By: Bill Cumming
Each day in newspapers and on internet home pages throughout the western world, horoscopes are written to predict, according to the heavenly information for your astrological sign, how your day will turn out or what to be aware of. Mine for Saturday was innocuous:
Libra
As much as the details of life can be a drag, you would be wise to get a handle on them today – especially details about an upcoming special event. It’s really just a matter of prioritizing what goes into the ‘must have’ column and what goes into the ‘nice to have’ column. Spend a few hours sifting through your choices and you’ll have much more time for fun later! Lay the groundwork today so that you can fully enjoy yourself and time with your friends.
Get organized, prioritize, and get ready. Good advice for any circumstance. Problems arise when the horoscope puts ideas before the mind that relate to negative issues or trigger already existing negative thoughts. Even in the first line of this horoscope it states that the details of life can be a drag. If you say so. But those who have not mastered the doing of routine chores with alacrity are drawn into negative thoughts about daily activities. Then, often, they do these chores poorly, if at all. What if doing chores were seen as a way to contribute to those we love? What if leaving things in better shape than we found them became our way of saying I love you. If you think about the almost constant condition of public highways and areas in the United States, it would be clear that our love of country and freedom has limits. Nothing more or less than ideas before the mind.
The most critical use of language to produce ideas before the mind takes place in schools. Part of the forward to an important book for teachers and parents, “How to Grade for Learning,” captures the issue brilliantly.
“Early in our daughter, Krissy’s, third grade school year, she arrived home after school with a paper in her hand and a tear in her eye. She was carrying a ‘story’ she had written. Her assignment was to write about something or someone that she cared about. She gave it to her mom and me with obvious trepidation.
As we read, we found the touching tale of the kitten named Kelly who came to be part of our family briefly and then had to go home to the farm because of allergies and because she was just too aggressive. Krissy had wanted a kitten so badly and was so sad about losing her special new friend. The story clearly reflected the work of an emergent writer. As unsophisticated as it was, it captured the emotions of the event. It was quite touching. Krissy’s six or seven sentences filled about two-thirds of the sheet of paper. In the space below the story at the bottom of the sheet, there appeared a very big, very red F. So naturally, my wife and I asked why Krissy had been assigned a failing grade.
Her reply triggered some very strong emotions within both of us when Krissy replied with a tear in her eye. The teacher told us that we were to fill the page, and I didn’t do that. And so she said I didn’t follow directions and I failed. I don’t think I’ll ever be a good writer anyway…”
The forward of the book goes on to laud the contents of the book as it details the importance of fair and appropriate communications and expectations regarding grading. It is a quantum leap in the right direction and it misses the most important issue of all. KIDS ARE NOT THEIR GRADES. Their value and worth in the world, what they will achieve in the future, has nothing to do with the results they produce this week or this year. No matter what system we design and use for letting young people know what is still available to be learned, we must never confuse them with their grades.
In elementary school, I was told I wasn’t a good reader. I didn’t read much, didn’t like it and found every way I could to avoid doing it. In the summer of my eighth grade year I went to a terrific, four week, reading clinic at Trinity College. I was told there that I simply hadn’t yet been taught the secrets to reading for superb comprehension and speed, and that’s what we were going to be doing. They were right; I learned to read with good comprehension and with whatever speed I wanted. From that summer forward, I have loved books of every kind, always having at least one fiction and one non-fiction text going in addition to several spiritual works.
Krissy is fortunate to have parents who know she is not that F and that she can be a great writer. My parents found that great reading program. Unfortunately, many, if not most people believe the ideas that are put before their minds.
Phil Donahue was in a reading group in elementary school, too. They called the groups in his school the eagles, the blue jays and the crows. No one thought the crows were the best group. No one seems to know what happened to the rest of the crows.
Each of us can contribute tremendously simply by not buying into negative, labeling ideas before the mind. Don’t read horoscopes as a predictor of your moods or actions in a day. And if you hear a child speak as if they were their grades, let them know that you know otherwise.
