I'll Be There

Tomorrow. Don't be late! Don't forget to dropbox by 5am!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I thought I'd introduce myself to you a bit since we're a little behind in that arena. I've had the pleasure of already reading about you, and yet, (except for you lucky/unlucky repeat customers) you've never even seen me. Or, if you have seen me lurking the halls, you don't know that you've seen me.

This is me:
I'm 37. I've been married for eleven years to my childhood sweetheart. His name is Kalki. We're both Christians, organic-organic eating, conservationists who love to camp and hike and canoe. We love to garden, drink wine and travel. But, he's a raging conservative, Tennessee Vols fan. I'm a raging liberal, Alabama Crimson Tide fan. We make it work and, because of my experience with living with someone diametrically opposed to my "heinous commie" politics, I have a pretty good sense of humor about these things.

I'm a mother of a two-year-old little girl who has Pierre Robin Sequence. I will talk about her probably more than you want to hear.

I believe that you have a right to know where I stand. I believe this because I also believe that there is NO SUCH THING AS OBJECTIVITY. I will always interact with you through the filter of my beliefs, just as you will always interact with me through the filter of yours. Once we are honest with each other about that, and about our inability to ever truly achieve the mythic objectivity, we'll be better able to understand each other's work: mine as teacher, yours as student.

I always invite you to try to convince me of the error of my ways, and I will try to convince you of yours. In this, though, we will always, always, operate under a deep respect for each other's intellect and individuality. At least in my classroom.

I believe that there is no such thing as a "bad word."

I believe that we learn best through the use of creativity.

I believe that we must always know WHY we believe what we say we believe, and that our beliefs should be reflected in our actions.

I believe that the classroom experience can only work if it is a collaborative effort - you do your job, I'll do mine.

I'm looking forward to this semester; looking forward to helping you discover new things about yourself and your community and what you believe. And why.