January 26, 2012
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The Daily News1 What's in the Daily News?
2 I'll tellya what's in the DailyNews.
3
Story about a man bought his wife a small ruby
With what otherwise would have been his union dues.
That's what's in the Daily News.What's happening all over?
I'll tell you what's happening all over.
Guy sitting home by a television set
That used to be something of a rover.4 That's what's happening all over.
5 I took a walk down Facebook Lane last night and saw a post by the immortal Cindy Barrett. Her post sent me into a stream of Broadway songs. Here is her post; I'm pretty certain she wouldn't mind me posting this:
At some point in every conversation I have- a song from a musical will start going through my head. I can't help it. It must be a mental illness. Instead of voices- I hear Broadway.
6 No kiddin'! Every year just before February I start feeling exactly the same.
7 It is especially true when the sky starts adding cumulus to its luster, and we get days when the hills are alive and lush, when the rain washes the streets where we live, and when high schools begin their musicals.
8 Our school is just about to embark on their very first musical. Auditions begin Monday. The air crackles with electicity and excitement. I'm smiling.
9 When I ran Activities, I tried to make that happen, and the musical I chose was Grease, because I thought it would make a statement in the community. I approached Steve Barnhill, a trusted mate from years of being in Performing Arts, and we discussed it.
10 The time just wasn't right. I also toyed the next year with the idea of doing Romeo and Juliet in the Fall, and Godspell in the Spring. I figured Romeo and Juliet would be a blockbuster, because all the English teachers would make it an assignment.
11 When we did Shakespeare at YB, the teachers did make it an assignment, or extra credit, and Shakespeare brought crowds. I always appreciated teachers who sent kids our way. I still give extra credit for shows. I just think it's an awesome gift for young people, something they could enjoy the rest of their lives. Shows bring the community alive. We're still a growing school, so this is especially exciting.
12 Ah, musicals and shows. February brings those things out in a guy. Or a doll.
13 When I was the Activities' guy, I remember going into our theater, looking around and thinking that our community needed good live theater. Ours is a beautiful venue, and still relatively pristine.
13 The time just wasn't right.
14 So when I heard we were doing Grease this year, I got pretty excited. I've always had a pretty special bond with the drama kids at our school, because it's always been a part of me. They know this instinctively.
15 Yesterday in class I thought I'd give my students a dose of what they might be in for. They were doing some group work. Each September I have students make their own magazines for Back-to-School Night. Yesterday I looked in the back of one of my classes and saw this student who had written an article about famed 50's Rock 'n' Roll icon Dion in his magazine. His uncle had introduced him to Dion (not literally, just musically) so without a word, I streamed Runaround Sue. He's a reasonably shy kid who probably thinks I never notice him.
16 The song began with it's classic, slow tempo:
"Here's my story it's sad but true,
about a girl that I once knew..."17 He was still chatting in his group and wasn't really listening. The song continued.
"She took my love then ran around,
with every single guy in town..."and then it broke:
"Hayp! Hayp!
Bumda hady hady hayp hayp
Bumda hady hady hayp hayp
Bumda hady hady hayp! Awwwwww....!"He looked up as I pointed directly at him. The class laughed, and I said, "The artist's name is Dion!" He broke an enormous smile. This guy lit up. He has a pomp, and even resembles Dion. It was a moment.
18 I became more of a DJ than a teacher. They worked in their groups as I streamed The Wanderer, and Teenager in Love while letting them know that our school was about to make local history with Grease audtions coming up Monday and Tuesday.
19 We rocked it the rest of the day. I'm thinking of giving them little bits of Rock 'n' Roll history as this all unfolds. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Dion is that because he and his band at the time The Belmonts had THE sound of the late 50's, he was invited to perform with Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens at the Winter Dance Party tour. They rocked it royally at a concert in Clear Lake, Ohio on February 2, 1959. All the others took a flight to the next concert, but Dion stayed behind, not wishing to spend the $36 it would have cost. The plane crashed, killing everbody on board, a moment immortalized in later years in Don McLean's 1971 hit American Pie. The line "The day the music died" referred to that crash. Here's a little Dion for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGAer6SxkRk
20 Anyway, after rocking Dion, I later decided to shuffle it up, and rained 50's hits on these guys, including Elvis' eternal I Can't Help Falling in Love With You, and even Sinatra doing Luck Be a Lady.
21 This Lilo and Stitch crowd broke into song. They were jumping up, putting vocab words on the board, dancing, and waxing nostalgic. Great day.
22 After school I continued the concert, sitting at my desk and listening to all sorts of music. I played I Can't Help Falling in Love With You again, and sang along. My cough disappeared, at least for the moment. Felt grand. I was even wearing a Sinatra hat.
23 It was utterly astounding. I played Buddy Holly's Oh, Boy!, It's So Easy (To Fall in Love), and followed it up with Linda Ronstadt's classic version.
24 Fun day. I had gotten myself so buried in papers and lessons that I completely forgot how fun it can be to play a little music while getting stuff done. We had a meeting yesterday that was us being told that we are going to need to do still more work in order be accountable. After all, we are professionals. I get it, but walking back to my room I just thought, "My students not only learned a bunch of vocab and grammar today, but they also learned about Dion!" The contrast to the rolling eyes and whispers at the meeting was palpable.
25 So I decided that there is music in the air. I turned off the lights so that the room was lit naturally, took off my shoes, and turned on the music. My pencil danced as I got my work done. I worked through the afternoon, until it began to get dark. I even turned a small lamp on so that I could keep going.
26 I finished at sunset. I got to school at sunrise and finished at sunset. I felt a bit like a farmer.
27 I thought that on the way home, and Oklahoma! jumped into my head. It just happens.
28 So much music, so little time.
29 I don't want to overdo it, because the students might get bored. But I have always had some sort of quiet music playing when they get in groups. It's a nice bonding thing. I occassionally take requests as well. I've played music from Ancient Mesopotatoes to Bach, from Ancient Egypt to Jason Mraz, from Miles Davis, Muddy Waters to Rap, and from Disney to Broadway.
30 I keep thinking of teaching them the lyrics to We Go Together during my poetry unit. I think it would be awesome, and a fun move away from some of the tedium that standards inevitably bring.
31 I just don't want to get the rep of being all show and then nullify what they have accomplished in writing and vocab. So it's a thin line, but I'll tell you one thing: When I was in high school, my favorite classes were the fun ones, and it worked for me.
32 So we'll have to see. Recent studies show that engaging students in groupwork, interaction, music, and technology engages them. Duh.
33 So I'll keep it up. And later we'll move to Shakespeare, student poetry in the Café Verona, Midsummer, Much Ado, Grease, and finally the quintessential Taming of the Shrew.
34 In the meantime, I think I'll just keep filling the room with wonderful bits of music.
35 Thanks Cindy, for the inspiration. I now have about thirty songs spinning through my head. I think I'll drift off to Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins. What do you think?
36 Or maybe something from Kanye...
37 Or howzbout For Good...
37 If music be the food of love, play on.
38 Peace.
~H~
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