No Magic Bullet

I was watching one of my all-time favorite shows the other day, Seinfeld, when a classic episode came on. The episode centered around former Major League Baseball player and former New York Mets star Keith Hernandez. In the episode, Kramer and Newman accuse Hernandez of spitting on them after a baseball game. Consequently, Jerry parodied the famous scene from the movie "JFK" where Kevin Costner's character explains the "Magic Bullet Theory." In true Seinfeldian style, he ends his monologue with phrase, "Now that is one magic loogie!"

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but from what I have gleaned from the facts and what experts say, the "Magic Bullet Theory" has been debunked and it has been scientifically proven that Kennedy indeed was killed by a lone gunman.

Now, I bring this topic up not to get into a historical debate on the Kennedy assassination, but to share the idea that there is no magic bullet in education. One can hardly imagine the number of mass mailings and emails I receive on a daily basis claiming that some program, some book, or some manipulative will provide instant results to increase student achievement. I'm here to tell you today that those programs do not work. If they did, schools would simply invest in those programs and all the troubles in school today would be gone.

Student success is based on smart, hard-working teachers, working with smart, hard-working parents, working with hard-working students. WISD is very mindful on what we spend tax payer money, and any programs we purchase are meant to help teachers and students who are working hard...not meant to be a substitute for hard work. I'm as big an advocate for technology in the classroom as you'll find, but I realize that it is the "magic" that teachers do--their daily interactions with students, their caring smiles, their willingness to go above and beyond with students--that makes WISD a success.

So, if you get a chance, thank a teacher for the "magic" they perform everyday but know that there is a lot of hard work behind that magic.

The Tomato Garden

Seeing as today is officially the first day of summer, I thought I'd give a funny story forwarded to me by my wife's grandmother:

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty sad, because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over.. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Pop,
Don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried.
Love, Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love you, Vinnie