Did I Waste Time Over Break?

I truly value these long breaks because I finally have a chance to disregard time and schedules. I rarely check my watch (yes, I still own one), and I relish being able to read to my heart's delight. I knocked out the following books:

Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
I downloaded this from The South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative -http://sjrlc.lib.overdrive.com/70C7C4D1-9D2E-4185-922F-C40BD83D317E/10/420/en/Default.htm
This is a book that I found more poignant and gripping than even The Kite Runner. Read the review; it won't ruin the novel for you:
http://www.hclibrary.org/highlyrecommended/?p=3579



The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
My mom had recommended this autobiography a few years ago. Jeanette Walls recounts the grinding poverty she coped with as a child, a poverty brought on by the nomadic lifestyle of her parents, loving but utterly irresponsible people, dreamers who bounced from town to town, raising their children with no structure. Several scenes turned my stomache.

On Thursday, I took my son and his friend to The Penn Museum http://www.penn.museum/, an awe-inspiring place packed with artifacts from around the world -- Rome, Africa, Greece, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Asia --- many of which were over 4000 years old. I cherry-picked loads of ideas for when I roll out the Greek Mythology Unit for my freshmen.

When Friday rolled around, I thought it was high time to take my daughter to the Philadelpia Museum of Art to see the the Michaelanglo Pist0letto exhibit. Check out the link and be sure to scroll down to see this amazing artist's work.
http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/412.html?page=2

Big Brother in the Classroom?

I've been thinking a lot lately about The New York Times article that I retitled "Big Brother in the Classroom." Honestly, could we teachers one day have video recordings of our lessons as a means of evaluation? If this happens, what's next? Could this morph into something terrible, like having permanent cameras in the room that would allow principals, administrators, and other teachers to constantly observe and critique? I invite anybody to come into my classroom at any time, even vulpine observers, but I have to draw the line at my classroom door when it comes to using cameras to record what I do without my approval. This comes dangerously close to the stuff of 1984.

Archiving Interesting Articles

It's funny how other people's habits can influence us. Long ago, back in my navy days and well before the ubiquitous Internet that now pervades our lives, I had a room mate named Ken who was a voracious and eclectic reader. I remember how he used to keep folders of newspaper clippings of stuff that caught his eye, and he would often make copies of the text so that it would neatly fit into file folders which he would then archive in plastic crates.

I admired the way he preserved and catalogued the articles in case he ever wanted to refer to them again, and after trying to emulate this idiosyncrasy of his, I gave up; I just wasn't organized enough and in my hands file cabinets and storage bins quickly become a big, messy nests of papers.

Enter the blog and its convenient way of maintaining a running list of links to our favorite articles! Look near the top of the blog to read an article that I read recently.

Give it a try! Look at the first article that I archived, the one about cameras entering the classroom to help evaluate teachers. Is this " Big Brotherish" and intrusive, or could this benefit the teaching profession?

Kiter Runner Chapter 13

Much about this chapter affected me emotionally.

For starters, General Taheri's disappointment at Soraya's wanting to become a teacher is very palpable to me. Admit it, in the United States, white collar jobs have a hierarchy. On the top of the pyramid come the monied professionals, the doctors, lawyers, financiers, then come the successful managers, power salespeople and entrepreneurs, all followed by teachers, social workers, and others who join the service professions.

I once thought of going to law school, attracted by the status and money that would reward me at the the end of the academic journey, but I kept coming back to teaching which in some ways I feel has been wired into my DNA. I've never looked back and I feel glad that I followed by heart and not the cash and prestige. It is a rich man who is happy with what he does for a living!

________________________________________________________________

The older we get, the more we think of our mortality. I've read The Kite Runner before I had anyone close in my life pass away. Last February, my father-in-law, a man whom I had known, respected, and loved for twenty years, passed away. He had many friends in his life, but he had long outlived them all, so his funeral was sparsely attended.

Baba was a man who only a few years prior had been strong and vital, loved for his generosity and gregariousness. The beautiful words said by so many at his funeral serve as a perfect tribute to a good man who lived his life well.

Etymology and You

Money

The word "money" comes to us originally from the Roman goddess Juno. "Moneta" is one of her monikers, and in ancient days, coins were minted by her temple.

Kite Runner - Chapter 5

Like Amir and Hassan, I once bore the brunt of a bully. My persecutor, Paul Monakey, terrified me back in the seventh grade. Two years older than I, he got his kicks escorting me from the bus stop to my house, applying a vice-like headlock the whole entire way. Desperation and anger guided my fist to smash into his face the next time he came for me. Of course he walloped me back, and I truely saw stars and did some bleeding. He never touched me again.

I appreciate how this chapter juxtaposes Assef, a psychotic bully famed for biting or ripping off another child's ear, to the plastic surgeon, hired by Baba to erase Hassan's hare-lip, a beautiful birthday present indeed. Here we see a flesh destroyer and a flesh healer.

Kite Runner Chapter 4

Chapter 4
As a teacher, this chapter particularly resonated with me. Fired up both by his obsessive passion for books and reading aloud to Hassan, his most ardent fan, Amir discovers that he has a knack for impromptu story-telling and creative writing. This epiphany is fanned by Rahim Kahn after Hassan once again smarts from the rejection of his he-man-sports-loving-bear-wrestling father. Rahim, after reading his first story about the pearl-crying man, tells the young writer “Bravo,” and gives him a kind note encouraging him to follow his talent, asserting that people who waste their God-given talents are “donkeys.”

Hassan’s inadvertent inspiration is life-changing for Amir, while Rahim Kahn’s encouragement is deliberate. Enabling children to realize their innate talents, and then encouraging them to become “their own best teachers” seems more precious than pearls or rubies.

Senior Project 2010!

Well, it's Thanksgiving break and you made it to my blog! Remember, by Monday's class time, you need to have a two tasks completed: a cool blog made to impress and a SOLID senior project topic. Your SP topic needs to meet the following criteria: the topic will give you access to a sponsor (topics that require security clearances are a no-no, your mentor should be able to help you get that sponsor, and you need be able to transport yourself to your sponsor at least once per week.

Make sure that your first blog entry features at least 100 words, and no more than 300, and the theme should be related to your project's topic. We'll want to see a picture uploaded as well. Regarding this blog stuff, YOU NEED TO BE YOUR OWN BEST TEACHER!" If I taught myself how to do it, then you can.

EAT TURKEY, READ BOOKS, RELAX!

A New Skill Learned I Learned at the Teacher Convention

Look what I learned to do at the teacher convention! How can I use Glogster to help my students think outside of the proverbial box? The possibilities are endless!

R.I.P. Ruth McBride

The Color of Water has been one of the staples for my ENG 12 class for a few years. The enchanting biography, written by the multi-talented James McBride, is one of my favorites. I admire the musicality of his prose, but most of all, I enjoy reading about his mother's resolution, bravery, and class.

I learned from today's New York Time that Ruth McBride recently passed away, leaving behind twelve successful children.

For as long as I've been teaching the book, I've often wondered about Ruth McBride's whereabouts. She is now with her Maker. A born Jew turned Christian, she inspires thousands upon thousands of readers to see the Lord's complexion as "the color of water.