News & Revelations, or The Essay

I) My class has been soooo rowdy this week. In as far as I have theorized and can conclude, it is probably related to A) the fact that it is spring, B) that spring break last week provided much more fodder for talkativity from the outset of the week, and C) (most importantly) I am out of classroom management practice because of spring break. I am not a natural authoritarian; it has taken me a long time to build up my skills in that area, and they are far from perfect. I do honestly believe they are good and job-worthy, but spring break was a setback. I have, however, seen gradual improvement in both myself and the kids every day. But the end of today we worked on handwriting--cursive, specifically--which I have only actually taught twice. My previous methods, in essence, sucked, so I tried something new. Parts of something new were really good; other parts were bad. I had my kids sitting in their seats rather than on the carpet where they would usually be. Being in their seats--and don't forget my nice, loud salmon tank that's humming away--it is both harder to hear them and harder to diffentiate between voices in order to correctly nab talkers; thus, I am less likely to nab individuals. Instead, I count up by tens seconds of time to be spent in at recess. Well, usually by 10 or 20, maybe 30, they've caught on and shaped up. Unfortunately, we got all the way to 50 on a single count:P I habitually raise my voice to be heard. My supervisor tells me to keep a quiet voice and that the kids will therefore be quiet, but I'm not entirely convinced. I think that would've worked if I had started out the year that way, but I've been through a stream of changes throughout the time I've spent with them, both in the brief interval in the fall and throughout the current semester--which is clipping along at record rates.
There have been times that I talk more quietly that the students simply carry on their side conversations more freely. They're a tough group. I'm extremely thankful to be student teaching and not first-year teaching to them; it's honestly a huge blessing. But that doesn't make it much easier. So, my supervisor told me, "You need to be a bitch."

Well, tomorrow comes soon; here goes nothing.

II) Every moment I can get, I have been sneaking snatches of Colin Beavan's No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process. This book, besides being so well-humored, as is obvious from the beautifully long title, (yeah, that's how I talk/write!:) is full of information and musings on issues that I consider crucial and fascinating: the environment, economy, stewardship, existentialism--way more than I bargained for. I expected simply a description of Beavan's family's methods of living one year with as little impact as possible on the earth; I was intrigued and wanted to know more. I found something speaking to all of the above, full of wit and hilarity--and even besides which are a plethora of touching (also funny, most often) tales of a little family's New York City existence and discovery of the joys of a simplified life. No cars, no planes, very few trains (and only because skipping Christmas/the birth of a nephew would've been too much to ask of Colin's family; three other train rides were canceled). Advice on how to shop and eat locally; recipes; an ethically-minded man who loves cows so much that he owns a 75-cow dairy farm that bottles milk in glass. I find myself pausing to ask God why on his used-to-be-much-greener earth Christians can't hear this kind of stuff and feel semi-responsible for it [the earth]. Listen to the loads of research Beavan did; listen to how badly plastic is affecting our environment; listen to the fact that studies show the world's fisheries will be unsupplied by 2048 if we do not reverse pollution trends that are killing fish, crabs, shrimp, etc. and which will shut down the 100%-28% of fisheries (worldwide) that now manage to remain working. (28% have already been shut down; there is not enoguh marine life surviving to sustain them.)

Why is it that people hear "global warming" and automatically say, "It's all a lie"? Is it that hard for you to believe that a plastic bag won't break down for thousands of years and when incinerated gives off toxins that affect the health of you AND YOUR CHILDREN??? That a huge pool of garbage resides in the Pacfic Ocean? That sea turtles are endangered by those same plastic bags floating around in the ocean cuz sea turtles, having bad eyesight, mistake them for tasty jellyfish?

WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS FREAKING WORLD???????

"And if we are the body,
Why aren't his arms reaching?
Why aren't his hands healing?
Why aren't his words teaching?
And if we are the body,
Why aren't his feet going?
Why is his love not showing them there is a way,
Them there is a way?"

That song is talking specifically about reaching out to people, but shouldn't we, too, be showing people all around us a good example of stewardship? God created a beautiful world for us; shouldn't we care that it's going to pot? Don't just tell me, "It's all gonna burn anyway." I DO NOT accept that. Hello--do we take a look at people who have addictions, diseases, cancer, children who are ill, and say, "Hey, they're gonna die anyway; may as well just let it take its course. No point trying to help, cuz it won't be enough"? HELL NO!!! We try. God told us to love and care for people--we should do it. God told us to take care of his green earth--we should do it. Yeah, there's a lot of things God told us to do, and we're not perfect. Neither should we become obsessive about environmentalism to the point that we ignore people and simply strive for the environment's right, or animals' rights. We humans are the only things created in God's image; the only things with souls. We are somehow more important than all those soulless things. But that's no excuse to ignore our stewardship. Think of parables in the Bible that talk about workers mistreating/misusing God-given land or talents. How did they fare? Not so well. He condemned them to death.

This wasn't supposed to be this long. ...It never is.:) But when I'm passionate, I'm long-winded. This is something I REALLY care about, and this book has given me a beautiful way to put words to some of my own thoughts as well as to dialogue with God about all these cares and concerns. Colin Beavan was very ambitious in his project, and he, doing it for the purpose of writing a book, had the time to integrate drastic changes into his life. You don't have to do it all at once. I don't have to do it all at once. But take the time to think about how you can be a better steward of this earth. And it's not just about stewardship. It's about not treating a limited amount of resources as thought they will last forever. "Jesus is coming back before it will matter" is NOT a good reason for wasting resoruces. It's like saying, "I'm going to use up all the money I have by the time I'm 70, cuz I'm sure I won't live any longer than that." In doing so, you would be compromising the possibilities and resources of your post-seventy life. WE are compromising the possibilities and resources of whoever will come after us, whether only our children or our great-great-great-great-....-great grandchildren. Don't be stupid about it.

Yes, I would reccommend this book to anyone and everyone, but let me give you a deeper reason. Environmental thoughts and challenges are a good enough reason for me, but even if environmentalism makes you sick, I wholeheartedly believe that EVERY CHRISTIAN IN THE US should read this book wholly for its exploration of what technology and our "efficient" way of life has done to our communities and relationships. I am learning SO MUCH, and the church could learn as much or more, I believe. Conversations with God were NOT what I expected to be prompted to by this book, but it's full of them.

If you're interested, Colin Beavan's blog is found at . If you're even the tiniest bit intrigued, please read the book. I have read only about half, and I believe it is changing/will continue to change my life in many ways, not the least of which is my relationship with God and passion for connecting people. Christians, non-Christians, families, non-families, similar people and different people. I fully intend to buy it once I have finished reading my library copy, and once I have the money:) I wasn't going to buy it, due to an aim at conservation; however, I feel the benefits of reading and rereading as well as sharing and applying its principles to my life--and continuing to dialogue with God on it--will far outweigh the use of 100% postconsumer recyled paper bound in 100% postconsumer recycled cardboard.

:D