Ingulsrud,+Ruth

=Ingulsrud, Ruth=



Bio Info:

Ruth is a librarian-teacher-author currently working at an international school in Tokyo. The last of her three chicks has sprouted flight feathers and flown back across the Pacific to attend college. The roomier nest is now shared with a computer-savvy husband who loves biking uphill. Ruth enjoys the downhill stretches, so as a result, there is always some joy at each point in the journey.

Ruth has worked as a camp counselor, youth director, professional puppeteer, drama instructor, gardener, cleaning lady, model, commercial actor, and horse wrangler. All of these jobs have prepared her for her work as a teacher of grades Kindergarten through fifth grade... especially the wrangler job. Ruth loves to climb trees, play the harmonica, and write children's poetry, but usually not all at the same time. Her latest published poem can be found in the February 2017 issue of Cricket magazine and it is titled, "Blue Dragon." It's about the beautiful and deadly sea slug, glaucus atlanticus, in case you're interested.

She maintains several websites, the most active being BelovedOfBeasts.com (which has a blog called "belogged of beasts" and focuses on endangered species), and Kidsermons.com (which is a children's sermon resource for pastors and youth directors). She loves the art of storytelling and plans to start posting a video blog of stories being read with the help of various puppets. Her library space is populated with a menagerie of creatures who come to life with the help of ventriloquism and a bit of magic. Her two most popular library personalities are Baaabara the Lamb and Truthful the Lion. They are best friends who exemplify peacemaking strategies. Truthful has recently become a vegetarian to ensure that he might not, accidentally, consume one of his friend's relatives.

Published works include the Kidsermons series of four books available through Amazon or as iBooks; also "Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts" available as a narrated iBook for all iOS devices.



**Conflict Resolution / Peaceable School Content Statement:**
School is often the first encounter that a child has with a complex society that must find ways to function well amid many stresses and adapt to its heterogeneous mix of students with age, cultural and ethnic differences. A course that teaches conflict resolution in an academic setting should therefore teach research-proven solutions for dealing with commonly-occurring conflicts and provide opportunities to study and implement effective peacemaking strategies. The course should cover prevention as well as in-the-trenches action plans for dealing with conflicts, both minor and serious, that might arise in an academic institution.

The topics that I would expect to see covered include the following:
 * 1) Initially establishing or revamping a school-wide program or modus operandi for promoting and maintaining a peaceable school
 * 2) Assigning various peacekeeping tasks, responsibilities or expectations to each of the faculty and staff members of an academic institution
 * 3) Identifying or even preempting conflicts or stresses in order to begin solving the problem or resolving the conflict as soon as possible
 * 4) Learning the steps that need to be taken when a serious or life-threatening issue occurs and how to best deal with the aftermath
 * 5) Crafting a classroom community that organically deals with daily stresses so that serious conflicts do not ferment or explode in the first place

I would expect to learn which conflicts are the most common and the reasons behind those conflicts. I am curious to know about the best coping techniques that a teacher could practice with their students to help them build up resilience and positive self-image to help lessen the occurrences of conflict within a classroom. I also need to know which conflicts require the intervention of an outside source such as a professional counselor or police officer in order to be legally and competently resolved.

(Word count: 306)

-- **End of Assignment 1** -- Feb. 9, 2017 --

=Assignment #2=

**Nurturing a Nazi**

The movie, American History X, depicts the development of a young American male, Derek, who grows up nurtured in a neo-Nazi culture of hate. The story rolls along to its inevitable, tragic conclusion providing a sharp rebuke to those who equate patriotism with xenophobia and insularity. The forces that shape the bigoted white supremacist include mentors and a family and culture that seeks to place the blame for cultural stresses and failures on the scapegoat of blacks and recent immigrants.

Although we do not learn of his poisonous influence until later in the film, the attitude and insinuations of Derek’s father lay down the groundwork for a lifetime of animosity towards blacks, Hispanics and Jews. While discussing the reading material (Native Son, by Richard Wright) assigned by Derek’s English teacher (who, like Wright, is also black), the father expresses his disdain for the Phd instructor and for his black co-workers whom he accuses of only having been hired because of affirmative action. When his father is shot by a black gang member while attempting to put out a fire at a drug house, Derek’s grief and rage drive him to his first mentor, a slippery, white-supremacist character who uses young people to do his dirty work while avoiding any apparent involvement in the ensuing mayhem. It is not until Derek lands in prison for killing two black men who attempted to break into his truck, that his world view expands and he begins to see the white-supremacist mentor for the snake that he is. While in prison, after being violently raped and assaulted by his own clan of bigots, he is visited by his English teacher who helps him survive the remaining time that he has to serve by being a listening ear, bringing him reading materials and encouraging him as his attitudes towards non-whites begin to change. Following his release from prison, his rejection of one mentor for the other signals the completion of his transformation as he realizes the damage that his attitudes have enacted on his community and his own family.

One might even suggest that the man with whom he is assigned to work duty in the laundry room of the prison is a mentor of sorts. This is Derek’s first opportunity to become friends with a black man and to realize the humanity and connections that his hate had previously prevented him from nurturing. Before he leaves the prison, he realizes that his black friend has also played an important role in keeping him safe in a predominantly black prison while incarcerated.

After his release from prison, Derek succeeds in extracting his younger brother from the clutches of the Nazi-organizer mentor, and helps his brother realize the mistakes in his previously held-beliefs. It is apparent that he is finally taking on the role of being a positive mentor to his sibling. Tragically, however, his transformation comes too late. The very next day, the younger brother, who attends the same high school from which Derek graduated, is shot and killed by another black youth whom he had previously antagonized. The gory symbolism of the red blood splattered against the blue and white tile of the high school bathroom echoes the the frequent use of the American flag throughout the film and reminds the viewer that this race violence is an American problem. The last quote read aloud in the voice of the murdered younger brother is an appropriate one. It was taken from Lincoln’s inaugural speech on the eve of the Civil War; his message is one of unification and reconciliation as he appeals to Americans’ “better angels” in a message that encourages the healing of relationships between the North and the South. The ending quote reminds us of the germination source of the race relations problem in the United States and encourages Americans to rise above the hate and to become friends with former foes. “We are not enemies, but friends.” (Lincoln, 1861)

-- **End of Assignment 2** -- Feb. 13, 2017 --

=Assignment #3=


 * A. A Peaceable School**

A peaceable school community would not be a place of zero conflict or an absence of differences of opinion, but it would be a place where differences could be discussed in rational and respectful ways, knowing that one’s opinions would not result in ostracism or bullying. Effective communication would be conscientiously taught and mentoring would be used in cases where a third party was needed.

Differences in religious and cultural views would be tolerated, but oppression of one group over another or any comments or actions that were intentionally damaging would not be acceptable. If a peaceable resolution could not be found, then the party that was persisting in hateful actions or rhetoric would have to be removed from the community to protect other members.

The rules would be basically that all words and actions require respect, rationality and restraint. All members would be expected to pursue the best for others first before looking to their own wants and needs. The responsibilities would include cleaning up after oneself; this would apply to the practical, physical sense of caring for one’s space, but it would also apply to relationships and feelings. If you had a hand in creating a conflict or making someone else feel hurt or threatened, then it becomes your responsibility to help fix the problem and heal the hurt.

Going further than just preventing or dealing with conflicts that arise, a peaceable school would promote a culture that sought to initiate positive change in the greater community that surrounded the school with acts of kindness, outreach and conciliation. It would host events that invited the greater community in to celebrate peace and communication and general neighborliness.


 * D. Evidence of a Peaceable School**

__Christian Academy in Japan Library Class__

How is peace taught as a subject in the CAJ library? First of all, I would invite you to step through the door and look above the elementary librarian’s desk. Do you see two animals lying next to each other like old friends. Yes, that is a lion and a lamb lying down together and they are, indeed, best friends. Baabara the Lamb and Truthful the Lion are constant reminders to the students that our community strives to be a peaceable kingdom. When Baabara is speaking to the students (with help from their puppeteer-ventriloquist librarian), she reminds the students that she is only afraid of one thing… loud noises. (The students, for the most part, respect the need for quiet in the library and even shush each other near the lamb.) She acknowledges that while her best friend is a lion and loves to roar, even he manages to control himself in the library and usually manages to speak fairly softly. When Truthful explains this unusual lion-and-lamb friendship to the students, he explains that he has become a vegetarian for fear of accidentally eating one of Baabara’s relatives. His care for his friend overrides even his instinctive hunger. A menagerie of other puppets are available to the students to use after they have checked out books. They rules are simple. When a puppet is on your hand, you are sitting down. Puppets are not allowed to fight, even if one is a snake and the other is a rat. Puppets (and puppeteers) who do not respect this rule are both given a time out in opposite corners of the room. When it is time to leave, the rule-breakers must explain in their own words what they think are the reasons for the rules and then they can return to class.

Book discussions can be lively and reveal many thoughts and beliefs held by the students. Most of the opinions expressed are not harmful and are quite respectful of other world cultures. We are, after all, an international school with students from over 27 different countries. But once in a while, a student expresses something that needs to be immediately addressed. Once while reading a book called, “If the World Were a Village” by David J. Smith, I read a section that mentioned Muslims. “Oh, we hate those people!” said one third grader. Everyone stopped and stared. He explained his opinion, that was undoubtedly based on what he had heard from his parents and then the class began to discuss this. I actually did not have to say much. The students took over and rationally explained that hating a whole group of people simply because their belief system is different from yours did not make sense at all. And they reminded this student that this is not the sort of attitude that Jesus presented. Jesus wants us to accept and love all people and to share God’s love with them. Although many were taken aback by the student’s comments, no one got angry and no one yelled. They talked and they backed up their opinions with examples. The student seemed to think that their arguments made sense. It was a peace-making moment about a very volatile subject and I was proud of my students for handling it so well.

We will continue to encourage positive discussions and respectful listening at our school. Another way that peace is promoted, especially in the younger grades, is that if a student hurts another student, accidentally or otherwise, the offending student is expected to be involved in healing the hurt or helping to fix the problem. A second grader, for example, who has knocked down a Kindergartener on the playground is expected to not only apologize, but also to carefully walk the crying child to the nurse and make sure that ice or bandages are applied. Only then can he or she return to the playground. Peace strives to make things right for all parties involved.

Regarding the whole school culture and its actions towards creating a peaceable community, the school's high school has community groups to which every student is assigned, and these groups undertake projects that have positive impact on school, local city, country and even worldwide arenas. They might be responsible, for example, for raising money to help a cause or for bringing students to an earthquake-ravaged area (as in the devastating earthquake of March 2011) in order to assist with clean-up efforts and with restoring damaged homes. "Love in Action" is one of the themes of Christian Academy in Japan.

-- **End of Assignment 3** -- Feb. 13, 2017 --

=Assignment #4=

**Reading Reactions:**

While reading urban historian Eric Monkkonen’s paper, “Homicide: Explaining America’s Exceptionalism,” I was struck by the variety of reasons postulated by researchers for the difference in the rate of murders in America as contrasted with other older Western nations. Gun ownership was considered along with the type of guns typically owned over the years (long-stock vs. hand guns) as was the demographic shifts of population from country to city. The type of person typically moving out of certain areas was even considered. There appeared to be a shift, for example, in the attitudes of society towards stability and mobility in the mid-1800s. Initially, the poor and outcasts were the members of society who shifted their places of residence more frequently, but later, with the rise of the merchant class, the upwardly mobile were geographically more mobile as well and moving to the city or to a better part of town was expected if one was to continue rising through the social ranks.

America is unique in its makeup of immigrants from all over the world. This is not without problems, of course, and prejudice was rampant years ago even as it is today. The article points out that Irishmen were thought to be of a different race and were discriminated against and thought to be inherently violent, somewhat in the same way as certain Americans now view Muslims or immigrants from the middle-eastern countries. Still, the mix of ethnicities in the city jury-boxes along with an American male-bravado culture led to some strange results in the justice system. Here is one notable example from Monkkonen’s article showing the sympathy that a jury felt for an Irish murderer:

“Another strong example is George Cooper’s Lost Love, which narrates the tale of an Irishman named McFarland who stalked and murdered a popular Yankee reporter named Richardson. The jury acquitted McFarland. In this case, gender bias trumped race; McFarland’s wife, Abby, had divorced him for Richardson, and for the jury, manly jealousy excused his stalking and shooting. A nation without a state religion and with the franchise available to all white men, regardless of property, was, from the nineteenth-century point of view, a very tolerant place. Rather than see jury acquittals as a failed prosecution, one can instead see the benefit of a doubt reflecting a reluctant tolerance. The dominant Northeast tolerated southern excess and intolerance, at least until the early twentieth century, when lynching and chain gangs finally began to disturb the northern conscience.” (Monkkonen, 2006)

Even though this article points out the higher percentage of violent crimes in the United States as compared to other European countries, the statistics show an overall drop in violent crime. Looking at the results of the “Conflict Resolution Violence Perception Quiz” that I and four of my colleagues took, I could see that we were correct in our assumptions about most of the trends, but none of us realized how, overall, violence had decreased in the United States. Fear-mongering is on the rise in the U.S.A. while actual violent crime has decreased. In Steven D. Levitt's well-researched paper on the reasons that crime dropped in the USA, he distills the drop down to four major reaso ns: "increases in the number of police, the rising prison population, the waning crack epidemic and the legalization of abortion." (Levitt, 2004) Link to article in Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 18: http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf

Still, the United States is a more dangerous place to live than less-developed Papua New Guinea or Cuba? The linked map and rankings of countries was surprising in many cases. We have friends who live in PNG; it is not a very safe place. Our pastor friend’s house and library of theology was burned to the ground by a rival tribe in retaliation for something that a distant relative had done. My parents helped to rebuild the library by providing donations and replacement books, but the impression that I had of this place was that it was still backward and dangerous. The U.S.A. obviously has a long ways to go as a supposedly developed and civilized country in terms of its reduction in violent crime and fostering of a civil and fiscally fair and balanced society.

**Waterboarding Reactions:**

The video of the waterboarding demonstration, even with its permissions and safety releases in place, was disturbing. It was obvious that this type of torture becomes quickly intolerable and can even be permanently mentally damaging. If Americans seek to maintain their posture as a nation that upholds the rights of individuals and stands for freedom and integrity, then they must pay careful attention to how they react to aggression and how they stand against barbarism without succumbing to it themselves. Torture is immoral and goes against our morals as a country. That should be enough to argue against it. Still there are some who see it as a necessary way to deal with evil attackers and terrorists.

For those who argue that it is a necessary way of extracting data that may save many lives in the long run, one has only to access the SSCI study finding to uncover the results of their investigation: “According to SSCI Study findings, its perspective on the effectiveness of EITs was based on its assessment of their ability to produce accurate information and/or gain the cooperation of resisting detainees: ‘The Committee finds, based on a review of CIA interrogation records, that the use of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques was not an effective means of obtaining accurate information or gaining detainee cooperation.’ The SSCI Study determined the CIA’s claims of effectiveness were inaccurate and not based on credible measures of success.” (Miles, 2016) Link to the January 2016 Congressional Research Service Report report: __[]__

**ALICE Strategy; Fighting Back:**

A lockdown drill is something that all of us who work at schools are familiar with. In the event that an intruder is spotted on the school grounds, and danger lurks, lights are turned off, doors are locked and students are made to huddle out of sight, away from doors and windows. Simply crouching and hiding may keep an attacker from entering if no targets are spotted. He or she may just continue past the door to continue their search for victims and there may be enough time for the security or police to arrive and take out the dangerous individual. While some might argue that teachers with guns is a good deterrent, guns can be taken away and used against the teacher as well. And unless an individual is highly trained and very skilled in firearms use, the potential for injury to innocent students by the teacher is high.

Another strategy is being promoted and taught, however, in many American schools; the ALICE strategy. ALICE stands for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. It attempts to train unarmed students to resist and fight back should a shooter actually enter their classroom. The reasoning is that if students are merely cowering under desks and trying to hide, they become easy targets for an unchallenged shooter who can continue to shoot victims as long as the ammo lasts or until the police arrive. The strategies of body positioning, surprise and group tackling, training students to jump at vulnerable locations, such as the knees, might significantly cut down on the number of casualties. These strategies work best, of course, with students who are older and taller who have a good chance of actually taking down a shooter. Younger students would have to rely on the skills of the grown-ups in the room.

- End of Assignment 4 -- Feb. 13, 2017

I just came across a marvelous TED talk that deals with conflict resolution given by William Ury, a mediator in difficult world conflicts. He, along with some colleagues from Harvard, were the first to conceive of and act on the Walk of Abraham that retraced the steps of the father of three of the world's major religions, which, sadly enough, are often in conflict with one another. Here is the link:
 * Independent Discovery: **

https://www.ted.com/talks/william_ury#t-1106089

The idea of taking walks to connect peoples and cultures has caught on worldwide with walks being organized in countries around the world; walks that often start at a synagogue and travel to a Christian church and then to a mosque. There is now an organization called "Abraham Path" that helps to guide and educate those interested in walking the Abraham Path.

http://abrahampath.org

=Assignment #5=


 * Kindergarten Brain Hijacking**

Kindergarteners are infamous for acting and reacting without thinking, so of course I can think of several instances where I have seen children acting from pure emotion without processing their response through any kind of higher thinking. The other day, however, I saw a reaction that was so disturbing that it was memorable. One of my duties at the school where I work, is to supervise Kindergarten nap time. I take over by myself while the two regular Kindergarten teachers grab some needed lesson planning and recovery time for themselves. I meet the Kindergarteners at the back door to the classroom as they come in from recess. They have been trained to sit on the bench near the door and wait until I invite them in.

Earlier this week, however, when I approached the Kindergarten bench, I saw one little boy swinging his heavy lunchbox around from one side of his body to the other. He was smacking two boys on either side of him with his convenient weapon. One of the boys was in tears while a calm little girl told me what I had observed, that he was hitting people with his lunch. This was not as surprising as his reaction. He was laughing and even as he smacked the crying boy, he laughed some more. No one else on the bench thought it was funny. No one else condoned his actions. He was encouraged only by something deep in his own brain. Somehow, in this boy’s mind, the reaction that he got and the pleasure and power he gained from causing this commotion was hilarious.

This is obviously a child with some issues that need to be addressed and we are working every day to try to build some positive neural pathways that reinforce good behavior to triumph over the behaviors that are destructive. It wasn’t until I asked him if he, himself, would like to be hit hard with a lunchbox that he sobered up a bit and admitted that this was not something he would like to experience. He has a ways to go in building up the empathy part of his character.


 * Amy Cuddy and Body Language **

I appreciated the message and encouragement that Ms. Cuddy's talk provided to improve body awareness and to help individuals develop self-confidence by using learned stances and postures. I was aware of the effect that one's stance and postures has on others' perceptions and assumptions, but the information about the production of testosterone and cortisol was new to me. According to a 2010 study by researchers at a Harvard business school, when an open and erect posture is practiced and maintained, testosterone levels rise and cortisol levels drop. (Carney, Cuddy, Yap, 2010) When a slouching and closed off posture is adopted, the opposite is true. In 2015, a team of researchers at the University of Zurich tried to replicate the results of this study while using a larger study group (200 as opposed to 42) and tried to control for researcher bias. The results of their study did not corroborate the original study, so the conclusions about the levels of testosterone and cortisol may be suspect. (Ranehill, 2015) The fact that posture does affect perceptions still does hold up, in any case. We tend to assume that someone who stands straight and tall with an open and powerful posture is more capable than someone who slouches and looks down.

I know from personal experience that body language matters. When I moved to Paris at the age of 18 to work as a fille-au-pair, I was constantly approached on the Metro by men of all ages. Even though I had said nothing to give away the fact that I was an American just learning to manage the complexities of city life in a foreign culture, they still could spot an easy target. I began to study the women around me, the women my age who were not being harassed, as they sat there during their unmolested commute on Paris' public transportation system. Their eyes were steely and determined, their shoulders back and their stance erect and powerful. I copied them and faked it till I could make it. I mastered the Paris posture and the men stopped bothering me. If someone started to approach, I glared at them, daring them to take one step further. It usually worked. Once I returned home to Minnesota, I could drop the attitude and relax into the "Minnesota-nice" that I was comfortable with. One day, however, while walking to class at the University of Minnesota, an unfamiliar car slowed down next to me and I saw the window being rolled down. I immediately straightened up into my Paris posture and threw the male driver the practiced glare. I immediately saw the glance take effect as the driver visibly shrunk down in his seat with a hurt look on his face... and then I recognized my fellow classmate and friend, Joel. He was driving a borrowed car that I did not recognize and had merely stopped to say hello. He tells me that he will never forget that icy look. Of course, now we are married and can laugh about it, but it remains a lesson for us on the power of body language.

Link to Association for Psychological Science Research Report, Carney, Cuddy and Yap:

https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/4679/power.poses_.PS_.2010.pdf

Link to University of Zurich Department of Education study, Dr. Eva Ranehill: https://www.econ.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:ffffffff-9293-f098-ffff.../PressEN.pdf

- End of Assignment 5 -- Feb. 14, 2017

= Assignment #6 - A =


 * Conflict and Resolution**

Conflict is the setting of one force or opinion against another; it is engaging in a struggle (typically a drawn-out, protracted one) where two contrasting outcomes are desired and fought for. As the Webster dictionary states, conflict is; "1 : an extended struggle : battle. 2 : a clashing disagreement (as between ideas or interests)" (Merriam-Webster.com, 2017)

Conflict resolution is finding a mutually acceptable solution or conclusion that both conflicting sides can live with, even if the solution is not completely the result that had been initially sought. Ideally, conflict resolution puts to rest the argument or disagreement or war that has been raging and begins to build a bridge of commonality and understanding between the two previously clashing parties or forces. A successful conflict resolution may even result in both sides having realized a change or shift in their world view as a result of succeeding in seeing the conflict issue from a completely different perspective.

This past weekend, my husband and I engaged in a rare, emotionally-heated argument while driving across Japan from Tokyo to Nagano. Conflict is not a normal part of our relationship. In fact, after we had gone in for pre-marital counseling over thirty years ago, the main piece of advice that the counselor gave to us was, "Cultivate conflict." So on the way back to my parents' house, we gleefully tried to disagree about everything. Our thirty years together have not, of course, been without conflict, but we fight like Norwegians, usually maintaining our calm and not reverting to off-topic insults and character slurs. Sometimes, we wish we could fight like Italians, vigorously throwing swears and chairs about as the neighbors are given more information about our lives than they want to know. Still, during this road trip, we got into a discussion about God, divine intervention and prophetic dreams. I felt that Joel was being dismissive of events that had occurred in my life that I felt could only be explained by divine intervention. In one instance, the night we were staying at a friend's house while traveling and our three-year old son was sleeping in the top bunk of an unfamiliar bed, and I was awoken in the middle of the night with a strong feeling that I should immediately check on Alec. I walked into his room just as his body slipped off the edge of the mattress and his neck caught against the choking edge of the bunk railing. I thanked the Lord that I was there just in time to prevent his choking death. While my husband Joel is also a believer, he is also sorely offended (as am I) when Christians ignore scientific evidence and is also disgusted by evangelical "glory theology" which claims that God blesses His chosen people (namely evangelicals) with opportunity, safety and wealth. As our tempers flared, we finally realized that we both held the view that God is in every moment and loves all of creation, but I was upset that he was dismissive of the times that I felt God had preserved the life of our son and, on several occasions, my own life. I came to realize through the discussion was what he was really upset about was how Christians sometimes use God's grace to act like they are the exclusive recipients of divine favor. This spills over into anger about the current post-election American exceptionalism and even exclusivism.

The emotions and reactions triggered by the amygdala do not always hinder conflict resolution. They can alert one to the source of individual motivations and help participants in a disagreement find the true source of the conflict so that a more informed resolution can be reached. We both came to understand why we were angry with each other; it was an assumption that the other did not understand where we were coming from and misunderstood motivations. We finally re-established our common ground and moved on to other topics. The emotions roused by the amygdala needed to be recognized and the source had to be identified. It helped us to better understand each other when we realized the things that were upsetting to each of us.

Ironically, the subject that started our heated discussion was that of the amygdala. I told Joel about my reading and research and I wondered aloud if perhaps I had a repressed amygdala since I do not startle, even if someone jumps at me unexpectedly or sneaks up behind me. It's almost as if I know in the split second before the attack that it is going to happen and I calmly turn to meet it. This trait frustrated my siblings to no end and they would often test this propensity by hiding around corners or in seemingly empty rooms so that they could jump out at me and try to frighten me. One night, about fifteen years ago, the strangest thing happened; a neighbor's friend whom I had never met before, tried to play a trick on me. He put on a gorilla costume and lurked about in the dark across the street from our house. I saw some movement near the bushes and went out with my teenaged son to investigate. Suddenly, the figure leaped out from behind a bush and charged across the street at me. I did not move or register surprise. At close range, I could clearly see that the figure was in a costume and I sensed that it posed no threat to me. The gorilla was incredulous. "What's wrong with you?!" it complained. "You didn't even flinch." Then, I admit, I felt a bit sorry that I had ruined such an elaborate scheme. Approaching this from a scientific perspective, this anticipation of attack could be one of the reasons why I have, on several occasions, felt compelled to look again in a certain direction before proceeding into an intersection, or even slow down at certain places even though no conscious or visible sign had registered in my brain and I had the clear right of way, and thus several times avoided getting broadsided. Cycling to school is my most dangerous activity.

=Assignment #6 - B=


 * Sworn Off Swearing**

This is an interesting subject to me since most of the articles I read assume that everyone swears. In my own personal experience, however, I do not find this to be true. I never heard my parents swear; not a single time in my memory. (The swear map does show that folks from Minnesota are not all that prone to swearing.) I did not swear as a child or as a teenager, or even as an adult, when I jolly well could have if I wanted to. I suppose one could say that I substituted other acceptable words for my anger or frustration or pain words. I do admit to having said "Dang-It!" in a moment of intense frustration or pain, but that is as far as it goes. I remember accidentally slicing deep into my thumb while standing across the counter from my three children who watching as I grabbed my digit in pain and marched around the house saying, "Man, oh, man! That hurts." But I don't think that "man" counts as a swear word. In all honesty, the only time I do use swear words is when my husband are together behind closed doors having fun and being free with each other. None of my acquaintances and certainly none of my children have ever heard me swear. I'm sure that this is not all that unusual; there are others like me but we are not likely to show up in surveys.

Even during moments of incredibly intense pain, such as giving birth to an eleven pound baby at home with no anesthesia during a twelve-hour-long labor, I did not swear. I did yell, a lot. We even have an audio tape of the event. I guess I could have sworn without offending anyone since my midwife was over 80 and Japanese and would not have understood any of the words anyways. But I did not have any instinct to swear so I didn't.

I do know that swearing makes me uncomfortable and puts me on alert; it does hit my amygdala just as research says it does. When people are exposed to threatening words, (but not necessarily sear words) brain scans show that the amygdala does become highly active. (Isenberg, 1999) But some findings run counter to my own experience. A 2011 report published in the Journal of Pain (I didn't even know there was such a publication) concludes that verbalizing pain does have some pain-relieving effects, but that overall, people who habitually swore seemed to have lower pain thresholds than those who did not swear frequently. I have a very low pain threshold and I never swear. (Stephens, 2011) Perhaps the next time I break a toe, which I seem to do almost every year, if I swear, my pain will decrease. I could try it if I remember to conduct the experiment immediately after injuring myself. It is not, of course, an experiment that I would like to schedule any time soon.

Links to sources:

Isenberg, N. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. " Linguistic threat activates the human amygdala," Vol. 96, pp. 10456–10459, August 1999 Neurobiology, Psychology link: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/926b/d0e5fded00e455c968b5b857331e842bbaf6.pdfStephen

Stephens, Richard. The Journal of Pain. "Swearing as a Response to Pain–Effect of Daily Searing Frequency." Volume 12, Issue 12, pp. 1274 - 1281, December 2011. Link: http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(11)00762-0/abstract

-- End of Assignment #6 --

**Poetry Moment:**

The “Did You Know” poem at the beginning of your book, //Staying in S.T.E.P.P.//, made me remember a poem that I wrote for the students struggling with grades at my school.

__**Grades**__

I brought home my report card And showed it to my dad I closed my eyes and hung my head My grades were really bad

My dad sat right down with me To read the whole thing through I knew that he would clearly see Just why I felt so blue

I got a "C" in chemistry My mixtures all blew up My Home Ec muffins were so bad My classmates all threw up

My math grade was "D" minus My reading grade was worse And Poetry was DNF I couldn't rhyme my verse

I got an F in Spanish I even failed Gym But worst of all I thought my dad Felt like I'd failed him

Dad wrapped his arms around me And then I heard him say: I still love you; in **//my//** book You know you've got an “A"

by Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud

=Assignment #7=

**“I” Statement Practice:**

“When you hit Allen while waiting on the bench, it makes Allen very sad and this makes the whole class sad too; it makes me feel disappointed in you. Can you work on making the class happy instead?”

//(Result: The next Kindergarten student he was places next to reported happily that "O" did not hit them and waited like he was supposed to.)//

“When you are all quiet and ready when I begin to read, then everyone can hear the interesting stories much better, and that makes me happy and excited to share more with you.”

//(Result: The second grade students were very quiet and attentive at first, but as they started getting excited about the true famous historical animal stories, the chatter and comments started up again and I had to stop several times to answer questions and to quiet them down.)//

“I see that all of you are settling down quickly for nap time; this means that we will have extra time before going to PE so we can practice the ‘Happy Birthday’ song for Coach Eby; I am proud of you and this makes me so happy.”

// (Result: The Kindergarten class did a fairly quick job of putting things away after nap time, lined up and were quiet by the count of ten, so that we had time to practice our foot-stomping-and-hand-clapping version of Happy Birthday to the PE coach who was turning 65 today. Coach was so pleased with the rendition that he ran to get a camera and filmed us as we happily sang it again.) //

**"I" Statements for Gigi:**

Gigi, I love you as a dear friend, but your habit of going into my house whenever you feel like has made me feel like my privacy has been invaded. I cannot allow you to come into my house anytime that you like. Once you stop, I will feel more secure and hope that we can become even better friends now that I no longer feel that my privacy is being invaded.

Gigi, I am so relieved that you have stopped coming into my house without my knowledge and that you have also given me back your spare key. This makes me feel that I can trust you more and take our friendship to a deeper level. Your understanding has made me so happy to have a friend like you.

-- End of Assignment #7 -

= Assignment #8 =

**Building a Bully Counterculture**

It is important to recognize that even if a school can eliminate bullying, there will always be instances of conflict. Building a bully counterculture of peace includes recognizing that conflict will occur but that strategies can be taught to deal with conflict in a healthy manner. In school’s that teach “Compassionate Communication” has four steps that could be used at my school when setting up a conflict resolution:

1.Make an observation without judgment. 2.Identify your feelings. 3.Explain your needs. 4.State your request.

These steps allow both parties in the conflict to be heard and understood. In true restorative fashion, a bridge should be built where there may previously have been a wall or a chasm between two individuals. Granted, you may not be able to create a friendship where there was animosity, but at least a civil and workable relationship can be fostered to benefit the whole learning community.

The “Compassionate Communication” program was developed by Marshall Rosenberg who, like me, often taught with puppets and was the founder of the NVC - nonviolent communication movement. Coincidentally, the share house in Tokyo that my husband, Joel, and I currently occupy periodically holds NVC meetings, so I know that this movement is active in Tokyo as well.

There are many helpful infographics and websites that help to educate and prevent bullying in schools. Recognizing and dealing with bullying immediately and compassionately should be a school-wide effort and part of teacher education in every school. I notice that some resources clearly state when police or medical professionals should be called in: if a weapon or threats of serious injury are involved, if there are threats of hate-motivated violence (such as racism), if there is serious bodily harm including sexual abuse, and if anyone is accused of an illegal act (such as extortion).

It is helpful to be reminded in cases where bullying occurs in a public space that one should not immediately try to sort out the fact with an audience and both bully and victim present; the people involved should later be questioned separately and privately to avoid further emotional stress. And if it is a serious bullying situation, the students should not be forced to apologize and patch things up on the spot. A deeper and truer resolution is needed and there should be follow-up in private.

Overall, as students become happy with themselves and build up their own character strengths, they become less likely to bully others. Here is one excellent resource that I came across in my meanderings:

**The Science of Character:**

Great 8-minute film that I would like to show to all grades 4 - 12 at my school:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLvzOwE5lWqhTomPCj6-JJIHA7ByZiwczG&v=U3nT2KDAGOc

-- End of Assignment #8 --

= Assignment #9 =

**Personality Profile**

My personality profile results seem to be fairly accurate. Although my scores were all within the 21 to 32 range, showing a balance across the four personality types, the highest score was attributed to the “Creative Problem Solver.” This is accurate because, for me, I find it easy and a compelling challenge to come up with creative solutions to problems. Because the problems that I encounter through my work tend to be small people problems, such as how to make a lesson appealing to all members of a wiggly and exuberant class while still maintaining some decorum and volume control, I also have to use the People Person and Practical Manger skills to be an effective and efficient teacher. I was somewhat surprised to see my “People Person” score as high as it was, knowing that deep down I am an introvert and recharge by being alone. I love to work on poems and children’s stories by myself and sometimes struggle to “put myself out there” to meet and greet. I do enjoy performing with my puppets and occasionally in modeling jobs or for commercials, but at my core, I am an inveterate introvert.

I strongly identify with my students, especially those who long to know the “why” of everything they encounter, and so every day, in the succulent stacks of library shelves stuffed with goodness and knowledge, I continue to learn. And when I discover a juicy morsel, I share it with my students joyfully. I suppose my current job as elementary librarian uses all of my personality traits daily.

-- End of Assignment #9 -

=Assignment #10=

In the two movies, “American History X” and “October Sky,” family influence and mentors make a big difference in the arc of character development in the lives of the two protagonists, Derek and Homer. Derek, in “American History X,” is nurtured in a spirit of suspicion and judgement of blacks and immigrants by his father, an influence that is tempered somewhat by his more open-minded mother, but that has set down the foundation of a young American bigot who embraced racism as a way to deal with his anger and grief. Homer, in “October Sky,” also has a harsh father influence who has trouble seeing any views that are contrary to his deeply held views about his work in mining and the coal industry. Homer’s father does have a change of heart by the end of the movie, however, and realizes that the celestial dreams and aspirations of his rocket-building son, while they reach in the opposite direction from the father’s mine shafts, have a validity and honor of their own.

The mothers in both of the movies soften the fathers’ excesses of harsh judgement. Derek’s mother is not a strong enough character to forcibly stand against the poison that has been implanted by the father’s prejudiced attitudes but her love remains a constant throughout the movie. Homer’s mother, by contrast, threatens to leave her husband if he does not support the son’s efforts to succeed at the science fair and to become a rocket scientist as a career. It is her emphatic support that tips the balance in Homer’s favor and the father finally agrees to help and ultimately arrives at a point of admiration and support for his son’s work in rocket-building and research.

The high school history teacher, Murray, gives Derek’s younger brother, Danny, an assignment to write a paper on any book that deals with the struggle for human rights. Danny perversely writes his paper on //Mein Kampf// provoking the Jewish history teacher to ask that Danny be expelled. The principal argues against expelling him, offering instead to teach him in his own constructed class called “American History X.” Murray goes to dinner at Derek’s house as he is dating the mother, and Derek speaks against him so strongly and hatefully that Murray leaves. The presence of Murray serves to draw out the hatefulness of the person whom Derek has become since graduating from high school. As peaceable as he is, Murray’s mere presence at the family table sets off a racist tirade on the part of Derek. Miss Reilly, Homer’s science teacher, helps to provoke in Homer an interest in the world outside of the coal mining town, but also shows a perseverance that helps Homer to stand up to his father and his peers in his quest for knowledge and his goal of building a rocket that can fly several miles skyward. One teacher helps to reveal prejudices but does not see a reason to continue to support or try to change a warped young mind. The other teacher helps to create a spark of interest and then continues to support her student as he struggles to find his “wings.” “I’m proud of you,” says Miss Reilly to Homer, “whatever you choose.”

The compassionate and determined principal, Dr. Sweeney, plays a key role in the life of Derek as he refuses to give up on the young man, even in the face of hateful language and actions. He rescues Derek at a low point in his life, having been assaulted by his own neo-Nazi hate group in prison and in danger of being attacked by the incarcerated black men as well. His steady guidance and encouragement succeeds in retraining Derek’s attitudes to those of wisdom and inclusion. He emerges from prison determined not to let his younger brother fall into the same hate-fueled trap that he found himself in. The principal at Homer’s school, by contrast, tries to discourage the dreams of the young rocket scientists and accuses their teacher, Miss Reilly, of giving them false hopes. In the end, however, he too is impressed by the success of the students as they win their local science fair and go on to Nationals with Homer representing them and their team. Without their mentors, their teachers and principals, these two protagonists would probably have given up before growing into the strong characters that they were meant to become.

As in any community, there are helpful and harmful elements. The community with whom Derek chooses to identify, the neo-Nazi group (ironically named “Disciples of Christ”), becomes for him a hateful echo-chamber that repeats and amplifies the lies that this violent community continues to tell themselves. They egg each other on and do not stop to consider alternative viewpoints, operating much the same way as FaceBook and certain online news communities do today. Homer’s community is wrapped up in its own labor and coal mining problems so that, at first, they do not have the time or attention to grasp what Homer is trying to do. Finally, however, the community turns out to witness and support Homer’s increasingly successful rocket launch attempts. When his science fair components are stolen at Nationals, they work together to make sure that the replacement part, the de Laval nozzle (which accelerates a propellant gas), arrives in time for him to make a winning presentation at the science fair in Indiana. Communities can exacerbate a problem or be a source of encouragement to reach lofty goals.

Both movies begin in a backdrop of social anxiety; with “American History X” the tension involves race relations; with “October Sky” the tension involves the cold war and the arms race. As both movies illustrate, despite drawbacks and obstacles, individuals, with the support of teachers, mentors and communities can make a positive difference in the world and change the course of human history. This is an especially important lesson for those of us tasked with educating young minds and preparing them for the roles in shaping the world for future generations. Teaching peacekeeping skills and resoluteness makes an important difference in turning the tide of ignorance and hate.

-- End of Assignment #10 --