365. Life goes on...

I have thought about this post for one year now. I thought about what it should be called and what kind of image should represent all my hard work. Three hundred sixty five days straight of my photography - it is unbelievable to image I am here.

When I wrote up this morning I thought I came up with the perfect title... "The End". Isn't that how all stories end? I had the title, so it was just a matter of coming up with the photograph. As usual life got in the way of today. Plans changed, my mom cancelled on me, Curtis made me angry, the washing machine broke, Abbey was grounded...I ended up alone in my bedroom folding eight loads of laundry. And this day I waited for for one year came and was like every other day in so many ways. Nobody got the memo to stop and remember it was special for me. But that was kind of the point, right? Life kept getting in the way of my passion and if I wanted to make photographs I would have to make the time no matter what life handed me. I can't help but think that I am quietly putting this project to bed as 80 million people are watching the Super Bowl.

Thank you to all my friends, family, and students that kept me going, that helped me understand that I could do it.

364. Sisters

363. Wonderland

Too many glasses of wine and advice from myBFF that confirms I don't really need to write...a picture alone is worth a thousand words. So good night and only two posts left. Yeah!

- excuse the typos...posted via Windo's iPhone

362. In a Pinch

Last night I watched a film that focused on our dismal K-12 educational system in America. Today, I listened to the chancellor of our college talk about the future of the California Community Colleges - more promising than K-12 but also quite possibly dismal. There are so many challenges and so many directions that legislators can make the community colleges head that it is dizzying. The chancellor's speech was meant to motivate us to embrace technology and the opportunities that are on the horizon - initiate change. But there were warnings of so many ways it could all go wrong.

Since Obama's State of the Union speech last week I keep hearing references to America reclaiming its spot as the top nation and much follow-up discussion if this is even possible. For the past several years working in public education I have been trying to maintain a positive attitude. Nose-to-the-grind-stone, just-wait-out-the-storm, and pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps attitude, but it getting hard to keep-my-chin-up as the budget crisis continues.

Keep-your-fingers-crossed that education the future of education in California is not as dismal as it appears to be.

361. Homework

Katie and I got in a big argument today about homework. As kids go, Katie is fairly easy when it comes to homework. Every now and then she procrastinates and then it piles up and then she is behind and then... well you get the picture. Last night I must have reminded her about homework ten times. As she was playing on the computer she swore it was all done. Then of course tonight she looked at her agenda and discovered that there was a lot more there then she had expected - shocking! I am not a big fan of homework for children grades 8 and lower. I think that kids should practice at school and only if they are having difficulty with concepts should they bring it home. Project based learning is great for home - not worksheets. But if Katie's teacher is requiring homework she has to do it.

After our big blowout I ran to meet Curtis and watch a new documentary making the elementary school circuit called, "Race to Nowhere." It is a critique of our educational system. And much of what it claims is true, but much of the movie is based on anecdotal evidence and the perspective of upper-class white families. The argument then is deeply flawed if applied to all, but relevant to the upper crust.  Here is the gist... homework is busy work, parents are over scheduling their kids, kids are suffering from stress related illnesses, and kids are cheating to keep grades up in order to get into college. All this stems from the "No Child Left Behind Act" that created an educational system is based on rote memorization of standards and not the process of teaching creativity and critical thinking.  Through out the film I found myself oscillating between nodding in agreement and shaking my head in disagreement. The movie was able to point to many flaws in our educational system that need changing - I only wish that it made a stronger data based argument so that more people will listen.

360. Imagination

My daughter Abigail is an amazing little person. She is so kind, sweet, and empathetic. When my mom is in her other world and I am so frustrated by not being able to communicate with her, Abigail can jump right in and talk to her. I am sure a lot has to do with the fact that she is only 8 and can call up an imaginary world herself. I worry about the effect this will have on my children - watching their Grandmother slip further and further from reality. It stresses me out, but Abigail seems to go with the flow.