How long has it been since you were really bothered?



Ryan Bretag via

4 Responses to “How long has it been since you were really bothered?”

  1. Ha! How funny to read this right now!

    I work in teacher prep and I am constantly bothered by how society views teachers. I work hard to promote the profession both in my institution and in the greater community. I write letters to the local newspaper, praising the work of community education. I contact state legislators, advocating for reasonable and researched education reform in the state. I even volunteer in my kids’ school when I can, truly believing that teachers and parents working together are a powerful combination.

    Then, I have a student who is student teaching complain about some requirement, saying, “Well, I don’t think I’m going to teach anyway…” It bothers me so much when people who don’t absolutely believe in the integrity of this profession and in the service schooling does for all of society opt to get a teaching license. It bothers me that, because of the legal implications for the institution, I can’t just rip up that student’s licensing application and explain to them that teaching is not a “fall back” profession.

    And sometimes it bothers me that it bothers me so much.

  2. Everyday I’m bothered by something I consider tragically flawed, or appallingly lame, or absolutely absurd. I could mention politics and the state of our current “government” but, that’s not what we’re at this blog for…

    Let’s see, just yesterday I had a teacher tell me, “children should not be on the computer, they should be outside playing,” in response to being trained how to build a classroom blog. And another, “Just say no to technology; it’s not in our contract.”

  3. I don’t get those attitudes either.

    Kids shouldn’t be on computers they should be outside playing.

    Are they using computers during recess or specials time? Otherwise wouldn’t they be in class anyways?

    Why does using computers negate being outside?

    My local extended family has 6 kids age 8, 7, 9, 4, 3 and almost 1. The 5 older ones are very techie and use various screens every day. They can also out hike everyone of their friends. They spend a ton of time outside.

    A couple of weekends ago the whole lot were at our farm. They ran around, they collected bugs, they managed to flip the hammock with the three oldest in it, and they also produced a “wild life documentary”. Granted the Mom wasn’t to happy when she went to take a picture and found the batter on her SLR drained. Still they had a blast.

  4. So timely. Tomorrow I have a class with our student government leadership team based on my seminar and book The Falconer and my topic will be the role that dissonance plays in our creative lives. If we are not bothered by something, we are, well, just sitting around not being creative. Being bothered means that we are experiencing dissonance; dissonance is the root of problems; and finding problems is the origin of creativity.

    I ask students and teachers to make sure they are bothered by something every day. I get a lot of blank stares, but some “get it”, and those are the folks for whom creativity has a spot on their DNA.

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