MindSpinner

# 1

Pimientos. I think they are in the stir fry mix I am having for lunch just because they are red. What flavor they have isn’t worth the planting, the growing, and the chopping. And who can believe they are a member of the audacious pepper family? They are deceptive, decidedly sub-ethical - they only look tasty. They are not so much food as an aesthetic affectation, and if there are too many of them, I have to pick them out.

# 2

Pointy-toed women’s dress shoes with tiny spiky heels. I realize that these often coveted accessories visually elongate the leg and that they are sexy (all to the good). But after I’ve worn a pair for a half an hour, I firmly submit that those reasons for their existence are simply not good enough, at least where my own feet are concerned, hot-wired as they are to pain receptors in my brain.

# 3

Standardized tests. I once heard a principal say, “The sole measure of the success of this school is its scores on the [state] test.” My heart sunk like a stone, and if I had actually believed him, I would have resigned that day, loaded up my car with all the stuff I’ve bought over the years for my classroom, and never come back. It’s not that testing is so much an evil in its own right - it has potential diagnostic uses, if well designed - but when it becomes the be-all and end-all of a school’s efforts, that’s a crime against our children and our future. Used in that way, testing mediocritizes education and attempts to standardize young people in way that alienates students and teachers alike. Students know when their schools care more about scores than about students themselves, and they withdraw their investment in learning. They are rightfully cynical. Teachers feel like automatons, their intelligence, humanity, caring and creativity squandered, when they are required to focus solely on teaching to a test. Truth is, the most important ends and accomplishments of education simply cannot be measured on a standardized test. They are measured instead in the scope and reach of lives. That principal can worry himself into his grave over test scores; I’m going to empower lives.

No doubt there are other things to add to this pimiento-inspired exercise, such as the annual duplication of last year’s medical information on new forms at my doctor’s office, but this will do for now. No point in getting out of sorts ;->.