Hesse in Wisconsin Via South Korea

You know you’re living in incredible times when you’re sitting in Wisconsin, having just read a book originally published almost 100 years ago in Germany, because a 7-member boy band in South Korea, BTS, makes extensive references to it in their songs.

Demian, by Herman Hesse, was originally published in 1919. Consider the world this book came out of. World War I was known as The Great War and had just ended the year prior- there was no need to number them yet. The very first movie studio was built in Hollywood in the same year. In Korea, March 1, 1919 saw the start of widespread nonviolent resistance to Japanese rule that didn’t end until 1945.

Besides the publication date, what could possibly intrigue a bunch of young men so far from this book’s beginnings to quote lines from it so ardently? I’m sure it’s still used in literary classes around the world but I confess I’ve never read any Hesse, probably because as a high schooler, I was enamoured by the more standard romantic styles, with my most exotic reaches being E.M. Forster’s Room With a View and some Chinese poetry.

Demian has many layers but deals with boys struggling for identity and what is expected of them. The main character is Emil Sinclair, who is initially presented as an overall rule-follower whose life is going as it should. He seems perfectly content to follow everything his parents tell him is right but then the “second” world beyond home calls and he is exposed to external influences that speak of other possibilities. In addition, he finds himself subject to the effects of his own changing body as he begins to mature. Emil is torn and miserable, swinging wildly between rebelling and repenting. He finds a comforting guide in the storms in a mysterious, more mature classmate who arrives after the book begins, named Max Demian.

I believe this is what would draw the members of BTS in. Foreverkpopping has an incredibly detailed breakdown of the various song lines and book references which BTS could possibly be referring to in their lyrics and videos. If even half of the citings are correct, the depth of reverence they (or whoever is guiding them) have for this work is truly impressive.

KPop band hopefuls are intensely trained for years, typically debuting in groups as teens or as late as their early 20s. BTS has been a group since 2013 and their youngest member, Jungkook, is 19. Once in a group, it seems that almost every action and word of everyone involved with the group are carefully orchestrated by the organization. These management firms encompass a host of highly skilled professionals all focused on product success. While this allows for amazingly consistent quality in marketing, messaging and performances, it must be extremely stressful at times, especially when one remembers all the internal battles the band members are dealing with concurrently. Just like everyone else during these years of evolution, they are undergoing heavy mental, physical and spiritual growth.

The internal struggles of youth described in Demian are as timely today as they were back then. I’m sure Hesse’s descriptions or confusion, urges and fears would have been shocking in their time. Today, they are charmingly vague but still retain a fresh sense of being genuine. I won’t give any spoilers but the book goes into the realities of war and its aftermath as well.

Figuring out who you are and where you want to go, and the understanding of the universality of those desires, are even greater today than when Demian was first written. So, thanks, South Korea, for helping to bring this writing back into the greater modern conscious for us all to enjoy.

I Need Somebody

“I NEED SOMEBODY.”

I saw this posted on someone’s social media last week. Someone with a life you wouldn’t think would require this sort of plea.

Sometimes, calls like this can be just for attention. Perhaps this person was looking to see how people would react. Maybe it was for personal entertainment or just a request to fill a random lonely evening. There are times when we all just want someone to respond to us.

They see me. I matter.

Other times, it’s for real. We can find ourselves in a place we can’t even remember how we got to.

Sometimes, we put on a performance for so long, it becomes our reality. Sometimes, we can craft such an elaborate life storyboard that the people around us can’t, or won’t, remind us that it is, in fact, a construct.  Everyone goes along for the ride. Perhaps because it’s thrilling or they get something out of the fantasy world, they don’t want to give it up, either. Then, something cracks that manufactured vision. We sense a problem but don’t know how to save ourselves.

We all need somebody.

We can swear up and down that we don’t need help. We can go about our days adamantly insisting that we’re fine, just as we are. I’m an introvert. It scares me basically every time I reach out. However, I’ve learned how much better I feel after I do. I’ve learned that I grow when I do. I’ve learned how problems shrink and answers bloom when I extend my hand, heart and mind AND open myself up to receive the same from others.

Together, we can laugh. We can cry. We can embrace. It’s a 2-way street. We can heal and see the good that we have within and around us if we’re together.

I’d like to thank all my readers. I definitely need (and appreciate!) you. If you are, or know of, a teacher who would like a book of essays, photos and writing prompts all geared towards feeling connected and valued as an educator, please check out my book, Dear Teachers.

Grit. Revisited.

The following is an essay I wrote a year ago. At that point, I was writing short newsletters to our teaching staff every Sunday, reviewing what was happening on the Playworks playground and offering stories I hoped would make them smile and feel joined to something beyond their own classrooms.

This experience helped launch what I have accomplished a year later: the publication of my first book, Dear Teachers. You might say I demonstrated some grit! I’ve always enjoyed writing. This time, I kept writing and rewriting until I had crafted 40 essays I believed would interest a broad range of educators on topics from finding niches to finding sweetness.

My intentions remain the same: I hope to initiate some smiles and remind educators that they are connected far beyond their classrooms. I relied on Marlene Oswald’s photographs to give me a comfortable and approachable starting point. Her images lend themselves to relaxed study. I placed writing prompts to help readers remember ideas stirred by their time spent with the book. The Facebook group for readers will be another opportunity to unite and encourage.

I hope our book brings us all a little bit closer and a little further down our paths.

In re-reading this essay, I smiled at its roughness. I’ve already grown in my writing style since then. It was written in the craziness of the last weeks of a school year, as we find ourselves in once again, to encourage everyone to forge ahead and not give up.

Another example of the power of sticking to something. Here’s to grit!

May 1, 2016

Grit: (noun) Courage and resolve; passion and interest over time.

Heard a discussion on NPR this morning about grit. Angela Duckworth, psychology professor from the University of Pennsylvania, has written a book about it, called Grit. I loved how Dr. Duckworth had great ideas about grit and related traits like empathy and curiosity but also fights the notion we can/should test for it, or grade it or decide how effective a teacher is by how much grit his/her students have.

I had a few cases this past week out on the playground where grit came into play (word fun!):

“I don’t want to coach that game.”
“It’s so cold.”
“But she’s doing it, too.”
“I want to try, but I’m not good enough.”
“Ugh! It’s only Wednesday!”

That last one was me. :-) Anyway, each one of these quotes is either an opportunity to show grit or to give up. We can help each other out by how we respond:

“How about you cover that game for 10 minutes and then switch at the bell.”
“Let’s run some relays!”
“I have some 3rd graders who would love to show you how to play RoShamBo relay instead.”
“Stand right here and I’ll be your partner- we’ll do it together.”
“But you made it!”

Sometimes, it’s the tiniest of things from deep inside ourselves and those around us that help us make it to the end.

Let’s do this!!!

Nothing New. Just Growth

I used to be afraid of speaking up because I thought I had nothing new to offer.

I destroyed countless pages and tossed aside numerous half-formed stories because I lost hope in their worth and in mine to make them whole.

We all sit on this rock together- over 7 billion of us. Thinking. Laughing. Crying. Struggling. Winning. Working. Loving. Dealing. Losing. The odds that I’d come up with something completely unique in all that are miniscule. And you know what? That’s totally fine.

It’s fine because we build on each other's work.

Yes, there still are big names today that leap out like the great masters of previous eras. We still have the opportunity to be in awe of someone’s outstanding artistry or extraordinary mental acuity.

However, when you look at their works and ideas, there are some common threads. Physicist Dr. Carlo Rovelli talks of interaction being the root of all things physicists study today. Philosophers like The Dalai Lama talk of the overwhelming importance of connections between peoples, faiths and science. Meanwhile, experts in education are defining the successful educational environment as one where the students immerse themselves in subjects, pulling together multiple disciplines, mechanisms and perspectives with the sharing of learning and discussions among peers (& beyond) a crucial part of the process.

Everyone comes from a certain perspective, but patterns of connection are visible.

Perhaps we’ll eventually come to a point where life’s apparent complexity will be revealed as pure simplicity. Perhaps we’ll eventually discover ways to explain it all with a few math expressions or lines of text. Right now, that still seems hard to believe but I do find solace in the hints that there’s the  possibility of a supportive web connecting it all. Connecting us all.

I can return to my writing in comfort, knowing I have the opportunity to string some words together. Not uniquely. These words have a past, present and future apart from me. But if I participate in their use, craft something with them and hand the results out to the world, I’m participating in something bigger than me. Something that is growing.

And that’s something to believe in.

My Book!

Introducing...Dear Teachers

Dear Teachers. A book of 40 essays and scenes from nature written for teachers to support & inspire them along their way.

I am very pleased to announce that I have written a book and put it out there on Amazon! As I explained to my 13-year old, who was clearly looking for some windfall he could capitalize upon for his own video game desires, “No, I was not told by someone that ‘You have something amazing to say, let me publish it for you!’ It’s actually an ‘I want to say something so I’m just going to go out and say it.’ type of thing.” It is what it is. Self-published from my heart.

I’m pretty happy with it.

I hope this work becomes a sort of friend to readers over the school year. Perhaps the photos done by my friend Marlene Oswald will be what you enjoy and you flip through for their beauty. A single subject heading may leap out and compel you to reply to it on the provided blank lines. Or, you may find time to sit with each week’s whole deal and gain from all three: visuals on nature, written word and tactile writing response. (I also discovered in my editing work that listening to relaxing music while reading adds another layer as well.)

For this work, I took myself on a journey to answer questions I had about teacher strengths, struggles and experiences. I found new questions to probe into along the way. I’ve discovered new people as well, and fell back on old inspirations with new eyes. I’ve had to ask people for help. I’ve been able to receive and give my thanks. My views have both changed and broadened.

It’s been a fun ride that’s not over yet.

I’ve made a commitment to another year with this material and any readers wishing to connect online. I wrote Dear Teachers as a conversation and I want it to be real, so I’ve set up a group for readers on Facebook (Dear Teachers Discussion Group) where we can walk the path of a school year together. I want to see if my thoughts have meaning for and make connections with teachers living the life on a daily basis.

All of life can be a lesson. I’m very grateful for what this part has taught me so far.

Dear Teachers FAQs

• What’s up with the name of the book?

Dear Teachers began as a letter to my teacher friends. To me, each teacher is “dear”, meaning “special and cherished”. As we are also all in this field together and the book’s message is for us all, I chose the plural form of the word. I wanted the title to remind us that we are all connected to one another and we are all valued and valuable.

• What are you going to do on Facebook?

I’m excited to use Facebook as a means to keep the dialogue going with my readers. Please find it by searching Dear Teachers Discussion Group and sign up! I plan on posting additional thoughts beginning in September 2017 on the essays as the first year goes and I hope readers offer reviews and responses to the weeks’ writings. We may discuss the backgrounds on some of the photos in the book as well. The Facebook page is another voluntary mechanism to communicate, and we will see how it evolves.

• Why is Dear Teachers written the way it is?

Quite a few things came together to make Dear Teachers. I think quite a bit about big ideas, how things relate and what I can do to help make the world and our relationship with it more positive. Growing up, I wanted to be an artist or writer for the wonder I felt. I loved the process of constructing stories but struggled with life’s “Whys”. I received a well-rounded arts & sciences education and in college, focused on environmental science, which further fed my desire to make connections and find explanations. I was finally able to bring it all together: science, storytelling, art and making philosophical connections after I began working in the field of education.

• My school year starts in early August. Can I still use this book?

Each essay in Dear Teachers is labeled by a suggested month as well as week of the school year. You can use whichever label works best for you. If you start earlier or later than the first week of September, the only things you may notice are a slight variation on holiday references. If I have enough readers on the Facebook page with other start dates, I will support them with additional writing as I am able to.

• I work in Florida. We don’t have winter like you do in Wisconsin. Is Dear Teachers applicable to me?

I know many teachers who would love to not have to deal with winter! While it’s true that I write from the perspective of 4 extremely different seasons, I think the premise of the book still applies in warmer climates. Heat is a struggle, too, for example. I look forward to getting responses to my essays from teachers in a variety of zones!

• Will you write more books like this?

It is my intention to continue! I already envision an upgraded framework for a second edition of Dear Teachers, extending the essay count to a full calendar year and stretching the imagery to include a broader range of habitats and perhaps going truly international with both the illustrations and the essays. In addition, I have 2 additional focus groups dear to my heart who I’m currently developing projects for: those with diabetes and the male youths (and their parents) of today. Stay tuned to my blog at www.VerboStratis.com and Twitter @sbaumgartner94 for updates!