Men and Women Such As These

The following is a message we received from Amazon a couple of days ago:

Academy Award nominees Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney star in John Adams, a seven-part epic miniseries event that explores the uncertainty and intensity surrounding the birth of the American republic through the eyes of one of its greatest founding fathers. This new miniseries chronicles the life of a man whose fiercely independent spirit, reverence for the rule of law and commitment to personal liberty greatly influenced the values on which the United States was founded. It also explores the relationship between Adams and his wife, Abigail, to whom he was married for 54 years.

Last night my husband and I watched the first two episodes of this miniseries. As I witnessed and felt the struggles of our incredible Founding Fathers to make wise decisions that would have such profound repercussions I was reminded of what David McCullough said in a speech at BYU on 27 September 2005: "...nobody ever lived in the past. Jefferson, Adams, George Washington--they didn't walk around saying, 'Isn't this fascinating living in the past? Aren't we picturesque in our funny clothes?' They were living in the present, just as we do. The great difference is that it was their present, not ours. And just as we don't know how things are going to turn out, they didn't either."

McCullough ended his speech by saying, "And I hope when you read about the American Revolution and the reality of those people that you will never think of them again as just figures in a costume pageant or as gods. They were not perfect; they were imperfect--that's what's so miraculous. They rose to the occasion as very few generations ever have."

Not only did watching these first episodes increase my appreciation for our Founding Fathers and in particular John Adams but my admiration for Abigail Adams and other Founding Mothers increased as well. McCullough understood this when he stated, "Abigail in one of her many letters to her husband, John, who was off in Philadelphia working to put the Declaration of Independence through Congress wrote, 'Posterity who are to reap the blessings, will scarcely be able to conceive the hardships and sufferings of their ancestors.' "

The following book has been written about these insightful women:

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts profiles the women whose bravery, convictions, and patriotism impacted the formation of the United States, focusing on the contributions of the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country's founding fathers.

As I pondered on what our Founding Fathers AND Founding Mothers sacrificed so that we might enjoy the freedoms we now enjoy I was brought to my knees in prayer to express gratitude to our Heavenly Father for raising up such men and women as these.



Note: More information about the John Adams miniseries can be found at the website www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/ Also, a copy of David McCullough's speech can be found at BYU's website.

The Blessings of Chaos

"We live in a rainbow of chaos."

Paul Cezanne

I was in a panic! After spending literally hundreds of hours trying to refine a paper for my BYU doctorate policy class, I felt both my mind and my paper were in chaos. I was at my wits end on how to pull it all together in a way that would make a difference. After all, I wasn't just writing this paper for a grade. This paper was about my passion--How to improve the academic achievement and success of Hispanic learners.

While in the midst of this chaos and thinking all was lost I remembered some lessons I had learned in the past about the fact that chaos can actually be a good thing so I went on a google search to learn some good things about chaos, and I found some "gems."

First: The origin of chaos and what it means

In Greek religion and mythology chaos means vacant, unfathomable space. From it arose all things, earthly and divine. There are various legends and myths explaining it. In one, Gaea sprang from Chaos and was the mother of all things. Then Lord Bryon reminds us, "Out of chaos God made a world."

Second: Great things can come from chaos:

• Creativity/ Creation/ Invention

"No chaos, no creation. Evidence: The kitchen at mealtime." Mason Cooley

"Invention, it be humbly admitted, does not consist of creating out of void, but out of chaos." Mary Shelley

"Art is the triumph over chaos." John Cleaver

"I have a great belief in the fact that whenever there is chaos, it creates wonderful thinking. I consider chaos a gift." Septima Poinsette Clark

"Confusion is the welcome mat at the door of creativity." Michael Gelb

"Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet invented." Henry Miller

"The things we fear most in organizations--fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances--are the primary sources of creativity." Margaret J. Wheatley

• Genius

"All genius is a conquering of chaos and mystery." Otto Weininger

• Discoveries

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." A. A. Milne

• Order

"A flock of birds may dart this way or that. The directions seem randomly chosen, but in the end, all of the birds land on the branches of the same tree. They are not scattered all over the landscape thudding into the ground at random trajectories and velocities. Out of the chaos comes order." Tom Barrett

So what should one do with chaos?

1. Overcome fear of chaos.
2. Understand that "every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction." Pablo Picasso
3. "It is important to do what you don't know how to do. It is important to see your skills as keeping you from learning what is deepest and most mysterious. If you know how to focus, unfocus. If your tendency is to make sense out of chaos, start chaos." Carlos Castaneda
4. "The key to achieving competitive advantage isn't reacting to chaos; it's producing that chaos. And the key to being a chaos producer is being an innovative leader." Ed McCracken
5. Mine for the great ideas within the chaos

"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Listening to and Learning from Rhett Laubach

Once again Kevin Eikenberry has enriched my life! This last Thursday his company hosted a 60 minute guest conversation call with Rhett Laubach. The conversation call was entitled Listening Like A Leader.

In this call and on his "blog" Laubach suggested that the development of the following habits would help us become better listeners:

1. Provide value: We can do this by responding to the other person by saying things such as, "I agree 100%" or "Yes" or "Here's how we could maybe build on that." It also means suggesting a book or a person that might be helpful.
2. Change things for the better: While listening be aware of gaps that your expertise can help fill.
3. Serving others: Stop what you are doing and give the other person your full attention.
4. Make the most of every interaction: Start your conversations with others as if you were already in the middle of a conversation with them by asking questions and responding to the answers with more questions so they are comfortable sharing their life stories.
5. Knowing they don't know everything: Give someone else the opportunity to share his/her expertise.
6. Being available to others: Put yourself in situations, seek out situations, encourage situations and fully commit to situations where you give of your time to someone who needs or wants a listening ear.

Thanks to Rhett for helping us know where to go once we have learned the eye contact listening principle.

Note: Contact info for Rhett

Work: 405.216.5050 Mobile: 405.517.7385 Fax: 810.454.7556 rhett@yournextspeaker.com http://authenticityrules.blogspot.com/ http://pliblog.yournextspeaker.com/

I'm Not a Blank Slate...and Neither Are Our Students

I now have an inkling of what our Hispanic students must feel when they are treated as if they are "blank slates."

Even though I have lived 60 years, taught for 25+ years, interacted with Hispanic people, and have done in depth studying and researching by reading thousands of books and articles as well as attending state and national conferences and seeking advice from nationally known experts in the field the last 8 1/2 years, one of my doctoral professors said to me during one of our meetings that they were going to now help me connect my passion with knowledge.

Then in response to an email I sent this same professor, he responded by saying, "You discovered just what I thought would. Several major factors which contribute to increased achievement among Hispanic students. Good work. These four factors could serve as the organizing framework for your review of literature. Now, what do you do with them. Some suggestions. Which factors are most effective? Is it possible from the literature on them to determine which ones are more effective than others. Which ones are more important than others? Is there a synergy created when one or more factors are used together? And, it may just be that we need all four present because without all four then our efforts will not result in much. So now the real fun begins as you begin to create your own policy recommendation. It may just be that there are more than four factors and that you know what one or more of these factors might be. You are on the just the right track. I look forward to seeing a draft of your work"

What this professor didn't realize is that I already knew about all these other factors and even knew who the majority of the researchers were who were connected to each of the factors.

I truly admire this professor and appreciate his support so I wasn't offended by his comments, but his comments did cause me to ponder on what it means to be treated as if one is a blank slate and when everything you are bringing to the table is treated as if it has no validity.

We must realize that our Hispanic learners aren't coming to us as blank slates or empty vessels that need to be filled. If we can't tap into the richness of what they are bringing to the table, we will do a much better job of serving them and helping to close the achievement gap (s).

Those Who Came Before Us

A week ago last Sunday there was an article in our Salt Lake Tribune by Kimberly Mangun entitled Clinton and Obama were not the first. She notes in the article that Hillary Clinton is not the first woman to run for president nor is Barack Obama the first African American to do so.

Their have been others before them who challenged racial and gender norms and helped pave the way for them. Over twenty years ago Reverend Jesse Jackson ran for president on the Democratic ticket.

Before Jackson, Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to Congress, ran for president in 1972. Chisholm realized that even though she probably wouldn't win in the conventional sense, her candidacy would change the face and future of America.

One century before Chisholm in 1872 Victoria Woodhull who chose Frederick Douglass has her running mate was nominated for president by the Equal Rights Party. An interesting side note is that this was during the time of Reconstruction and only two years after the 15th Amendment was passed, so Douglass could vote but Woodhull couldn't.

All this is to remind us that although there is a good chance we might have the first woman or the first African American as the next president of the United States, there are other courageous individuals who came before them who helped to make this a reality.

For each of us there have been courageous pioneers who came before us to whom we owe a great depth of gratitude for paving the way for us to accomplish our dreams. May we do so for others.

Sacredness of an Oath (cont.)

There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon, I Nephi 4:35, 37, which says that as soon as Zoram "made an oath unto us that he would tarry with us from that time forth. Our fears did cease concerning him." Although those of us in the western world may be astonished at this confidence in Zoram's words, it becomes less astonishing when we realize that an oath is the one thing that is most sacred and inviolable among the desert people.

Hugh B. Nibley in his book An Approach to the Book of Mormon says, "Hardly will an Arab break his oath, even if his life is in jeopardy, " for, "there is nothing stronger and nothing more sacred than the oath among the nomads." (p. 110)

George Lamsa in his book Old Testament Light tells us that when easterners take an oath they lift their hands toward heaven and invoke the name of God as a faithful witness. He adds that when treaties and agreements were made in the name of God they were generally respected and kept by future generations. (p. 44)

Even in the western world a man's word used to mean more than it does today. Yet, still today someone who does what he or she says he/she will do is known as a person of integrity --a man (or woman) of his word. That characterization of someone still carries a lot of weight.

I have a quote in my book My Years As a Hispanic Youth Advocate...and The Lessons I Learned that I believe was originally written as a joke and yet, it has a very important message. It says that it may feel like the judge who said in his acceptance speech, "I wish to thank the 424 people who promised to vote for me. I wish to thank the 316 people who said they did vote for me. I wish to thank the 47 people who came out last Thursday to vote, and I wish to thank the 26 folks who actually did vote for me." (p. 302)

Sacredness of an Oath

Last Thursday in my BYU doctoral law class our professor, Dr. Scott Ferrin, show us a video about the Supreme Court. Even though I had always known that government officials were sworn in to office and that they usually had a hand on the Bible when doing so, the Bible hadn't really caught my attention with any great interest until seeing this video. I started to wonder when and how that tradition came to be so I did some researching and discovered all kinds of interesting tidbits that I had previously just taken for granted.

The oath or affirmation of office of the President of the United States was established in the United States Constitution and it's mandatory for a President upon beginning a term. The wording:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Abiilty, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States
is prescribed by the Constitution (Article II, Section I, Clause 8).

Although it not present in the text of the Constitution, it has become standard practice for modern presidents to add "so help me God" at the end of the oath. Also, by way of convention, most raise their right hand and hold the other on a Bible (or other book of their choosing) while taking the oath although neither of these is required by law.

An oath is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred as a witness to the binding nature of the promise. To swear is take an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of scripture or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred nature of the oath. The earliest English settleers in America brought over the tradition of this witness oath.

Learning From Dr. William Glasser

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by 83 year old Dr. William Glasser and his wife at BYU. When introducing him Dr. Tim Smith mentioned that while education fads come and go, Dr. Glasser's education principles live on.

The reason that Dr. Glasser's theories are still alive and well today is because they are built upon sound principles such as:

• Relationships must be built upon trust and respect.


• Learning must be based upon competency and quality work, not grades--The lowest grade one can receive is a B.


• School must be a joyful and welcoming (and as William Purkey would say, "inviting") place because of a supportive, caring environment and healthy relationships.


• All the school's stakeholders (students, parents, principal, teachers, staff, etc.) must rely on the choice theory principles of survival, love/belonging, freedom/power, and fun rather than the seven deadly external control habits: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, and bribing.


• The message students need to receive from teachers must be: "My job is to teach you to learn, my job is not to find out what you don't know and punish you for not knowing it."


• Teach what is useful which is more than acquiring knowledge and memorizing facts


• Don't teach with threats or punishment.


• By changing one's acting and thinking rather than a focus on what one is feeling will help one feel better.


• Make all tests open book and open help from classmates and the teacher.

What is wonderful about these principles is that they work! The lives of delinquent girls at the Ventura School in California and hard core students in a Cincinnati school were turned around when these principles were used with them.

Dr. Glasser recommends that everyone who works in a school should read the research called Protecting Adolescents from Harm (Resnick et. al, 1997). Glasser says that what this important extensive research points out conclusively is that only two groups of people can prevent adolescents from harming themselves and others: parents and teachers.

Also, Dr. Glasser has a book called Every Student Can Succeed that can be ordered from his website http://www.wglasser.com/ At this time it is $14 inclusive of postage and handling.

A Gold Nugget Within Our Midst

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Nelson Mandela

I attended an early morning breakfast yesterday at the Salt Palace Convention Center to share Guadalupe School's vision and hope for its students through education. As I listened to the keynote speaker, Salt Lake Mayor, Ralph Becker, the stories of former Guadalupe School students, and the story of a young Hispanic couple participating in Guadalupe's ESL (English As A Second Language) Program, I was reminded how foolish we are to try and reinvent the wheel when we have a success story within our midst to teach us what works---Guadalupe School students continually score in the 90th percentile on state mandated tests.


Guadalupe's Mission is: To teach economically disadvantaged children and non-English speaking adults the vision and skills needed to live productive, rewarding lives-- through learning, literacy, and living.


This mission isn't just a written statement tucked away in a drawer, but it plays a vital role in directing what Guadalupe does to make it a reality through the following:

• Providing door-to door bussing for preschoolers through third grade.


• Providing a continuum of services from birth through third grade some of which are bilingual because the value of first language is recognized.


• Maximizing the support of its volunteers who log over 2,000 hours each school year.


• Providing free breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks to students.


• Offering a community learning center model so that an entire family can find educational services.

This "gold nugget" in our midst began when Our Lady of Guadalupe parish, with leadership from Father Jerald Merrill and Suzanne Weiss, founded The Guadalupe Center on Salt Lake City’s west side in 1966. Four over four decades, disadvantaged children and families, about 95% of whom are Hispanic, have been served by this gold nugget.

In spite of Guadalupe's great success, it doesn't rest on its laurels. It continues to be a vibrant and growing organization by continually learning and adopting new approaches that will help them to be even more effective for the families they serve.

Guadalupe must not only be a shining light for Utah, it must also be an example that is replicated so that even more Utah families can benefit. This will require a willingness on the part of policy makers to step out of comfort zones and be committed to a vision like Guadalupe's and a willingness to do whatever it takes to make that vision a reality.

Thank you, Guadalupe, for charting unknown paths to provide an ideal for others to follow.

Joy Is In the Second Mile

Another teacher once asked me why I put forth so much effort in my teaching. After thinking about it for a few minutes I responded, "Because the joy is in the second mile."

As I have worked on my doctorate this past year I've found the work we are required to do to be quite grueling, and more often than not I feel like I'm just trying to keep my head above water so as not to drown. Yet, what is keeping me motivated is when I stay focused on the learning rather than on the grade or degree.

When I stay focused on the learning I do things like:

• Share studies, books, articles, and other info with classmates, professors, and/or others related to the research work they are doing
• Meet people, like researchers and "shakers and movers,"--- learning from and sharing with them, even if it is just through email
• Share ideas and thoughts with classmates, professors, and/or others on how to apply what we are learning
• Use the papers I write and other assignments to launch real life applications to make a difference
• Attend conferences, seminars, speeches related to my topic of interest
• Stay passionate on learning from all kinds of sources
• Accept feedback as an opportunity to improve and grow in order to do excellent/quality work
• Write articles with professors who have similar interests

While doing all these things maybe I'll eventually be able to also earn that PhD. In the meantime, I'll just take one step at a time putting one foot in front of the other....and keep on learning with a joyful heart.

It's NOT All or Nothing Conclusion

When it was recently reported by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver that black superdelegates are being pressured and intimidated through nasty letters, phone calls, threats, and being called an Uncle Tom if they didn't switch their support from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama, I almost wept.

This is definitely what it means to carry racial pride to the extreme and it goes against all that Martin Luther King advocated in his I Have A Dream Speech given the 28 of August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. when he said:

"I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

How Martin Luther King must have wept with joy when he looked down from heaven and saw Rep. John and Sen. Hillary Clinton marching arm in arm and when he saw Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones and Sen. Hillary Clinton working together on issues--seeing his dream becoming a reality. Common causes, not skin color, motivated them.

How Martin Luther King's joyous tears must now be turning to painful tears as they have for many of us of all skin colors as we have witnessed the blatant racial sentiment and behavior of Blacks intimidating other Blacks to base decisions and support for a presidential candidate on skin color rather than on common goals and ideals.

Will we ever learn?

It's NOT All Or Nothing (cont.)

An article Multiculturalism E Pluribus Plures by Diane Ravitch written in 2001 put into words some of the feelings I have been having. She makes the following points:

Point #1: Thanks to social historians like Stephan Thernstrom, Mary Beth Norton, Gary Nash, Winthrop Jordan, and Leon Litwack today's history textbooks incorporate the experiences of women, blacks, American Indians, and various immigrants which reflects a broadened warts-and-all historical understanding of race, ethnicity, and class in the American past. Not only do these textbooks acknowledge the struggles for equality by minorities but also identifies who achieved success becoming political leaders, doctors, scientists, lawyers, scholars, and teachers.

Point #2: A study of a warts-and-all world and American history should inspire humility in all of us as this study will reveal that all racial groups have been guilty of committing terrible crimes, often against others in the same group--Man's inhumanity to man. It will become apparent how absurd both racial hatred and racial chauvinism are.

Point #3: Cultural pluralism is generally recognized as something that is part of this society and that differences among groups is a national resource rather than a problem to be solved. The unique feature of the United States is that its common culture is multicultural.

Point #4: A close examination of American history shows that rather than ethnic tensions tearing us apart as they have in other countries different groups in America while they have competed, fought, and suffered, they ultimately learned to live together in relative peace and harmony and achieved a sense of common nationhood.

Point #5: "Almost any idea, carried to its extreme, can be made pernicious," including multiculturalism.

Point #6: Celebrating Black History Month, Women's History Month, and other ethnic groups when all learn about the achievements of these different groups are a reminder that neither race nor gender needs to be an insurmountable obstacle to high achievement. It can also be a reminder to children of all racial and ethnic backgrounds that they are part of this country and that they, too, should develop their minds and talents to the fullest. It's also important to remember that all children (and adults!) , whatever their skin color, can be inspired by the lives of people of all skin colors, males and females, who exhibited courage, persistence, and intellect. Yet, it also important to understand that although we can be inspired by others of all skin colors, self-esteem and self-confidence come from reaching a goal through one's own efforts.

Point #7: American education is centered on Americentric rather than Eurocentric--and Americentric includes every culture that makes up America.

Point #8: Public schools exist to teach children the general skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in American society and to be contributing members of society to create a national community that is both expansive and inclusive.

Point #9: "Pluralism is a positive value, but it is also important that we preserve a sense of an American community--a society and culture to which we all belong."

It's NOT All Or Nothing (cont.)

Dr. Claude Goldenberg, a Stanford education professor, has recently commented that there is very little evidence that culturally accommodated instruction has an impact on English Language or Hispanics. He argues that research has shown that familiar content does promote learning and comprehension but adds that there are lots of ways to make things familiar. Therefore, the question needs to be, "Does familiar material have to be part of the learner's home culture or does it simply mean that the learner has had sufficient experience with the content of the material?"

Goldenberg goes onto share something that is extremely important to remember and that is language of the reading material in relationship to students' language proficiency has more impact on reading comprehension than did familiarity with the content.

Obviously and as Goldenberg notes, even though familiar content will help a learner to learn the language and the academic curriculum at a faster rate, what is familiar shouldn't be limited to what is part of his/her home culture.

All this is not to say, as Goldenberg reminds us, this is not to excuse an educator from becoming familiar with and respectful of a learner's home culture. Being able to make connections for the learner based on his/her home culture is not only good teaching but it's beneficial to the student regardless of the impact it has on student learning per se. Plus, it will be worthwhile for other students to learn about cultures other than their own.

Yet, Goldenberg reiterates that there has not been one study conducted that has shown that culture-based curriculum improved achievement in reading and writing and those that do claim this connection have research design problems. He adds, though, that this is a worthwhile topic for investigation.

Dr. Roland Tharp, a research professor from the University of California Berkeley, says that even though it is difficult to provide empirical research concerning the effectiveness of culture-based instruction, he contends that research in this area needs to be given a high priority. He says that there have been studies that have shown "culture-based education systematically produces greater student engagement, greater parent involvement, better attendance rates, lower dropout rates, and general satisfaction of all participants, as opposed to a standard, traditional program based on mainstream models." Even though studies, according to Goldenberg, haven't shown the connection, yet, it would seem that these outcomes Tharp mentions could influence and improve academic achievement. To know this, we obviously need studies that carefully separate out cultural accommodations for examination as Diane August, a senior research scientist at the Washington Center for Applied Linguistics, recommends.

August asks the all important question, "Is it the cultural accommodation or the teaching that matters?" and then Dr. Luis Moll, an education professor at the University of Arizona, reminds us of the importance not to focus only on test scores as a learning outcome indicator. Doing so could cause us to miss other outcomes such as an increase in student engagement and participation which could be just as beneficial to the student, if not more so.

My note: Lessons learned from this discussion:

1. Research studies need to be conducted that carefully separate out cultural accommodations to better understand the impact they have on student learning as well as other outcomes that are beneficial to the student.
2. Whether cultural accommodations improve student learning or not, teachers who are familiar with a learner's culture can use that knowledge to help make connections for a learner.
3. It is beneficial for students of all cultural backgrounds to learn about other cultures.
4. IMPORTANT: Rather than using only that with which a learner is already familiar, it is important for a teacher to expand and increase a learner's familiar world.

Information for the content in this blog post came from a personal email with Dr. Claude Goldenberg and an article from Education Week entitled Evidence on Effect of Culture-Based Teaching Called Thin by Mary Ann Zehr which was posted and retrieved online on January 8, 2008.


January 8, 2008 on line at Education Week