Dr. Elizabeth Green

Instructional Designer, Writer, and Free Spirit

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Christmas Gifts for Children Guaranteed Not to End Up in a Garage Sale

November 1, 2013 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Ready for ChristmasMost parents dispose of their children’s toys and clothing through yard sales or donations to charity. This is usually because children outgrow the item or move to another stage of development.  However, many children have too much stuff!  The beautifully wrapped present the child begged for last Christmas is demoted from the under the tree on Christmas morning to the forgotten item at the bottom of the toy box or back of the closet within weeks, and to the garage sale within months. Here are some items guaranteed not to end up in the garage sale.

  • Lessons – gift certificates for dance, music, art, drama, sports, or horseback riding
  • Camps experiences
  • Visits to a museum, gallery, botanical garden, zoo
  • Experiences such as hiking, boating, snorkeling, fishing, snowmobiling, or skiing
  • Trips to a farm, lake, or mountains
  • Tickets to a concert, ballet, or sporting event

Not only will these experiences broaden the child’s intellectual horizon, funds for the experiences support local artists, museums, and other local businesses.  Most of the experiences leave a small carbon footprint, compared to the discarded toy that will eventually take up space in landfill.  With a little creativity, parents can find an experience for every budget.  Some museums or events offer discounts or even free admission during off peak times.

To pique the child’s interest and make Christmas morning exciting, parents can use clever packaging to build excitement.

  • Package gift certificates for horseback riding lessons with a toy horse
  • Provide art supplies with art museum tickets
  • Place a camera in the package with tickets to events
  • For experiences without gift certificates or tickets, create your own certificate with an explanation of the event
  • Hiking boots or shoes with the picture of the hiking destination

Please post your ideas for experiences or creative packaging in the comments section.

A Happy Witch Lives Here

September 24, 2013 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

 

While decorating our home for fall this weekend, I posted a new decoration near our front door.  It is a sign with a witch hat and reads, “A happy witch lives here.”  When my children were younger, I avoided Halloween symbols with the dark side of Halloween, including witches.  I changed my mind about witches.  I empathize with those falsely accused instead.

My fascination with witches and witch trials began while visiting a witch museum in Salem, Massachusetts.  Before that, I hadn’t given witches much thought other than fairy tales, reading a blurb in my higwitch readyh school history book, and  a watching a few sci-fi movies.  The Salem trials began with accusations from a group of young girls and teenagers and ended with the death of 19 people.  The trials in America’s colonies were not the only witch trials.  In Europe, the church and state hung thousands of individuals after labeling them witches or heretics.  This practice went on for hundreds of years.  American history classes don’t spend much time contemplating the magnitude of the hysteria.

Modern women still feel the need to be pleasing and get along with the group.  After researching the witch trials, I wonder to what extent we can connect our disease to please to the history of mass execution to those who are different, challenge cultural norms, or to avoid jealous accusations.  Our families teach us the cultural lessons passed down from generation to generation.  Some of these on conscious lessons, others are unexamined traditions.  We learn to fear speaking out or being different as the consequences for doing so were severe in previous generations.  Adults teach the young to be nice at the expense of being honest or true to one’s convictions.  Our parents and grandparents encourage girls and young women to put aside our own needs for the convenience of others.  We comply because we don’t want to be a bitch or even worse, a witch.  I speak from a woman’s perspective, but many men fear disappointing others also.

In the witch trial era, anyone could accuse another for being a witch causing the so-called witch to go on trial.  Sometimes the accusations were for jealousy, such as wanting another’s property.  Sometimes people accused another to deflect attention to another.  The accused had to prove innocence.  Just imagine how difficult it would be to prove one did not practice witchcraft!

America’s modern legal system presumes an individual is innocent until proven guilty.  It is too bad we don’t follow this ideology in our daily practices.  Those in leadership positions, such as teachers, Sunday school teachers, PTA leaders, principals, or superintendents are open to criticism.  I do not know of anyone who is able to avoid the jealous or angry critic at some point in his or her career.  The disgruntled can spread stories about another without having to prove anything.  I am not referring to an educator participating in an unethical or illegal activity.  School policies and the justice system have procedures in place to protect both children and educators.  I am concerned that people with ulterior motives spread malicious gossip or rumors that damage educators’ relationships with others, tarnish reputations, and ruin careers.

An angry parent who tells other parents the teacher is unfair or incompetent can damage the teacher’s credibility.  The teacher who tells half-truths about a principal or superintendent harms the leader’s professional reputation.  Both teachers and educators must abide by confidentiality laws.  When a parent complains of unfair discipline, the teacher cannot discuss the incident or defend his position.  It becomes impossible to prove one’s innocence.  The school leader who attempts to help a teacher with ineffective classroom practices or reprimands or dismisses a teacher cannot publicly discuss the situation.  Therefore, the teacher is free to tell one side of the story while the administrator remains silent.  Sometimes the teacher’s story is a half-truth or inaccurate.

Like the accused in the witch trials, it is impossible to prove one’s innocence to vague accusations.  When a parent shares a story of a teacher mistreating a child, notice the words the parent uses.  The parent may blame the teacher for being unfair, picking on an individual student, prejudice against the child for some reason.  This places the teacher in an impossible position to defend.  When a disgruntled teacher states the school leader is defensive or hard to relate to, unfair, or caused low morale among the staff, how can the leader successfully defend her personality or leadership against something that is difficult to quantify?

When disgruntled, petty, or jealous people spread nasty gossip, it is as difficult for modern educators to prove one’s innocence as it was for accused witches to prove she did not fly on a broom at midnight.  It seems hysteria rather than logic still remains alive and well outside the 17th century colonies.  I may adopt the witch as my mascot as a reminder to learn from history.

Boots, Shoes, and Peace

September 18, 2013 by Elizabeth 2 Comments

boots

The media bombards us with images of violence.  This week it is a mass shooting in Washington’s Navy Yard.  Another case of guns and mental illness.  It seems bad news and fear mongering attracts viewers and sells advertising.  A simple solution is to turn off the news.  However, there are television monitors in many public places, physicians’ waiting rooms, salons, airports, fast food restaurants.  We cannot escape the images.  Worst yet, our children cannot escape the deluge of violence and uncertainty.  As educators, we have no control of our students’ viewing habits beyond our classroom.  Some of our children experience violence in their homes or neighborhoods.  Our children come to us with unspoken anxiety, sometimes expressed in aggressive, passive, or self-destructive behavior.

An Italian physician, Maria Montessori (1870-1952) dealt with children in war-ravished Italy at the turn of the last century.  In many ways, the children who attended her schools were much like modern American children.  They witnessed violence and lived in an uncertain world.  Dr. Montessori required children to remove their boots before entering the classroom and put on slippers.  This was an outward symbol to leave behind the chaos of the outside world and enter a peaceful place.

I wonder what symbols you have that home or school is a peaceful place.  Children may have rituals that help transition from outside to home, much like Mr. Rogers removing his jacket and putting on a sweater.  At home, you may ban the news, ask friends and family to remove shoes, change into leisure clothing or shoes.  The ride home in the car can be a time to leave behind daily worries.

Many secondary schools ban gang symbols, certain type of clothing, or colors designating a safe space.  Some schools in colder climates require a change from snow boots to stocking feet.  Peaceful classroom teachers look for ways to help students transition, which may be outward signs such as boots to slippers or something more subtle, such as taking a few minutes to journal, observe silence, or take a few deep breaths.

Please take a few moments to share what you do to help students or your own personal children leave behind the chaos and enter a peaceful space.

Getting It Right

September 4, 2013 by Elizabeth 1 Comment

I am taking some time off from posting on this blog as I need to 1) meet some writing deadlines; and 2) recreate the website to make it functional.  I will post again in a few weeks with some new tools on this site.  In the meantime, if you wish to contact me, my email is Elizabeth@drelizabethgreen.com.

Back to School Envy

August 30, 2013 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Teachers have the real joy in our profession.  Now that I teach more teachers and administrators rather than students, I envy teachers on the first day of school.  The first day of school is incredibly taxing.  No one sleeps well the night before, wondering what the year holds.  Teachers wonder if they really prepared enough, as no one seems to have enough time to prepare to get the year off to a smooth start, even those of you who started working a month before school actually started.  Students hope they have friends and as I heard one child say, “I hope I don’t have any mean kids in my class.”

On the first day, most students are on their best behavior a no one wants a discipline referral to the office on the first day.  All but the most broken children try their best as everyone has a fresh start and a new page in the grade book.  School leaders have the task of what to do with all the children on the first day, hoping there are no major glitches in class schedules, bus assignments, and cafeteria logistics.  Heaven help us if a teacher calls in sick and we have to deal with placing substitutes with new students.

While in the midst of the first day jitters, I hope those working in the schools take mental pictures of the first day of school for later reflection.  Even with the back to school jitters, educators are the most blessed people in the world on the first day of school.  The kindergarten teacher gets to hug the child who misses his mother and eventually forms a bond with the child.  The bond can build memories for an entire lifetime as everyone remembers her first teacher.  The middle school teachers and administrators experience the awkward pre-teen fear of changing classes, getting lost, and if he listened to older students trying to scare him, the fear of being locked in a locker all day or being tormented in the locker room.  Hopefully, the student figures out he won’t fit in the locker and most of the scare stories are not true.  Watching this child grow in the next few years is amazing.  He changes from a child to a teenager and the teacher and school leaders gets to be a part of his or life.  High school educators get to watch the most dramatic change of all.  The squirrely, immature freshman boy with the squeaky voice, enormous feet, and silly antics – like making underarm gas noises – becomes a young man ready for the world by the time he graduates.  The insecure freshman girl with the shy smile may become a poised, confident, college co-ed in a very short four years.

Those of you, who have the honor of influencing the lives of our nation’s students, please take a few moments to savor the first day of school, the feeling of walking on the freshly waxed floor, the eagerness on your students’ faces, the smells of the hot rolls in the cafeteria, the sounds of the bells, buses, announcements.  Love every moment of it. You are making a difference and an indelible imprint on a student’s life.  Today, I envy you.

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

About Me

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get sidetracked into issues that I find interesting or timely.   Disclaimer This is my personal … Read More...

Follow Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. ...a researcher, educator, instructional designer, writer, mom, activist, and optimist, and this is my personal blog.  I mostly write about educational issues, but can get … Read More...

From the Blog

  • Experiencing Shame and Compassion
  • Leaving Shame Behind
  • Avoiding Burnout – Getting Real About Your Schedule
  • Self-care for Teachers: A Lesson from my Peach Tree
  • Insist on Educational Excellence

Archives

Find it here

Copyright © 2021 · Elizabeth Green