Ode to Democracy

My last post was written just over one week ago, but it feels like it was a lifetime ago. A lot of things have changed – important things that will hopefully make life better for me and for all of us.

First, locally, I finally got a new teaching schedule. I had been having problems because under my original schedule I was "teaching" with nine different teachers, seven of which came from outside of the school with a pre-prepared curriculum that they were unwilling to alter in any way. At first I tried to find creative ways to insert myself into their lessons just to spice them up a little. In doing so the teachers just found more ways to limit me in the classroom. Then I met with the teachers and their director to express my interest in getting more involved in the planning and teaching processes. In response they told me that they had a "time map" that they had to follow, so it was better for them if I just sat on the sidelines and helped them by reading the occasional dialog or answering random questions about vocabulary. Even when I asked if I could at least prepare one lesson per 8-class unit they shut me down…just one class!

I began to feel very down because the majority of my time at the school was being wasted. The combination of being far from home and feeling useless is not a good one, so I began to question myself daily about why I was here. Finally, after attempting to talk with the outside teachers one more time and getting nowhere, I talked with the principal and told her I could no longer teach with them. Instead I wanted to teach only with the two English teachers who teach at the school permanently. To my surprise the principal, who speaks no English, understood my concerns and my wishes and she gave me her full support. So after a week of negotiations I have a new schedule! I still get to teach every student in the school, plus I will get to prepare my own lessons. This is huge for me because it gives me hope that I can make good use of my time at the school and not worry about leaving feeling like I missed an opportunity.

Now, onto the greater good: the election! First of all, I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all who worked in any way to promote changes in leadership, to all who voted for changes in leadership, and to all who prayed for changes in leadership. Because changes in leadership is what we got! I was not shocked that Strickland won Ohio, but I was surprised by his large margin of victory. I was relieved that Sherrod Brown beat Mike DeWine for the Senate. And at the local and personal level I was thrilled to see that a vital Akron Public School levy finally passed after failing in May. It makes me sick that Ohio public education still relies on tax levies for acquiring basic funding, but maybe that will change soon.

I actually cried some tears of joy on the day after the election when I opened the New York Times Online. As the front page of the paper loaded line by line, I slowly discovered one, that Rumsfeld resigned, two, that Montana went Democrat in the Senate, and three, that Virginia would most likely go Democrat too (which they did), giving the Democrats control of both the House AND the Senate!!!

Now for the cynics out there, I am well aware that getting Republicans out and Democrats in at the local and national level does not by any means begin to resolve the domestic and international problems plaguing the United States. I am quite confident, however, that this significant change will stop the terrible momentum that has been hurling the United States in a downward spiral. I am also hopeful that not only will the downward momentum be stopped, but it can also be reversed. Priorities will shift, credibility will be restored, and most importantly, fear will diminish. I have never appreciated democracy so much.