That’s the question I hear almost daily from someone. Are you ready to go back to school? Well, here’s the parody that I posted yesterday sharing how I want to teach, so in that regard…I’m more than ready.

That question then leads to a discussion of the current situation of reentry and pandemic guidelines. It’s a lot to ponder. In fact, I’ve been pondering it ever since the 19-20 school year ended.

Am I ready?

My room is almost ready. I think I’d like calling it my home if I was a student. Currently, it’s organized, and I’m really going to try to keep it that way. [Now those of you who know me and have been in my classroom, you should quit laughing. It could happen. Maybe it’ll be another positive change for the second-half of my century.]

Am I ready to teach 4th grade?

To be honest, the math and language arts will just be a step deeper, so I’m good there. Social studies has more of a state focus, which should be fun. Between the two of us, I’ve never been a fan of social studies. I remember one year in elementary, my teacher wrote a chalkboard full of notes that we copied. I don’t ever want to do that. I’m hoping that I can add my energy and creativity to help it come to life. Plus, one of the 4th grade teachers from when I was in 4th grade contacted me and is sharing some books and a unit on our town with me. Shoot, if it wasn’t for the pandemic, I was going to see if I could convince the rest of my new grade level to plan a Johnny Appleseed Day with me. I mean, that was my FAVORITE memory of 4th grade. Plus, the newness of the focus will be a great challenge for me. You know you’re a teacher when you become excited about finding and printing pics of the state seal, motto, flower, bird, tree, song, and poem. Honestly, I didn’t even know we had a state song, but you can be certain that my 4th graders will hear it…and we just may sing it because….some kids connect best to music. Science has some topics I’ve never taught in 3rd grade, so that will be another challenge. Thankfully, I have some connections to Hanover College that may come in helpful in those areas.

Am I ready to teach during a pandemic?

No…yes…somewhat..I think so. Clear as mud?

No, I’m not ready to do it, but yes I am ready to do it. There’s this study I participated in last summer called the Enneagram. It pointed out to me that I often let fear guide me. I never really thought about it until I read it. Then, as I analyzed my choices, behaviors, etc…I realized it was true. So, fear is there. Social media and the media itself do nothing to help that fear. So many differing views. So many differing truths. You can find someone saying it’s best to return, someone saying to start virtually is best, and another saying schools should remain virtual until a vaccine is successful. All of those “someones” are experts. All of those experts have evidence. See what I mean?

This morning, our pastor preached on the importance of learning and being lifelong learners. Now, as a teacher, I tell my kiddos that every single year. You’re never too old or too experienced or too wise to learn something new.

The sermon proclaimed that we should learn BIBLICALLY, BODILY, and BROADLY. Biblically is obvious…read the Bible, study the Bible, and learn its truths. The second reminds us not to just learn in our brain but to DO the learning. If we learn the importance of being kind, go be kind. If we learn to cook, share the skill with others by inviting them over, taking them a meal, or teaching them your skills. The final point was to learn broadly. It reminds us that we can learn from all people. Yet, when we learn from others, we must take that learning back to scripture. Now, I am certain that as easily as I can pick some scripture to support going back that someone else could share one that says to protect children and to avoid danger. My point is that….as I hear or read the experts, I know they’re simply making an opinion based on their evidence with their mindset. Me? I strive to focus on three things….

I have faith in the One who created me, who gives wisdom, and who will walk with me whether I’m on a mountaintop or valley….whether I’m in a cute classroom with tables, a rocking chair, and desk groups… or if I’m in a cute classroom without tables, rocking chair, or desk groups. He will be with me in that classroom.

Being a part of several education groups through FB, I read a lot of great ideas for education and can ask for advice. However, I’ve also been inundated with opinions. Some of those opinions are written with a heart of love and concern while others are written with more judgment and anger. Those opinions that are overwhelmed with fear are ones I try to bypass. Why? I know how fear can take over, so I need to put it in the corner. I need to stick with the hero of the story…and that’s my faith. My faith tells me to be obedient to the calling placed on me, and to have faith that regardless of where the path leads….that He’s got me.

Peace. You don’t find a lot of quiet peaceful moments in a school. The school day is often filled with laughter, loudness, and learning. I’m good with those three things, but I also know I’ll need to rely on a peace that surpasses understanding. A peace that comes from the Prince of Peace.

Some of you who read this will think my head is in the clouds and I’m not looking realistically at the year ahead. You can think that.

Some of you may think that I have it altogether and you can learn from me. Not really.

Some of you, especially those of you who know me, will probably think this sounds very “Jodi”. Well, obviously.

This morning in our Bible study class, one of the ladies asked about the upcoming year and how I thought I’d get through it. My reply sums up my thoughts.

“There will be plenty of prayer in my classroom to get me through the journey.” So, I ask you, pray for the teachers and students who are venturing back into the school buildings. Pray for those families who choose to learn virtually and the educators who will be differentiating instruction through a computer. Pray for those families who are giving homeschooling a chance in these uncertain times. Pray that the pandemic won’t be able to overthrow the learning. Pray for government that supports education. Pray for loudness, laughter, and learning to fill our days….

Well, maybe go light on the loudness.

My name is Jodi Lea Pflaumer.  My surname shows that my ancestors came from Germany.  My middle name is after my father who is Jerry Lee.  Regardless, I’m rarely called Jodi Lea Pflaumer.

My students call me “Ms. Pflaumer”.  Honestly, they more often call me “Mrs. Pflaumer”.  To them, the Ms. and Mrs. are interchangeable.  They just show I’m female.  I’ve never once been called Mr. Pflaumer.  However, I have been called Mom and Grandma.  Why?  When kids spend a good portion of their waking hours with you 180 days a year, they can accidentally call you by the name of the lady who cares for them the rest of the time.  It’s all good.

At church, I’m called “Miss Jodi”.  It teaches the kids to show respect to elders while allowing a more personal or intimate connection.  Plus, it keeps me from going into “teacher mode”.

A friend in college, actually it was the friend I mentioned in my previous post, always called me “Lea”.  I always thought it was just his nickname for me, but one day I asked if he knew my last name.  He told me he thought my name was “Jodi Lea”, which was why he had always called me “Lea”. Hmmm, two perspectives.  To this day, he’s the only friend to call me “Lea”, so it always makes me ponder my years in East Tennessee.

Another college friends referred to me as JOdI LEA PflAUmer, making all vowels but the last as long vowels.  It would make me chuckle, and I have no doubt if I ever take  a trip to Atlanta and I hear that being said…I will know exactly who was coming.

Names.  Why have I been pondering names?  Well, it seems that the current protests for Black Lives Matter and for fair treatment has stirred the pot of discord regarding the school where I teach.  I teach at Southwestern Elementary.  I have for 24 years.  I am proud of my school, and to me the “mascot” simply was a reminder to “stand up” and not to be afraid to go against the flow.  Why?  We are the Southwestern Rebels.

There’s currently a group of residents in our county and elsewhere who have deemed Rebels an exclusive term referring only to the Confederacy and all the ideals they believed in.  Yuck!  Who would want that as their mascot IF that was what it was referring to?  To be honest, if I believed that we were the Southwestern Confederate Rebels, then I never would have applied to teach here.  But that’s NOT what we are or who we are.

If you go back to the school’s history, instead of the country’s history, you would learn that the name Rebels was selected because the group that started the school was being a rebel by not joining with the other schools in the county.  They decided to stand up for what they believed and make their own school system.  They rebelled.  They went against what others believed.

Please understand me, the Confederate Rebels and I have nothing at all in common.  But…I am a rebel.

You see, society says that high school students tend to try “new habits” that I have never tried.  I rebelled against the expectation.

I was told that education majors in college really are just at school for their MRS degree.  Nope.  I wanted to make a difference.  I wanted to learn who I was in order to be who I was created to be.  I rebelled against the stereotype.

Sadly, in the times we live in, it’s normal to be silent about your faith if you are a Christian, but….nope.  My friends, my family, my students, and the social media world know that I am a Christian.  I rebel against being a silent Christian.

Personally, I think being a lawful respectful rebel is a good thing.  I tell my students if they disagree with something I planned or do in class that they can respectfully state their case.  I can’t guarantee the stand will change the plans or practice, but it’s worth a shot.  I teach them to stand up and be heard.  I have read posts by friends who only focus on the negative definition of rebel.  Yet, I teach my students multiple meaning words every year.  Some words have both positive and negative meanings.  We are not the Confederate Rebels; we are the Southwestern Rebels.

As I do often when reading social media, I googled this question. “Is Rebel a negative word?”  The response: “Being a rebel or being branded as a rebel does not always warrant negative inferences. Strong willed people who are indisposed to comply with rules, standards, or laws are often branded rebels-just because they don’t fall in with a situation – often a prejudiced or unfair or unjust or discriminatory situation.”

Maybe I have a Pollyanna view of life, but that’s with what I’ve always associated our mascot. I will admit that in the midst of the heated and sometimes hateful/disrespectful debate I’ve read on Facebook that I cringe whenever a Confederate Soldier or Confederate flag appear.  Please know, I’m all about learning from our history.  I teach my kiddos history, both the positive and the ugly.  We discuss how we’ve learned and can still learn and change.  Yet, the visual of those two things don’t cause me any joy.  But, I admit, the little old guy with the beard, he just reminds me of a crotchety old man…angry old men are still around, but I don’t want that to be our mascot.  That little man doesn’t look one bit joyful.  Hmm, I need to refocus and forget about that little man.

One of my friends posted a survey on whether the school should change “Rebels”.  I picked “no”.  The money involved with the change is a big deterrent for me agreeing when we’re hard-pressed to be able to fund teacher’s salary and various student activities.  It seems like a lot of money for “rebranding”.  I became curious as to whether this was only occurring here or everywhere.  From what I garnered from a quick search, it seems Old Miss and UNLV as well as high schools throughout the nation have faced the same debate.  In most (if not all) cases, the “old man mascot” was given the boot.  Some replaced him with a bear or dog, but the name remained.

What will happen?  I know not.  Names are powerful.  Words…are what you make them.

Yet, this morning as I was once again overwhelmed by the FB posts on this subject, I tried to think of words that get me “worked up”.

The first that came to mind was the N word.  That to me is more foul than any curse word.  When I hear it, it makes my heart sad.  Many moons ago or possibly decades, I had a student who said the word in passing.  Our lesson was quickly interrupted and a history lesson and a lesson on respecting others took over.  To be honest, the only way this 8-year-old would be able to use the word so haphazardly was if he heard it frequently.  I always wondered what he told his parents happened in school that day.  Did he tell them that I corrected him and taught the class how inappropriate it was?  Did his parents see me as a self-righteous teacher?  Or….did they realize that their habit hurts others?

Then, I was reminded of a word that hurts me personally.  It hurts my spirit and makes my heart cry.  It is a name that my entire being is grounded in and my world revolves around.  It’s the name of my Creator.  My Savior.  God.

Just saying the name prompts a feeling of admiration and adoration to my being.  Yet, I remember back during my masters program having to endure a professor who used it as often as others say “um” as he taught us.  Each time he uttered the word, my entire being wanted to scream.  However, you can tell by a person’s speech and attitude whether a dialogue can take place, and it was evident that this professor’s self-identify would not take well to a student offering constructive criticism.  So, each week of his course….I would become irritated, which prompted anger, which prompted prayer.  Sometimes for him.  Often times for my attitude check.  At the conclusion of each course in my graduate program, associated with an evangelical Protestant university, the university had us complete an evaluation.  To be honest, I would rank this professor as second in most effective, but I respectfully shared how his habit, which had no intent on hurting others, affected me.  I’d like to say our evaluations (I wasn’t the only one who shared it.) helped him to alter his habit, and perhaps it did.  Yet, I do know that it colored his view of our co-hort.  Our advising professor told us in one of the courses she taught, “I don’t know what happened in Dr. X’s  class, but he does not hold a positive regard for your group.  He said nothing positive about the course just that you were ‘whiny’.”  Ah, we whined when we reported his offensive habit.  Lesson learned.  Sometimes, people don’t understand your problem with something.  You shake it off and move on.

Why did I share that?  I keep asking myself….is calling ourselves Rebel like speaking God’s name without reverence?  Does it cause stomach-punching emotional pain to those who hear it?  I don’t know.

As I wrapped up my ponderings and prepared to put my thoughts into word format…I again read posts from friends.  I have friends on both sides of the debate.  These are people I respect.  The perspective of both sides deserves attention, and then let the decree be made.  Regardless of how this current debate plays out….whether we remain the Southwestern Rebels, change to the Southwestern Survivors, revert to the Southwestern Bulldogs, I will always be a rebel.  A person who does what I think is right even when the world doesn’t agree.