Friday, May 23, 2008
I haven’t posted in a while. This is what I am infamous for (give me a h**l yeah! if you KNOW what I’m sayin’, people): I get totally caught up on one thing…to the detriment of everything else. Instead of chugging along like some sort of well-oiled machine, I’m tickety-boo in one arena and completely useless in anther.
But this isn’t even the point of my post (it had a point? I hadn’t noticed! anyone who reads this know I make a point to NEVER really have a point), my point is this: MY STUDENTS RULE. No, really, they do. Just when they start to slack, and I start to wonder if I just come into school and beat my head against a wall until I pass out from the pain for eight hours a day, they get it. They wow me. And they have. I had a discussion on Wednesday that Knocked My Socks Off, Son!
See, we were talking about Stoppard’s Travesties, something that like, graduate students in Literature struggle with…but my 10th graders? They were like, I’m confused, but on page 23, one can clearly see…ONE CAN CLEARLY SEE? I’m sorry, am I teaching A UNIVERSITY LEVEL COURSE? Anyhoo, I guess I’m just blabbering on needlessly to say this: on Wednesday, I had my annual “This Is Why I Teach” moment.
So, 10th graders? I’m three weeks away from no longer being your teacher, but I will always - always - be your number one fan. Thanks for being you!
Posted in random
Friday, May 2, 2008
What, you ask! Is it possible?
ANOTHER podcast! Joy! Happiness! Complete fulfillment! Utter contentment on every level! I know. You’re lucky*. So enjoy it, savor it, and Take Your Time to appreciate just how melodious my voice is.
Posted in random
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Blogs rock!
I’ll be linking to my podcast which illuminates this incredibly fascinating subject matter shortly.*
*This is clearly building anticipation on the part of my readers. Please attempt to contain your enthusiasm.
Here it is! Wait no more! Behold the genius! Listen to my voice any time of the day or night (but not TOO much or I’ll think you’re a bit weird)!
Posted in auditory
Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008
Hi. This is a blog that I’m using as an example to my students.
If I want to link to another person’s blog, like Andrew’s, I highlight his name, click the chain, and enter his url address. Here is another example, Annie’s blog!
Or, I want to insert a youtube video. So, I go to youtube, find the video, copy the url, and then click the V button, and insert the url.
To use pictures from flickr, you have to upload them from whatever you want.
Posted in random
Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
(This post is inspired by a conversation with Hyein and an ongoing dialogue with my English classes)
I like humor. I consider myself a mildly humorous (okay, who are we kidding here, wildly hilarious) individual. In my classes, we’re moving into the wonderful - and at times terribly befuddling world - of satire, irony, wit, farce, and parody. Now, though Marie says “Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor but they couldn’t possibly all have good taste” in When Harry Met Sally…, everyone can’t possibly also have a good sense of humor. Or can they?
While reading The Importance of Being Earnest again with the Sophomores, we had a discussion about how the play could NOT be a satire. Well, it’s not a satire, and nor is A Modest Proposal if you don’t understand what it is, exactly, that the author is criticizing. The conversation surrounding Swift’s writing was illuminating; there was one moment when I said to the class, “Kids, he’s not ACTUALLY saying we should eat babies!” For great insight into a student grasping this, see Andrew’s posting about the discussion.
It reminds me that what’s funny, what’s humorous, is highly dependent on a number of variables. For instance, I find BBC’s The Mighty Boosh to be incredibly funny…like, guffaw funny. Here’s an example*:
*If you don’t find this humorous in any way, I question you - and your sense of humor. I’m not judging, but I’m judging.
Since I think I’m absolutely, stunningly, hilarious, here’s a movie I made with my co-teacher as an example to my students.
If you want to see all of their movies, go here on youtube and you can see them all. They’re bloody brilliant!
So back to my point. Wait, what is my point? Oh well, I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. Let me know if you figure it out. Until then, enjoy the videos!
Posted in auditory, visual
Monday, Apr 28, 2008
As you may - or may not - have read earlier, I’m kind of* a fan of photography. In the spirit of sharing, here’s a keynote (mac’s version of powerpoint; vastly superior and WAY cooler!) presentation I gave with my yearbook class. The photos are all mine, with the exception of the blue door. Look it over and please, please, with a cherry on top, share your thoughts…actually, even better than that? Share you PHOTOS, and/or links to photos. Sharing is caring, yes?
*aka I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY
Posted in random
Thursday, Apr 24, 2008
I’m preoccupied with a million things, so I’m going to link and keep this short and simple (something my students all know I struggle with): my students rock. They are thinkers, and questioners, and young adults that are slowly and painfully becoming outstanding individuals.
Speaking of rocking, I love music. And the more I learn (surrounded by outstanding influences, thankfully; with the wrong sort of people I could be singing the praises of Rain, Mariah Carey, and…I don’t know bands these days, something like A Simple Plan? I am fairly certain they are an abysmal example of marketing gone awry. If it’s not them, it’s someone else.), the more I love. This isn’t my point though (shocking).
My point is this: we’ve all got a soundtrack (see Yura’s blog for elaboration); we all have bands we love - and love to share (see Faye’s blog for an example); and I - for one, though I know I’m not alone - love to explore and find new great music, and I’ve found the website to do it at: daytrotter.
It might just knock your socks off.
So check it out, and let me know what you think…and if you’ve got another good site, like Eeho did, let me know about that too. This is a global community, right?
Posted in auditory
Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008
Remember how I lost my focus?
Well, you’ll be happy to note that I later found it, in yearbook. How can something consume your existence so completely? I was DREAMING about yearbook. I was having NIGHTMARES about margins, blurry photos, and grammar mistakes. I was getting PHYSICALLY ILL at the thought of someone turning to their name in the index and not finding the correct pages numbers…this is insane. And wonderful.
I have never considered myself “design-y” or overly aware of aesthetics beyond a rudimentary understanding of basic concepts of balance and the importance of clean lines. Doing yearbook, however, opened up a universe of terminology that I never fathomed previously: white space, color wheels, rule of thirds, and balance, balance, balance. I’ve never worked so hard or been so proud of my coworkers.
There was a discernable shift in class as well: the second some of my students stopped caring about their grade, they became truly creative, and truly invested in the end product. This caused me to consider them as coworkers (though more than one has said to me, “If this is what the real working world is like, I don’t want to be a part of it!”) and, though at times we all got frustrated, I, for one, found the whole process to be amazing and unforgettable.
Now, of course, all I can think about is next year. This year we were clean, clean, clean. Next year, how about we go over the top? Very rock and roll, perhaps? Just an idea. After all, maybe hard work does pay off.
Posted in visual
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008
How many blog entries are acceptable in a given period of time? I guess one could equate this to how many times are you allowed to call someone you admire before the term “stalker” is considered, or if I should stop when my head starts bleeding because I incessantly bang it against my desk in frustration over an errant student, or even…I’ll stop there. I was about to go in a bad and/or revolting direction, involving kim chi. But I digress (And you are not surprised. Not at all.).
It’s just super fun. It’s super fun to write about and share all the crazy/inane/interesting/downright fascinating/horrifically boring stuff going on in my head. What do you think about?
I know many of my male, teenage readers - of which I am quite certain number zero - think endlessly about a number of deep, philosophical conundrums, including, but not limited to, the following: cars. Video Games. Girls. Sleeping. Fill in sport here. Oh, and the meaning of life.
The ladies? Hoo-wee, they’re deep in thought as well, though if you could get inside their brain (and believe you me, I was a teenage girl, many moons ago, and you want to go in their head like you want a hole in the head) are equally perplexed and befuddled with the various fetters of their existence, like: being accepted. Liking themselves for who they are, not what they look like. Clothing. Perfection. Celebrities…and the meaning of life.
And don’t go and get offended either, because that is both annoying and lame. If you don’t know me, then you don’t know that sarcasm drips off almost every word delivered from my mouth to the point that I’m considering wearing a bib, if only to stop ruining so many perfectly good shirts.
The REASON, boys and girls, that I’m being tongue and cheek is because I KNOW you are thinking about a h**l of a lot more than the stuff listed above. So don’t sell yourself - or me, since I want to actually enjoy reading your blog, not force my way through them - short. Take your time. Gaze out the window. Consider the inane. Mull over the abstract. Get lost in your existential existence. Then share it with us.
Seriously. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.
Posted in random
Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
Where is my focus? Have you seen it? If you find it, could you please text; e-mail; instant message; call; mail; fedex; fax; throw; deliver; drop it off; or do whatever it takes to get it back to me? That would great, thanks.
I have a slight obsessive compulsive tendency, you see. Once I start something, I can’t stop…until I get frustrated and drop it entirely. Yeah, uh, that’s not the best way to approach things (I know, you’re shocked. So was I when I figured it out.) and yet, here I am. Somehow, I’ve managed to balance this tendency with my tortoise and the hare philosophy of life, which has led me to not TOTALLY fail in life. In fact, quite the contrary: I’m mildly successful. Or, at least, I’m not like, a SUCCESS, per se, but I don’t give up. I refuse to.
Which is awesome. Group hug, pat on the back, etc., etc. At the same time, I think about the idea of true balance, and I laugh. I chuckle. Yes, I even chortle. Now, I like people that are real. I am a big fan of flaws. In fact, I relish them. As a rather intelligent friend of mine says, he actually prefers to hear about someone’s flaws. Smart? Pretty? Or, the much-dreaded-if-you-ever-call-me-this-I-will-remove-you-from-my-existence word: nice (I just threw up in my mouth)? Forget about it.
Give me mistakes. Give me indecision. Give me gray (or grey, depending). Give me Humbert Humbert, or Ignatius J. Reilly, or Hamlet, or Frank the Tank. Any day of the week.
That being said, I’m still in desperate need of a little focus. So, if you’ve a wee bit to spare, be a dear and throw it my way, yes? Thanks so much.
Posted in random
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