Freddogg Off The Chain

Around the year 1981 in the Cape Henlopen school district I was reassigned from Special Education teacher to Social Studies what became known over the next 25 years as “The World According To Fredman”. I do not boast or offer excuses I can only say that no one in earth’s history had ever done a better job at being me than I did myself.
Earlier this week I made a new friend taking a picture of a 15 year old sophomore basketball player for Athlete of the Week. Her name is Shanika and her broad smile and engaging personality won me over and I spoke to her like a Great Uncle.
“Shanika I taught your mother when she was in seventh grade. I drove to Milton to teach one class of Geography to multiple repeaters. There were 30 of them. One little white boy with long hair drove his car in December when he turned 16. Everyone stood at the windows and cheered before they began to make fun of my 1970 three door khaki colored Chevy suburban. That class wore my out. We battled every day. They remain the strongest personalities I ever encountered in one classroom.”
Shanika Smiled-won’t find that on a Hall and Oates album-and said,”I know. My mother talks about you all the time. Everybody loves Fredman.”
And you know with all this bullshit state testing and tracking and predicting and academic theories of recycling poverty there is one thing that cannot be measured and I’m serious about this and that is A Mother’s Love.
I have seen the next generation come through and I can’t tell you-cause I don’t want to-how many Honor Society students I’ve meet who are children of parents who were special education and given up for Wawa when they were in high school. The immeasurable ingredient is an honest and unreserved love for their children along with smart discipline. I see it all the time which is why we should never categorize people in school or give up on them as hopeless.
I was a sticker and jabber and counter puncher and I waded into each class without headgear. Respect students and they almost always respect you back and the bigger and more accomplished you are as an adult person the more important your respect is admired by students because only trifling losers disrespect children who are hard to reach.
I’m out-don’t know what I’m talking about-but I do know I discovered something that appears nowhere in the education literature wherever that does appear.

Welcome Back Freddogg