Thursday, June 26, 2008

Day 4, A Thursday

Today is the last day of school and I am here providing crowd control and not much else. A few of the kids are talking about the year just ending and the year to come in September. I started thinking... it seems to me that we spend our cognitive lives in the past and the future, but very rarely in the present. Is it because the now is so fleeting? The past will always be there, whether we remember it or not, and the future, although not guaranteed, is waiting for us to catch up with it. I guess what I am saying is that we seem to plan for the future, and relive the past, but we do these things in the present.

I was reading this blog entry to another teacher and a student who was listening yelled out, "Who would read that?" It's a good question.

Working with kids has been great for my perspective. I feel that I have gained a somewhat clearer view on what really matters. I often hear people say to me, "How can you teach? I could never do it." My response, if only to myself, is... how could I not.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Day 3, A Wednesday

I'm out at one of the schools that I sub for; there are only two days left in the school year. I sometimes watch these kids and I sit in awe. For example, I just saw one kid trade an ipod for a keychain. Needless to say, I had a few questions: Is the ipod stolen? Is it broken? Why would you trade an 80 gig ipod for a keychain? The answers were: no and no and it's a really cool keychain. Today's journey is starting out very interestingly.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Day 2, A Tuesday

Yes, I know that a little bit of time has passed since my last blog. However, that's the nature of my journeys... there is no set anything; they happen when they happen.

Today was the last day of soccer season here in the community of Malmo in Edmonton. It was bittersweet; I will miss the guys, and I will also miss the title "Coach Mike". This particular journey was a good one and I feel that my life has somehow changed because of it... more on that as it develops.

I had an interesting discussion with a colleague today. I mentioned that if and when we (humans) all leave this earth, the planet will reassert itself, and other than a few scars, life for our planet will continue on in its entropic journey while we become no more than a distant memory. He commented that we will always be here and that nature and man will learn to work together in harmony, etc., etc., etc. I mentioned that our views were not mutually exclusive, that in fact, it is more a question of time. Who knows?