Immanuel

Immanuel

Written by: David DeRose

Sweat beads cascading down her exhausted face.

Excruciating pain met with sublime relief

When a mother’s screams were exchanged with a baby's cry

Holding Him close to the chest,

Sweetly gazing at His face.

Each rise and fall of his back make the pain worth it.

His warm little body comforting her.

Their eyes meet, with a twinkle and a tear.

They whisper, “It is a boy… and we will call him Jesus.”

That sweet moment when,

The new parents gave a first glance

On the One who would give us all a chance.

From ear to ear, faces swallowed by grins.

– Gleaming –

This Boy would heal the world from sins.

This glorious day,

This momentous moment,

In walked two, and out walked three.

Hosanna

Sweater

Sweater

Written by: David DeRose

Outside, fat snowflakes fall

Heels sunk into the ottoman

Beneath my legs, a fluffy dog takes a deep breath

Reclined into a deep couch

Large pillows accept my back

Sigh

Hand laid over my forehead
Fingers pressing down towards my eyebrows
Soft woven sweater embraces my torso
Coffee warms my soul
Soaking in this moment
Rest
Music fills my ears with magnificent melodies
Daydreaming of adventures,
And moments yet to be captured excite my heart
Mind lost in wonder and possibilities
I am present in my mind
Peace

Bill O'Reilly, Who Are We

Bill O'Reilly, Who Are We?

Written by: David DeRose

Watch the O'Reilly/Simmons discussion here.

“With Malice towards none,With charity for all,With firmness in the right as God gives us the right,Let us finish the work we are in,To bind up the nation’s wounds,To care for him who shall have born the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace amongst ourselves and with all nations.” 

                                                                   – Abe Lincoln 2^nd Inaugural Address March 4, 1865

Love one another like family does.
Pure hearts; uncompromising.
Not as insolent children with grudges.

In contrast,
Bill O'Reilly rages at the black community for fatalities and drugs.
Condemning Russell Simmons like a Victorian judge,

Slamming remarks like a gavel. 
"Why don't you protest black violence?!?" O’Reilly exclaims.

“You weren’t there!” he accuses,

Verbs conveying verdicts - guilty.

His verdict for the black community.

I’m not mad at him.

I just think he is blind.

Blind to the fact that it is our shared verdict.
Why isn't HE protesting black violence?

How is he helping the situation that he so clearly diagnosed?
Who is he to judge?

How is this “their” fault?
Instead of pelting Russell Simmons with guilty sentences,

Lift him up with positive sentences,

Stop berating and start contemplating.
O’Reilly gains nothing pointing fingers.

His return on investment is perpetuating polarization.

He would do more with hugs. 
Embracing the reality that "Their success is our success!”

- Nelson Mandela. 
As people, we are connected.

Not some western caste system.
Designed for social cohesion.
Organizing and categorizing foreshadows already foreseen futures.
Only when there is chaos are things made clear.
This isn’t work for diverse populations but in homogeneous organizations. 

We are here together and... “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Realize, institutions and individuals are imperfect,

But as people we are perfect. 

So how can Bill O’Reilly, and other like him, actually help?

The answer is nothing new; love.
Love each other,

As family loves.

As Jesus loves.

Love is  not expressed with shouts and screams of blame.

But rather, shared in a whisper.

Hardly escaping lips audibly.

Intimate, warm, honest.

It’s the kind of love that asks tough questions,

And listens to authentic answers.

When heartbreak happens,

Love answers.

Love empathizes, hurts, and feels.

Then love acts; uncompromising.

Love is not an option, choice, or decision.

It is a duty.

To love is to feel pain.

To ignore pain is to authorize it.

Signing the dotted line with tears of mothers burying babies.

There is a deep pain that the white community needs to acknowledge,

 The despair our black and brown brothers and sisters.

This pain has been sanctioned ignorance

And discounted by the blindness of white privilege for far too long.

To be fair,

Maybe not every-one knew this pain existed.

Perfectly exemplifying the privilege they possess.

But now they do. 

The pain has been exposed.

The cries have been heard.

No longer shall we turn a deaf ear and blind privileged eye.

Time to listen to the pain.

Time to share the pain.

Time to act to fix the pain.

Pain is transformative.

Love and pain are parents to chaos.

Total loss of control.

Only chaos makes things clear.

Like a machete cutting through thickets of ignorance.

Step back, gestalt.
Whole lives have been lived and been devoted to causes

For me to observe and experience to obtain this realization.

I have seen, heard, and felt their struggle.

Impacted by countless lives,

Some known and others whose existence I will forever be unaware.

A river shaping rocks over time.

Direct impacts – stone to stone collisions – rattling my core

Unseen forces; weather, temperature, and snow-melt upstream

Shape my present perception of reality.

How many of these lives where white folks?

Black folks?

Native folks?

All cosmically connected

By an unquantifiable extent of happenstance.

Regardless of their race,

Over the millennia,

Countless individuals have lifted me up.

Regardless of my race.

My face.

My features.

They gave pace!

Like divine preachers.

Unknowingly illuminating my path with truth.

No judge or jury just fury.

Risking everything,

Attempting to move mountains.

Am I doing the same?

Are you, Bill O’Reilly?

Now you tell me, who are we?

So...

So... 

Written by: Dave DeRose

So...

So precious 

So frail

Hanging in the balance

On the tight rope

So high are aspirations

Action often met by aggravation

A messy made path

Unclear destination, and yet 

So far to go

So much desired to accomplish

So much at stake

So little say in the matter

Illusions of guaranteed time

Yet, so taken for granted

What words have I not spoken?

What affections not expressed?

What more could I have done?

So many things...

Bittersweet brevity

Dangling on the precipice of fate

5 Ways Teacher Education Programs Fail New Teachers

5 Ways Teacher Education Programs Fail New Teachers

Written by: Dave DeRose

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I have been teaching for six years. As I reminisce over the past years, I am reminded of the many struggles I faced. Struggles that irritated, stressed, and depressed me. I wasn’t alone either, I have had many friends – who were great teachers— leave the profession for good. As sad as that is, they left for a variety of reasons. Some found new passions, but most were pushed out; pushed out by society and various truths regarding education, public education specifically. Truths that they had never been given the tools to face. I believe teacher education programs are to blame. 

At one point, I was so distraught with the institution of education that I was going to quit to become a personal trainer (which had been a part time job I had for two years while teaching). Because I was able to weather the storm, I was able to conceive this list. It is my goal that in reading this, whether you are a professor, new teacher, a teacher-to-be, or a veteran teacher, that we can better implement strategies to support our future educators to deal with the realities that face them.

1.  Focusing too much on techniques that will never be used day-to-day.

I personally spent hours writing Madeline Hunter lesson plans, of which I have written zero in my actual career as an educator. While I believe that being able to identify a lessons objective and purpose, it is not something that needs to take up so much of the curriculum time. I offer instead, focus on the skills, will, and talent teachers will need to be successful. Examples of skills teachers actually need are prioritization and organization. You have 100 papers to grade, an IEP meeting, PLC meeting, and a pre-observation meeting, how do you plan on prioritize what you do first (also considering what documents you need to bring to each)? How will you organize your assignments? If a parent or administrator wants a body of evidence on a student, will your organizational strategy hold up?

2.  Focusing too much on “perfect case scenarios.”

Undergraduate education courses are full of fluffy language. Professors speak in flowery language depicting the role of teachers, how they will be received by the public, and by students. This creates a completely misguided vision of what “the classroom” will be like. Life is not a movie where they teacher comes in and magically saves the day. It takes so much more than a positive attitude and belief in education being the x-factor in improving station in life for students. It takes a knowledge of trials and tribulations schools actually face; which brings me to my next point.

3.  They don’t do case studies teachers actually face.

In doing case studies of realistic scenarios that schools actually face allows teachers-to-be an avenue to work on the problems they will actually face in the schools they will be working at. Have them solve problems like, “New teacher gets hired at a new school, teacher only knows how to use computers, projectors, and Smart Boards, and however the school has none of these resources. Teacher walks into the classroom and sees an overhead projector and chalk board. What resources does this teacher need? How can he/she improve her situation?” Acknowledging the actual state of education will prepare new teachers for the realities of the profession. Pretending like they don’t exist sets new teachers up for extreme stress and disappointment. They can handle the truth (unlike Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men”). Take the resolve they have and properly aim it, like a skilled archer, considering wind speed, rain, humidity, and distance.

 4.  They must learn to create a voice for communicating with different stakeholders around the school (i.e. parents, colleagues, and administrators).

There is no class that prepares teachers-to-be on how to communicate with the various stakeholders they will deal with on a daily basis. Why isn’t there a class that teaches how to write letters to parents when they have an issue with something that happened in class (i.e. student’s grade, content, or behavioral referral)? One that teaches how to communicate with administrators regarding needs teachers have in class (i.e. professional development, strategies, or support in dealing with a colleague)? This is an essential skill that is used daily in the career of a teacher that never is addressed in teacher education programs.

5. They need give teachers a vision for longevity in their career. 

Teaching is a unique profession. I am sure you hear that a lot, but hear me out on this. It is a job that people stay in because of its moral fiber, not due to pay raises/bonuses, vacations, or any perk imaginable that actually exist in other professions. The turnover rate is 70% in the first five years because teacher lose track of the importance of their moral standing: lost in the ambiguity of how society views success, lack of support by parents, and the inability to see if your impact directly. By clearly establishing a mission and vision for a teacher-to-be’s career will alleviate many of society’s pressures. When a teacher has a clear idea of what they are doing and why, they are more successful and will stick with the career.