Monday, January 28, 2008

Band-Aids

"Take that, you Band-Aids!"

jibber jabber jibber jabber


galloping-around-the-house noises


"Pow, pow.....pow-pow-pow!
Look out! The Band-Aids are hiding behind the door!"

scurrying, rustling noises somewhere behind me

"Look out! Those Band-Aids are really bad!"


Ok...Suddenly these words start wafting through into my conscious mind, as I work on the computer on an important presentation. Bad Band-Aids? All I can remember having in the medicine cabinet are Elmo and Big-Bird bandages. What is he talking about?

"Pow. Pow. Pow-pow-pow!
Look out, Tonto! Here they come! Look out for those bad Band-Aids!"

I clear my throat. "Hey, Honey, come here a minute."

"Otay."

"What are you playing?"

"Dere's bad duys over dere."

"Bandits???"

"Band-Aids."

"Who are you right now?"

"I'm de Lone Ranger. Dis is my friend, Tonto. Say, 'Hi, Tonto!'"

"Hi, Tonto. Are you chasing bandits?"

"Ummm. I fink so."

"Ban-dits. Not Band-Aids."

"oh.
Come on, Tonto! Let's go!"

Galloping noises recede...

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Chalk

With all this interviewing, and reading lots of books and articles to prepare me for upcoming teaching seminars, I am in a "teaching" frame of mind. To keep within the current mood, I borrowed a DVD from the library from the "new" shelf...sorta just jumped out at me.

At first, I thought it was a documentary, and only at the end do you figure out they're actually actors. It's called
Chalk and it reminds me of a podcast I had to watch for one of my grad. online courses, on the NYC Teaching Fellows. That followed a group of professionals who'd agreed to join the Teaching Fellows...in exchange for a free MA, they'd teach in a NYC school for 2 years, I think. It was a way to get teachers into the NYC schools, who really were suffering a teacher shortage. By going into the professional world (anyone with a BA or BS in anything qualified) to bring people in, the idea was to plump up the workforce, and breathe new life into a really stale and suffering school system.

Anyway,
Chalk follows a group of 1st and 2nd year teachers & one administrator in one particular school for one year. They are taped in their classrooms, faculty rooms, meetings, and also speak into a web cam at home. It really seems very authentic. I was very surprised to find out it was scripted, and I know there must've been quite a bit of input from real-life beginning teachers. It was very interesting to watch, especially as I'm entering this work force, myself, after an adult life outside of the "system."


I'd recommend this movie for anyone at all connected with teaching or with the schools in general (BOE, panel members, coaches, PTA, parents in general, etc.,) and anyone outside as well. It's an insightful look into how different personalities deal with the stresses of teaching in a public high school, how some survive and how some do not. I came away with some thoughts of how to make myself better as a teacher, a professional, and in dealing with difficult situations. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Peter and the Wolf

Wanna come visit my world for a minute? I'll give you the guided tour.

I am sitting at the computer (obviously) after a looong day, hot cup of tea nearby to warm me up after freeeeezing myself outside running stupid errands after all my professional appointments. (My feet never stay warm in dress shoes, even tho' I blast the car heat on them in between stops.) The tea is also a good remedy for jangled nerves, the result of professional-and-other related events of the day. I am checking the professional email, and dealing with all those messages. Then on to the personal email, getting rid of junk (just as much as in my regular mailbox!), answering who I can briefly.

DH is off at work, and Little Sir is bopping all around the house, occupying himself with one thing then another.

All of a sudden I realize, he is humming, at the top of his lungs (yes, this is possible) the various tunes in "Peter and the Wolf".

Ah, yes. I have succeeded in raising a cultured 4-year-old. Well, pat me on the back.

sigh

I deserve this tea.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

The Substitute

Well, while I am waiting for my real grown-up job to materialize (the one with benefits...medical, retirement, paid sick days and holidays, etc. etc.)
...not that being a private music teacher is not a grown-up job, it's just that I have so much fun with it, and it can be quite unstructured, or student-structured/tailored, answering their personal needs, not some artificial "standards"...(I digress...)

I have been coerced into being a substitute teacher.
Yeah.
You remember her. The one who came in when your "real" teacher was out, who never really knew what was going on, mostly because the "real" teacher neglected to leave anything resembling a lesson plan or hint of what the kids were working on. This was the one you either loved because they were fun and soft on you, and let the class chit chat and hang out, or hated because all they did was punish the ones acting up. The substitute...the one everybody tries to pull something over on.

Yes. Well, that would be me.

Ugh.

NEVER thought I would do this.

On the other hand, it hasn't been all bad. Certified pre-K through 12, I get my pick of a list of teachers and levels to replace for the day or however long they're out. If I don't like a class, I don't have to go back. What a concept!

I got to proctor the English Regents this week, among other things, which was very interesting from the other end of the exam. The listening portion I had to read aloud was actually worth the read.

Some classes are tougher than others, some make you want to scream, or pull your hair out, or are soooo boring you almost fall asleep (not a good thing.)

I'm remembering all kinds of movies...
Sidney Portier's
To Sir, With Love
Stand and Deliver
Dangerous Minds
Mr. Holland's Opus

Ah yes. Time for a new teacher flick. Any suggestions?

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Resumes and Applications

I learned something about myself today. I have always sort of dreaded filling out forms, doing paperwork, doing them as quickly as possible just to get it DONE. But, now that my MA is finished, the certification is in the process of being worked out, it is time to begin job hunting in earnest. Once the resume was polished up, and I got the info. I needed to begin (references' addresses and all that,) the leg work started. For the past few weeks, I've been finding the application process to each of my chosen school districts (within reasonable traveling distance,) which can be very different from district to district.

Well, I picked up my final (I think) application. I had a little extra time, so I went to Starbucks with my handy-dandy gift certificate from Christmas (courtesy of a sweet music student,) got a grande non-fat no-whip mocha (sigh---what a mouthful), settled into a nice table for one, and got busy. Fifteen minutes later I was shocked to find I'd vanished down memory lane, as I was writing all those "previous non-teaching experience" items. Wow. I really have done a lot of different things. Secretary for an electrician's office, tax preparer, waitress, etc. etc. The list of hobbies and non-teaching-related interests did similar things to me. I remembered people and places I haven't thought about in years!

I couldn't believe it took about an hour, even with my resume in hand to copy from, to fill out the whole thing. I actually enjoyed the process, and the memories it brought to me. So much life, so much variety, so much to sum up on those tiny little lines. What should I divulge? What will reflect well on me in an interview? What's not such a good idea? How much is too much? Should I mention previous sports I've done and coached, when I am obviously not in tip-top shape now? If I mention proctoring the National Geography Bee, will they want me to get it going in this school? It's a lot of work. Do I mention international quizzing? What items will open lines of conversation I'd rather not pursue? So many questions!!!

sigh...

Blog Support

Nan Patience, of North Fork Parents, decided to drop the "Bloggers World" section of the website, which has thrown some of us into a tizzy. Nan got me started on blogging, and led me by the hand until I got going (if you recall, I am the self-named "Technologically Challenged One.") She has been absolutely wonderful, both with her website and to me personally, and I will be forever grateful to her for introducing me to this facet of technology. However, I feel like a virtual orphan, now! (waaaah!!!)

I hope to post links to other blogs I loved from there, but I have to find you first. Six,
Natasha, Nicole, momof3, Melissa...I'll be emailing...then have to navigate my way around here. (Believe it or not, I couldn't even find my own blog at first! Had to go back through old emails I'd sent to friends, telling them about the blog. Thank God, I am a virtual packrat, as well as a literal one!)

More later...

Friday, January 04, 2008

Looking For An Echo

So, there I was,
standing in front of the DVD collection at the public library,
midway through the Day-Quil cycle,
'cause it was too early for Ny-Quil,
feeling all stuffy-headed and blegcchy,
just wanting some movie that I could veg out with,
not requiring too much concentration,
nothing scary or creepy,
nothing too violent or R-rated in any way,
nothing too cutesy,
sophomorish,
or full of irritating-humor-which-I-don't-find-funny-only-stupid,
just about ready to give up and just watch a little kid movie with my 4-year-old,
when I saw it.
"Armand Assante" sort of just jumped out at me.
Now, I am no expert on Armand Assante films, but I've seen a few.
Mostly, I have liked what I've seen. There's just something about the guy.
I feel almost like I know him. He's like so many guys I've known in real life, sort of.
So, anyway, I got the movie, "Looking For An Echo."
And it was perfect.

First of all, it starts with lots of black and white pics of Brooklyn in the early '50's,
with doo-wop music in the background. You see, my mom grew up in Brooklyn, and so I grew up on her stories about Brooklyn...she was a die-hard Brooklyn Dodger fan (and those fans could never really appreciate another team once they defected to another state.) The music was from her era, her time, and it reminded me of that series we used to watch together, "Brooklyn Bridge."

So, that got me hooked.

The rest of the movie was good. Not too anything-I-didn't-want. I cried a little in the sad part, and wished my mom was with me to share it. Or my Grama. An authentic Brooklynite, she would've liked it, too. And the theme song was awesome...as was Edoardo Ballerini, playing Armand's son.

So...my rating of this movie is a solid 4 stars. It's not tremendously flamboyant about anything, just a good, solid story, about some characters I felt I could relate to.

Whether you have any kinds of roots in Brooklyn, or just like Armand Assante, or doo-wop, or a movie about growing up and dealing with what life gives you...check it out.

The library movies are free.