Two of our boys started middle school (6th-8th grade) this year.  The school has a program that makes it easy for dads to volunteer and visit for a day or more during the school year.  Today was my day.  For a couple of periods, I served the dean by doing some organization in the book room.  The rest of the day I sat in on various classes with one boy or the other (they have none of the same classes).  Along the way, I made some observations.

The school day starts with the pledge of allegiance.  No surprise there.  I even remember parts of it.  They also pledge allegiance to the Texas flag.  I don’t understand the idea of loyalty to a state.

The pledge was followed by an inspirational quote, this one by Robert Schuller.  They didn’t bother relating his optimistic spirit to his recent bankruptcy.

Then there was a moment of silence.  I timed it at 30 seconds.

Then everyone stood for a “mandatory dress code check.”  They do this every day.  My observations over the course of the day that most students were dressed modestly.  On the other hand, I have never seen the (female) principal dressed modestly.

In every class I was in, the teacher used some kind of technology.  For several, it was a PowerPoint.  For others, it was some kind of fancy overhead projector that is in color and is attached to the computer. 

One who used the projection system sat at the unit, writing information on a regular lined sheet of paper which was projected on the screen for the students to follow.  She was not only sitting, but her back was to the class as she taught.

[Interruption in my train of thought: I’m not writing this to be critical, and certainly not so that you can tell me that I’m an evil parent for sending my kids to public school.  I’m just making observations, and what is interesting to me may include things that would be perceived negatively.  The many good things aren’t as interesting and would make this post too long.]

In at least one class, the students had their desks arranged in groups, such that five students were essentially facing each other.  To me, that’s not ideal if you ‘re concerned about students distracting students.  I’m sure it helps in group work, if you ‘re doing that.

Hand sanitizing dispensers are common on the campus.

I learned that while B.C. means “before Christ,” A.D. means “after death.”  When one student asked how Jesus could be born in 0 and die in 0, the teacher explained that this is one reason why it is better to use the BCE/CE system instead.  (Ok, smoke was billowing from my ears during the whole BCE/CE discussion, but on the whole, this teacher was excellent in communicating good information and in keeping the students ‘ attention.)

There were no loud bells ending class.  Just soft ones.  I think I’m still traumatized by the shrill sound of bells from my childhood.

My son does have his watch synchronized to the school clock.  I never suggested this trick.  Yes, I’m proud of him for it.

On the other hand, apparently no technological advances have been made for lockers.  You ‘d think that there would be an effective and safe lock that didn’t require spinning the dial two times this way and then one turn that way and then back the other way.

To read, one student literally had her nose touching the paper.  My son tells me that she is going blind.  Two other students had a deaf interpreter in one of the classes.

Some of the kids are big.

My boys are going to leave this school as different people than they entered as.  These are critical years for our family.

A friend wrote yesterday.  I will not name him.  But he was eager that our son be named Jack.  We named our son Jonathan.  Our friend was happy with this because, he reasoned, Jonathan is like John, and Jack is a nickname for John.  So he plans to call our son Jack.

It is true that Jack is a nickname for John.  I don’t know why, but it is.  It’s also true (according to Wikipedia) that John is the most popular name in the United States and Jack was the most popular name given to newborn boys in England and Wales every year from 1995 to 2005.

It is not true, however, that Jonathan is like John.  Wikipedia gives me the most handy copy/paste source.  This is what it says in the entry “John,” under “Common mistakes”:

Because the name Jonathan is sometimes abbreviated as Jon, John is sometimes incorrectly considered to be a short form of Jonathan, especially in the United States. John comes from the Hebrew name Yôḥānnān, whereas Jonathan derives from the Hebrew יוֹנָתָן Yônāṯān, which means "Gift from the Lord" [tb edit: better: “the Lord [Yahweh] has given”] and thus is a longer version of Nathan.

If you know Hebrew, you don’t need this explanation, but at least one of my friends does.  Yôḥānnān (John) means “God is merciful” and it is not related to Jonathan.  Many of my heroes are named John.  My son is not one of them.

Jonathan.  More new photos here.