Acceptable behavior

     When I was in the Navy, I had a friend named Allen. Great guy and he was Jewish. My problem was that he used to tell jokes all the time and he would tell jokes about the Jews that were killed in concentration camps during WWII. I was mortified that he could make such jokes about his own religious background. I asked him about it and he said that his grandfathers cousins were killed in the camps and he still kept on cracking these totally distasteful jokes. Allen said that the humor helped him deal with it as he was growing up. I personally couldn't see the benefit, but then I didn't have anything that would compare to his circumstance in my life.
     I still don't agree with his assessment, but I have to live and let live also. Anyone have any thoughts about how I might have dealt with this?

What I learned from The Third Teacher

     The biggest thing I learned was just how much environment makes a difference in how kids learn. One of the greatest eye openers was the suggestion that we paint the desks grenn and have more natural light and potted plants in the classroom to make the classroom appear like more natural surroundings. I think getting everyone involved in the school to help the school out in decor is a great idea. Letting the kids help with the redecoraing gives them their input as well as giving them a tactile and visual means of interacting with their school environment.