11. Stella. Stella the Cat.

I.School

Time for Stella the Cat.

This is Stella. Stella the Cat. Stella is a very old cat. How old, we are unsure of because we adopted her as an adult cat. The tag read:

“Name:__Stella___Tabby;

Age: 3 estimated.

That was 20 years ago.

Our children were 4 and 8 (est.) years old when Stella, the cat became part of our family. We had a dog at the time. He died. We got two other dogs. They have since passed away. So, Stella has outlived three dogs.

The 4 and 8 year olds are now estimated 24 and 28 years old and have been long moved out of Stellas domain. Empty nest.

She was a cranky cat for most of the past 20 years. At least 16 or 17 years of it. We attributed it to breed (I had never had a cat and caved when my sweet kids begged to bring her home- so I had no clue). Friends of feline lovers told us Tabby’s can be temperamental.

Well, looking back we had two dogs, two kids, busy schedules, busy life. Chaos. Now, since I have been home and it is quiet. And I have time for her, attention to give, and cat like consistency, Stella had been a very sweet, affectionately tame Tabby.

Environment. Time and Space. Conditioning. All contribute to shaping personalities. (Debatable, but let’s move on for now).

The reason I bring up Stella the Cat. “Stella,” is because of my interest in education.

Regardless of opinions, you ARE being conditioned; in an environment; over time (years in school); in a particular space. A classroom.

______________

Consider the Time you spend in school. 5 days a Week. One day to recover, one day to plan the rest of the 5 days. For school.  For me- a ‘retired’ school teacher, Sundays were nice. Until 2 o’clock. At two, my head- space went to school preparation. In addition to two kids, two dogs, and one Stella the cat. Time and space to think were sparse. Then back to school.

Now consider the Environment. Classrooms. Are they calm? Do you have individual time, attention and direction to get what you need? Today? Are your days consistent or chaotic.

Are you satisfied with overall educational experience?  Are you cranky? Anxious? Bored? Inspired?

Okay. What do you want? And Here is where me and my I.School get stuck. Hypothesis-

______________

Here is the problem. People, students do not have time nor the environment (space) to discuss. To ask questions. To have time to figure out individual intellectual pursuits and passions.

This is problematic because it is the lack of such simple and basic concepts (like time to think for themselves) would help kids,

See my dilemma?

It’s challenging to talk to people about education reform because they don’t have the time. And if they do have the time, many lack the ability to have better conversations about what reforms would look like because the conversions start sounding the same.

Conversations sound the same because we probably went through the same or similar conditions- conditioning through public education and; we watch/read the same news about education. Same topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Data. Testing. Violence. Drugs. Anxiety. Suicide. Social Media. Did I leave anything out? Then,

2. Blame. It’s the parents, the schools, the teachers; it’s the politicians, the libs, the commies, the far right/ left (take your pick).

See it?

When I criticize public education. And I do. It is mostly followed with agreement, (I have yet to hear high praise of education, unfortunately), but then it takes an algorithmic turn. If they (person or persons)  don’t like what I say- there are typically only four or five responses:

  1. I become the one in question. I find myself defending reform in schools. (Like, I thought we were in agreement here), but talk turns to me and ‘my leanings’. My agenda. Assumptions as to my personal character prevents advanced dialogue.

  2. Boomerangs. People who initially agree with problems at first, and then turn. (Wait. I agree with the complaining about education, but there is no other perceivable solution so said person ends up defending it.) “well it could be worse…”

  3. Emotional Curve balls. Anger, laughter, sadness, fears- burble up. Emotions prevent, or at least get in the way of logic here. “This teacher ruined my life;” or “If it was not for that teacher I would not be where I am today. I am so grateful!” Emotional.

  4. Dodging the point.” If it wasn’t for …” name it. Historical inaccuracies of how “the good ole days” were really that good. People do NOT like having their stories altered, I have come to find out..

  5. Everything else. Any topic Except: The current situation of students. Isn’t that simply sad?

  6. *Bombs. When it comes to blaming the kids,”kids today, are lazy or apathetic” or Any critical remarks aimed at students…. Well, I get all “Stella” the cat/ Seller stare, mama bear Fire in the air… me! And it is not pretty. Sometimes I’m not nice. I can be a real Ass, as I have come to find out. Sigh. Currently, I am here to report of my re-conditioning conditioning. I just, simply can not bare to hear blame- on the least blame-worthy, underrepresented group of people, I know. Kids. Change the Subject. Stay calm. For now, I.

The point is: it is the Time and Space Conversations Themselves that are the problem. We can’t change problems if we can’t even talk about it.

And, If the problem is simple, then the solution is simple.

I.School stands for Imagination (other I’s to be determined later.).

G. Guess what we could do with a little Imagination?__________________________

Stella the cat sits with me daily. I don’t know how much time we have left with her, but I appreciate the time I do have. I remember past days and times leaving for school thinking- “oh, I wish I could just be like Stella the cat today. Eat. Sleep. Play. All day”. So many days I just wanted to stay home.

Relatable? Maybe or maybe not.

But I never expected to have a +23/4 estimated aged cat named Stella in a mostly empty house 20 years ago. Why? There was no time to think about such things.

In schools, then, and today, there is no time nor conversations to be had about what students want. Individual time to self-discover. Attention to needs, and a direction best suited for individual student personalities.

Yet, it will be you, post-public school you, ultimately left with the consequences of not having time nor environment to “know thyself.”

No it is not your fault.

Yes you can do something about it. Simple.

Begin by taking 5 min. 25 min. Or One hour a day. Every day for I.Time!

If, I were to ask myself a few questions in my imaginary back in time scenario, I might ask:

Do you like kittens? How about old cats with missing teeth?

Puppies? How about old dogs needing help to pee and poo… your help?

Costs of pet care may change, will you be financially able to support that?

Will you have the time to nurture a cat? That. I did not think about enough. I also did not consider how much love I feel for this feline. How guilty, painful I feel for not having more time for her. And how heart breaking it is going to be to leave her for a trip. She has family, but it’s not me. Yea, the guilt is a tough one.

The point is- we simply do not have time to consider real life, authentic consequence of our choices simply because we do not have time to consider. By design.

Sleepy? “Well you should have gotten more sleep.” (UGH!)

And, who is to blame? Kids?

Change the subject. This one goes to 11. This is Stella. One Stellar Cat.