BEARS!

*Note about #WeirdEd Week 136- There's a lot of serious we could be chatting about right now. Devos, the ban, the wall, the pure insane fascism, punching Nazis, and more. And we will get to a lot of those and how they impact us, our schools, and our kids. But not every week. Not all the time. It's not healthy for me or for you. This is also a place for weirdness and joy and some good crazy. Sometimes the only way to deal with the darkness is to laugh at it. 

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They're everywhere. On our TV screens. In our movies. Our books. They are even enjoying our carbonated beverages. Stephen Colbert tried to warn us about them for years. Did we care?

It's time I leave the cave and face the grizzly truth- Bears are out there. I'm embarrassed I haven't written about them before now. But recently I've been thinking I should. It's like a phone rang in my brain and when I answered it the koala shouted, "BEARS!" If it happened to you it would be ursine.

It makes me blue that we, as a profession, have ignored how bears impact us and our students. The topic has been unbearable to many of us for too long. It's our responsibility to roar from the mountains to the mauls what bears bring to teaching and learning.

By baring my soul like this hopefully we can come together. I feel naked. (Could be worse, I could feel like I'm wearing a teddy in front of you.) I can be willy-nilly and silly no longer. If anything, I should have mentioned them back in October after the Cubbies won the World Series. At least then the conversation could have Ben gentle. But now we might need to gryll each other.

Talking about something this serious requires quite a lot of calm. Frankly, a yogi would be better suited to it than me. I'm kinda the polar opposite. I hope that's not too much of a bother. If we're careful and don't make a boo-boo I think we'll be able to come through with some learning. It won't be a picnic. Conversations like this get easier with practice, like kung-fu.

Honestly, I think you're all smart people. You've probably already had these conversations and they were great. You see the necessity. I'm not trying to panda to you, I really believe that. These issues may seem black and white, but they aren't. Before I wrote this I had to go outside. I had to waka lot before I broke the the bearrier.

I think I should wrap this post up before you think I'm filling it with Paddington. Soon a satellite dish will pop out of my head. I'll leave you with this- the whole country needs to recognize the jam we in. I take a page from the Bill of Rights and extend my hand, my whole arm. I welcome into my classroom my brother bear.


*I couldn't get a stupid gummy bear joke to work so it's the header image instead.