Thursday, March 11, 2010

Ghosts of Students Past....




I arrived early before the students arrived. With the lesson plans reviewed...the DVD cued up, rosters arranged...I had a moment to myself alone in the old schoolroom. Hardly no one was in the old high school at this early hour as I looked at all the faint words on the blackboard...words that had been erased but the ghostly tracks of past instructions...diagrams...assignments still shown through from days...perhaps weeks or months ago.

I thought about all the lives that had been changed in this room and rooms like it over the decades. Some students left the same as they came in...not caring or too short sided and still emotionally immature...not realizing the importance of an education until maybe years later when each and everyone of them have their moments of regret ..."If only I would have...."

Others soaked up the fire hose of information like sponges. They left these hallowed halls ready or at least better prepared to take on the world outside the walls of their first 18 years of life. In my minds ear...I could hear the laughter of practical jokes...the squeaky voices of adolescence breaking at the most inopportune times...bells ringing and the announcement over the intercom of Kennedy's assassination...the first man in space...the death of Martin Luther King...911. The intercom is a students link to the outside world within these walls...announcements that are burned into our minds never to leave that moment when we found out.

Without a doubt...school now is 80% discipline and 20% learning...what does this say about our world?

I wanted a picture so badly but didn't have my camera with me...it dawned on me that I had the camera on my phone...a quick snapshot and the result is above. Someone once said that "the best camera you can have is the one you have with you". I see now what they meant.

Dan

13 comments:

Sunny said...

What a poignant picture and you have described the sounds of he classroom perfectly.
I too, have gotten a few good pictures with my cell phone, isn't technology great?!
Sunny :)

Mersad said...

Love the gritty texture and desaturation in this one. May I ask what kind of phone you used?

shabby girl said...

Great picture Dan. I'm glad to see that the American flag is still allowed to hang in the classroom.
I had a principal tell me your very words about 8 years ago. Teachers don't have time to teach anymore. Now that's sad.

septembermom said...

The texture of the photo is great. Good catch with your cell phone. Love the words here too.

DawnTreader said...

Your photo goes very well with your words - or the other way round - as ususal...! :)

Dan Felstead said...

Sunny...I am no longer a "camera snob"! I have had a camera phone for a few years and have never used it! Two weeks ago I spilled a double espresso on my blackberry and made a brick out of it so I had to get a new phone. I bought a droid and it has a 5 megapixel camera and really does a pretty good job so I will be using it from time to time.

Dan

Dan Felstead said...

Mersad...I was just telling Sunny that my phone is a an Eris Droid and I love it...it has a 5 megapixel camera and does a descent job.

Dan

Dan Felstead said...

Shabbygirl...so far...the flag still flies! Let's hope it is still there 5 years from now.

Dan

Dan Felstead said...

Thanks Septembermom...I know you are very involved with your children's school and their schoolwork. BRAVO to you! I wish every parent was as committed as you are to their children's school.

Dan

Dan Felstead said...

Thanks Dawn Treader...most of the time, I can think most clearly when I am by myself and that morning it was so quiet...it was like a think tank for me.

Dan

The Lly Dilettante said...

Nice one.

Cynthia L. H. said...

Great post, Dan. Love the photo and your sentiments.

Dan Felstead said...

Thanks Lly and Cynthia...I appreciate the comments.

Dan