Summer is Good
Ever heard of James Joyce and "stream of consciousness"? Prepare for a taste of it here. Or at least in modified, sanitized form.
I have decided that I like the summertime. Not that I hate teaching or anything. In fact, sad to say, I already miss SOME of my students, and am already looking forward to reconnecting with old students and getting acquainted with new ones.
Why do I anticipate a new group of students? Simply put, I relish striking fear into young people's hearts, making them sweat bullets before each test because it's so hard, giving them nightmares over the grade they will receive on a paper, sending them home in tears after I rip them to shreds for their stupidity in front of their peers; it's all part of the game, and I love it.
Ok, if you are an administrator looking over my shoulder as I inch closer to the goal line known as tenure, please read this: I'M JUST KIDDING!!! If you know me very well, you know this already. But why is it that I look forward to a new year? And so soon after finishing the old one? I suspect maybe I'm crazy. But for some reason, thinking about being able to use all the old jokes and surprises with my new classes brings a smile to my face! Literally. What's wrong with a broken record if your audience is always new? There has to be something besides having fresh ears to hear old jokes/tricks that keeps me going. You wanna know what one of my favorite tricks is? The deadpan. I'm good at this, I think, although some family members think they know the trick (something to do with nose twitching). Yup, there's nothing like a good deadpan to get students worked up into a frenzy.
Example number one: A student nervously asks a question along these lines: "Mr. [my name], I heard we have to do a big research paper for this class. How long does it have to be?"
"You've heard about that, huh? Well, you don't really have to worry about it now. It's not until next semester. And it only has to be fifty pages long." [said with completely straight face, and utter nonchalance.]
Another good one, best used at the beginning of the year when students are not yet accustomed to the format of my tests. A student who really cares about getting a good grade--they seem to be few and far between, but believe it or not they do exist--asks "What exactly do we have to know for the test?" My reply: "Well, everything we've covered in class, all the outside of class homework readings. And look over the textbook chapter too. You should be ok if you memorize it." What's really fun is if you can get some of the gullible students to fall for this. After all, I tell my U.S. History juniors that this class will challenge them like none they have had to this point in high school. Junior year is the time to pick it up academically, and this course will help prepare them for college, etc. So I can get on occasion someone to start freaking out at my response.
These games are fun, but I don't think it's really why I want to return. Why is it? Simply put, I think maybe it is a gift from above. I've been given a passion for working with these kids. It's a field in which there is a lot of opportunity to have a positive influence on young minds. I think it's quite likely that I want my students to do better than about 95 percent of them want to themselves. The last five percent is really driven, and want at least as much I want them to do well.
This is kind of bizarre, isn't it. Is there a job like it? How many patients visit the doctor and don't want to be treated by him/her? How many customers take their car to a garage and don't want it repaired? How many consumers in general visit a place of business and don't want the help of the business, through goods or services. In my line of work, the service is often not wanted by the consumer, whether such service be good or not. What's the solution to this? I think it is to provide an opportunity for those who don't want the goods to leave the store. Permanently. You don't want to learn here? Go home. And don't come back. That would improve schools dramatically overnight, although it might create a lot of hassle for police officers on the streets, who would then have to deal with hooligans in broad daylight during school hours, and not just at night. Call us highly paid baby sitters if you want. That's what we are with those who don't want to learn.
But I digress. Why do I like summer? There are so many things to fill it up with! And I love my house. Did you know that? It's so nice to be able to hang out in a place I can call my own, toodling away at my various projects. What are those projects, you may ask? Here is an updated list of some ways I have spent my time so far, and hope to spend more time doing this summer:
1. Reading! I don't get enough time to do this during the year. Currently in the pot. From Beirut to Jerusalem. A highly entertaining book so far. Laugh out loud funny in spots, the antics of some of the characters in these allegedly true to life stories are so ridiculous. Radicalism of the American Revolution is another book I started. It won a Pulitzer prize for history, so it is supposed to be good. Basically the thesis is that the Revolution radically changed the way Americans thought and behaved. Gordon Wood wrote it. He's good, if you ever want to read some history a little less basic than David McCullough or Stephen Ambrose. History of the Middle East. Finished the other day. Good thing too. I thought I was going to use it for teaching my Middle East class, but it's way too complicated for some of my students. It would have been a waste of money to put my students through this, but it was helpful background reading for my own knowledge base, which is why I am reading all of the other books as well (some guy on leadership a group of us learned about extolled the virtues of expanding your knowledge in your field by reading more. I'm attempting, believe me!) O Jerusalem! I read it long ago in the days of B.S., but it needs to be read again as background for my class. And I'll probably have all my students read it. Truman by David McCullough. But that's on the backburner, I doubt I'll have time this summer. I'll also be needing to take a close look at a World History textbook or two, and take detailed notes on much of it in preparation for teaching the honors class next year. You wanna know how much I know about Chinese dynasties in the 3rd century B.C.? Next to nothing. Thus I read!
2. Playing video games! I almost forgot how fun this can be! Especially now that I have a new computer, I can now play games that are currently sold in the store, rather than looking at them wistfully only to put them back on the shelf after seeing that the requirements are more than my ancient machine could handle. But no more. I've enjoyed Civilization IV, which is also World History oriented, so can be justified playing! And I've been engrossed in Rome:Total War, also history oriented and loads of fun. Nothing quite like ordering around hundreds of Romans to smash the Gauls!
3. Transcribing the diary. I have a lot of work to do on this, as I head toward the goal of eventual publication, if the right doors open up. But it's a work of love, as one of my fellow teachers reminded me when I talked about the work I had to do with it. I have now printed off the 280 plus pages from the microfilm, and have begun to actually transcribe it word for word. I'm up to about page 5. And as I transcribe I have plenty of editorial decisions to make, with the help of a couple of books on the subject of editing historical documents. For example, what do you do with an 18th century manuscript that doesn't use standard spelling? Or what if you can't tell if a word is capitalized or not? And what if there is little to no punctuation? Or you can't read a word? Or it has been crossed out, should you put that in a footnote or indicate this in the text? There are certain rules and standards that fortunately have been set for me, but it's a process to pick which one I want to go with and then attempt to scrupulously follow it.
4. Reading/ordering/distributing scripts for my theater organization. I realized about ten days ago that I really need to get things going this summer as far as having my theater board read scripts and start thinking about what shows to do next year, as we need to make decisions quickly once the year starts. So I ordered several scripts, have read some, and am in the process of distributing them to various students. It helps to be so close to school so I can do this.
5. Attend events in which my school's students are involved. I have attended two plays this past week, both of which had students of mine in them. I like to do this to bless them, to get a taste of various shows and artistic ideas for future products I will direct, etc., as well as to scout out talent that is at my school, so I can direct my recruiting efforts if necessary. Of course, some people are basically out of reach. One student at my school has been in numerous professional productions already, and will probably be famous someday. Besides plays, I also went to a baseball game this week, in which one of my students pitched five innings in relief, gave up only one run, and earned a win. Pretty sweet.
6. Plot and plan for my upcoming trip South to work once again in the history program I've been involved with for two summers now.
7. Watch Red Sox baseball on occasion, though time is pressing.
Guess that's it. I won't bother to go back again and correct mistakes, so forgive the rambling nature of this post. But I have a video game that beckons, and there are only twenty four hours in the day. Summer is good, if too short. But on the other hand, I will enjoy immensely getting back into the classroom. So it's all good.
I have decided that I like the summertime. Not that I hate teaching or anything. In fact, sad to say, I already miss SOME of my students, and am already looking forward to reconnecting with old students and getting acquainted with new ones.
Why do I anticipate a new group of students? Simply put, I relish striking fear into young people's hearts, making them sweat bullets before each test because it's so hard, giving them nightmares over the grade they will receive on a paper, sending them home in tears after I rip them to shreds for their stupidity in front of their peers; it's all part of the game, and I love it.
Ok, if you are an administrator looking over my shoulder as I inch closer to the goal line known as tenure, please read this: I'M JUST KIDDING!!! If you know me very well, you know this already. But why is it that I look forward to a new year? And so soon after finishing the old one? I suspect maybe I'm crazy. But for some reason, thinking about being able to use all the old jokes and surprises with my new classes brings a smile to my face! Literally. What's wrong with a broken record if your audience is always new? There has to be something besides having fresh ears to hear old jokes/tricks that keeps me going. You wanna know what one of my favorite tricks is? The deadpan. I'm good at this, I think, although some family members think they know the trick (something to do with nose twitching). Yup, there's nothing like a good deadpan to get students worked up into a frenzy.
Example number one: A student nervously asks a question along these lines: "Mr. [my name], I heard we have to do a big research paper for this class. How long does it have to be?"
"You've heard about that, huh? Well, you don't really have to worry about it now. It's not until next semester. And it only has to be fifty pages long." [said with completely straight face, and utter nonchalance.]
Another good one, best used at the beginning of the year when students are not yet accustomed to the format of my tests. A student who really cares about getting a good grade--they seem to be few and far between, but believe it or not they do exist--asks "What exactly do we have to know for the test?" My reply: "Well, everything we've covered in class, all the outside of class homework readings. And look over the textbook chapter too. You should be ok if you memorize it." What's really fun is if you can get some of the gullible students to fall for this. After all, I tell my U.S. History juniors that this class will challenge them like none they have had to this point in high school. Junior year is the time to pick it up academically, and this course will help prepare them for college, etc. So I can get on occasion someone to start freaking out at my response.
These games are fun, but I don't think it's really why I want to return. Why is it? Simply put, I think maybe it is a gift from above. I've been given a passion for working with these kids. It's a field in which there is a lot of opportunity to have a positive influence on young minds. I think it's quite likely that I want my students to do better than about 95 percent of them want to themselves. The last five percent is really driven, and want at least as much I want them to do well.
This is kind of bizarre, isn't it. Is there a job like it? How many patients visit the doctor and don't want to be treated by him/her? How many customers take their car to a garage and don't want it repaired? How many consumers in general visit a place of business and don't want the help of the business, through goods or services. In my line of work, the service is often not wanted by the consumer, whether such service be good or not. What's the solution to this? I think it is to provide an opportunity for those who don't want the goods to leave the store. Permanently. You don't want to learn here? Go home. And don't come back. That would improve schools dramatically overnight, although it might create a lot of hassle for police officers on the streets, who would then have to deal with hooligans in broad daylight during school hours, and not just at night. Call us highly paid baby sitters if you want. That's what we are with those who don't want to learn.
But I digress. Why do I like summer? There are so many things to fill it up with! And I love my house. Did you know that? It's so nice to be able to hang out in a place I can call my own, toodling away at my various projects. What are those projects, you may ask? Here is an updated list of some ways I have spent my time so far, and hope to spend more time doing this summer:
1. Reading! I don't get enough time to do this during the year. Currently in the pot. From Beirut to Jerusalem. A highly entertaining book so far. Laugh out loud funny in spots, the antics of some of the characters in these allegedly true to life stories are so ridiculous. Radicalism of the American Revolution is another book I started. It won a Pulitzer prize for history, so it is supposed to be good. Basically the thesis is that the Revolution radically changed the way Americans thought and behaved. Gordon Wood wrote it. He's good, if you ever want to read some history a little less basic than David McCullough or Stephen Ambrose. History of the Middle East. Finished the other day. Good thing too. I thought I was going to use it for teaching my Middle East class, but it's way too complicated for some of my students. It would have been a waste of money to put my students through this, but it was helpful background reading for my own knowledge base, which is why I am reading all of the other books as well (some guy on leadership a group of us learned about extolled the virtues of expanding your knowledge in your field by reading more. I'm attempting, believe me!) O Jerusalem! I read it long ago in the days of B.S., but it needs to be read again as background for my class. And I'll probably have all my students read it. Truman by David McCullough. But that's on the backburner, I doubt I'll have time this summer. I'll also be needing to take a close look at a World History textbook or two, and take detailed notes on much of it in preparation for teaching the honors class next year. You wanna know how much I know about Chinese dynasties in the 3rd century B.C.? Next to nothing. Thus I read!
2. Playing video games! I almost forgot how fun this can be! Especially now that I have a new computer, I can now play games that are currently sold in the store, rather than looking at them wistfully only to put them back on the shelf after seeing that the requirements are more than my ancient machine could handle. But no more. I've enjoyed Civilization IV, which is also World History oriented, so can be justified playing! And I've been engrossed in Rome:Total War, also history oriented and loads of fun. Nothing quite like ordering around hundreds of Romans to smash the Gauls!
3. Transcribing the diary. I have a lot of work to do on this, as I head toward the goal of eventual publication, if the right doors open up. But it's a work of love, as one of my fellow teachers reminded me when I talked about the work I had to do with it. I have now printed off the 280 plus pages from the microfilm, and have begun to actually transcribe it word for word. I'm up to about page 5. And as I transcribe I have plenty of editorial decisions to make, with the help of a couple of books on the subject of editing historical documents. For example, what do you do with an 18th century manuscript that doesn't use standard spelling? Or what if you can't tell if a word is capitalized or not? And what if there is little to no punctuation? Or you can't read a word? Or it has been crossed out, should you put that in a footnote or indicate this in the text? There are certain rules and standards that fortunately have been set for me, but it's a process to pick which one I want to go with and then attempt to scrupulously follow it.
4. Reading/ordering/distributing scripts for my theater organization. I realized about ten days ago that I really need to get things going this summer as far as having my theater board read scripts and start thinking about what shows to do next year, as we need to make decisions quickly once the year starts. So I ordered several scripts, have read some, and am in the process of distributing them to various students. It helps to be so close to school so I can do this.
5. Attend events in which my school's students are involved. I have attended two plays this past week, both of which had students of mine in them. I like to do this to bless them, to get a taste of various shows and artistic ideas for future products I will direct, etc., as well as to scout out talent that is at my school, so I can direct my recruiting efforts if necessary. Of course, some people are basically out of reach. One student at my school has been in numerous professional productions already, and will probably be famous someday. Besides plays, I also went to a baseball game this week, in which one of my students pitched five innings in relief, gave up only one run, and earned a win. Pretty sweet.
6. Plot and plan for my upcoming trip South to work once again in the history program I've been involved with for two summers now.
7. Watch Red Sox baseball on occasion, though time is pressing.
Guess that's it. I won't bother to go back again and correct mistakes, so forgive the rambling nature of this post. But I have a video game that beckons, and there are only twenty four hours in the day. Summer is good, if too short. But on the other hand, I will enjoy immensely getting back into the classroom. So it's all good.
posted by redsoxwinthisyear at 11:33 PM
3 Comments:
I understand that desire to work with young minds. The DeadPan is truly fun... ...and repeating jokes/stories is good with new audiences---especially as it allows you to perfect your delivery... ...it sure is great to teach wannabes---too bad I suppose that they aren't all that way---of course when a teacher is able to awaken a student to become a wannabe---the effort all becomes worthwhile...
You inspire me:)
touche
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