The road from Liberal, Kansas into Moriarty, New Mexico is paved with prairie, open skies and an ominous rain cloud in the middle of the road.
Today, we left Kansas, crossed through Oklahoma and passed through Texas, only to break into New Mexico. The mileage has been impressive, but even greater is the transition from the flatlands, to rolling hills, to the standing mountains and canyons with red rocks. The funny thing about learning geography is that you see glossy photos in textbooks and tourist guide photos of these places and yet they never seem to capture the awe inspiring appearance of a mountain in the background of rolling hills and cities tucked away.
Going through Texas was somewhat what we expected: Cattle, Oil wells, a lot of land and the occasional drawl from a gas station saying "ya'll come back now".
The sky seems massive here, on the Interstate we could see the storm cloud coming towards us and easily make out the sunshine behind it that we were driving through. You can tell the beauty of the land for miles around and in some ways you can't help but feeling the rugged nature of many of the places and the kindness of many of the people who live here.
In other news: They market an off road store for 3 miles with signs spaced approximately 10 miles apart. It sells everything from Fireworks to Blankets.
"Segregation was, is, the way in which a society tells a group of human beings that they are inferior to other groups of human beings in the society." - Dr. Kenneth B. Clark
We are here, we who volunteer, we who travel great and small distances for this project are here to serve, but more importantly to learn. To learn that which we don't know about Navajo culture, that which we don't know about the art and craft of teaching and that which we don't know about the role that others have played in the shaping of the American fabric.
Today, Steve, Danny and I had the pleasure of visiting Monroe School in Topeka, Kansas. It is the school made famous by the Brown vs the Board of Education case that made "separate, but equal" unacceptable. We spotted it as we continued our journey towards the reservation and thought it might serve as a great place to both learn more about what has become merely a name in the great cases of the civil rights movement and educational history, as well as, a great photo op to show those who may have never seen the place.
Monroe Elementary School. Topeka, Kansas
During the trip we saw a video that discussed, why education, it's supposed to give people power, allow them to challenge the system in a manner that is understood, articulate and powerful. This idea has been adopted into the words of many universities, individuals and organizations, but here is a place that is iconic, for talking the talk and walking the walk. All one can hope is that we are all as bold.
In other news on the status of our trip: Currently in Liberal, Kansas. On the way into town a sign proudly proclaimed "Welcome to the Land of Oz". Personally, I'm hoping there is a scarecrow that can dance and sing like Michael Jackson.
The education profession is often defined by the things that we don't plan. The student that unexpectedly needs us, the change in standards, the problem child that we find out has home problems. Everyday, education is defined by the unplanned or rather the "teachable" moments that occur everyday.
Currently, I am sitting in a hotel in Kansas city. Through this, I have been able to reflect on one thing at the beginning of this trip: that which we don't plan requires more care to pull off. Recently we: Maurice and Samantha McDavid ('10), Danielle Daly ('11), Daniel Gonshorek ('11), and Alix DeWald ('11), have been in contact with Professors Diana Beck and Stephen Schroth, as well as the representatives of the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran School. Through these e-mails, what began as a trip to the southwest to present lesson plans and work with teachers of the school to increase cultural education has turned into a renaissance of sorts. Core Knowledge, meets curriculum development, meets the essential air that is the Knox College Educational Studies department.
The work will be, from what I was told of last year: difficult and confusing, but also one of the most influential and life changing experiences that one could undertake. Both for the service that is offered to the Navajo people and to the understanding of our history as a nation and to the inter- and intra-personal relationships that are formed.
The Knox/Navajo Teaching and Learning Project rides again...
Our sixteen-day journey to the Navajo Lutheran Mission School (NMLS) has ended, at least for now. Six Knox College students—Ashley, Carly, Derek, Eileen, Michael, and Sarah—went with Diana and me to work with the NMLS teachers, students, and staff for two weeks. This partnership was highly appropriate because in many ways Knox teacher candidates are missionaries as well, missionaries for the liberal arts. As researchers such as Arthur Levine and Linda Darling-Hammond have noted, many teacher preparation programs are polarized in one of two camps. On the one hand, the normal schools stress endless methods courses, where teacher candidates are kept in a teacher preparation ghetto where they focus almost exclusively on pedagogy. On the other hand, programs such as Teach for America believe that young college graduates can be dumped into classrooms with nothing more than a BA and a box of chalk and then be successful. At Knox, we take a different path. We believe that our teacher candidates should be advocates for children, experts in subject matter and instruction, and missionaries for the liberal arts. Much as we endeavor to do with them, we hope our teacher candidates will provide their students with the skills, information and ability to function independently that they will need to flourish in any endeavor. Diana and I are extremely proud of Ashley, Carly, Derek, Eileen, Michael, and Sarah because they not only understood this, but ably taught this to the teachers with whom we worked.
Our visit was more rewarding because of the warm welcome we received from the outstanding teachers at NMLS, Sharon, Lark, Jolene, Pauline, and Eileen, and by the principal, Felicita. Not only did they open their classrooms to us, but they showed us how to make Navajo fry bread and tortillas and shared several meals with us. This better than anything else demonstrated their deep understanding of how a learning community works, focusing as it must on the development of a learning environment where all are accepted, respected, and comfortable with each other. Dr. Lynn Hubbard and Deborah Hubbard, respectively the executive director and pastor of the Navajo Lutheran Mission, supply vision and leadership for NMLS was contagious. Since NMLS serves Navajo students exclusively, Lynn and Deborah have made it a priority to provide students with an education that respects their Navajo heritage and that will allow them to flourish in the world at large. As with most endeavors, the trip was successful because of the quality, work ethic, and enthusiasm of the individuals involved. All involved made the great progress we all made possible.
After putting on an intense and productive week-long workshop for professional education (while being immersed in Navajo culture and lifestyle), escaping to Canyon De Chelly for a weekend to hike in nature’s beauty with a variety of European foreigners, and a manual-labor-esque two days of moving, organizing and discarding teaching materials and furniture it was finally here: the first day of school.
I woke up at 6:45 am and got ready for the day. I walked over to the school just after seven. When I arrived there were tables but no chairs set up for the students to eat breakfast. Sarah, Eileen and I set up chairs as the first students arrived via their morning bus ride. It was nice to see the school in action. Just days ago we were sitting in child-sized chairs at dusty tables, giving presentations about Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and such, with workers painting the walls around us, I-pods cranked up so that we heard “Notorious Thugs” from our seats across the room. To see this very same room beautifully painted, organized, and full of young children eating and eager to meet their new classroom teachers for the year just days later really made me feel good. It was a nice sight.
After breakfast, all of the teachers took their new students in single file lines to their classrooms. My current designation (“P.E. man”) had me walking from room to room, observing and assisting when needed in each of the classrooms. It was exciting to see the NLMS teachers in action. As if they had just flipped a switch, they were now in “teacher mode.” I was very impressed with their work. They were in their element; artists of pedagogy at their finest. I envy their classroom management skills, and my hope is that when I teach I can somehow emit the same passion and excitement that I witnessed from them today.
Moving from class to class helping different students and leading whole classes in physical education every hour or so afforded me many entertaining and comical experiences. There are times when children are so intelligent that they are finishing your sentences, and there are times when you have no idea what is going on in their little minds. One exchange of words that stuck with me after today occurred while I was helping out in the 1st grade class. Ms. Pettit had two different books about animals, and was inquiring about some of her students’ interests in animals. When she asked, “Do you guys like the animals on this book?” a student replied, looking about the room “I like these walls.” To me it was classic. To the child -- I’m sure he was thinking about something I wouldn’t have understood. Children’s minds are amazing. They think and learn and absorb so much. It’s a pleasure just to be able to observe them as they process information and think about ways to use it. Little kids are fun.
One student ties another's shoes at recess.
Five P.E. sessions, teaching a writing lesson to 3rd and 4th graders, and miscellaneous assistance in other classrooms led me to the end of my school day. I was helping out in the 5th and 6th grade classroom (after secretly chugging the left over coffee in the teachers lounge alone – yeah it was that kind of day, and no I’m not ashamed) when Ms. Holiday, the 5th and 6th grade teacher, realized she didn’t know when to have her students clean up and head for the buses. I walked across the lawn, ehh red sand and rocks, and to the front desk at the main building. I got back to the 5th and 6th grade classroom and it was time to send students home. All of our members of the Knox College Professional Education Development Team helped sort out the madness that was loading the buses. After we made sure that each bus had the little faces of the children listed on the bus list on the correct corresponding bus, I sent them on their way.
Mike, Eilene, Carly, Sarah and Ashley all rode on the bus with the students. I had already made a different and previous commitment to the football coach of the high school across the highway on the other end of town. I met him the day before, when Mike and I went for a jog across town to watch them practice. That day there were three of his players present for practice. Just three. We watched as he instructed them to do a variety of conditioning drills. I had some man-talk with the Navajo coach, you know, high school football, NFL, weightlifting programs… Somewhere along the line he stated that he’s the only coach and doesn’t really have a lot of help out there. That was all I needed to hear. I jumped on the opportunity to attend the rest of the practices that I could make, (which was unfortunately just two, since we are leaving on Friday) agreeing to help him out, pass on some of my knowledge, talk some football and participate in drills and help motivate the players. Anyway, today I went to football practice instead of riding on the buses with everyone else. This time there were six players at practice, and three more showed up but couldn’t participate until they had their physicals. I ran drills and conditioned with the player for about an hour and a half, also chatting with the coach in between drills. Coach Alvin explained to me that the team averages 20 – 25 players, but some still need physicals and many are still working summer jobs to help support their families. They play 8-man football down here, which is foreign to me outside of the Arena League. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can from Coach Alvin about offensive and defensive schemes in 8-man. I had a lot of fun at practice. I had a great day overall. A fine start to the school year.
We live in an era when many who have never been teachers, such as Arne Duncan and Michael Bloomberg, have assumed positions of authority over educational policy. Certainly it is a great thing that education is an area of intense interest to so many. It is frustrating too, however, that those who lack professional experience so undervalue and disparage the knowledge of classroom practitioners. The two weeks here at the Navajo Lutheran Mission School (NLMS) have impressed upon me how much those who teach children every day know about learning, management, child development, and flexibility than do many of those who sit in judgment of them.
NLMS serves approximately 70 students enrolled in Kindergarten through the sixth grade. We are staying in single-level apartments adjacent to the school. On Monday night after dinner, we spotted a black chicken running around the grounds. We had not seen the black chicken before, and she did not seem at home here at the school. I wonder how Arne or Michael would deal with her? One of the aspects of teaching that many on the outside do not understand is the vast amount of time teachers have to spend dealing with situations that are totally out of their control but which negatively impact the learning environment and must be dealt with before learning can occur. The black chicken represents the unexpected, the unanticipated, and the unplanned for occurrence that occurs multiple times a day. Educational reformers need to beware of the black chicken, since she is not going away.
Being from the Midwest, I had never seen a real sandstorm until today. I had danced to Sandstorm plenty of times, but Friday’s sandstorm was a whole lot different. After spending the day working on science methods with the teachers, at 3:30 p.m. we left for Chinle, a small city about 45 miles south of the school. What to me looked like a thick brown fog reduced visibility substantially, and the mesas on the horizon which we were able to see so clearly the day before looked like dim red shadows in the distance as the swirling sand distorted them. At one point during the drive, the sand was so thick that our visibility was reduced to about 15 feet.
Canyon de Chelly (pronounced ‘duh shay’) was a sight to behold. Many people who have seen both the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly hold the view that Canyon de Chelly is just as aesthetically beautiful, if not more so, than the Grand Canyon. After hiking around the expansive canyon for several hours this weekend, I am not surprised. And what is even better about Canyon de Chelly is that the mainstream tourist crowd has not yet discovered it, leaving it much more pleasant than I imagine the Grand Canyon would have been on an August weekend such as this one. Interestingly, many (if not most) of the tourists staying at our hotel were from European countries.
Behold the beauty of Canyon De Chelly.
Derek, Eileen, Sarah and I had the good fortune to have an amazing Navajo hiking guide Sunday morning. Reavis, 20 years old, reveled us with stories of growing up in Canyon de Chelly, as well as stories of the history, culture, and geology of the land. He showed us hieroglyphs of the ancient people who had lived there thousands of years ago, as well as the ruins of the cliff-dwelling Anasazi indians. At one point during the hike someone asked him about the Navajo creation story, and he proceeded to give our group a 45-minute account of what the Navajos believe. A great storyteller, we were in awe he told us the story that his grandfathers had told him. I have always heard about native Americans and their connection with the land, now I can say that I have seen this philosophy first-hand.
Monday morning and afternoon was a busy time for us as we helped the teachers transform their classrooms from dirty, dusty rooms with clumps of furniture all over the place into something that discerned a classroom. We did everything from moving desks, tables and chairs from one room to another to scrapping the paint off of students’ desks to mopping. Ah yes, the glory work of being a teacher.
This evening, we hiked up a mesa called Rock Point. Rock Point is the highest point of altitude in Rock Point according to Patrick, a Navajo who was on the hike with us. From the front of the mesa it appears nearly impossible to reach Rock Point, since the front of it is basically a cliff on a 90 degree angle. However, our friends knew a back way, which, though it was not necessarily simple, was a way which we could climb the 250 foot peak without rocking climbing equipment. A stray dog and friend of ours, whom we have named “Trouble,” was even able to make the trip with us. Looking down at the world, everything seemed so small. The four mile run that I had done in the morning looked like it had covered hardly any land at all; cars appeared to be driving at a snail’s pace. Rock Point rocks.
I've decided to put the real world on hold for a couple of years and do something that some say is potentially more life-changing than making the cut for Jersey Shore Season 2: the Peace Corps. I'll be serving in Paraguay as an Early Elementary Education Adviser until May of 2012.
