Ok, now for the point of all this.

Now that my first meandering rant is out of the way, let's look at what this blog is actually about...

Here we go.

I have always desired to be a man of many skills; I’ve always chafed under the pressure to specialize. In my public schooling it was always upsetting to me that I could not go to the Vocational school to learn how to fix cars, weld, and build houses, while simultaneously taking upper level math and science courses. It has never seemed fair to me that my educational options forced me to choose between craftsmanship and scholarship. Where was the modern Renaissance man? People like Leonardo DaVinci, Benjamin Franklin: great thinkers and doers who tinkered with every new skill they could discover, thought deeply about the implications of their work in the world, and their responsibility within it.

In my teacher training, a professor of mine happened to present me with the National Education Association's classification of educational objectives. This was a list created by a group of teachers from the United States of America, in which they set out what they felt an educated person in our society should be. I found the list to be inspirational, mostly because of it's affirming approach to the goal of education. Instead of joining politicians and major news networks in pointing out where students were falling short, it instead stated where those students should be. I would also point out, that in a time of No Child Left Behind, these goals are pretty lofty. I don't know of many adults who can truly say that they've mastered these goals.

The NEA breaks the Classification of Educational Objectives down, into four basic groups:
1. The Objectives of Self-Realization
2. The Objectives of Human Relationships
3. The Objectives of Economic Efficiency
4. The Objectives of Civic Responsibility

In further posts I will go into greater depth as to what these objectives actually are, but in this blog I will primarily be documenting my own attempts to use these objectives, as an adult, make myself a better individual, husband, teacher, child, sibling, friend, employee, and citizen. I would welcome each of you to join me in this journey, should you find the roadmap to be as exciting as I do.