The video at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ
Read about Mary Schmich:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wear_Sunscreen
The video at YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfq_A8nXMsQ
Read about Mary Schmich:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wear_Sunscreen
My response to Trisha's Week 2 Reading Reaction follows her post here:
I wish that I had this book my first few years of teaching. I couldn’t except the fact that I did not reach every single student in my class. I took everything to heart and started to reconsider the profession I chose, the career that was “my calling” in life. I thought that I would never get past that and started to hate going to work everyday and would cry silently during my planning period. It wasn’t until one of my students through a fit about reading Shakespeare with the others joining in that I thought was the last straw. I got this moment of awakening, remembering the journey I made to get here, and how much I love literature, especially Shakespeare. “This is my passion”, I thought and decided to be myself and show my students that passion. The very next day (no exaggeration) that one student that had the fit, walked into my classroon waving a book in my face, shouting, “see! see! what have you done!... I am reading Hamlet!!!” I knew then what I needed to do everyday, SHOW MY PASSION! Stay true to myself so they will stay true to themselves.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
2 Comments
Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 09:01 PM
I can see it now, "Damn you, teacher, because of you I learned something. Argh!" Too funny. And truthful.
Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 09:56 PM
Trisha,
I love what you have to say here. I feel too often that we are caught up in the bureaucracy of teaching that we forget why we're hear in the first place. You are so correct, especially for those of us who are secondary or specialty teachers. We got into teaching because we love our subjects, and the kids as well.
I'm sorry to hear that you had such a rough patch at the start of your career, but I'm very glad you toughed it out! There are many young teachers who would benefit from your sharing that you've had that experience, and you've done that here! It's good to know none of us are alone in our feelings.
I was reminded of the importance of music and the impact it has on the emotions of young children after reading (p.43) the Zander’s story about the violinist from his orchestra. The story is about a little 5 year old girl whose aunt was the violinist mentioned. The aunt had made up a fairy tale story about the music she had been playing (Mahler’s 9th Symphony), but after repeatedly hearing the music the little 5 year old asked for the “real story” behind the music. Learning that the music was really about the life of a dying man, whose childhood had been surrounded by the death of his 7 sickly siblings, an alcoholic father, invalid mother, and later the death of his own child didn’t deter the child’s interest in the piece and makes me realize the depth of children’s capabilities. The child recognized that the story was not about a fairy tale princess, and she recognized the emotional quality in the piece. Zander’s recounting of the incident makes me want to hear this classical piece with the dramatic sound that caught the ear of the little five year old. With the invention of YouTube I actually have had the opportunity to listen to the music as performed by Myung-Whun Chung’s orchestra, and I have embedded the video above
1 COMMENT
THERESE LUNSFORD
Beckie,
Your last few sentences in your last paragraph make me laugh. I wrote in response to the chapter reading this week about my almost accidental experience where I let a student be "art teacher" for a day - or class period, to be more exact. Of course, when it came to clean-up time, I had to take back over, but that was one of the most fun moments I've had as an elementary school teacher.
And thank-you for embedding the video, I am going to give it a listen! I look forward to looking over your AR work again very soon, too, now that I have the url from the MAC class document. It will be wonderful to see who your work compares to mine, as we both have a component of technology in art.
Saturday, May 15, 2010 - 09:19 PM
Mahler’s Symphony #9
as played on YouTube by
Myung-Whun Chung
As a teacher, I am automatically a leader. While this position doesn’t always make me comfortable, it is a part of the job. If I were just a leader, I’d have no issues with my role, but the fact is that in my classroom I am the only leader, and this is where I sometimes have issue. However, I don’t share these feelings with my students, because I feel they might eat me alive if they knew what I was thinking.
There have been times when I handed over the reigns to my students. I don’t recall how or why it happened, but in response to what one of my elementary art students said, I responded, “Well, then, you be teacher for a bit….” And the young man jumped at the chance to run the classroom. While I sat down to work on a drawing, he walked around the classroom and did what I typically do; walk around and offer feedback to the students on their work, and offer help if they needed it. He told a group that was too loud to “bring the volume down” and generally did a pretty good job as a stand in for me. It was a fun moment for all of us, and had other kids begging to get to be “teacher for a day.”
In my speech class at the high school, I try to give the kids as many opportunities as possible to get up in front of the class as possible. When I do notes, sometimes I assign simple chapters to the kids to teach to each other. Small groups are formed and each group is assigned a part of a study guide, and each group has to present their portion of the notes as a small group. Therefore, they are also acting as my replacements for a brief period of time. Of course, they are communicating and publicly speaking as part of the exercise, which is highly relevant for a speech course. But even better, the students are engaging with the material in a wholly different way than what they are used to, so they have to look at the material from a teaching perspective. Some kids just go along with it, but some really get it, and you can see it in how they present the material. They take their job as teacher seriously, and it’s nice to see some kids respond this way.
I just think it’s always nice to share power, and to get everyone involved in the process. To make our students feel valued and appreciated should be one of our daily goals as educators.
“Being a contribution” is a concept that should ring true for just about any adult. We put a lot of stock into our careers, our families, our relationships. We judge ourselves by these things, as well as measures as silly as the money we make.
The truth is, it’s hard to get away from these types of measures. Even in judging ourselves by our relationships, we’re valuing our selves based on other people. There are times when people in our lives are going to let us down, and we have very little to do with it. We have to learn to decide how much personal responsibility to take, and how much responsibility others should take.
In education, I think any teacher is automatically a contributor. So long as we take individual responsibility, and realize that what we do is very important (and not make the mistake of feeling self-important) for our students, we’ll be a contributor. In simply choosing a job where we are in a service type of position, we are contributing.
I was speaking with a friend years back, explaining to her how I had offended this waitress I worked with. I explained how I had said , “I don’t want to be a waitress my whole life,” and how another waitress, overhearing what I was saying to another young co-worker, defensively butted in and asked “why?” I immediately felt defensive myself, because what I had said wasn’t meant to pertain to anyone but myself. I hadn’t thought how it might sound to someone else standing nearby. The older waitress waited while I searched for an answer, and all I could come up with at that moment was that I wanted to do something more with my life. The other waitress stalked off, not satisfied with my answer. In explaining the situation to my friend, she didn’t understand my reasoning, either. She and I were currently working together, and I was trying to explain why what I said to the waitress shouldn’t be offensive. There is just a certain mindset that people who become teachers have that we need to do something more, give something back, to work a job that makes us feel like we’re making a difference. When I was in junior high, my best friend at that time totally understood. We both talked about becoming teachers “when we grew up,” and we both did just that. There is something about doing a job that is about a little more than making money, or chasing goals or attaining small scale rewards. I never did make my friend or that waitress understand what I meant, but at least I tried.
Reading this chapter summed up what I meant to say better than I ever could. I have a desire to be a contribution. To have the importance of my career not be everything I am, though it is a huge part of me. My contribution is determined by me, and I can give anything I want. The great thing is, as a young educator, I have a long road ahead, much to contribute and keep contributing, and a long way to grow.