29Th. Everyone else will start after Labor Day. I no longer get a summer vacation. I really miss the times when schools were closed for 8 weeks, and I could count on regular holiday vacations. I miss spending time with my children and grandchildren.

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what will be the new HOT item for the school year. Are the students and schools Rockin Into---? Poppin Into---? Are they a Great Crop? Back to School Stars? or a Great Bunch? Do we give Peace a chance? Say no to Bullying? Are we into the Turquoise or Chocolate Brown color scheme? Is it a Jungle out There? Are we Rocketing into Reading? Soaring into Math? or Buzzing about Books?

After the decorations are complete, and the children appropriately welcomed into the classroom, we now have to contend with the new programs instituted over the summer. Two to three years is the maximum until an academic program becomes obsolete and a new one has to purchased at great cost. The schools don't give the children enough time to get used to a particular learning style. There no longer seems to be any consistency in the learning curve. The new buzz in academia is that children do not need to learn cursive writing since they all use computers. They also don't need to learn time tables since they have calculators. Pretty soon we can forget about teaching them to speak, since children will only be communicating with computers , i pads, and cellphones.

I, for one, plan on making sure that my grandchildren know how to write in cursive. They will memorize their multiplication facts and learn all the states and capitals. They will learn the difference between Austria and Australia, They will understand that good manners don't cost anything. I will teach them not to equate money with class. We are living in a global society, and my grandchildren will learn that the the world is a potpourri of colors and textures and dialects. This is my role as a parent and grandparent, to make the world a better place, by making my offspring better people.

To all of the students, parents, teachers, and administrators, have a great 2011 back to school. And please, if you must be absent, be absent because you are making a memory, not because you are sick . A memory lasts a lifetime...a headache, tummy ache, or runny nose only lasts for a day or two.