Scarecrow's Dream

School was always a tough place for me. I tried to focus but my mind was drawn away from the teacher as I gazed out the window and into the world beyond. I was a dreamer and still am.

Sometimes being a dreamer is a disadvantage to me. Like when meetings take longer than they should or when the book or movie I am watching just isn't grabbing me and pulling me into it's story line. Sometimes I watch TV and spend more time looking at the mole on a guy's nose or a tie that is not straight than the subject matter. I completely tune out the dialog and can't even tell you what was said. It is something I have to work at...to focus.

Sometimes dreaming has helped me. As a songwriter I have no trouble digging deep in my creative mind to find rhymes and interesting word groupings. The trouble is, this dreamland that I live in is not supported by the educational system. Teachers didn't know what to do with the likes of me! I thought I was a failure at school until I realized in college that I was a "global learner." I read an explanation of this phenomena from a Felder and Solomon study out of North Carolina State University and it goes like this:

• Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly "getting it."
• Global learners may be able to solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped the big picture, but they may have difficulty explaining how they did it.
• If you are a global learner, it can be helpful for you to realize that you need the big picture of a subject before you can master details. If your instructor plunges directly into new topics without bothering to explain how they relate to what you already know, it can cause problems for you.

Most of my school teachers in the 60's and 70's taught with a visual/ verbal method. Felder and Solomon suggest, "Visual learners remember best what they see--pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. Verbal learners get more out of words--written and spoken explanations." The problem with kids like me was that we needed to connect the dots to the big picture. If I don't know the big picture, you loose me at, "Please turn to page...."

My point is: don't give up on kids like me. Yes, we maybe looking out windows when we should be planting our noses straight ahead, looking and listening to the teacher.

I have always loved the song by Dan Fogelberg from his Netherlands album called Scarecrow's Dream. In the chorus he sings,

"Between the worlds of men and make-believe I can be found."

I thank God for the creative soul that He has given me. I see others like me everywhere. Many of them feel that they aren't as smart as the next person. Our encouragement as parents, friends and teachers can make a big difference. There are songwriters, poets. artist and novelists out there ready to show the world what has been brewing deep inside of their imaginations. Thank God for Walt Disney. He was the biggest dreamer of all. Yes, Dan Fogelberg and I, as well as many dreamers out there, share this in common: between the worlds of men and make-believe I, too, can be found.