New News – Page 24 – Mrs. Kelly Love

How do you do? (The fingers-crossed handshake.)

If everything works out, and both sides come to the middle, we should reach an agreement. I’m hopeful. And shaky. And hopeful. And a little queasy. But mostly hopeful. Only a few more days until I should be able to meet my students for this year. I’m ready, I think, as ready as I can be–kind of like hanging off of a cliff by my toes, and hoping I’ll sprout wings if I fall.

Does that surprise you, that teachers are a little nervous, too, when they’re meeting you for the first time? Why wouldn’t we be? Oh…right…we’re not humans! We don’t have feelings! We’re just Teacher-Bots, programmed to spew forth information and take a lot of coffee breaks!

I can assure you I am not a robot. I kind of wish I was right now, because things may get a little rough for teachers these next few weeks. It’s a tough time to be a human in general these days. High unemployment. Cranky politicians. Global warming. Yikes! That would make anyone want to hit the Shut Down bar and unplug their USB cable! Power down, people…power down!

Maybe I’ll pretend I’m President Obama for a day, and stay cool, kind, and collected at all times. And warmly shake your hand in greeting, and be glad you’re in my class. I won’t even have to pretend that part.

Communication breakdown.

What do you do when you and friend disagree, or have different opinions about something? Well, I bet we could chart it on a rubric or scale:

I think the word anger is not exactly the right word; it could be anger, but it could also be awkwardness, disappointment, etc., something a little milder than ‘anger.’ Anger, as well as all of the others, can be forgotten and forgiven. Example, your friend takes your last piece of gum out of your purse without asking. No real biggie, right? However, later a really cute boy walks up to you to ask you to the movies, and your breath could peel paint off the walls. You reach into your purse to get the gum, and it’s not there, but the empty package is, and he gets a whiff of your stinky breath and asks her for the date instead. You’re going to have to decide for yourself how upset you will become, for how long, and whether or not to forgive and forget. Now, turns out the dude is a total creep and she did you a favor, although by accident. (When that happens. it’s irony.)

So, I’m facing some tough choices now, and I know many of my friends don’t agree with me. I know that many do. And I agree with the ones who don’t agree with me, and disagree with the ones who do. If you’re scratching your head in confusion, that’s okay and normal. (That’s called paradox: paradox means something that doesn’t seem like it could be true but it is.)

We can never say all that we feel or think. If we did, we’d wear ourselves out and our friends would run for the hills. The thinking and feelings get all jammed up and nothing meaningful gets said, or heard. Sometimes the best thing to do is just keep quiet. The forgetting and forgiveness will come.

Control issues.

All together now…

So, I wasn’t surprised this morning when I woke up to read a front-page story on the Seattle Times Internet page regarding that the teachers’ union and the school district still haven’t reached a compromise. Maybe the word “compromise” is too generous. Compromise suggests that both sides are willing to give up a little bit to gain a little bit to make everyone happy, or at least satisfied. I’m getting the sense that both sides have become entrenched and are not willing to budge. This is my impression, and I don’t know what the truth is.

The individuals in groups are usually well-intentioned, caring people. And when you get them in a large group, sometimes mob rule can get out of hand, or “group think.” As Agent Kay said in Men In Black, “A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.”

And having never been in the middle of this type of negotiation, many things have surprised me. I guess if I had really thought about it, I wouldn’t have been taken aback. (I’m building schema, making new inferences, drawing conclusions, and synthesizing information!)

When the union called for the strike and the majority of teachers voted for it, I knew from my gut and experience that it would take a few days for it to really “sink in” to feel the effects of this. Check that one off the list.

When we receive updates and new information, I knew from my gut and experience that the information presented would still be unsatisfying, emotional, full of rhetoric, both useful and trashy, and not very detailed. Check.

Detailed? That’s where my personal control issues come in, and why I’m a little emotional right now. The ‘nuts and bolts’ of what it means to go on strike were not presented in a very clear manner. I keep thinking I missed something, didn’t get enough information, that maybe somewhere, somehow, there is a clear list of what precisely happens when a teachers’ union strikes. The information presented from both groups is murky, riddled with inaccuracies, and covered in muck. My instincts are to dig deeper and ask more questions. For example, why are teachers required to belong to the union in the first place? Are there alternatives? Who decides when things have gone far enough, and in order to ‘save face’ what are the two sides willing to do? When does strength in unity become stubbornness?

Well, here’s what I do know: The only things I can control are what I’m doing today. I will move forward with organizing lessons. I will go ahead and write my congratulatory notes to some of my students from last year, and get them ready to mail. I will read more regarding National Boards and start to organize my thoughts on the portfolio entries. And, I will empty the dishwasher and fold some laundry. Check, check, and check!

And I will keep waiting for tomorrow, and what I’ll know.

Love hurts.

We don’t always do what’s best for us. In fact, quite often, it takes effort, skill, knowledge, and perseverance to survive. And, to top it all off, we actually want to not only survive, but to find our true loves, our soul mates, our one and only’s. Now that I’m a bit older, and perhaps wiser, I look at my former self and think, ‘what was I thinking?!’ and scratch my head in bewilderment at some of the choices of friends I made. They weren’t always good for me. Fun? Yes. Helped me to survive? Hardly.

It’s close to the beginning of a new school year. Eighth grade can stand out as one of your best, or one of your worst, years. I promise to do everything I can to make it one of your best, but you have to meet me at least a little bit of the way.

First –trust. Don’t stand in your own way. Recognize that the adults in your world are not out to “get you,” trick you, etc. At least not this adult (me), and I can speak with some authority about your other teachers, too. We are glad to be at school, and we’re even happier when you’re there, too.

Second–friends. There are “fun” friends that get you in trouble. There are the goodie-two-shoes friends that don’t. And the ones that really respect you and like you will be somewhere in the middle – enough fun to keep things creative, but they don’t hurt anyone, especially you.

Third–explore. Use this year to try everything in your classes you can – read books you haven’t thought of before, learn what true scientific method is, and why math may save your life.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. This little frog survived. And so will you.

Music to Our Ears…

Video: The Guitar Maker

One thing we can all agree on is that we don’t all have to agree – right? Your tastes in music may be very different from mine. But, don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions and assume I only like one type of music. I like a lot of genres of music – everything from The Beatles to Black Eyed Peas, from Mozart to Moby, and everything in between. I put my i-pod on random shuffle and listen to the surprising results. (When did I download that? Oh, this is one of my favorites. This is new! Cool!)

Some music I grew up with when I was a teenager, back when I rode a dinosaur to school and only had three channels, included U-2 and Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin’s heyday began long before I was in high school, but once I heard them, I thought, yeah…this is awesome! In college, when I had a broken heart, I listened to Since I’ve Been Loving You about 1,299 times.

During my senior year a friend of mine, Chris, told me about U-2, telling me it was, and would remain, one of the greatest bands. Ever. Period. I wish I knew where he was today so I could tell him his prediction turned out more than true.

The White Stripes is an acquired taste, but I do like their raw, simplistic sound.

There is a documentary called It Might Get Loud coming out on August 27 that highlights the three main musical talents, geniuses, gurus, whatever title one may wish: Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Jack White, and The Edge of U-2. Yes. The Edge. That’s his name.

So, I’ll be there, front row seat, hoping to get a glimpse inside the hearts and minds of three very talented musicians.

What are you listening to?

Reader's Bill of Rights, and Batgirl was a librarian?

Defend your rights as a reader! Whether or not you choose to wear a purple polyester costume and mask is entirely up to you!

From: The American Library Association (ALA)

Everyone has the right to read. Here’s The Reader’s Bill of Rights to help you make the most of that right: Readers have:

The right to not read.

The right to skip pages.

The right to not finish.

The right to reread.

The right to read anything.

The right to escapism.

The right to read anywhere.

The right to browse.

The right to read out loud.

The right not to defend your tastes.

—Pennac, Daniel, Better Than Life, Coach House Press, 1996.

I love them all, but am especially fond of #10 – the right NOT to defend your tastes…think about it – you read for your OWN LIFE, not someone else’s!

Still looking for something to read? Check out: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2007/booklists07.cfm

Super Circus Freak-y…

One of my former students LOVED the Cirque du Freak series, long before anyone had taken a bite out of the Twilight apple. If you check out the Dog Ear blog, she gives the trailer a mixed review, stating it gives too much of the plot away. I’ll leave that up to you to decide – remember, it’s always better to read the book first before seeing the movie anyway. The movie should just enhance what images are already in your mind. The casting director’s job is to find the best actors and actresses to portray the characters faithfully.

The movie’s release date is scheduled for October 23, 2009.

A Cool Hero's Journey…

Check this out: the animation created and produced for this UK band, One eskimO, is pretty cool (no pun intended).

Fail.

No, I don’t mean you’re all going to fail.

What I’m referring to is a new use of the word, a verb, “fail.” A verb is an action word. It’s something someone or something (the subject) does, did, or will do. Example: I failed my math test. (Bummer.)

Now, “fail” is also being used as a noun, or interjection. An interjection is an exclamatory remark, such as, “hey!” Fail has come to mean something didn’t work.

Example:

My cousin Lee's cup of coffee, as posted on his Facebook page

He titled this photo, “Fail.”

Coincidentally, and with a great amount of serendipity, this morning when I opened up my Visual Thesaurus account, there was an article about the word fail. Along with that, there was a link to a New York Times article on the Buzzwords of 2008. This led me to think about how language changes over time, sometimes slowly, sometimes overnight. I was pleased to see Jack Black’s Kung Fu Panda “skadoosh” made the cut.

Changes in language sneak up on us. We don’t really keep track consciously, and then, voila! We’re using words we weren’t a year, a month, or even a day ago. Think of developing your vocabulary that way, too. Add new words, use them, understand them, and build your brain. Think about it: when someone says “skadoosh,” you know exactly what they’re talking about, because you’ve seen the movie, you have BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, it’s part of your SCHEMA. The more you know, well, the more you can know.

Hayao Miyazaki – Gentle Genius

We all have people we admire, whose work and talents make us all better people. One blog I follow is by a man named Mike Baker, and he had the chance to meet one of his heroes, Hayao Miyazaki. Spirited Away and Princess Mononokeare two of my all-time favorite animated movies. What an incredible opportunity. Read what he has to say about his experience, and start to think about someone you would like to meet, and what do you think the encounter would be like: would your hero live up to your expectations? Where would you meet them? What would you ask them? What would you want them to ask you?

http://mikerbakersdump.blogspot.com/2009/07/hayao-miyazaki.html

For a trailer of the new movie Ponyo, visit here: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1877738009/