10 Interestingly, I had never seen the film before, and it riveted me. I wanted to know more about it.
11 It was filmed in 1952. The theme? Time and its mercilessness on people.
12 There is always something new to discover in his work.
13 Viva Verona.
14 Live Chaplin in Verona. Verona appeared in the film.
15 Calculated risk, writing about this. Remember this is a deadline thing, and the clock is ticking.
16 I just want to keep moving forward.
17 I’m trying to watch all these TCM takes on the inimitable tramp. They are giving the history of Chaplin. It is Chaplin afternoon. I wish I had known. Too much new information for me to get down in too short a period of time.
18 Much too much.
19 It’s Tuesday afternoon.
20 And here is an epic TCM day but I have things to do.
21 A part of me figures I must clean the house.
22 It’s afternoon. A lovely afternoon with the sky clear, the sun shining, and the birds singing. This was written yesterday and edited this morning. That’s tough on a guy who has to teach unnecessary shifts in verb tense.
23 I decided that a generic Crysal Light and a spoonful of Nutella were in order. These were to be my afternoon snacks on a perfect afternoon.
24 So epic is Chaplin to me that I began hesitating about whether or not to write about the film. I had too many other things to get done, but I wanted to write about Limelight. So gangsta. But the film was ending, and I wanted to grab everything I could from it and share it on the DN. I began spinning with frustration. Strange real-life hallucinations began turning me into a benign lunatic.
25 Let me hail an example.
26 After having watched Limelight, I walked into my office at home, an office which is suddenly no longer my office due to all the rapid changes that have haunted me for the past month.
27 I looked at the reflection on the window curtain. It was a reflection of the sun coming through my kitchen window. It was black and white, like an old TCM movie, and the wind outside blew just enough that the office reflection looked like an old movie. I smiled, of course, because of the coincidence. I had just watched an old movie, and the reflection of the reflection took on the shadow and light of an old movie. In many was it was rather quaint.
28 I decided to get out and enjoy the sky and the sunshine. I went out to the backyard to get some fresh air.
29 I relaxed my shoulders and looked around to see what sort of gardening projects I could do. The day was sunny, bright, and colorfully clear.
30 It was a nice, peaceful moment in a month of madness, terrible personal events, and horrific world events. I had one of those “ahhhhh” moments that sometimes puts the world at ease. Normalcy returned.
31 The addition of the wind caused shadow and light to repeat their 1930′s thing outside. I scanned the yard once more for gardening projects that needed to be done when my eyes focused on a small bird bath in the middle of the yard. The same sorts of shadows appeared, reflecting what looked like a flickering movie off the bird bath. It was just light, shadow, wind and trees, but it mimicked a TCM film. It mimicked Limelight. I smiled, because I always smile at coincidences. Huge smile, squinty eyes.
32 The whole thing seemed designed, maybe by my own exhausted but creative mind.
33 Whatever it was, it was perfect. I came home after a pretty stressful day, which perfect-stormed a dreadful month, personally, professionally, and worldly.
34 Grades were due at four, which is always dynamically stressful. We had STAR testing yesterday, which of itself puts the entire school through hell.
35 AND just as I was giving instructions on how to take the test yesterday morning, this guy comes in late, takes out his cell phone, plugs it into the wall, and ignores my instructions on what we needed to do in order to take the test.
36 STAR testing is our state tests. Our accountability as a school depends on following all the rules. One of the rules they stress is that no electronic devices may be present during testing. No sooner had I begun giving testing instruction when this guy came in, plugged in his cell, and instantly ignored what I was doing.
37 This was a kid I had helped all year. He would have flunked the first semester had I not pushed and prodded him. He came up to me a few weeks ago and asked if he could make up any work. Because he showed that he wanted to improve, I told him I could make some concessions to help get him back up to speed. He and I talked baseball one day. The Giants had just beaten the Cardinals, and he was a Cardinals’ fan but proudly wore a Cardinals’ hat and jacket that day. We took a walk on a sunny day and talked baseball. He is usually a polite kid.
38 He just refused to do his classwork. That was the trouble. I tried every which way to help him, but he simply refused to do his work, or to get to class on time.
39 Yesterday, amid all of the stress, he pulled out his cell phone and plugged it into the wall. I asked politely if he would unplug it and put it in his backpack.
40 He refused, mind you right as I was trying to get the test instructions to the class. I stopped what I was doing, walked over and said, “Okay, give me the cell phone.”
41 He refused. “You can’t take my cell phone. It’s my property.”
42 Can you begin to imagine? I said, “Oh yes, I can take your cell phone and give it back to you after the test. Your job is to put it in your backpack. This isn’t me talking, it is the state’s rules.”
43 Already I should have called security. He refused to put his cell phone away. This was costing my students time in terms of taking the test. I said, “It isn’t about you right now. We have to begin the test. You need to hand me your cell phone.”
44 “It’s my property. You can’t have it.”
45 The clock continued ticking, right along with my patience. I walked over and took the phone out of his hand. He then picked up his test, set it on the table in front of the room, and walked out of the room. I said, “I have helped you this entire year.” He said in front of the classs, “I don’t give a f*ck.” Okay, breathe. Inhale.
He was a hero to a couple of other students, but to many more, he was rude and inconsiderate of their time. I called security who already knew the guy, and did whatever security does.
46 The test got off late. He had cost the students at least ten minutes, which could have had an impact on their test scores. Fortunately, most of them finished. The guys who saw him as a hero at first went slowly on the test, a sort of protest I suppose, but I kept wandering their way. Proximity can do a lot to motivate kids.
47 I also apologized to them for riding their friend. All three of them know that I have been more than fair not only to him, but to them as well. The two boys cooperated and took the test.
48 When we have testing, we have our first class of the day take the test in the morning, and then have two to three regular classes in the afternoon. Yesterday afternoon I had my first class back right after lunch. I got a call from the office.
49 “Would you like him to come back to class?”
50 I paused, and refused. If they sent him back to class, he would either mope, or not show up. He needed some punishment. I’m sorry. But he needed punishment.
51 “No, I think he should stay with you for an hour. Thank you so much for helping us in this situation.” And then I hung up. Someone had come up earlier to pick up his test and his phone, so all was right with me at that point.
52 For the record, I swiftly got back to teaching the way I normally teach, and the kids were laughing and enjoying the afternoon. They LOVED Romeo and Juliet, and I really am grateful that I have that class. The ship swayed a bit in the morning, but righted itself by the afternoon.
53 Just thought I’d share another day in the life of a teacher. These are the little things that happen in the course of a year.
54 I gottago.
55 See you again.
56 Peace.
~H~
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