Culture Clash

  i call this photo "Fax Dog."
  i took it on Christmas Eve, when i was frantically trying to finish the gift scrapbook before going visiting.  Since my art room is a total disaster, i was, as usual, working on the living room floor.
  And my dog, wanting only to be with distracted me, to have at least a little of my attention, was all over my papers and photos.
  We had different goals, you see.
  i call this photo "Fax Dog," because she's being a Facsimile of a well-behaved dog here.  i asked her to "Down," and she did.  You wouldn't know that, seconds before, she'd been making a mess and causing trouble.  But she's eager to please, to do what i want and ask.

  i think this may be the root of some of the difficulties in schools.  There's old-school culture. There's new school, twenty-first century culture. There's politics.  There's parents - and i really believe that,even if school people are parents, because of their training, they come from a different place, especially if they got their training before becoming parents. And the end result is, we don't really understand each other, because we don't start with the same "We hold this to be true"s.
Oh, we try, but the gulf is as wide as my dog trying to understand what gives with that crazy human sitting on the floor in the middle of all the papers  and getting mad when she walks and sits on and among  the stupid papers.

  We have a vital interest, and strong will, to connect.  Finding the common ground though, that's tricky.