Earth, Wind and Fire

Kaz (in white hat) singing a special Earth Day song in Spanish with his Spanish teacher and other members of his Spanish class.



April 22, 2009

Today was Earth Day. I was asked to help several seventh graders to lead a group of first and second graders through a series of outdoor activities including a scavenger hunt, camouflage game, tree planting and nature art. Three of the students’ mothers tagged along, two of them with babies. They were helpful when it came to cutting yarn to tie sticks together to make a frame onto which the kids then tied beautiful things they found- large seeds, flowers, etc. We brought our natural mobile back to the classroom with us at the end.
After our adventures, we joined the entire school in a community potluck lunch. After lunch, the whole school gathered to share their experiences from the morning and special songs and poems to celebrate Earth Day. After that, our morning teams each took a part of the campus and cleaned it as thoroughly as possible. There were prizes for the most trash collected and the most unusual piece of trash (part of a broken toy truck).
Wind
The rainy season has begun again after a respite of about 5 weeks. The wind is back to hurricane force, and I hear the floorboards of our new house creaking and adjusting to absorb the impact. The gusts are so strong at times that I wonder if the roof will blow off. I honestly don’t know how it stays on. The air in the late afternoon and evening is downright cold, and the rain and wind are so loud that it wakes me up several times a night. It sounds like a Mack truck is passing by my bed.
Fire Scare
The gas for the left burner of our two-burner stovetop was accidentally left on all day today. Fortunately, Kaz smelled the gas when he came home, turned the burner off and opened the doors. He then told the landlady what had happened, and she turned off the tank. An hour and a half later, we were able to safely cook our dinner. It would have really stunk if the house had blown up.
Firing
There has been an enormous amount of tension and drama at the school this week due to the dismissal of the beloved and talented high school math teacher last Friday. It has been disheartening to watch the worst come out in some people. It also has been interesting to watch how everyone deals with this mini-crisis- the Director, the teacher himself, his wife (also a teacher), their students, parents, other administrators, and the Board.
I have been thinking a lot about how this mess could have been prevented or handled differently so as to have caused far less distress among so many people. I have talked with the Director one-on-one every day this week to try to ferret out what happened and to brainstorm ways to handle such a situation differently in the future. He does not think the fallout was avoidable. I (and others) do. Tomorrow, there is a Board meeting, and various teachers, parents, and students have promised to attend and make a stink.
A couple of lessons I’ve learned from this situation are:
1. Communication is key. A certain amount of miscommunication precipitated the whole mess.
2. A Director must not become paranoid, dismissive or defensive with his or her staff. None of these postures inspires confidence in others.
3. Perception can be more powerful than truth. Manage perceptions so as to avoid misperceptions and handle misperceptions head-on.
4. When something isn’t working, try something else.