Call and Response

I love documentaries.

I love them because they tell real stories. The human story is one of incredibly ebbs and flows, ups and downs...why do we need to fabricate drama?



Call and Response is a documentary about slavery, told through many people's stories and some amazing music from some amazing musicians. (The full description of the movie through an editor's words are at the bottom of this blog.)

I have been talking with my middle school students recently about what it means to care for the "least of these" and fight for the rights of others. It has been amazing to see them rise and do their best to understand and love people throughout the world with compassion.

I want this movie to come to Indianapolis for lots of reasons. But the biggest, is that I want it to come here so I can take my students and have them not only experience some of the most talented musicians currently in the field, but be educated and empowered. Please take a moment and request it come to Indianapolis. Just send an e mail to info@callandresponse.com

Proverbs 31:8-9 (New International Version)

8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.

9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."



peace.

CALL+RESPONSE is a first of its kind feature documentary film that reveals the world’s 27 million dirtiest secrets: there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. CALL+RESPONSE goes deep undercover where slavery is thriving from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India to reveal that in 2007, Slave Traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined.

Luminaries on the issue such as Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, and many other prominent political and cultural figures offer first hand account of this 21st century trade. Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Rocco Deluca move this chilling information into inspiration for stopping it.

Music is part of the movement against human slavery. Dr. Cornel West connects the music of the American slave fields to the popular music we listen to today, and offers this connection as a rallying cry for the modern abolitionist movement currently brewing.

kindergarten recess

If you ever have a chance, I high suggest watching a kindergarten recess. Seriously. And the bigger, the better.

I come home for lunch. It is one of the luxuries of living close to work. I can come home, let out the dogs, and either watch an episode of the Office while I eat my lunch or clean something. The latter really depends on the day/days to come.

I usually return to work during kindergarten recess. I always make sure I walk through recess for 2 reasons:

1) I am only like the most popular person ever at kindergarten recess.

b) It is non-stop entertainment.

It is no secret that my favorite class in the building is 103/104. They are 9 children in kindergarten through 3rd grade with austism. Only one child is verbal. They have recess during kindergarten recess as well.

Today a small group of small children were waiting patiently by the door when I walked through the playground. I watched them as they were anticipating their playmate...and was pleasantly surprised when it happened to be one of the boys from 103/104. I then followed them as they followed him in an amazing game of follow the leader. He was by far the most popular student on the playground.

One of the things I love about my building is how the kids don't bat an eye at students who are considered "exceptional." The students from 103/104 are their friends.

And it is beautiful.

peace.

a little insight

For the past few months Micah and I have been discussing our social calendar. While we are both trying to be respectful of the other person's desires, we are both being challenged in how we schedule. The next two stories will give you quite a bit of insight into how we are programmed.

Anna, our mother on the Bell side, shared with me a few weekends ago about Micah as a baby. She told me that as soon as Micah was carried out in his stocking (a Christmas baby), she wanted him to be a part of the family. She wasn't worried about Micah being on a strict schedule, but more that she wanted him interacting with his brothers, father, and herself. So she would bring him out on his blanket while his brothers were playing and to the dinner table when the family was eating. She said he would cry and cry and cry during these times. Finally she relented one day and put him in his crib.

Anna said that as soon as Micah was alone in his crib, he stopped crying. This continued to work when Micah would cry, and she soon learned that he was happiest when he was by himself.

Our mother on the Shepherd side, Beth, on the other hand likes to brag that she could leave me anywhere and I would just talk and play. In fact, she is incredibly proud of the fact that she could take me to the Elks club and leave me in my stroller by the bar. I would just talk and smile at people as they would come up to get their drinks.

Come to whatever conclusions you desire, but I hope this was as insightful for you as it is for us.

peace.

Mad Hot Ballroom

In the state of Indiana, the next two weeks are dedicated to making sure our children are being taught to take standardized tests. Some schools only take one week to take the ISTEP, but as a newly crowned Blue Ribbon School in which 28% of the student body has an identified need, we typically take about 2 weeks to take the test.

My schedule is a mess and the kids who are testing are burnt. When I planned my curriculum, I forgot about ISTEP and have quickly realized that teaching students about the order of the mass probably isn't within their attention spans this week.

To get the kids excited about the Folk Dance Club and appease their tired brains, I have been showing them "Mad Hot Ballroom." It is a fabulous documentary that follows 3 New York City Public Schools as they learn American Standard Ballroom Dancing and have an opportunity to compete in a city-wide competition. The three school are very different from each other and (spoiler alert) the "underdogs" win. :)

I have a delightful group of 12 5th graders (a complete fluke in scheduling, but I'll take it) who are totally excited about the movie. I was catching up some kids who were behind as to what is happening and started talking about what is means to live in poverty. One of the girls got real upset and told me she didn't want to know that some children don't get 3 meals a day. I mentioned to her that lots of kids in our school live in poverty, but that I think it is so cool that most people don't even know this because they love each other like a family. She then got really upset with me because now she knows that some of her friends probably live in poverty.

Sometimes I forget that people don't want to know that there are people in this world that are suffering. Kids that don't have a "free" education and get free breakfasts and lunches.

This breaks my heart. It is when we turn a blind eye to the suffering of others that we begin to forgot how to feel. And what is living without feeling?

peace.

struggle

I think about the times I have really struggled in my life-the abuse I inflicted on my body as a teenager, the ups and downs of family, and the questions of where my next meal would come from through my early twenties. I am thankful for the refining and faithfulness of God in these moments.

And now, as I sit on my prep and small children go by yelling greetings into my classroom (the latest was a "Hi baby!" from one of my children with autism), I think about being married and what a blessing that truly is. How I never expected to have another person who is committed to being by my side for the rest of his life...how wonderful it is to have the dishes done when he walks in the door from work...and how great it is to have 30 minutes in bed together at the start of each day. I love being married.

But right now, I'm struggling. I'm struggling with decisions I made before I was married. I'm struggling with understanding how to look for the future and be a good steward at the same time. I'm struggling with allotting funds to things that "might" happen while there are needs to be met in my classroom every day. I'm struggling to look like Jesus as a young, well-off, white, American woman.

And it's hard.

But Micah and I are in this together. And we have a common vision. To love the orphans and widows and live as Christ.

Yesterday J was sitting in the hall way across from my classroom. J is a kindergarten child with autism. He can be violent and has the mouth of a sailor at 5. (In fact, one of the boys who is "non-verbal" walked up to me the other day and said, "What the hell you doin'?"...ahh, his first words and he learned them from Jay-Anthony.) I don't see this in J. He has always been perfect for me. But anyway, yesterday, he was sitting in the hall across from my classroom while I lined up room 107. When I walked to the door, he looked at me with a big smile on his face and started to sing, "Line up, line up everybody go to line..."

And those are the moments I cling to in struggle.

peace.

a tale of two tails

I just want to recount a 10 hour period in the life of Elmer and Inu.

Friday night Micah and I returned home from volunteering at an AWESOME benefit concert to raise money and awareness for Love146 (www.love146.org). I was exhausted so I went to bed while Micah stayed up to work on something. From the bedroom I kept hearing commotion and eventually heard something that sounded like a dog fight.

First, Micah smelled Inu's gas (which is disgusting) and when it didn't go away, realized she had pooped in the kitchen. Which isn't typical. Inu is a big dog with BIG SMELLY poops. Then the dog fight happened.

Normally we pick up Elmer's food when Inu comes in from outside because she tries to eat it. But this time we forgot and Inu didn't notice it right away, but then saw Elmer eating something and decided that-though she wasn't hungry-if Elmer was eating it, then she wanted it too. So a fight ensued.

The dogs were up and at 'em at 5 in the morning, I got up to take care them to find that Inu had chewed her diaper (she is in heat and we are protecting our lively hood) and strewn the little chunks of cotton all over the living room. Also, Elmer had thrown up all over the living room. Micah cleaned up the vomit and I cleaned up the diapers, put the dogs outside, and went back to bed.

We were supposed to get up at 6:30 to go visit our parents in Auburn for the day, but didn't get up until 7:30. We packed all our things, got a new diaper on Inu, and started to load the car. I had Inu on her leash and was carrying something to the trunk when she lept and put herself in the trunk first. (We then closed the trunk to see what she would do, but when we opened it she was licking the inside of the trunk and resting.) Micah got her out of the trunk, then she ran over the neighbor's yard, peed in her diaper, then started flinging herself everywhere in attempt to be clean.

We got the diaper off Inu and Micah went on a quest with her to find a place for her to poop (she is very particular). So I tried loading the trunk again and Elmer jumped into it. Micah came to help and Inu joined Elmer.

Needless to say, we were very excited when we got both dogs in the back seat and could head on up to see our parents.

Love.

PS It was an absolutely wonderful weekend, by the way. We are blessed.

voting

Last night I was in the car with Micah to get Inu doggy panties (our little girl became a woman) and told him (in jest) that I am going to vote for the socialist candidate in this year's election.

I don't know who the socialist candidate is now-a-days and, in all reality, I probably won't vote for him/her. But I do have to say that it is barely September and I'm tired of everything election.

Not because I don't care...

I am tired of hearing speeches from candidates that skirt around the issues. I am tired of candidates who write legislature that they would not vote for. I am tired of people slamming on each other and the candidates.

Micah and I don't see eye to eye politically at all. And it doesn't really bother us. (Though I do think he is more kind with me than he is with others.)

But, seriously people, if you are going to support someone at least be educated on their platform. What is their history of voting? What do they desire to continue in their presidency? What do they desire to change? Through what measures are they going to make this change?

This is my plea to you...get educated. And stop supporting the candidate of your choice by saying things like, "It's time for a woman/african american to be in the white house!" or "So&so's speech was awesome!" and all the speech writer did was compose 45 minutes of bashing the opposition. Read Blueprint for Change (http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf) to know Obama's platform. You don't have to agree with it, but at least know what he says...


Or go here:
www.votesmart.org



peace.

PS I didn't find a copy of McCain's platform, but I found this on his website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/issues/

Stories from the field...

At house church last night we watched part of U2's "Rattle and Hum" for worship. It was a beautiful picture where U2 goes to Harlem and sings "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" with a gospel choir. Two very different worlds colliding and having something worshipful come from that union.

Afterwards we talked about having eyes that are open to seeing Jesus in unlikely places. Sometimes I can get so caught up in looking for a symbol of him-be it a fish or cross-that I don't see Him in the every day.

Here is a way I recently saw Jesus in my building:

There is a student I love dearly who has down syndrome, we go way back and love each other lots. He desperately wanted to play basketball with the big boys at recess during the first week of school. This can be tough on a kid who is small, white, and doesn't really look like anyone else but desires to share in an experience with some of the tough kids from the 'hood. But they let him play. After a few minutes, someone even passed him the ball! And that is when something amazing happened: the rest of the kids backed away and let him shoot the ball. Those boys were Jesus to G and every other person who witnessed the event.



A few other funny stories.

My student I sings his answers to me in class. Isaiah is in Kindergarten.

I had to send a note home with a boy for farting on another student.

When I asked a class how old the world is, one student answered "232." If you ask him how old Jesus is, he answers "2008."

Yesterday I was teaching the students about learning "aurally" and talking to them about hearing something and trying to remember it for later. So we were practicing listening and then waiting a few minutes to play what we heard when I realized there were little pods of boys around the room playing their rhythms on the floor so they wouldn't forget them!

Two of the kindergarten boys with autism were holding hands in my class on Tuesday. I also hear that they really love singing and sing a few of our songs at recess all the time OR one of the boys sings "Allison's Camel" when he starts to get anxious to calm himself down. :)




love. carter.