The Artist's Statement Project; Part 2

This kind of Artist statement represents a collection of artworks, rather than just one. Seniors and Independent-Study Art students should do this if they are preparing a portfolio to submit to art colleges or university Art departments.

People who like an artist’s work generally want to know more about the artist. Artist statements are effective marketing tools. It helps make a connection between the artist and their audience. In putting your art into words you might also find that some of your ideas which didn’t entirely make sense to you become more concrete. Your writing might even open new paths in your thinking and take you in new artistic directions.

This definitely worked for me.

Artist’s Statement for a Body of Work

CIVICS; Faces in History

INTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW

When I began teaching 8th grade Civics in 2011, I wanted to decorate my classroom in a way that would be patriotic and engaging. I also wanted to reassure students that it was okay that an Art teacher was teaching a Social Studies class (I have a double-major in K-12 Art and 7-12 Social Studies). Over the last two decades of teaching, I’ve frequently drawn on presidents and other historic figures for drawings and paintings. I simply gathered them up and hung them up. That first year I even had students try to name as many of the people featured in the paintings on a worksheet for extra credit!

THEME & CONCEPT

Benjamin Franklin has an amazing line in the Broadway musical 1776. John Adams, fighting to keep a statement opposing slavery from being removed from a draft of the Declaration of Independence warns Franklin that if they don’t address issue of slavery from the onset, posterity will never forgive them. In an effort to get Adams to compromise with delegates from the South, Franklin tells him, “That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing, we'll be long gone. Besides, what would posterity think we were? Demi-gods? We're men, no more no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed.”

A basic premise of democracy is that leaders are servants of the people who elect them. The promise of America has always been that any kid could grow up to be President. What fascinates me about great men as a Civics teacher, as an artist, and as a citizen, is that they’re just men. Perhaps of great ability, power and experience, but never the less just men. Full of faults, imperfections, vulnerabilities and personalities. My hope is always to portray the faces of Presidents and protest leaders as human faces. Faces that could be your cousin or uncle or neighbor or friend. I hope whether its Truman or Gandhi or Lincoln, that viewers can see that there is a real person behind the face.

HIGHLIGHTS & PROMINENT PIECES

The Two Cowboys Two paintings which I tend to hang next to each other are an 8”x 8” oil on panel of Arizona Republican Senator Barry Goldwater and a 14”x18” gouache on canvas of Texas Democrat, President Lyndon Johnson. The paintings contrast each other not only in size and format but also in mood and style. Goldwater is more detailed and has more angles. He’s also more comfortable and confident. Whereas Johnson has more swooping curves and seems almost unfinished. Meanwhile his face seems more weary and jaded. These two paintings in many ways reflect many of the differences and tensions in our country.

BULLY! One of my all time favorite works is a 9”x12” tempera on matte board, monochromatic, orange,  impressionistic interpretation of Progressive/Republican President Teddy Roosevelt. This was painted quickly based on a photograph of the president laughing heartily. I think it captures the exuberant personality that Roosevelt was known for. Since we share a first name, I’ve always had a special affinity to him and with this painting.

KING This acrylic on paper in teals and black started a long relationship for me with Martin Luther King. I’ve always been an admirer of the activist and have tried several times over the years to paint him. Two or three oil pastel paintings haven’t made me as happy as this earlier work. A couple of years ago, I managed a larger, more detailed and developed piece which I gave as a wedding present to a friend who lives in Washington D.C. This early painting is more close-up, more intimate and probably better reveals the worry, sacrifice, deep intelligence and seriousness of his cause. Like the Teddy Roosevelt painting, this is one that has become an old friend. I think I’d like to have it hanging in whatever office, studio or classroom I occupy as long as I’m teaching, writing or painting.

STYLE & AESTHETICS

I never realized that I even had a style of my own until I hung several of my paintings together on the wall of my Art classroom this Fall. Looking at nineteen years of paintings I’d done with classes or as examples for classes, it finally manifest itself to me. It may may just be my own Attention Deficit Disorder, messiness or stubbornness- but my work seems to be very passionate, expressive and maybe just a little rough-hewn. I’d like to think that  I’m a shaggy lummox like a bison or a bear. Unkempt yet majestic. Simultaneously humble yet proud. Inglorious with dignity. In other words, quintessentially American.

INFLUENCES

Art History students and aficionados can probably recognize the influence of the neoexpressionism of the 1970’s and 80’s. I’m not sure if this is because that was the era in which I grew up or if its because of the strong German expressionist influence on my professors at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska.

If I had to name my favorite painters, I’d probably rattle off names of pop artists like Wayne Thiebaud and Jasper Johns; the venerable regionalist Grant Wood, and Native American master John Nieto. But my work doesn’t really seem to look like any of theirs. Frankly I think my paintings remind me more of Jules Feiffer, Johnny Hart and Bill Mauldin. That’s probably because from ages 12-38 it was my dream to someday make it as a professional cartoonist.

Years ago a student told me that I teach History classes like their Art classes and my Art classes like they were Social Studies. So maybe I get my wired crossed a lot because I can definitely see how my cartoons are influenced by Grant Wood and Wayne Thiebaud and my paintings are more like Bill Mauldin or maybe even Charles Schultz or Matt Groening.

PROCESS TECHNIQUE & RATIONALE

Students who watch me painting often say something like “how do you DO that?!!”

Inevitably the teacher in me wants to either painstakingly explain to them the process of observing, analyzing, comparing and contrasting visual-spatial placement and proportions and then recording those observations and analysis. But I  know it would bore them to death.

That same teacher in me also wants to point out every single flaw in my painting, hypercritically explaining how their awe is misplaced because of how weak my technique is or how inaccurate the features are compared to the photograph I’m using. But I hate to devalue their experience, even if I don’t think I deserve whatever admiration they’ve just given me.

So I encourage them by offering that “you can do it too, you just have to keep practicing and listen to what I try to teach you,” yet not bother revealing all of my magician’s secrets.

Ultimately it is a sort of alchemy. Certainly there’s the trained artist’s way of perceiving and translating those perceptions into visual language, but there’s also a great deal of responding to and expressing about the subject matter. What they mean to me and how I feel about them. What I admire or disdain.

Too be sure, its not just about the artist and the subject. The painting itself makes its own decisions too, just like our children do. Or in this case maybe a better analogy would be to say that sometimes politicians break party-ranks and vote their own conscience (something I admire about Teddy Roosevelt).

Finally, you the viewer, bring your own experience to every painting too. Eighth graders who have no idea who Goldwater, Johnson or Roosevelt were often have vastly different reactions to my paintings than adults.

So there are four of us collaborating on each painting; artist, subject, painting, and viewer- each lobbying for our own interests. Hopefully we all make compromise and meet somewhere other than where our preconceptions would’ve taken us alone. That’s in the nature of democracy too, isn’t it? Together, whether in tension or harmony, we’re something very different than any of us would be left to our own devices. E Pluribus Unum, from many- one. Long may it be so.

The Artist's Statement Project; Part 1

I see that it's been almost 6 months since I've posted something on this blog. Unfortunately I've been too busy living and teaching to have time to write. Meanwhile I've taken to using Instagram and Twitter to "micro" blog and photo journal. But I've recently done a bit of writing for one of my classes.

Every class at Boyer Valley is required to have at least one formal writing assignment. In the past, rather than a research paper, I've had students conduct a critical analysis of a famous artwork. This proved to still be a little heavy on the rigor and light on the relevance for most high school Art students. So this year, I decided I'd experiment with having my Painting class write their own Artist Statements.

An Artist’s Statement is a short document which provides insight into an artist’s thinking on about a single piece, or about an entire body of work. Artist statements describe the artist’s creative process, philosophy, vision, and style. Artists use these documents to communicate to potential buyers, exhibition curators, critics, fellow artists, and casual viewers. Unbeknownst to them they still have to critically analyze an artwork, its just that they're analyzing their own artwork. Much to my surprise and my relief, so far they're all pretty excited about it.

Writing a couple of examples for them about my own work has been a good exercise for me too. I don't think I've ever thought about my own painting this much ever.

 What follows is the first demonstration-model, about one of my own paintings. The next entry will be what I wrote about a whole group of painting.

Artist’s Statement for Individual Artwork

“Orange Lady,”  8” x 10 “, acrylic on canvas, 2013. NFS

SUBJECT & ELEMENTS

This is a picture of my Aunt Rene’. Growing up in the 1970’s I remember my aunt wearing many of the latest fashions. Oranges, yellows, and teals and turquoise featured prominently. Interestingly, these colors have been popular this year. I used only yellow and black. There’s not a lot of detail, and only a minimum of shading.

DESIGN & COMPOSITION

8x10 is a common ratio for portrait photography. Using a vertical 8x10 was a perfect fit since I was enlarging a portrait from a 1 inch x 1 and a half inch newspaper photograph. I think that cutting off the top of the head and having the subject’s eyes looking up and to the viewer’s right, creating an implied diagonal make it a strong composition. I used the rule-of-thirds. Her left eye (partially hidden by her bangs) are on a “hot-spot,” an intersection of the right vertical third and the top horizontal third.

MEANING & CONTENT

The stark contrast and bright yellow are upbeat and positive, although the greys and imperfection may be like hearing an otherwise happy song played in minor keys or at a slow tempo. This color scheme and the hair and make-up styles effectively evoke the aesthetic of the early and mid sixties. TV shows like ‘Mad Men’ have made that aesthetic popular as “retro” lately.

My Aunt Renee’ was an Irish redhead. Her hairstyles (and occasionally wigs) were a lot like those of TV comedians Carol Burnette and Vicki Lawrence. Burnette is famous for mixing her comedy with a certain amount of tragedy or at least reality, so that people could relate to her show easily. For me personally, this painting reminds me of the constant balance of heartache and joy that every family share.

PROCESS TECHNIQUE & RATIONALE

Our assignment was to create a painting in the Pop Art style of the 1950’s and 60’s.I wanted to make a painting that would have a bold graphic look like Andy Warhol’s portraits of celebrities, but have a worn, industrial look, with thick paint like something Jasper Johns did. Enlarging a newspaper picture is also a lot like what Roy Lichtenstein did with comic book panels.

I used my aunt’s engagement photo from a newspaper clipping from the 1960’s. First, I covered the canvas with straight yellow acrylic paint.I tried making two or three sketches in my sketchbook before drawing the picture on my canvas. I tried to apply some of the concepts I’ve been teaching this year. In Painting, we learned about finding facets that share color or value. In Drawing we’ve worked on perceiving positive and negative spaces, fitting your subject matter into a format and we learned that if you turn an image upside down, it becomes easier to draw shapes correctly.

I made some mistakes with the black, so I made corrections with the same yellow I’d used for the background. This added some dimension and more of a variety of shades, making it less of a stark, 2-color image and more “monochromatic.” These changes made it seem warmer and more personal, it also made it more imperfect like a Jasper Johns and not so precise and mechanical like a Warhol.

I wasn’t completely decided that it was entirely finished, but several students really liked it. I posted it on Instagram and Facebook and got more positive feedback. My cousin loved it and promised to show her mother. Another friend left a comment about how he liked the “orange lady.” I decided to use his name for it as the title.

Outstanding Interview

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Arne Duncan
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

I give Stewart an A+ for understanding how damaging NCLB & Race to the Top have been to education!

poverty and learning

One nation; three cultures
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper — Schleswig Leader, Thursday, January 25, 2007 – Page 3

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard former teachers or teachers nearing retirement lament about how “kids just aren’t like they were when I first started teaching.”

High school teachers especially get frustrated because they feel like its next to impossible to teach their subject matter because kids these days “just don’t listen anymore... don’t have any respect for adults anymore... you have to teach all of these other things... they don’t have as long of attention spans...” etc. etc.

I believe these well meaning educators aren’t merely “burnt-out.” I believe they’re correct in their observations, but this doesn’t have to be a reason to be discouraged or to give up, it’s just a fact that has to be accounted for and adapted to. I believe the problem is poverty.
As part of our professional development, my school district instituted a number of workshops based on the research of Dr. Ruby K. Payne called “A framework for understanding generational poverty.”

Many of us face situational poverty in our lifetimes, that’s where times are really tight or a illness or job loss has put the crunch on our family. “Generational poverty refers to when a family has remained under the poverty line for two generations or more. Generational poverty creates a completely different culture that what most of us are used to, a culture that impedes not only student learning in school, but survival and success in school and at work in general.
Many of us complain that poverty shouldn’t be an excuse. “We were poor but my parents still demanded that I respect my teachers and worked hard in school,” we’ll say, but perhaps we weren’t as poor as we thought.

There are eight resources that Dr. Payne considers vital to any learner’s success: Obviously one needs financial resources. Having emotional resources means being able to choose how you respond to difficult situations. Mental resources refers to intellectual skills needed for every day life. Spiritual resources are one’s beliefs in God’s purpose and guidance. Physical resources are your health and mobility.

The last three resources are often what makes or breaks someone’s ability to succeed at work and school: Having a support system of friends or family to fall back on when your other resources fall through. Role models who not only demonstrate healthy choices but also are accessible as mentors are becoming fewer and farther between these days.
Finally, Payne believes that each socio-economic class has it’s own set of unspoken (or hidden) rules. If you aren’t familiar with these rules, you’re bound to make cultural mistakes that could cost you.

For example; in poverty, you laugh when you’re reprimanded as a way to save face. It’s a reaction that you’ve been raised with and you’re used to, so you don’t even think about it. Needless to say, this is a middle-class taboo. If you laugh when the principal gives you a detention, you may just get a suspension. Laugh at your boss and you may go from having to stay late to being unemployed.

These are the core values for each group: Those in generational poverty are driven by survival, relationships and entertainment. Relationships are so important that people are practically considered possessions.

In the Middle Class we tend to value achievement. We talk about our work-ethic and we prove that we’ve achieved something by working with the material things we can buy. The truly wealth value their connections, their social, financial and political networks and their status within those networks.
Logically then, the wealthy concentrate on the past, their traditions and legacies. In the middle class we look toward the future, being the first kid to go off to college and doing better than the generation before you. Whereas without many of those previously mentioned 8 resources, those in poverty can see only the here and now.

That kind of thinking translates into speaking and thinking too. Middle class kids can see cause and effect, this leads to that, the plot thickens, reaches a peak and has a resolution.
Poor kids don’t have the same kind of linear, logical, sequential thinking skills. They exist in the moment. They’re stories may consist of unconnected anecdotes. Instead of being plot-driven, communication is character-driven or joke-driven.

One way to help students overcome this is to use analogies and graphic organizers. These give them something to hang new learning on- the infrastructure that they’ve missed.

Parents of all incomes need to make the time to read to their children, especially pre-schoolers. That lays the framework they’ll need for abstract thinking as the get older.

Anyone interested in learning more can read Dr. Payne’s articles at http://www.ahaprocess.com/files/PovSeriesPartsI-IV.pdf

____________________________________________________
Ted Mallory lives in Charter Oak and teaches at Boyer Valley Schools in Dunlap. ‘Ted’s Column’ has appeared weekly in the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper since 2002. If you’d like to see any of Ted’s editorial cartoons bigger and brighter, you can visit http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

School Fight Song.

Tonight our small, but mighty pep-band played an awesome version of the Boyer Valley fight song.
Unfortunately, the cheer squad was late getting back from offering hospitality to the Logan cheerleaders- it wasn't their fault and I wasn't angry with them about it. But something did happened that was just striking, I mean it amazed me so I wanted to tell as many students as I could about it.

On our side of the stands every single adult, 20's thru 80's were all standing up. 3/4 of the stands, it was moving. They were proud and they were clapping to the beat. It was incredible.

The other 1/4 of the stands? Not a single student stood. None. It was weird, like an episode of the Twilight zone. Now, I'm not angry about it or blaming anyone. I genuinely think that all our kids are simply clueless. But I don't think they had any idea how rude and sad and strange it was that they were all just sitting there talking or texting on their phones as if nothing were happening.

As the cheerleading coach, I feel like I've failed you. You guys, this may seem like no big deal, but it is a big deal. You don't talk while someone else is praying, you don't leave your hat on at a funeral, you stand up during the National Anthem, and you know what? You stand up when YOU school fight song or alma mater is played. If you don't know the words, fine- who really sings along to the National Anthem either, but at least, at the VERY least, you stand up. Its just what you do. It's like not talking with your mouth full or not farting at the opera. It shows that you care about yourself and take pride in yourself. It shows respect for tradition and for the community. Maybe you think it's a "one-horse town" and you can't wait to get outta here, but while you're here, show some class, show some pride in yourselves. Show visiting schools that you are glad your Bulldogs.

Mrs. Staley prints the words in the programs of every basketball game. So you don't HAVE to really learn them. But come on, if these are really the best years of your lives, and your classmates are your best friends, if you have any school spirit or self-respect at all, please rise when our own personal mini-national anthem is played. Our tiny little band can REALLY belt it out.

Just in case you want to print them out, write them down, copy and paste them to your MySpace & FaceBook pages or actually LEARN the lyrics, here they are:

Onward Bulldogs, Onward Bulldogs
Fight on for your fame.
Run the ball right down the court
And a victory's sure this game.
Rah, Rah, Rah!
Onward Bulldogs, Onward Bulldogs
Fight on for your fame.
Fight bulldogs, Fight and you will win this game!


And if you think that school pride is important, teach your friends or even forward on this email.

Be true to your school,
Coach Mallory

Gay Marriage- among other topics

I recently had an interesting volley of emails with a friends. Thought I'd share them here:
Cool Stuff. Here is the first one from my friend who's a Lutheran Middle School teacher:

One of the best things to happen to me was that I've had to teach
Civics for a couple of years now. I rather enjoy it. We just finished a rather long simulation dealing with the Constitution. Check out the Interact Simulation Website to see what I'm talking about. Way cool. Anyway. They had a good time learning about parliamentary procedure if nothing else. I think for such a long time I focused on the History side of things that I never really dealt with the mechanics of government. Now I'm rather enjoying
myself in what I'm learning. I'm no expert by any means. I must say I learned a lot from you. Thanks for the insights that you provide.

We have a principal now whose a bit on the freaky conservative side. I admit that I'm not too crazy about gay marriage business and all but I'm also quite sure that there will be Democrats in Heaven. My principal, who's also the 5th grade social studies teacher, has made statements to the effect that being a Christian and a Democratic party member are next to impossible. NOT!! I have made it quite clear in my Civics class that that is not the
case. My mantra is "If you don't know how the Constitution works, you will be at the mercy of those that do." AND...I refuse to use my influential position as a teacher to make little Republican clones--or any party clones for that matter.

Well, I better go. Dinners ready. Thanks again for your insights.


And here is my first reply to him:

As good as all the history shows on History Channel and Discovery Channel are (that ne Dogfights on Friday nights is SO cool) I think that one of the best that I'd show to kids if I was still teaching HIstory is History Detectives on PBS.
They show the actual reseach process based on doccuments and evidence. Don't get me wrong, I agree that there are certain names, dates and battles that kids need- absolutely, but I've always felt that understanding, analysis and application are more useful and valuable than mere knowledge at least that's my perspective on Bloom's taxonomy.

I always tried to help kids see the dynamic tensions, the balances of divergent interests. That may be safe when you're talking about the Whiskey Rebellion or Federalism and Anti-Federalism but even when you get into Manifest Destiny or Reconstruction, if there are colleagues or parents who are wing-nuts, they can freak. Am I wrong that scrutiny and using critical thinking skills are good things? Non partisan things?

Unfortunately there are people who don't believe we should teach, they send their kids to a parochial school to be indoctrinated, not to learn how to think for themselves.

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
~George Orwell, 1984;


Whats funny is, you know how when you're a kid and somebody farts, you say "whoever smelt it, dealt it!"? What's funny is that the firt people to accuse others of revisionist history are the people who either have swallowed some propaganda or don't know enough about history (or government) so they're victoms of revisionist history themselves.

I still LOVE your mantra.

And another from my friend:

Hello again,

More food for thought.

Personally I cannot condone the homosexual lifestyle. It is immoral. Yet these are people who desperately need to hear the Gospel message. Hate the sin but love the sinner.

Just thought I'd say that so that up front. Now let's move into the political realm. I like your analogy of defining marriage to calling the sky blue. However, can one not also argue that a Christian in a democratic society has the glorious opportunity to help further the Gospel's spread by voting on issues such as this? Churches throughout the country (at least in some states where the marriage amendments were on the ballot) worked the issue of marriage into Bible studies and sermons out of growing concern that the institution was under "attack". True, I concede to the fact that parties would use this as a means to further their own agendas. Alas, this is politics. But couldn't it also be the Holy Spirit nudging people to witness through their votes, or across their dinner tables with their families as they discuss the issue? Granted, there are some real goofballs out there that have some serious hate issues, but what if out of perhaps hundreds of conversations about marriage amendments that a handful of marriages were strengthened and maybe some members of the gay community were given perhaps a moment of pause to consider the possibility of repentance and begin a journey that could ultimately bring them closer to our Lord? If that were the case for at least one person, then I guess I'd be happy to call this controversy over marriage a success. God has blessed us with the gift of democracy, wouldn't it be foolish and even sinful not use that gift to ultimately spread the Gospel?

Now, I will say that I would not likely favor ANY national amendment to define marriage because I feel that, based on the separation of powers under the federal system, it is the states that have the power to make laws concerning marriage, NOT the central government. Allowing the federal government to step in here would probably not be wise or a good use of our national government's time and treasure. However, if society elevates the gay lifestyle to the same status as say the African or Hispanic community, making this a civil rights issue, well, I guess then, as a civil rights issue, perhaps this is how the question will
have to be settled someday.

Forgive me if I don't sound clear, I'm trying to articulate my views as I write here. It's helping me to better understand my own position. You know, I recall teaching a unit in my U.S. history class about the labor unions. I recall how some early unions fought for political and economic reform by attempting to radically change the political landscape in order to accomplish their goals. Populism? Yet then you look at folks like Samuel Gompers and the collective bargaining process. They ended up playing the system better. Kind of like practicing your basketball layups rather than trying to drastically change the overall rules of basketball to fit your playing style. Okay, maybe I'm stretching this a little, but couldn't America's Christians take a cue from this? Try to be better Christians and share the gospel
BETTER instead of getting the government to do it. If the Grace of God were made more readily accessible through the witness of believers to nonbelievers, maybe we wouldn't have such a problem with issues like gay marriage. Maybe if the love of Christ was more readily evident through works of service and sincere praise, hearts would be turned Christ BEFORE people could be suckered into counterfeit feelings of love offered through such things as
homosexuality, pornography, and materialism. Let us be firm in our doctrine but also loving in how we treat others and strive for a better balance between Law and Gospel.

Well, I'm tapped out. Chew on this for a while and fire back when you have time.

Hope your family is well.



And another response from me:

Just so we're up front- I'm not gay, nor have I ever played a gay person on TV. (just trying to lighten the tone a little) Seriously, the older I get, the more I read and study Scripture, and the more I learn about the process that theologians, including early church fathers use to interpret scriptures, two hot-button issues become clearer to me: 1) that no matter how you try to dice it, God has prohibited homosexuality and 2) He probably did not intend for us to exclude people from roles of responsibility because of their gender as much as we have.

Hows that sound? Conservative on one issue and Liberal on another? Maybe.

I seem to want to talk about Luther's Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. My understanding of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution leads me to believe that even though my religion considers homosexuality a sin, it would still be unfair in the eyes of the civil law to deny a monogomous homosexual long-time companion from providing for their partner financially or legally in ways that a traditional married spouse could.

I know a Republican law maker who has killed anti-gay marriage legislation in committee because if it came up to a vote, he knew he'd have to vote for it. The solution some progressive Christian leaders like Tony Campolo have suggested is similar to what's been done in Europe; civil authorities issue civil union agreements, and churches conduct marriages, but neither institution may do the other. As it is the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize Lutheran marriages, so if one district/synod of the American Episcopal Church blesses gay unions, the LCMS certainly shouldn't be cumpulsed to recognize that union. If marriage is from God, either as a full blown sacrament as the Catholics believe or as a metaphor for Christ's relationship to His Church as we do- why should we cede the ordination of marriages to any temporal, civil authority anyway? Doesn't that profane the institution? Teddy Roosevelt, not a particularly devout Presbyterian, didn't want "In God We Trust" on our currency because he believed it was blasphemous!

I guess I'm more comfortable as a Democrat, even when there are Democrats who do, accept, or believe things that make my skin crawl, is because Democrats are pragmatic and practical, they believe in detente' and compromise because they know that we live in a broken world and we have to make the best of it. What I have observed over the last 36 years is that because the Republican party chooses positions that are inflexible, they promote hypocricy. Wittness Gambling Bill Bennett, thieving Ralph Reed, drug-poppin' Hatian hooker employing Rush Limbaugh, and most recently pediphile Mark Foley, and Meth using gay hating gay guy Rev. Ted Haggard.

Love the sinner, hate the sin. Yeah, maybe the Holy Spirit may convict someone in their heart because our pastors and politicians are all up in arms about a wedge issue like gay marriage. Or... people who are struggling feel persecuted, hated and alienated. They're like Luther who practices self-flagilation because they look up at the cruel, unempathetic Christ as a heartless, angry judge, instead of as the approachable, patient, compassionate, yet hold you responsible and don't indulge your selfish sinful nature Father that He really is? Are we driving people out of the Church and making it less likely that they will hear the Word and come to repentance? What's the most effective means to influence our society? By voting? By legislating? Maybe, there's certainly room for that and I'd even agree that it is our duty. But so is by being salt and light, by being Jesus' arms and legs, in our relationships. "A Christian Nation begins at home" is one of my mantras. Walk the walk yourself, rather than screaming and shouting at others when they don't.

Unfortunately it is a sticky, complicated mess. It involves theology, civil rights, and biology too. Is society "elevating" homosexuality to the level of race? Is it a choice? A decision? Some conservatives are libertarians and even if they hate gays, they don't believe the government shoud interfere. Is it a disorder? Like a desease? If so, maybe we should regulate it like smoking, alohol, and drugs. If it is, surely we can't be more judgemental of them than we are of aloholics, adicts, or other people with disablilities. Thank God that through the Grace of our Lord, Heaven will be filled with drunks, smokers, pot-heads, adulterers, people who kuss and have looked at porn or cheated on a math quiz.... Yeah, see, I guess it gets down to how if I've even looked at a woman with lust in my heart I just as well pluck my eye out, huh? Or... if it's not a choice or a disorder, is it a genetic trait- can they help it? Would a black man choose to be black in a racist society? And if they can't help it, they what do we do with that, especially in the light of what the Bible says? Some scientists believe that biology suggests that sexual preference is not something one can help. Can't change genes. Not fair? Blame Adam & Eve? Blame Satan? Blame God?

Detente' (thank you Mr. Nixon & Mr. Kissenger for that one) Coexist. How do you put the toothpaste badk in the tube? All things, including society suffers from atrophy. And finally, don't be a control freak like the parent or principal who wants to produce clones instead of wanting to disciple children and equip the saints. Like it or not, we live in a pluralistic society. Many of the new Democratic Congressmen and Senators are pro guns, pro God, anti-gay marriage and anti abortion, but they're also anti-supply-side-economics or anti war.
This is a fallen world, and human, temporal law is about making it as fair and survivable as possible, not about making it right or godly or perfect- only the blood of Christ can do that. Too many "Christian Conservatives" today are confused about Law and Gospel. They think it's our job to prepare America for Christ's second comming, that we're somehow supposed to make this world obedient for God. That's not our job. Our job is to spread the word that we don't HAVE to work, we just have to accept His gracious gift because the work is done.

I'm sure plenty of Christian NAZIs thought that Deitrich Bonhoffer should go to Hell for lying to and dissenting against the God-instituted government in Germany. Thank God they would have been wrong, just as people who don't think that Christians can be Democrats may be well-meaning, but wrong. Or as John McLaughlin might say, "WRONG!"

Whew. Sorry to be so dang long-winded. I think, therefore I can't shut up.

Thanks for the forum and the fellowship.

Parent-Teacher Conferences should be about kids

At the time I am writing this, Boyer Valley had just finished up Parent-Teacher Conferences. That’s where teachers sit in a gym for four hours grading papers, cleaning out files, reading or talking to each other about College Football while they wait for what few parents come to come. No, seriously, it’s a beneficial thing but no matter what school you’re at there are several things that are true;

The kids who’d parents the teacher most needs to speak to don’t come. Some parents feel very intimidated and defensive because they can’t understand why their child is doing so poorly. Some teachers feel intimidated and defensive because they can’t understand why they’re the ones under scrutiny when it’s the kid who didn’t turn any homework in on time with their name on it.

One year in California a parent stayed at my desk for nearly 90 minutes! His child was pulling an ‘A’ in my History class and had no real beef with me, although it was very important to the dad that I wasn’t teaching liberal politics. I’ve always prided myself on try to see and share both sides of every issue. My primary goal as a teacher is always to equip students with critical thinking skills so that they can do their own thinking and form their own opinions.

This parent complained about everything from the cost of filling chuck-holes to clandestine government conspiracies but spent most of his time preaching to me about the virtues of guns and the second amendment.

I tried my best to just listen and not attempt to dispute anything he said.

Another year I found myself under the scrutiny of a set of parents who were upset that their daughter didn’t make it back on to the cheer squad. There was a night that I probably would’ve tested positive for high blood pressure. Forty-five minutes into the meeting I made a mental note to myself; “for future reference; never schedule tryouts the week of or the week before parent/Teacher conferences.” Whew!

The thing I probably miss the LEAST about teaching History are those students, bless their hearts, who would have a coronary if they received a ‘B+’ or an ‘A-.’ You know, the ones who would fly off the handle about how I was ruining their lives and preventing them from achieving their dreams because of the grade I GAVE them.

Hello? Teacher’s don’t GIVE grades arbitrarily because they want to ruin you dreams. They merely REPORT the grades that you’ve EARNED. Studying helps. So does 1) actually doing the homework, 2) bothering to turn it in when it’s due, and 3) having your name on it.

My, conferences have usually been much less dicey since I’ve been teaching only Art. Let’s face it, you almost have to TRY to fail Art. When a student does get a ‘C,’ it’s usually because of a severe lack of effort. Their parent’s, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it assume it’s because their kid just isn’t talented and Art isn’t important so why bother the poor teacher about it. Mind you, I’m the kind of Art teacher who sincerely and adamantly believes that EVERY student NEEDS to learn about Art, EVERY student SHOULD learn about Art, and believe it or not, almost anyone CAN learn to draw if he or she wants to.

I enjoy getting to meet the parents of my students. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun. Some times it can tug at your heart strings. I had a pair of parents who came on behalf of a student who’s living with them for the semester. Not an exchange student, not a foster kid, just a Senior who’s parents abandoned them and who’d last host kicked ‘em out. These new host parents, genuinely want to help him get into college. What hearts.

I don’t know how far off Charter Oak-Ute’s next batch or parent-teacher conferences is but, I’d like to offer some advice for three types of people affected by parent teacher conferences.

Students- Don’t fret and sweat so much. It’s a good thing if your parents attend these conferences. It means they care about you. Believe it or not, so do most of your teachers. They certainly didn’t get into their line of work for the pay. If you’ve been trying your best and don’t have anything to hide, parent-teacher conferences may be temporarily embarrassing, but are no big deal. As Disney’s Kim Possible says “So not the drama!”

Teachers- Make sure you listen more than you talk and make sure you keep your emphasis on the student and strategies for helping them. Don’t waste time either selling your program or trying to defend your teaching style. Parents want help, not a pitch.

Parents- Always remember that teachers are human. Well, most of us anyway. That means we need you to be a little patient and forgiving, but that also means not to put them on any kind of pedestal. What I’m saying is that you going to talk about your child is not the same as you being called into the principal’s office when you were a student, so don’t get scared. At the same time, these are professionals who have had a lot of training in what they do and sacrifice a lot to do it, so please hear them out.

Neither parents or teachers should go into conferences planning on attacking or being attacked. Their common objective is helping kids. Both parents and teachers should keep that in mind.