Monday, May 29, 2006
for arden, who is upset about the demise of professor x
Cartoon Physics, part 1
by Nick Flynn
Children under, say, ten, shouldn't know
that the universe is ever-expanding,
inexorably pushing into the vacuum, galaxies
swallowed by galaxies, whole
solar systems collapsing, all of it
acted out in silence. At ten we are still learning
the rules of cartoon animation,
that if a man draws a door on a rock
only he can pass through it.
Anyone else who tries
will crash into the rock. Ten-year-olds
should stick with burning houses, car wrecks,
ships going down -- earthbound, tangible
disasters, arenas
where they can be heroes. You can run
back into a burning house, sinking ships
have lifeboats, the trucks will come
with their ladders, if you jump
you will be saved. A child
places her hand on the roof of a schoolbus,
& drives across a city of sand. She knows
the exact spot it will skid, at which point
the bridge will give, who will swim to safety
& who will be pulled under by sharks. She will learn
that if a man runs off the edge of a cliff
he will not fall
until he notices his mistake.
by Nick Flynn
Children under, say, ten, shouldn't know
that the universe is ever-expanding,
inexorably pushing into the vacuum, galaxies
swallowed by galaxies, whole
solar systems collapsing, all of it
acted out in silence. At ten we are still learning
the rules of cartoon animation,
that if a man draws a door on a rock
only he can pass through it.
Anyone else who tries
will crash into the rock. Ten-year-olds
should stick with burning houses, car wrecks,
ships going down -- earthbound, tangible
disasters, arenas
where they can be heroes. You can run
back into a burning house, sinking ships
have lifeboats, the trucks will come
with their ladders, if you jump
you will be saved. A child
places her hand on the roof of a schoolbus,
& drives across a city of sand. She knows
the exact spot it will skid, at which point
the bridge will give, who will swim to safety
& who will be pulled under by sharks. She will learn
that if a man runs off the edge of a cliff
he will not fall
until he notices his mistake.
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Friday, May 26, 2006
my son loves words
Thunderstorm, by Arden (age 9)
I control the thunder ruining Days.
Hiring A
Big Marching Band to
Create my Praise.
But today I
am weary And
so i'll just let you play
I control the thunder ruining Days.
Hiring A
Big Marching Band to
Create my Praise.
But today I
am weary And
so i'll just let you play
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Monday, May 22, 2006
breathe
EOCT results came in. 100% of my ninth graders passed. 43% scored a 90 or above.
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
Labels: save as draft
I go backwards and forwards, recapturing the past, wondering about the future-and, most unreasonably, I find myself longing for the past more than for the future. I remind myself how often we were cold and hungry with barely a rug to our backs, and then I count the blessings that have descended on us; but I still seem to fancy the past more.
- Dodie Smith
I Capture the Castle
- Dodie Smith
I Capture the Castle
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Wednesday, May 17, 2006
"Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression".
If you have not read I Capture the Castle, it's a lovely pleasure reading book.
If you have not read I Capture the Castle, it's a lovely pleasure reading book.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
cash
I've been teaching Faulkner's As I Lay Dying to my honors ninth grade classes using the five love languages as a thematic guide. It has gone better than I expected it would.
I have this one kid that keeps his head down and keeps himself apart from the rest of the class. It's not in an alienated or depressed way, it's more like he has business to attend to at school and he is focused on getting through and getting done. He misses class sometimes, and once he mentioned to me that there was some sort of family problem. I've always got the impression that he may be the man of his house, and that he has responsibilities that weigh on him.
He is a good boy. Better than good. He has always been the first person to offer to help pass things out. He collects books and without being asked. When we went on a field trip, and the other kids sat and talked while waiting for our bus, this kid went in and picked up all the dropped programs from the theater. He's quiet, and sometimes he seems tired, but he is an exceptional human being.
When I started teaching As I Lay Dying, I gave the kids a lecture about the love languages. Then I let them volunteer to read character parts from the novel. I tried to match up kids and characters. When I saw this boy's hand up, I casually mentioned that I wanted him to read the part of Cash, because Cash's love language is gifts of service. You remind me of Cash, I said.
Since that day, it has been like someone flipped a light switch inside this kid. It's like he never understood and now he sees that acts of service is his love language. These are the words he uses, except they are not words. It is not duty or obligation that he answers to: it is how he loves. Of course. It makes such sense. He lifts his head and does not look at the ground anymore. He smiles. When I asked my students how many of them went home and talked with their parent(s) about their love language, he was one of the first to raise his hand.
Last week was teacher appreciation week at school, which means much less when you teach high school in the hood. I did have a few students bring in thank you notes. Then, on Friday, I heard my Cash kid in my back closet after he finished his work. After school, I went to lock up my stuff and I could not believe it. The room was beyond clean. Every paper, every book was totally straight and in order. I went to shut the door, and there, under the handle, was glued a small construction paper heart.
It was the best thank you I've ever gotten.
I have this one kid that keeps his head down and keeps himself apart from the rest of the class. It's not in an alienated or depressed way, it's more like he has business to attend to at school and he is focused on getting through and getting done. He misses class sometimes, and once he mentioned to me that there was some sort of family problem. I've always got the impression that he may be the man of his house, and that he has responsibilities that weigh on him.
He is a good boy. Better than good. He has always been the first person to offer to help pass things out. He collects books and without being asked. When we went on a field trip, and the other kids sat and talked while waiting for our bus, this kid went in and picked up all the dropped programs from the theater. He's quiet, and sometimes he seems tired, but he is an exceptional human being.
When I started teaching As I Lay Dying, I gave the kids a lecture about the love languages. Then I let them volunteer to read character parts from the novel. I tried to match up kids and characters. When I saw this boy's hand up, I casually mentioned that I wanted him to read the part of Cash, because Cash's love language is gifts of service. You remind me of Cash, I said.
Since that day, it has been like someone flipped a light switch inside this kid. It's like he never understood and now he sees that acts of service is his love language. These are the words he uses, except they are not words. It is not duty or obligation that he answers to: it is how he loves. Of course. It makes such sense. He lifts his head and does not look at the ground anymore. He smiles. When I asked my students how many of them went home and talked with their parent(s) about their love language, he was one of the first to raise his hand.
Last week was teacher appreciation week at school, which means much less when you teach high school in the hood. I did have a few students bring in thank you notes. Then, on Friday, I heard my Cash kid in my back closet after he finished his work. After school, I went to lock up my stuff and I could not believe it. The room was beyond clean. Every paper, every book was totally straight and in order. I went to shut the door, and there, under the handle, was glued a small construction paper heart.
It was the best thank you I've ever gotten.
Friday, May 12, 2006
a legend runs through it
It is the end of the year. My honors kids are reading As I Lay Dying while most of the other teachers on the hall have given up and are, basically, playing. Half of my students seem to like Faulkner, a third simply tolerate it, and the remaining students stare at the walls and complain that it is boring.
It's not boring, I say. It is difficult. I've started calling these kids my Anse Bundrens: students afraid to break a mental sweat.
Still, I realize that I am pushing them hard with the assignment, especially at the end of the year. I've promised that next week, I'll use part of the class to show two films that are sort of related to the novel. I'm going to show Hoodwinked for its use of multiple perspective and I'd like to show A River Runs Through It because I remember, way back when I watched it in the theater, that the Brad Pitt character somehow reminded me of Jewel Bundren.
The problem I am having now is that when I try to remember just what the movie is about (other than fly fishing), the synopsis goes something like this:
There are these brothers in Montana and they go fly fishing and Brad Pitt is very young and handsome. There is rivalry between the brothers. Brad Pitt looks very good in a hat, like a young Robert Redford. Montana is pretty. Both brothers are in love with the same girl and then I think they get sent off to war. Maybe one of them gets sent to war and one does not? There are Indians. Brad Pitt ends up in jail and his father, Anthony Hopkins, has a stroke and starts muttering "Screw the government".
It's not boring, I say. It is difficult. I've started calling these kids my Anse Bundrens: students afraid to break a mental sweat.
Still, I realize that I am pushing them hard with the assignment, especially at the end of the year. I've promised that next week, I'll use part of the class to show two films that are sort of related to the novel. I'm going to show Hoodwinked for its use of multiple perspective and I'd like to show A River Runs Through It because I remember, way back when I watched it in the theater, that the Brad Pitt character somehow reminded me of Jewel Bundren.
The problem I am having now is that when I try to remember just what the movie is about (other than fly fishing), the synopsis goes something like this:
There are these brothers in Montana and they go fly fishing and Brad Pitt is very young and handsome. There is rivalry between the brothers. Brad Pitt looks very good in a hat, like a young Robert Redford. Montana is pretty. Both brothers are in love with the same girl and then I think they get sent off to war. Maybe one of them gets sent to war and one does not? There are Indians. Brad Pitt ends up in jail and his father, Anthony Hopkins, has a stroke and starts muttering "Screw the government".
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Wednesday, May 10, 2006
magic
If you check my reading list, you'll notice that I went through a little Mormon reading phase about a month ago. This left me pretty well convinced that Joseph Smith was (literally) crazy.
Tuesday night, we watched the David Blaine special with my two kids. I can remember watching magicians on television when I was a kid; my favorite (by far) was Doug Henning.
I loved Doug Henning. I loved his bushy hair and his smile. I loved his hippie shirts. He was a magic man after my own 1970's little girl heart. I totally believed that he levitated over the Grand Canyon.
The whole David Blaine Fishbowl thing got me wondering about my childhood crush, so I looked up Doug Henning and sadly, he died at age 52 in 2000. Prior to his death, he was evidently working to create a bizarre Disneyworld-type attraction for followers of transcendental meditation and the Maharishi Vedic Yogi. I followed some links on the internet and came across the startling discovery that the followers of the Maharishi Vedic philosophy/religion actually own an entire town. In Iowa.
Prepare yourself for Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.
Where all buildings face east. Where " 1,000 experts gather twice daily to practice Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying to promote peace and harmony in the world.". Where they accept US currency, but prefer that you use the international currency of world peace: The Raam. Where the produce is not only farmed organically, but where they "play Vedic music to the growing plants". Where they are still planning to build Maharishi Veda Land.
Evidently, if you make up some crazy religion, you can just buy your own town in Iowa.
Tuesday night, we watched the David Blaine special with my two kids. I can remember watching magicians on television when I was a kid; my favorite (by far) was Doug Henning.
I loved Doug Henning. I loved his bushy hair and his smile. I loved his hippie shirts. He was a magic man after my own 1970's little girl heart. I totally believed that he levitated over the Grand Canyon.
The whole David Blaine Fishbowl thing got me wondering about my childhood crush, so I looked up Doug Henning and sadly, he died at age 52 in 2000. Prior to his death, he was evidently working to create a bizarre Disneyworld-type attraction for followers of transcendental meditation and the Maharishi Vedic Yogi. I followed some links on the internet and came across the startling discovery that the followers of the Maharishi Vedic philosophy/religion actually own an entire town. In Iowa.
Prepare yourself for Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.
Where all buildings face east. Where " 1,000 experts gather twice daily to practice Transcendental Meditation and Yogic Flying to promote peace and harmony in the world.". Where they accept US currency, but prefer that you use the international currency of world peace: The Raam. Where the produce is not only farmed organically, but where they "play Vedic music to the growing plants". Where they are still planning to build Maharishi Veda Land.
Evidently, if you make up some crazy religion, you can just buy your own town in Iowa.
Labels: save as draft
Thursday, May 04, 2006
the sopranos
Evidently, there is an episode of The Sopranos where Tony's son's math teacher gets his car stolen, and Tony puts out a hit on the car thief. The car later "reappears" in the faculty parking lot and the teacher is like: Where did my car come from? And why is there blood in the trunk?
I don't watch television, but this is what I hear from my colleagues in the faculty lounge.
On Sunday, someone attempted to steal my husband's (crappy) car from the church parking lot. They screwed up a door, then threw a huge mound of concrete through the back window. Then, they jammed something in the ignition.
Nothing of value was stolen - but the car would not start and we have a 500 dollar deductible. The appraiser said it would cost 588 to fix the car.
On Monday, my students asked about the weekend and I told them about the car. One of them told me that her dad fixed cars. He has a shop? I asked, thinking we'd go there with what little insurance we managed to get. No, she said. He just fixes them.
Yesterday, her father came out and fiddled around in the car for about thirty minutes. Now, it starts again. He gave us the number of a guy that could put in new glass - and the guy was forty bucks cheaper than anywhere in town.
When I told the story at lunch, my colleague laughed and said it was just like The Sopranos. All I know, is it is good have to have friends that know friends.
I don't watch television, but this is what I hear from my colleagues in the faculty lounge.
On Sunday, someone attempted to steal my husband's (crappy) car from the church parking lot. They screwed up a door, then threw a huge mound of concrete through the back window. Then, they jammed something in the ignition.
Nothing of value was stolen - but the car would not start and we have a 500 dollar deductible. The appraiser said it would cost 588 to fix the car.
On Monday, my students asked about the weekend and I told them about the car. One of them told me that her dad fixed cars. He has a shop? I asked, thinking we'd go there with what little insurance we managed to get. No, she said. He just fixes them.
Yesterday, her father came out and fiddled around in the car for about thirty minutes. Now, it starts again. He gave us the number of a guy that could put in new glass - and the guy was forty bucks cheaper than anywhere in town.
When I told the story at lunch, my colleague laughed and said it was just like The Sopranos. All I know, is it is good have to have friends that know friends.
Labels: save as draft
