Back to Bloggin': Be the Change for a Better America

In light of all the controversy surrounding Colin Kaepernick's decision to take a knee for the National Anthem, it seems things have spiraled quickly into discussions of  how loyal or patriotic one can be if he or she has a different view of what symbols of patriotism in this country represent.  Whatever one's feelings are; we have to continue to understand that they are feelings and valid for each individual.  History is complex.  The eras before us held a lot of pain, suffering, and disregard for Black Americans.  No one can deny that.  It is almost inconceivable to even ask those who live in 2016 to forget it especially when we live in a society that prompts us to NEVER FORGET the atrocities of other groups.  Let's be fair;  we all can say that history has not been kind to Black Americans.  To deny that is a valid enforcement of what Kap and others who are using Free Speech to show their disapproval of the status quo. Thus we are at this point where people are pointing fingers and even categorizing who can be a "real" American.  We are ALL Americans.  This country belongs to each and every one who lives here and calls it HOME. 


For those who know me, especially my students present or past, you know I have always been an avid researcher of history. I spent the better part of my life in library archives reading primary sources of history ( viewing pictures, reading letters, official documents, etc) trying to understand the behaviors, reasons, and complexities of eras. With that said, I have never DREAMED that some of the things I read would actually be happening again in my lifetime and in my proximity.
It is both frightening and enlightening to know that people are still experiencing the same feelings and pain that existed 50-100 years ago.


I DO NOT AGREE NOR CONDONE VIOLENCE IN ANY FORM BY ANYONE. I don't care who you are. If you are wrong; you are wrong. Ask my kids... I tell them that all the time. Be bigger than that.  Those persons who choose the route of violence ( rioting, looting, hurting others) obviously really have no clue of the struggle and steps to progress for humanity. Many are just acting out in order to have an excuse to act out. #yeahISaidIt


The true measure of a man or woman comes with his or her ability to separate one's self from things that you know are wrong. Basic common sense, morality, and ethical decisions combined with the "Golden Rule" could save a lot of people from being stereotyped and categorized.


My wish is for everyone is to BE THE CHANGE to make the difference in our society. Examine yourself. I do daily. If you are pointing fingers and making collective statements ( as we all do) fix it. Have empathy and understanding even in times that you may not even agree. Everyone knows his/her pain from past or present experience.


Finally Show LOVE... I have said it before, and I will say it again: God gave us the cure all: The Greatest of these is LOVE. Apply that. It really works. Be blessed; be safe; and make better choices for you and your family so that we can all make it through life happy and whole. #DrWW  #DrSunshine

Where is the Substitute Teacher and the Overhead Projector? Back to School 2014

 

Backpacks, pencils, and paper: Oh My! After 23 years of teaching, the start of Fall is always filled with the anticipation for a brand new school year. It seems that I have spent the greater part of my life either in a classroom as a student from grades PreK-12, then undergrad for four years, Master’s for 2-3 years depending on who’s counting, and finally doctoral studies for almost 4 years. That’s not the end of it; however, because in between all of the latter years, I was always teaching and STILL in a classroom.

 Schoolyards and college campuses have been the constant theme in my life.  Even on days that I did not have class or was off work, I found myself volunteering in one or both of my children’s schools all throughout their years. If I had to add up the number of minutes that I have spent at a school, college, or university, I have no doubt that it would be greater than the time I have spent anywhere else. School has been my life!

As I reflect back on the many years that I have spent in education, so much of when I began has changed over the years.  Most have been gradual changes, but others have been sudden and shocking. For example, who would have thought a day would come when there was NO pencil sharpener in a classroom? Yes, that’s right. Many of the classrooms today don’t have the little metal thing on the wall that everyone wanted to walk to in the middle of class just so we could say “hi” to friend across the room, show off a new outfit, or just get up for the fun of it to make class go by just a little faster.

Books? What books?  When I attended school, everyone had a set of books. That meant we had a books for math, reading, Language Arts, science, social studies, and even a SPELLING BOOK. Now, each student is lucky to have a workbook…that’s if the budget allows.  Several schools are now buying book sets for the class in which teachers allow students to “use “ the book in class and “check it out” {maybe} for homework…that is if there are enough in the set.  Thank God for e-books, right?  I am sure my late Grandmother would really get a laugh off of that one… an e-book. 

Everything is moving towards electronic and technical or “smart” as we like to call it. Smart boards and smart classrooms replace the whiteboards and chalkboards of the past.  I distinctly remember student teaching on a chalkboard. When I was hired the next year by my first school, I was highly impressed that this school used whiteboards with markers instead of “outdated” chalkboards.  That was progress to me.  So to see whiteboards move over to Smartboards has been a career shock and wake up to me that I have been in this education game for a long time.

Who remembers being excited to see a student ROLL in the television on a cart? Or maybe your instruction for the day was done on an overhead projector?  What about the map that pulled down from the wall?  Yes, sad to say that these too are on their way out the door. Who needs a television when you can project the movie from YouTube or Netflix from the smart work station onto the screen? Who needs a map that stays the same when you can download virtual maps that show from satellite the exact place and address you are teaching in real or asynchronous time?  Who  needs an overhead projector and those messy  pens that you spend wiping with wet paper towels when a smartboard lights up, beeps, chirps, sings, and dances…well it doesn’t do all that, but I am sure one is being made right now that does.

So as this new school year started, I had to think about all of the” then’s and now’s” over the course of my career.  The one thing that I have found that does not change much is that students adapt to whatever change happens in and out of the classroom.  Students still are excited on the first day of school.  It’s a new year….  Students love to see that it is “Movie Day”….And finally all students still get excited when they see a substitute teacher when the real teacher is absent. Now that will probably never change.

Have a Happy School Year!

#ankleChronicles

It was the start of Summer 2014. I was only teaching summer courses at ONE college. That is rare! I am usually teaching courses at two colleges at any given moment. This relief in time management for summer was just what I needed to relieve stress, relax, and take some time to really work out in the gym to lose weight. The plan was this: Wake up late, go for a light run/walk in one of the local scenic parks or greenways, spend some time writing, and then end the evening with a cardio class at the gym and weight training. That WAS the plan.

 July 13, 2014 was just a regular Friday for me. My typical day of cleaning up for the weekend, doing laundry, and some yard work was what I planned for the day. I did clean the house, cut the front lawn, and came in to start the laundry before I cut the back lawn. Being the timesaver that I am, I figured, “Why not carry BOTH laundry baskets of dirty clothes down the steps at one time? That would save time. Right?” WRONG! The decision to pile two, large ,laundry baskets on top of each other while walking down a flight of stairs with a lazy Cocker Spaniel lying at the bottom of the steps thus began what I call #ankleChronicles. 

The rest is history. Let’s just say that dirty clothes and the basket reached the bottom of the stairs before I did. Socks, shorts, tees, and towels flew wildly everywhere, and my Cocker Spaniel, Honey, did too. She is an older dog and slightly overweight, but the view of seeing me and baskets of laundry tumbling down the steps made her move faster than a puppy.

 Before I realized it, I was horizontal on the floor and holding my knee. All I could think of was: “Which bones did I break this time?” I was hoping it wasn’t my right ankle because that was broken badly in 2000 (that’s another story in itself). So I moved that ankle and realized it was still intact. Since my knee hit the floor at the same time as my body, I knew at that a knee bruise was included in this fall, so I didn’t really fixate on that pain immediately.

 I began to move my hands and arms. Whew! I thought; no broken arms. As I decided to lean upward, shifting my body weight on what I thought was my “good” leg without the knee pain, I suddenly fell back down. Pain and stings shot straight up my left leg, and I screamed. By then, Honey was peering around the corner looking sadly at me. Slowly, she walked up to me, licked my hand as to say, “I am sorry for running”, and then sat and looked at me with a stare of disbelief.

 So I looked back at her and began to cry. Realizing that my ankle was injured, I slid my body towards the kitchen area to get my phone. I called my Mom, jokingly, she thought I was playing when I told her I had fallen down the steps. What a fine time to want to play games!

 As I looked at my ankle, I could see it had swollen two times its normal size. I already have big ankles from years of sprains as an athlete, but I knew this was not normal. My mom told me to put ice on it and see if it stops hurting. The opposite happened. Not only did it not stop hurting, it began to hurt worse. The swelling continued, and the black and blue discoloration started. Uh oh! It’s broken; I thought.

 Finally getting to Urgent Care after two hours of debate with myself, I found out I had a hairline fracture and a severe sprain with a bone chip. Good, I said to the Doctor; that should be healed in no time. Wrong again. He informed me that this injury would take 4-5 weeks to heal, AND I had to wear an air boot. An air boot in June and July is like wearing a wool coat to the beach. It’s just not right.

 All of my plans for a super, fun summer of workouts were halted. All of my progress towards my weight loss goals had to change. Every day that went by, I was sad and/or complaining about what I could not do. People that I had worked out each day went on with their workouts without me. It just was not fair.

 One day as I was sitting alone in my living room with no television on and staring out the window, I realized that I had not sat down for that amount of time with nothing to do or nowhere to go in over a year. Every day of the last year had some schedule to meet or something to complete. I realized then that God slowed me down to help me. In my hurry of so many things to do each day, everything was a rush, even taking the laundry down the steps.

 Now that my ankle is healing, and I am able to resume normal activities, I am thankful for the moment that I now call my #ankleChronicles. This recovery time allowed me to reflect, pray, and even think about my plan for a better Me. The time it took to heal my ankle was just the right amount of time that I needed to rest and enjoy doing NOTHING. I am glad to say that doing nothing really felt good.

 7/15/14 Dr. Sunshine68

It's the Season!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  If you are like me, the onset of the holidays are exciting and fun. Whether it's shopping for the perfect gift, volunteering to collect goods and food for those in need, or pulling out the decorations from the attic, Christmas time brings out the happiness in most of us. 

Thinking back to years ago, I can recall how I would go shopping with my grandmother down town to find gifts for the family. She was very particular in what she chose for each of us, and even on a very limited income, she managed to buy something nice for each of her children and grandchildren. 

My grandmother would have the biggest smile on her face on  Christmas morning when we would show up at her house. She would go into her room and bring out this big bag or sack as she called it, full of gently wrapped presents of all shapes and sizes. Mama Estelle didn't believe in buying boxes to put items in, so she would wrap them as they were , no matter the size or shape or amount of paper it took to cover the gift. Strange shapes of oblong, triangular, and even flat to thin would be packed tightly into her sack. 

Mama Estelle would look at each of us and say, " you must have been good this year because Sannie {not Santa} Claus left you something here too." Grinning and laughing with her signature chuckle, she would hand us a gift, watching happily as we each opened it. 

Many times, the gifts would range from clothing to underwear or toys from the Five and Dime store that we spent hours shopping in together. But no matter the size of the gift, what it was, or how much it cost, we all would run and hug her tightly for the gift she gave to us! 

Her gifts were special and sweet and chosen just for us. My oldest sister soon pick up the tradition and did her gift giving the same way: She , too, chose special not too expensive gifts that were picked out especially for each family member.  We often reminded her of how she was like Mama Estelle, and she would smile thankfully.

Today my family celebrates Christmas without my grandmother and my sister. Holidays are not as magical and special as they were then, but we still remember those years with them both. 

So every time I wrap or open a gift, I am reminded of the beauty of Christmas and God's greatest gift of all!  

This is the Way WE Say THANK-YOU!

It’s that wonderful time of year where we think of all the many things in our lives that we are thankful. November marks the onset of the holiday season, where gratitude, cheer, joy, and giving become first in our lives for family, friends, and even those we do not know. What a beautiful time to see everyone so happy and aware of the many blessings that we have in our lives. The old year is winding down, and anticipation of renewal of a new and better year awaits in each of us. Thinking back over the many years in my life, I can recall so many of the sweet Thanksgiving holidays spent with family. Surrounded by love, smiles, and food seemed to make each of us realize just how special it is to be a part of a loving family. Many of those loved ones have gone on to Heaven, but their memories linger preciously in our hearts and minds forever. So many families have their own way of celebrating Thanksgiving. Tradition forms the very fiber of our lives, and doing those things that we have done for years gives us comfort and satisfaction that everything is okay, even in this busy world we live. Some of the traditions of my family have passed down from generation to generation in the forms of recipes and gathering for dinner together each year. I personally will always cherish growing up in a big family, where not only were my siblings around, but even their children ( my nieces and nephews), cousins, and even friends joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. The food was abundant and deliciously made with love. Plates were full and heavy with piles of turkey, ham, dressing, greens, candied yams, potato salad, cornbread, and yes, even Chitterlings. It seemed that no one worried about time or calories back then. We ate good [yes, the word choice is grammatically wrong here], and we spent time together cherishing each moment as if it were our last. My wish is for families to return to those special moments. If we think back to our ancestors who often worked very hard every single day, they took moments like Thanksgiving to enjoy the leisure and love of one another. Time and days were not longer back then; time was just less important when we were around those we care about. So this Thanksgiving, enjoy the 4 F’s: Family, Friends, and Fellowship, and Food! This is the way we say thank you! Sitting in a slightly crowded room with a plate of good food in your lap, laughing and loving those who mean the most can never be given back once that day is gone. This is the way WE say Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!

You May Say That I am a Dreamer, but I am {sure that} I am not the only one…

"We all have dreams, but in order to make dreams become reality, it takes an awful lot of Determination, Dedication, Self-Discipline, and Effort." ~Jesse Owens

Have you ever had a dream at night and wake up thinking it was real or true?  There have been times that my dreams have been so real that I woke up with residuals of the dream. For example, I once dreamed that I was running in a race. I was running at top speed and endurance, and the sweat was pouring down my face. In my dream, I wiped my face and was breathing frantically for air.  All of a sudden, I woke up from the dream.

Sitting up quickly in my bed, I looked around to reassure myself of where I was: In my bed and in my bedroom in my house.  Relieved, I laid back down, only to realize that I was sweating profusely.  Not only that, I had beads of perspiration on my hand, where in my dream, I had wiped my face.  I know; this is too much information, but I have to give the proper visual to make my point. 

Baffled, I spent the entire day thinking, how could I have been actually running in my dream?  Well, I know that I was not running, but the power and strength of my dream woke me up to think that I had run, and the sweat was there to prove it.

In our society today, we hear of so many things to break our hearts or make us feel sad.  It seems that there are so many issues surrounding us daily that it can often make things feel like it’s just really no use.  We may even have big dreams for ourselves, and somehow along the way, those dreams fizzle away.

  I began this topic by talking about Jesse Owens.  Anyone who has read anything about Jesse Owens will know that he had no reason to dream.  Owens lived in a time when dreams for a Black man in America were extremely hard to reach.  Jesse Owens was an awesome track and field athlete.  He was at one time considered the fastest man in the world, based on his performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. 

Jesse Owens accomplishments were many, and there were numerous obstacles he had to overcome to ever compete and win in an Olympic competition.  Even before he stepped foot on European soil to compete, Owens had already won so many battles.  Born the son of a sharecropper in Alabama, the mere fact that he was talented enough to go to college at Ohio State was tremendous for a young Black boy farmer from Alabama. Then to win so many track competitions and break records at the collegiate level was even more spectacular in a very segregated time in history. 

However, Jesse Owens did it. He is often quoted when it comes to dreams and determination. Who knew the dream of a little boy who could run really fast would take him all the way to Germany one day to be named the fastest man on earth at that time?  That is why I try my best to always remember, it’s not the dream that dies, it is our own determination to make the dream happen that dies within us. 

I am reminded of a wonderful song by John Lennon called “Imagine”.  In the lyrics, Lennon states, “You may say that I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one…”  Each of us have many dreams within us. Some dreams we have carried since we were a child, just as Jesse Owen’s dream.  Some dreams may be for our children, spouses, family, or friends.  Whatever the dream, the key  to it happening is within us.  When we put those three D’s  ( Determination, Dedication, and Discipline) that Jesse Owen’s stated with the dream, then we too, can wake up sweating from the reality of it happening in our lives. We can actually  feel it happening, and know that it is a part of us.  Don’t give up on a dream.  Let people say that you are a dreamer, but I am sure you are not the only one.

Dr. Sunshine 68

August 8, 2013

They Keep Going and Going and Going…

Who remembers the commercial from the old Dow Bathroom Cleaner with the animated “scrubbing bubbles?”  I remember this commercial airing all throughout my lifetime. Those talking bubbles commit to the task of “working HARD, so you don’t have to…” That is the last statement we hear as the scrubbing bubbles swirl down the drain. Kind of dark and gloomy, huh? Those bubbles do all of that work, and then they slowly dissolve into foam and water into the sink drain.  They Keep Going and Going and Going…

Have you ever felt like that? We spend a lot of our time working each day putting time into our jobs, family, and even second jobs for many of us, only to feel DRAINED at the end of the day or week.  Even in this era of unemployment, cutbacks, and shortages, statistics show that 85% of Americans work over 50 hours a week.   Think about it? Remember that lunch you skipped so and chose to work at your desk? Do you remember the time you stayed just a few more minutes to get that last thing done? Those minutes turned to an hour or two.  How about this one… I will just go in early today to get some “stuff” done before others get there.

We are all guilty of this every now and then. I know I am. I will put in extra hours the day before just so I can have a few to myself the next day. Well, I never get those hours the next day because I always have something else to do. 

Many times, I think we are like those scrubbing bubbles. We work hard and have our goal in mind to complete.  We work [like they scrub], yet we may not always complete the task as we had planned. It’s okay.  Overwork and no play makes us all a sad case. Yeah, I made that quote up a little, but it’s true. When we do not take time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life, we miss out on so much.

Here is a true story. I met a man while waiting in the doctor’s office. We started chatting about life. He told me he was there because of stress and his inability to slow down. As I listened to this man, he began to cry. He told me how he worked so much over the last five years that he woke up to his oldest daughter graduating this year. I asked him how he could not realize his daughter was graduating, and he said that he had spent the last five years travelling, making deals, working over, and coming home to work more that he lost track of time when she was an 8^th grader. He told me the last thing he remembered was her saying to him was, “Dad, I will be in high school next year.”  This man missed four precious years of his daughter’s life and never even realized it. 

When I left the doctor’s office, I thought to myself that we all can slow down a bit. We all can take a few minutes, put down the laptop, turn off the mobile phone, and spend a few moments with family and friends. When it is all said and done, time waits for no one. The old theory of We work hard… or they keep going and going–can be reality for us. We can wake up one day and realize that the most precious moments of life have slowly swirled away.

Dr. Sunshine68

7/19/13