I read a poem or speech or something this summer that struck me and I contemplated it for a long time.  For the life of me I can’t find the article or even remember who wrote it.  The familiarity of what I am about to write may evoke a memory in you if not in me.  I would appreciate information if you have any.

The gist of the story is that no matter what you do today the price of today is one day.  One day that you will never get back.  You probably don’t think about how precious a day is until you don’t have many left but it has to be the dearest price to pay for anything.  I contemplated this awhile back in my review of In Time.

Well, here’s another angle.  Not only do you have an obligation to yourself to make your day worth one day, you have an obligation to your family, your friends, your students and coworkers, and, dare I say, the entire world to make sure that your day is worth one day.  And at the very least make sure that you are giving the world a day’s worth.

One of those words that bothers me because of its overuse, like teenage girls saying I Love You to anyone and tragedy not requiring a premise of heroism, is AWESOME!  When everything is awesome your expectations are to low or you’re too easily impressed.  I try not to subscribe to either of those.

After much deliberation this summer concerning standardized test scores I determined that there was only one way that I could expect teachers to squeeze those few more points out of our students.  Cautiously, “Be Awesome,”  I told them.  “That’s all I can ask.”  

If you are giving it everything you have every day, there is no more.  I do believe you can work smarter instead of harder and I believe that you can focus your energies in certain areas but those things are part of being awesome.

You can’t possibly give it more than everything you have!

I’m not one to really contemplate my age very often. Often I don’t even remember how old I am.  I don’t think of what I do as something that someone my age should do or something that is for young kids or older. For the most part I am who I am for better or worse no matter what.

There does come a time, not attached to any specific point in your life, where you realize that your past may well be longer than your future.  40phyve did that for me.  It’s really an ego buster.

To repel that feeling I have decided that the next 40phyve can be just as substantial as the first 40phyve. I don’t have the feeling that I left anything on the shelf during the first 40phyve and I intend to be all in for the next session.

I’ve decide to keep the name 40phor even though today I begin 40phyve!  Looking back through the year I felt like I grew as a writer but I didn’t keep all my promises.  This year:  Write More!

Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the Washington D.C. public school system, recently spoke in the Harrisburg area.  I didn’t go see her but part of her presentation was transcribed in the Sunday Harrisburg Patriot-News.  One statement that she made really stood out to me.  In her defense of using student achievement as part of teacher evaluations, Rhee stated, “We evaluate kids every day. We give them grades on tests and assignments. If the kids came to us and said ‘Report cards to us seem very suspicious and very punitive to all children,’ we would look at them and say Honey, come on.'”

I haven’t decided whether I agree with her or disagree with her but one thing it led me to revisit was my disdain for report cards.  How much does anyone really glean from a report card?  Does a 90% really mean that you know 90% of what was taught that quarter?  Or better yet does a final grade of 50% mean that you only mastered 50% of the grade level standards?  I can assure you that I could take 5 students who received a 90% as a final grade, give them an end of the year assessment and they would all perform differently.

So what does a report card with numbers on it really tell us?  A large part of the difference in grades is work ethic.  If you work hard and do your homework your grade will undoubtedly be higher than a student with the same ability but a poor work ethic.  Which leads to the next barrier for achieving high grades, socioeconomics.  If you have a parent at home that is willing or able to help you on a daily basis with your schoolwork you will assuredly attain higher grades than the student who goes home to an empty house, makes his or her own dinner, and watches TV until his or her parent or parents get home from work.

Fortunately I have a perfect example in my own home.  I have two daughters.  One does very well in school based on report card grades; Honor Roll, National Honor Society, etc.  The other one – not so much!  Here’s the difference:  The first daughter is an admitted ass kisser and learned early in her educational career that in order to get good grades she needed to do her homework; play the game.  The other one couldn’t care less about the game.  She doesn’t understand the game.  Her mind is not wired for game playing.  At 13 years old she knew it was all bullshit; arbitrary numbers on a piece of paper.

The only real answer,  in my opinion, is to eliminate traditional grading.  We all know that it means nothing.  In no way does a 75% on a report card tell me what my children know and what they don’t know. That’s what I want to know. I want to know where they need assistance if they are struggling.   I admit that average Joe Dad and average Jane Mom want to see grades.  It is concrete and simple for everyone to understand.  “Here’s your 10 dollars for each A that I promised you.” (And that’s a whole nother blog post!) I know that colleges need to see grades to make their arbitrary decisions on acceptance. But wouldn’t it be better if you had a piece of paper that told you what your children know and what they don’t know.

I think this is a great quote from Michelle Rhee;  “My job is to make sure that all kids in the city are getting a great education. I am agnostic to the delivery method, as long as they are learning what they need.”

Now the question is:  How are you ever really going to know?

I get inspiration from time to time from movies.  I’m not a great movie watcher.  I like classics and the stuff I grew up on.  Recently though I got inspiration from a strange movie.  My family wanted to rent We Bought a Zoo.  (Apparently the only movie title ever with a spoiler in the title.)  I sat and watched it because it was a family thing. Anyway, the line that inspired my thoughts and eventually this post, was uttered by Matt Damon’s character Benjamin Mee.  “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

I made a lot of personal connections to this quote.  The first thought I had was about my first time riding on a zip line.  To zip, you usually have to climb some sort of tower or tree.  In my case it was about a 40 foot climb to a small platform atop a huge sycamore tree.  Getting there was a battle for me in itself.  Jumping seemed the most irrational thought that I ever had.  But 20 seconds of insane courage later I was flying through the air.  Ten seconds more and I was upside down; loving life.  At the time I never thought it would be a metaphor for every pivotal point in my life from there on.  It practically changed my life.  It has allowed me to take chances with confidence.  It has allowed me to become a leader and not fear making decisions.

This is one of those quotes that I will and have kept in my mind.  Probably not going to tell many people that I am motivated by a kids’ movie but, it is always there.