“Resources vs. resourcefulness” is a topic that is heavily on my mind these days.  I realize that in our society even our poor are very rich by the world’s standards.  We have been so blessed with resources in this vast expanse of land.  I am very aware of the affluence since I remember very well the rations required by people when I was a small child at the end of World War II.  

    I have to remind myself that when people seem to waste resources easily, they did not grow up in the same period of time I did.  They have no reference point to remind them to save and to reuse things for the greater good of the country.  Yes, I am pleased that recycling programs and ecosystem protection are a standard part of our school curriculums.  These are steps in protecting our world.  However, most people do not feel a great need to recycle or to reuse unless they have faced real suffering in their own lives.  When the fear of death or suffering is present, people tend to look to resourcefulness.  Many great heroes have arisen to such an occasion!

    Learning to think is probably the most ignored skill in education today.  Not many classes are dedicated to the teaching of “thinking” and reasoning.  Without such skills, it is a very difficult task to “dream” or to “invent” solutions to life’s problems.  With the advent of the internet, students think that all information is so handy and readily available that they need not bother with “thinking skills.”  And with this change in attitude, I see fewer and fewer students  relying  upon their own resourcefulness to solve problems.

    I constantly am teaching my first grade students to find alternative solutions to problems.  I resent the new idea in our country that, “It is easier and cheaper to just buy a new gadget rather than fix it!”  I hate the throw away idea of broken possessions being only good for the landfill!  So, even though many may think I am old-fashioned and out of touch with reality, I will continue to use resourcefulness to solve problems before I decide to just “chuck it into the garbage heap!”

    My students are being taught to plan, find strategies, consider alternatives, and to come up with usable resources which do not “break the bank!”  I will prime their inventive pumps by teaching them about our heroes of the past who have made our lives today much safer, and much easier.  I will teach them to take pride in a “broken object” which they “fixed all by myself.”  I have seen many promising results already from these very smart children.  It makes each new day of teaching a wonderful challenge to me…and a day I don’t want to miss!  What a great life this is…loving to go to work and to do what I do!    Kay