Doing a little writing as my students do research.

Why the blame game, particularly with educators? So many teachers are willing to just write off a person because of behavior that is not acceptable or because they haven't figured out a way to solve it. They often pick one answer and assume that if their "methods" or "strategy" doesn't fix it, then there is nothing that can be done. Further, many teachers seem to just do what comes easy: blame the parent.

I am a parent and a teacher, and I am well aware that both have influence on a young person. But there is too much damn oversimplification when things are not working and I am seeing that many children are hurt in the process of adults working to shift some of the responsibility off of themselves.

It is no wonder Jesus said that one must be like a child to enter the kingdom of God.

On another note, I downloaded all but one song (ironically the title track) of Jack DeJohnette's Parallel Realities. I really love it. I like DeJohnette, but I think it the combination of his playing and Metheny's presence that really make me take notice. And happy day! I found the ECM rarum edition of DeJohnette (and Metheny and Bill Frisell) at the library yesterday. Much good stuff to listen to for awhile. (I already have all the Metheny stuff from other discs, but I’ll enjoy this as a collection.

Finished The Burglar On the Prowl. It isn’t great, but I did enjoy it. Bernie's adventures are a wonderful escape. Perhaps I’ll post a more detailed review later. Perhaps not. I’m reading Steve Martin's Shopgirl now. Hope to finish it by the end of the week. I want to spend the weekend on other reading.

That's all for now.

Written May 17, 2004.