We Don't Need No Education

Remember that line from the classic Pink Floyd song "Another Brick In The Wall"? Great song, I'm sure teachers and school systems across the country were crunging when that song became a hit. Not only because of the double negative that is used ("Don't need No"), but because of the implications of the lyrics

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!

People will read into this song in any number of ways, but the idea that some teachers (and systems) attempt to strip children of their free will or free thought through crappy teaching methods was a powerful statement. I now hae to view education systems from three points of view: as a parent, as a student, and as a potential teacher. Today I will approach it as a parent.


From a Parent's Eyes


So this week (sort of) marks the end of our search for schools for our son Justin. On February 28th the application for DC Public Schools is due. Here in DC they started using the lottery system in order to give everyone an equal shot at getting into a "good" school. Basically the way it works is like this, everyone has a neighborhood (Boundary) school. Your child will automatically get accepted into that school. But we all know that all schools are not created equal, therefore if you live in a neighborhood where the school is not-so-good, you have the opportunity to apply to an "Out Of Boundary" school that is a "good" school. What constitutes a "good" school is clearly something to be defined by the individual.


What's Good?


Some of the things we were looking at were (in no particular order) test scores, neighborhood, teaching philosophy/special program, and parental involvement. Test scores are one indication of how well the students are learning. It isn't the be all end all, but it is definitely important. The neighborhood is important because let's face it do you really want to drop your kid off in the hoody hood? There was one school that is a really nice school, and many people want their kids to attend it, yet it is on a street right between a liquor store and a strip club. I wasn't feeling that as a parent, but fortunately they are opening a new school for Pre School through 2nd graders.


We Don't Need No Thought Control


As far as teaching philosophy and special programs go, their are a number of programs and philosophies that don't try to cram a bunch of (useless) information into a child's head. These programs look at the child as a whole being and try to engage them to bring out what is natural to us. The programs/philosophies use more creative curriculums and tend to be much more inclusive of the children as partners in education, as opposed to the standard "I'm the teacher so you will learn what I say you learn" approach that has worked so very well in this country (sarcasm...sarcasm...sarcasm). Emilia Reggio, Montessori, Language Immersion, Magnet Schools, and a few others are some of the popular methods of education today, and this was one of our major factors in choosing a school to apply to. Parental involvement was an important factor because in a school where parents are really involved in their child's education tends to be a school where the students excel.


More Choices


So on March 1 the DCPS will hold their lottery, and on March 3rd we will know whether we got into any of the six Public Schools that we applied to. But wait, there's more! In DC we have Public Charter Schools as well. These schools are independently run, but are free to the public. Charter schools are the ones that tend to use the special programs, alternative curriculums, and newer teaching philosophies, so they are clearly the more popular choice for many parents to try to get their children into. The challenge with the "good" schools, whether public or charter, is the fact that the demand is great, but the slots are limited, hence the lottery.

Wish us luck!

Don't forget to become follow this blog!

Run For Your Life!!

Back Again

I haven't blogged in a minute. Partially because I (incorrectly) figured I didn't have much to blog about. By that I mean that I was going to mainly blog about the making of the CD and the making of the TV show. And with the storms we got hit with in DC, I haven't had anyone come over to record, and we cancelled our February tv show. But I still could have written about the new script I was writing for the CD, or the new songs I'm working on, or any number of things related to music and the CD, but I didn't. I could label it "laziness", or "indecisiveness", or any number of other terms but the bottom line is, I wasn't as dedicated to writing on the blog as I could have been. And that isn't acceptable, so I am committing myself to writing at least one post a week. Enough things happen, and enough thoughts run through my mind to make a post a week.

The Fox and The Rabbit

Now, the whole thing with blogging is somewhat of a metaphor of my life right now...I'm doing things, but not to the level that I should be. Which brings me to the title of the blog. Today I received an email from Mark Joyner (check out www.simpleology.com) and the email went like this....

A zen master and his student were watching a
fox chase a rabbit.

The Zen Master said, "who will win?"

The student replied, "Master, of course the fox
will win, he is much faster than the rabbit and has
sharp teeth."

"No" replied the master. "The rabbit will win. The
fox is running for a meal. The rabbit is running
for his life."

Lamont, are you running for a meal, or
are you running for your life?

If you start running for your life, you will
overcome every obstacle.

Now Mark is a master at marketing, and he is driving folks to his products (which are very good by the way), but he definitely hit home with that story. All this time I have been running for a meal when I should have been running for my life.

Running Gear

If I'm gonna run, then I will need appropriate gear. Everyone needs to find the gear that is comfortable for them. I might want to wear Nike, and you might thing Asic is best, while someone else decides to use Adidas. That's fine with me, it won't stop us from running. With that said some of the tools that I am using to help my chart my course are as follows. (Again, I know there are MANY good books, courses, seminars, CDs, DVDs, etc to help one along the way, these are just the ones that I will be using in the immediate present...yeah, I said "immediate present")




Your Faith Is Your Fortune - Neville. This book presents a different perspective on our relationship with God. It may be offensive to some, and it will be enlightening to others.










Master Key System - Charles Haanel. This was originally a 24 week correspondence course, but has been put together in one book as a 24 Part guide for achievement and success.






Designing Your Best Year Ever - Darren Hardy. The editor of Success Magazine has a workbook to help you plan your year. Find it at http://www.successmagazine.com and you may want to subscribe to Success Magazine while you are at it.



Designing The Best 10 Years of Your Life - Darren Hardy. Darren launched an 8 week "course" on his blog for those who want to plan their next 10 years. By the time you read this, the 8-week's will probably be over, but he may have the stuff archived, so visit his blog at http://darrenhardy.success.com (If not holla at me, and I will do what I can to get you the worksheets)







Secrets of The Millionaire Mind - T. Harv Eker - Practical advice on redefining your relationship with money.










Influence - Robert Cialdini - This book offers great insight into the psychology of persuasion and influencing people's decisions.










The Seven Spiritual Laws Of Success - Deepak Chopra - This book deals primarily with coming into harmony with yourself and ultimately everything in your life.






And there you have it. These are the tools I am studying and implementing. I am always looking to learn and grow, so if you have any other great books, CDs, courses, etc share them!

The Caterpillar and The Butterfly

A caterpillar inches it way along in life until at some point it recognizes that it is time to be more than a caterpillar. So the caterpillar goes about nourishing itself by eating a tremendous amount of food. After it eats, it then finds it's way up a tree and by disciplined effort it spins a cocoon for itself. During about a two week period the caterpillar undergoes a metamorphasis. We all know that what emerges is a butterfly, but did you know that when it is time to break out of the cocoon, the butterfly must do it by itself or else it's wings will not get the proper exercise to be strong enough to take flight.

So what's the message here? Personally, I need to first start running for my life. Once that is done appropriately, I will take flight. I hope we can fly together.