October 1, 2011
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1 All day Wednesday I thought it was Thursday.
2 Ever have a day like that?
3 Seriously.
4 I actually walked my garbage out to the street on Wednesday night. Garbage day is today. I had to sneak BACK out and pull the stuff BACK to the driveway.
5 <Cue: Twilight Zone Music>
6 I had lived two weeks in about two days trying to remain accurate on my grading deadline.
7 Long story, and pretty boring. But I put a zillion hours of work in order to remain as accurate as possible for my students.
8 I had finished all of my calculating by Wednesday afternoon, so my mindset was that my work for the week was done.
9 <Cue: Basketball buzzer>
10 The best part was the moment it dawned on me that it was only Wednesday. I had just finished being diligent enough to get everything in order, and to get it out instead of having the early-morning surprise of awakening to fast-paced garbage trucks.
11 That's happened a few times over the years. I'll pop up like Goofy and streak out like a cartoon. I'll always worry that the recycle guys will reject my garbage because I might have put a paper plate in the recycling.
12 I hear that is grounds for being captured in the night by the New World Order, and disappearing without a trace.
13 Hey, could happen.
14 AnywayZ.
15 Last night I got into lock-step with the rest of the neighborhood, lining up my garbage neatly, like grey bowling pins, side by side awaiting someone to pick up the spare.
16 At least I was able to sleep safely and restfully.
17 Sleep, sleep, sleep.
18 Moving on, Part One: I somehow missed the Red Sox game the other night. I missed the end of the Giants, but was able to get something out there about them.
19 I absolutely couldn't believe the ending to the Red Sox this year. How on Earth any Red Sox fan could even walk around yesterday is beyond me.
20 The only nice thing about it was that it wasn't my team that it happened to, and it made everything a little nicer from that perspective.
21 I know it isn't the end of the world, but on a small scale, a whole bunch of us feel that pain, even though it's only a game.
22 Tell that to Boston.
23 Moving on, Part the Second: I use music a lot in my class, because it's a nice way to make classwork, projects, group work, etc. a little more relaxed. The other day, for example, I played some Dave Brubeck for my class. I am reasonably versatile in my selections, just trying to get a slight feel for the atmosphere of the room.
24 This really amazing student came up to me and asked if I could play Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze as exit music on Wednesday. I told him that I would honor his request, but then forgot.
25 When the bell rang, or horn honked, or whatever they want us to believe, I was pretty busy. I heard this voice in the wilderness yelling, "Purple Haze! Purple Haze!"
26 I looked up to see this guy with a huge smile, waving to me on his way out the door.
27 Yesterday I had finished up almost all of my intense work and started to relax when the bell rang for my last period of the day. I remembered this guy's request, and as swiftly as I could, I Googled Purple Haze, and right when the majority of my students came through the door, I blasted it. I announced that it was a request by a student, almost washing my hands of the idea. I shouldn't have. I now see that Hendrix is every bit as important as say, Edgar Allan Poe, or many other literary artists.
28 I stood as dignified as possible, but felt a bit like the cat that ate the canary. When that guy got in the room, his smile lit up the planets in deep space. I just smiled, pointed my finger his way, and shook my head. I had to keep my demeanor, but that might have been the first time in my teaching history that I ushered a class in to Hendrix's Purple Haze.
29 I faded it when my lesson started and publicly thanked the student for allowing me to bring an artist of Hendrix's magnitude to a World Lit class. The students laughed, and we got into ancient civilizations. I had planned my stuff pretty well, so it was a fun moment, and actually worked famously.
30 Earlier in the day, we had an earthquake drill. As exit music, I musingly put on Elvis' All Shook Up with a little over a minute left in class. Amazingly, a lot of students knew the song, and laughed along and sang along. Some even danced. Other teachers smiled, because they caught the earthquake reference.
31 But Hendrix as ENTRANCE music was almost like a grand, musical ante-room to a lesson about pyramids and mystery.
31 You wouldn't think this stuff would work, but the secret is in knowing the mood of the crowd, something you learn from years of putting on theatrical productions. A lot of other teachers use music; it's sort of trend.
32 Guys like Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz work nicely as background, but they're pretty safe. I use jazz, blues, hip-hop, and classical at various times depending on the mood of the room.
33 Certain music doesn't work. Believe it or not, the Beatles always feels a little uncomfortable to me, while Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and guys like Thelonious Monk and Brubeck work famously.
34 Disney works every time, but you don't want to overdo it.
35 But Hendrix? Even nowadays it is considered pretty cutting edge, even though he was one of the greatest musical artists in history.
36 After my lesson, I had the students get into groups and discuss some Egyptian poetry they had read, some beautiful stuff from antiquity. As they talked, I silently brought in Hendrix doing Dylan's All Along the Watchtower.
37 It fell into a background thing, like walking into a Starbuck's in the early hours.
38 Quite fun, and pretty liberating.
39 The key is to have a lot of high-research and good knowledge to share in the midst of it all. It takes tremendous amounts of hours and hard work to make it happen. The hard work, coupled with staying way up on the grading, their writing, and their daily concerns makes it all happen. Without the hard work, it would all be gimmick, smoke and mirrors.
40 The real difference is staying on top of things, and constantly bringing more knowledge to the table. I spend hours researching things that I could bring in, but it's a of fun for me too. I loved that we moved from the poetry of the Ancient Egyptians to the wanderings of Abraham in the Old Testament. I did tons of research to help the students understand the time frames. And it somehow all worked with Purple Haze.
41 So far, great year. I'm constantly exhausted, but constantly plotting and scheming ways to keep each day different and hopefully adventurous.
42 Why go softly? The further I get into my career, the more I enjoy it. I don't battle getting caught in traffic, nor do I get annoyed when a few heads drop when I say the word "gerund".
43 'Twas ever thus.
44 'Twas ever thus.
45 Never trust a guy who says, "Twas ever thus" two times in a row.
46 Well, I'm pretty sure that it is time to go here.
47 The second you get home tonight, I strongly suggest you get out your iPod and blast Purple Haze throughout your home, even if it annoys someone. It will be a tremendously liberating start to a well-earned weekend. You worked hard; appreciate some dandy art.
48 I'm thinking of throwing Wayne's World on later today. Not in my class, at home. It would probably be a great kick-start to the weekend.
49 So yup, rev it up. Have a great one.
50 See you again.
51 Peace.
~H~
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ta7_7q7pfU
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