This song is so very sweet. I don't even care that it is Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus.
These last few weeks has been unbelievable in so many ways.
I have been unbelievably busy, tired, stressed, motivated, exhilarated, and inspired.
School has been getting busier, harder, more involved and more informative.
I (still) have projects and papers due all. the. time. but despite how overwhelmed I feel, I truly do love what I'm doing and where I'm going.
I have nearly finished a very hard, detailed, and long paper (the common is to be between 30-40 pages), and although I have stressed about it, I feel more informed about the standards, goals, guidelines, and principles of developmentally appropriate practice and curriculum.
Being more informed has not only helped me with school projects but with my newly discovered passion about educational policies. My good friend Rachel has inspired me to use the voice I have to speak out about the injustices that are happening to the education system in Louisiana and the country. I have a strong, passionate, and smart voice and I need to use it. Rachel has used her voice to write a letter to many members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and when they didn't respond, she had the letter sent to the newspapers and other media. It was published and has now been read personally in front of not only the board members it was originally sent to but to the entire board and many members of the state community as a whole.
Rachel, our friend Katy and I have gone to the BESE committee and board meetings that have gone on over the past two days and it was so much more informative and shocking than any of us imagined. We have made great contacts and have gotten wonderful encouragement and support from many people at the meetings and from our professors. We have also personally witnessed the disrespect that is happening to not just parents, teachers and other education professionals but toward other board memories themselves.
I am inspired to continue to be involved in how the policies are made and how the are enforced because I value the career of teaching and the education of ALL children (not just those I'll be certified and qualified to teach). I believe those who make the policies need to have realistic and practical views of what happens the whole spectrum of classrooms.
Here are some videos of my friends and I. (the sound is very low, i recommend headphones)
Rachel 1
Rachel 2
Abbey
Katy and Abbey
Here are the links to Rachel's letter and to her being quoted in another paper about the meetings.
The Advocate (letter)
NOLA (quote)
I just have to finish (for NOW) by saying that it isn't until you need to prove your point on why your opinion is valid that you understand how much you truly know. (Rachel said that.. :) )
