Art shared how, when he was a child, his dad told him: 'If you have a problem with a teacher, I'll go up there to the school and address it.  However, if I find out that you are part of the problem, you'll be sorry I ever went up there.'  Consequently, said Art, he tended to tow the line at school and sure didn't go home whining about the teacher.  He was much more afraid of his dad than he was of any adult up at the school.

CNN recently reported on this sea change with an article by the fantastic Ron Clark that you can access by clicking here.  It encourages parents to:

• Please quit with all the excuses
• Be a partner instead of a prosecutor

He decries the fact that teachers are always "walking on eggshells."  He is dead on.  In fact, all school personnel are walking on eggshells.  Parents are not---too often---full partners.  While there are many exceptions, clearly deference and respect for one of the most difficult occupations that exists (making young people do what they typically don't want to do for 180 days per year) is at an all-time low.  Too many parents now work harder at being best friends with their child than being parents fostering the growth of undeveloped minds, manners, and bodies.

I will explore this theme much more in future posts.  What can be more foundational to a young person's growth than the role of the parent in setting boundaries and expectations that support the village helping to raise their child?


I spent Day 20 talking to folks around Orlando FL about this topic---among others central to continuous improvement in education---before returning to Art and Marla's home for a second night stay.  My day of discussions in Orlando only further confirmed in my mind that we have trended toward unhealthy disrespect of educators...and Americans know it. 

The morning of Day 21 I pulled out heading back to the eastern coast of Florida.  Thanks so much to Art and Marla for a pleasant and productive stay in St. Cloud!

---

Riding stats--- Day 19: 327 miles traveled, 6 hours and 1 minute of moving time, 5 hours and 17 minutes of stopped time, 54.3 miles per hour moving average, 28.9 overall average, and a max speed of 84.7 miles per hour.  Day 20: 63.78 miles traveled, 2 hours and 24 minutes of moving time, 6 hours and 31 minutes of stopped time, 26.4 miles per hour average moving time, 7.1 overall average, and a max speed of 77.1 miles per hour.

While Lady Hillary can never be replaced in the Blaise home (and her many adventures will soon be the basis of a children's book series), there is currently a battle going on for the affection and hearts of Linda and Denis.  Their baby half Yorkie-Half Maltese---Tiffany---jealously vies for their attention with the Love Bird that freely roams the inside of their home each morning---Oiseau---French for "The Bird." 


Since I put off my arrival to Bonita Springs by a day, I only had the pleasure of spending a single night at the home of Linda and Denis.  It was an interesting, inspiring time.  I've met so many interesting people along my journey thus far.  A little bird whispered in my ear---->there will be many more!

Riding stats: Day 17: 146.9 miles traveled, 4 hours and 6 minutes moving time, 3 hours and 22 minutes of stopped time, 35.7 miles per hour moving average, 19.6 overall miles per hour average, and a max speed of 78.9 miles per hour.

I visited Daytona International Speedway on Day 16.  Auto mechanics, crew chiefs, drivers, and others in this industry were once more reliant on a traditional knowledge base, seemingly ageless tools, and a more measured pace of innovation.  Now---to be successful---they must be constantly innovating, adjusting in real-time, and high tech in their approach.  They must push the limits of their abilities by employing every tool at their disposal to become more deliberate and exacting sooner rather than later.  Complacency and reliance on tradition have no place in a race for excellence.

Is the pace of the continuous improvement process in schools suitable to the high stakes race to improve the performance of each individual student?  Are educators using all the tools at their disposal to help students take wing and fly into a bright future?!

Joe's daughter Kristen lives near Indianapolis IN.  He invited me to have a chat with her on the phone about the education of her two daughters, one an eighth grader and the other a sixth grader.  We spoke for thirty minutes or so about the International School of Indiana.

My conversation with Kristen was a very pleasant one...and she even invited me for a stay at her home when I make it up to the Indianapolis area later this year.  I wish her the best in finding the extra funds for next school year to keep her daughters in what seems to be a most excellent, progressive school.

The picture above is of Sandhill Cranes, which are a protected species in Florida.  They roam neighborhoods (the picture here is across the street from Joe and Diane's place) and I have passed within feet of them while traveling over sixty miles an hour on Florida's highways.  Many appreciate their beauty and the importance of protecting them.  Others see them as a nuisance and wish for a more Darwinian approach.  To what degree should our public school system be a protected species?  Should it be at all?

Riding stats:  Day 14---Day of rest and catching up!

From Macintosh Bev and I headed out to Micanopy FL.  It is home to around 700 people and was the "first distinct U.S. town in Florida, with settlement beginning after Spain ceded the Florida territory in 1821."  The area was the setting for native Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel The Yearling.  We ate a lunch of homemade bread with hummus at the Mosswood Farm Organic Store & Bake House.  The kitchen is literally a small home kitchen you walk past to eat on the shaded backyard patio.  Nothing formal here!  The food and treats are phenomenal none the less!


Bev is a near lifelong diabetic.  She must test her levels several times a day and recalled how this medical condition was largely misunderstood and overlooked when she was in school.  As a student, she had to practically fend for herself to monitor and correct her levels.  Her mom even stitched sugar packets into the waistline of her pants in case she needed to ingest some in an emergency.  Bev noted that food was not allowed in school, but she almost always had some hidden away anyway out of medical necessity.  Her story got me thinking.

I explained to her how eating and drinking in class is still an issue in our more 'enlightened' (?) 21st century schools.  Despite an overwhelming body of research that concludes young people need water and nutrients throughout the day to maximize the development of their growing bodies, most classrooms are food and drink free zones.  It is reasoned that they should drink water from fountains in the hallway during their 4-5 minute passing periods.  More often than not, they don't.  In fact, many of us adults would not want to drink out of these fountains ourselves.  Untrained lips sometimes cup the spouts, spit often adorns the sink surface, and discarded gum is a regular occupant of various parts of the fountain.  If every young person drank as much as they should, the lines would be long and tardies would increase.  Besides, the water is often hot and tastes like something other than water!

Given all of this, why are snacks and water not allowed in the majority of classrooms in American schools?  One reason is that young people are messy.  Crumbs attract bugs, water destroys textbooks and technology, food allergies can kill... and, besides, wrappers are noisy!  The whole question lends itself to a legitimate cost-benefit analysis.

At least we now do better about taking care of the needs of diabetics and students with other special dietary needs in our schools.  At least now, students who---due to medical conditions---must use the bathroom more frequently than others are allowed to do so.  Educators are more informed about these special needs (when they have access to the information in a timely manner) and they tend to be more flexible in meeting them.  There are, however, still MANY exceptions.

One very preventable exception is when teachers are unaware of the special need.  In some schools, even when the information is shared by the school nurse or special education staff, the information is delayed in getting to the classroom teacher.  Often it is in a little red folder (or the equivalent paper communication) that is distributed at the beginning of school, but is often delayed by the start-up curve and frenzied pace of a new school year.  There is no reason for this delay and inefficiency!  Modern data management using online systems, like those EdClick offers, allow for immediate dissemination of this information, as well as easy access for review and reference as needed.  The information can be readily updated anytime throughout the year, as warranted.  It is all there, paperless and linked to the student profile for all educators with a need to know to see by clicking a couple of links.  Organized, readily-accessible, and timely.

This can be especially important when students are off-campus at school-sponsored activities or are in common areas being supervised by educators other than their regular classroom teachers.  What happens when a student gets injured during an extracurricular activity, field trip, or other such event and her/his records are not available to the supervising educators?  Modern day technologies, again...like those EdClick offers, allow for that information to be accessed quickly in times of need.  Information on allergies, medical conditions, and contacts in case of emergency should be available whenever school personnel are supervising young people...even off-campus.  Using a smart phone, laptop, iPad, or whatever other modern device, the supervising adult should have access to all critical information on each child.  EdClick's data management solutions make this possible for any school or district, at a very reasonable cost.

The mystery boiled down to: what the heck happened to these planes?  Two are pictured above...and another below.  I walked around behind the yellow rope and snapped some pictures before a man approached me and let me know I was in a restricted, dangerous area.  He explained that there are many torn, sharp pieces of metal in this area.  I apologized and proceeded to strike up a conversation with this man--->Mr. Mike Thompson.  As it turned out, he is a fascinating guy!

Riding stats: Day 10--casual riding of Skip's BMW R1200GS.  Day 11--247.6 miles, 4 hours and 31 minutes of moving time, 3 hours and 37 minutes of stopped time, 54.6 moving average miles per hour, 30.3 overall average miles per hour, and a max speed of 82.1 miles per hour.

Skip currently has two motorcycles, a Goldwing and a BMW R1200GS.  He let me ride the BMW dual-sport bike around town, which I enjoyed very much!  Skip is a motorcycle safety instructor and an all-around great guy.  He was also an English teacher in Slidell, LA for 15 years, so we had some interesting conversations about his views on public education in Louisiana and beyond.

Speaking of Slidell, another favorite part of my visit to this area around New Orleans was lunch at Cracker Barrel with Rae Stansbury---my grandmother introduced in my last post. She is 88 and lives in Slidell taking care of her 93 year-old sister, Tyne. 


Another highlight was supposed to be the national championship game between LSU and Alabama.  I felt so lucky to be in the NOLA area during this huge game.  Skip, Karen, and (most of all by a bunch) Leigh were pulling for Alabama.  Gene and I were pulling for LSU.  It was so lopsided in Alabama's favor that the joke after the game was: "Did you know the LSU football team was stuck in their bus in New Orleans after the game? ....Yea, someone painted a 50-yard line in front of it and it never could get past that line!"

Riding stats: Day 6---off.  Day 7---48.04 miles, 75.3 max speed, 1 hour 44 minutes moving time, 4 hours 17 minutes stopped time, 27.6 miles per hour average moving speed.

I enjoyed visiting with the adults too!  Pictured below (left to right) are Principal Joel Desselle, Dean of Students David Perkins, and Teacher Larry Knight.