It's A Miracle and A Reflection

Cue the Angelic harmony of voices.


I'm actually writing full time now. Seriously, I haven't written like this since my ya novel, Angel Diaries. I've had a writers block for . . . Good God, for two years! *Falls over and keels over* You know, it seems like time itself just speeds on by especially when you're stuck in the reading and writing world. It seems like you transgress worlds in the matter of hours when sitting down reading a book or even when trying to contemplate ideas for writing a book. I know there times where I would be thinking about the plot of my books and of trying to come up with ideas for my television series (Afterlife Investigations) script while walking to class. Even though I was physically there, I was mentally somewhere else.

Even though I could reflect back on when I tried to walk and read at the same time (Anyone else try that?),  my brain is already on another subject: Teaching.



My brother, Adam, came home last night to give my mother her birthday present (Yes, my mother's birthday is two days away from mother's day. Good for her, right? Totally unfair for the children) and to talk about his teacher adventures. He should start his own blog, lol for what he deals with and how he deals with it. But I do deserve the credit for inspiring him to teach. It's like a bug, you know? Once I started talking about my desire to teach, everyone in my family started to talk about joining to bandwagon. Crazy huh?

Back to teaching and my brother. Well, he's a P.E. teacher but he doesn't do the whole blowing whistles and make you run laps. He teaches more of the Health classes minus the boring lectures on not smoking and what happens when your mind is on drugs. Anyway, he walked into class and told the students to divide into two sections, one that believed in health care shouldn't be free and the others who do. The students got up and divided themselves.

Okay, weird for a P.E. teacher to do this right? Well, he was being observed by history teachers and math teachers. Additionally, he free styled this whole thing which I don't think I could ever do, but anyway, let's continue.

Then for the people who thought everyone should pay for health care side, he had a scenario for them. They all work in Hinton Hospital (not a real hospital, and yes, he used our last name to name the hospital) to find the cure for AIDS. They are paid 2.5 million dollars a year. All the students were excited about that. In the process of trying to fins a cure, an accident happened. They created an air born version of AIDS and one of the workers has been contaminated with it. Now the workers made a cure, Hintopolis, for it but it costs 750,000 dollars to get it.

Students complained that it wasn't fair, since people don't have that much money. So then he posed another scenario: If you, the worker, were sick and your mother was sick then who would you cure? The students also thought that was unfair and asked why they would have to choose?

The other students who chose free health care started to feel good and stated that they're patients wouldn't have to pay for health care. So then my brother posed another scenario: Okay same hospital, but instead of the workers being paid 2.5 million dollars, y'all are going to be paid 250, 000 dollars a year. You know the students had a problem with that. He told them that the money to pay for those drugs, the hospital building bills and all that stuff has to come out of somewhere. That money doesn't just fall out of the sky.

This lead to a discussion of other government funds, like welfare. He told them about a day he went to Wal-Mart and this lady on welfare had a food stamp credit card. She was bragging that all about this credit card and how the government was going to pay for all of items in her basket. She didn't have food though. She had all types of different electronics. Big screen television screens, PSP, X-Box, and some other stuff. Then he showed the students an old paycheck of his. He showed them where the government is taking money out of paychecks and funding people on welfare. So it's no longer government money coming out of the sky, but really out your own hard working pay check. And some people, like the lady at Wal-Mart, were misusing funds out of your paycheck.

The students were furious. He quickly pointed out that not all people on welfare misuse funds but there are people who do. He did the math too on the board. You all know that the government takes out a good chunk out of a paycheck too. I don't need to provide that, but let's just say the students were getting the idea that money doesn't just pour out of the government. We fund it.

This led to another discussion of the political nature of Democrats versus Republican ideals. The students were shocked that their thoughts and ideals were more Republican then Democrat. For example, one of the students didn't believe in gay marriage and thought they were Democratic. Therefore, my brother provided another scenario: What happens if you are running for president and let out that you don't approve of gay marriages?

More math for you people who love math. He asked how many people do you think are lesbians and gays in America? He low balled it at 30,000 people in every state. Some student made a crack that there are a lot of gay people in California. During this time, his vice principal entered in who's a lesbian. However, he continued on with his students that not every gay and lesbian live in one state. They live everywhere. So he put the math on the board of 50 states with 30,000 homosexuals in each state equal 180,000 voters who will not vote for you.

The student said that wasn't fair. He didn't say he didn't like gays but gay marriages. My brother countered that he voted for President Barack Obama because he supported teachers. The students were shocked and asked like that was the only reason he voted for him? There were other reasons, but that was definitely part of the many reasons he voted for him. Just like homosexuals wouldn't vote for a person who doesn't support what they want to do which is to get married. Democrats support that and other programs that fund people in dire restraints as far as socioeconomic wise.

You liked how I pulled that word out: Socioeconomic? Lol, that's what college education does: Give you words that just over complicate a simple word. Like poor=lower socioeconomic class.

Anyway, all this to say, the students and the teachers were impressed. The students actually reconsidered their political choices. The history and math teachers were definitely impressed about how he incorporated math and history into one lesson plan. Except he free-styled it. I'm amazed at how he did that. Just off the top of his dome.

I hope I have days like that. Inspiring and like an ah-hah moment for my students. I couldn't imagine not having a learning environment where students just do their work and not learn anything. I would ultimately think I'm a failure at having my students progress in ways that they should. I want my students to know about real life and not in this fantasy world that is just as fake as spray on tans.

Sure it seems nice and give people the illusion getting enough sun and of fitting in, but when the rubber meets the road, it's all this great big lie. Just like the American Dream. People come from all around the world believing in this dream that they can live better lives here in America then when they get here they learn very quickly that it was a half lie. Sure, you can be a billionaire, but you have to build up connections and have money and have luck. Sometimes a lot of luck, but not everyone has it.

Everyone cannot become the next Opray Winfrey or Bill Gates. And not every American is rich. Every time I went overseas, there seemed to be the ideal that every single American is rich and that's certainly not true. Or the fact that people think that Americans don't go hungry or ever poor. Just like my brother proved in his lecture, there are people who go hungry and need government assistance but then there are other people who are poor but abuse the system. Or people who don't want to work and use welfare to support themselves enough to just live without lifting a finger except to pick up a check.

End of political rant, lol. The point is I want to motivate my students to challenge themselves at everything they believe in. I never want them to think that's there is only one way to live but that there are many. That there is no right or wrong, but only endless possibilities.

Did another teacher have this ah-hah teaching moment that all of the work to get there worth it? I would love to hear from you!