The DN

1  The what knows me knows yesterday was my birthday. 
S-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h. Don't tell no one. 

2   Generally I fly way under the radar on that one. Sorry about the deliberate double negative. But yeah. S-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h.

3   Don't get me wrong: I'm no birthday Grinch or anything, I just don't see at as a big deal. At my age I would rather let it fly fast, like New Years or April Fools.

4   Still, you always know when it's your birthday. It comes at you and hits you like a cream pie.

5   I like to think I'm youthening.

6   I think the Man already has machines that could do that.

7    The Man.

8    Guy's everywhere.

9    I want publicly to thank Facebook for not printing my age. 

10  I had prepared for it. If they decided to post it, it would have said, "108".

11   Anybody lookin'?

12   Moving On, Part One: I stopped short on that one.

13   I almost went on a rant about trading in all my electronic boushit for a yellow pad and pencil.

14   It's all gone wid.

15   Wid.

16   It's phonetic.

17   Moving On, Part Two: My second period class took me out of my game yesterday. 

18   We finished Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. You could hear a pin drop. 

19  Everything turned serious the the last five minutes, which are epic. 

20  We get older and forget how powerful that film is to young people. 

21  They watched on the edge of their seats, so drawn in that when Juliet kissed Romeo and pulled away with, "Thy lips are warm..." the entire class almost dissipated.

22  The film moved them beyond anything I've seen in a while. 

23   For years the Luhrmann version has been the preferred version. Students over the years have affectionately entitled it "The Ghetto Version". 

24  True. Just reporting the facts.

25  Yesterday Zeffirelli's monumental work rose to its former glory. The music moved through my room, fighting to keep back. The students sat amazed.

26  Many got caught off guard and cried. I haven't seen that in years.

27   I have window shades that went up as the music played and the bell rang to leave. The timing was as perfect as anything I've ever done. And I had little to do with it. The day timed itself as though with a pulse. Tears and tissues followed.

28  The music took over, exit music to my class. It traveled with them out the door and through the entire building.

29   What is a Youth?

30   Just beautiful.

31   Shakespeare made their day.

32   I loved it. I stood proud of them for holding up.

33   Two times this week. 

34   All the data and tests in the world will never match what I witnessed yesterday.

35   Genuine soul.

36    Great gift to all who were there.

37    It's late again as I write. 

38    Next week I'm not sure how the DN will play. Jury duty pulls me out of my game, but I promise I'll try to keep reporting from the front lines. 

39   Anyway, enjoy your weekend.

40   I gottago.

41   See you again. Hope you enjoyed this simple moment when time stood still. It's why we do this.

42   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

 Say cheese.

1  So I threw a curve yesterday.

2  I made it look like I was all loving life on Facebook and then my first line yesterday was about how crabby I felt.

3  Why I oughta...

4   If you're catching any sort of theme this year it has really been a theme of the daily life of a teacher.

5   Not exciting stuff. Frankly I'd be more interested in a cop, or a firefighter.

6   I figure someone oughta write the main stuff.

7   I'd report a lot more things but there are issues that are just too cerebral for this old brain, sharp as it is.

8   Anybody lookin'?

9   I talked with my friend Charlie West yesterday. We talked about the madness of grading and of the ways that teachers enjoy their students.

10  This surprises people because one of the most common comments we get as teachers is this: "I don't see how you can put up with the kids these days." They always add the cliche' "these days." Most of the kids are fun and lively, and often make us laugh. 

11  Because they're fun, goofy, and going through the exact same things we do but through a different lens.

12  It's a large part of their world and a major social network none of us ever forgets once we're out there in the "real" world.

13   It isn't the kids that cause the headaches. Trust me. They're usually pretty supportive when things go a bit awry.

14   Charlie and I were in agreement on much of that.

15   It's all of the boushit, just like any job.

16   There's always someone out there telling us how we ought to do our jobs. There's always someone out there who has built the ultimate mouse trap. There's always someone out there with some sort of angle. It wouldn't be so bad if they all weren't so far removed from the classroom. Their theories and data and meetings and such become tedious, if not sometimes laughable. 

17  I always thought being a teacher was a little easy. I'm not saying I'm good, because I've never met a good teacher who ever said that. But if we've made it a few years, we gain some sort of perspective and wisdom. That much I promise. 

18  Being a good teacher means being genuine. That's advice I kept close to my heart for years. 

19  My earliest principal told me that. His name was Dr. John Hernandez. His words inspired me. I don't know that I appreciated his kindness and sincerity, but sometimes his professionalism and good words worked to my own brash benefit.

20  I think my current students are well aware that I have been off a lot more than I have been on this year. 

21  Too many disruptions and distractions. Like any job, you get into a rhythm at various times throughout the year. When it glides, it glides nicely.

22   When it doesn't? 

23   To everything.

24   Moving On, Part One: I had a rare nice dream last night. The dog had awakened me for the six-thousandth time, so I instinctively knew to get more sleep. 

25   I don't even know what it was about, but it had flowers and open fields. I skipped through it in slo mo, like Kenneth Branagh skipping through that Tuscan fountain in Much Ado.

26   The image! The image! Okay okay okay I was young, slim, beautiful with hair that would give Jay-Lo goosies.

27   

28   Anybody lookin'?

29   I woke up fresh as the proverbial daisy. I heard birds singing and KNEW I had this day.

30   I turned on my laptop to edit this nonsense and a UFO buzzed across my screen. 

31   The rest is today's history, which is to say, silence. 

32    Welp, that's about it; I had to get this one done fast. I worked last night until around 11:20. 

33    Well it was exactly 11:20. I awakened from a restful dream, and then a UFO buzzed my laptop.

34    That's about it. 

35    I gottago.

36    Awake and sing.

37    Make someone's day.

38   See you again.

39    Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

1  I'm officially crabby.

2  Wanna join?

3   Yeesh.

4   Sorry.

5   I spent the large part of the day figuring ways to work ice cream and coffee beans into the DN.

6   I failed miserably except to say this: I still like them.

7   Anybody lookin'?

8   We had testing yesterday and it went famously.

9   That's about it on that one. Except that I would like to throw a huge thanks to Vicki Ponticelli for making it work. I can't think of many other people who could have taken all that guff and turn it into something amazing. I want people to appreciate and acknowledge what a remarkable job she did. I can't even imagine what she had to go through, but I do think a major shout out is in order. 

10  Moving On, Part One: I'm watching West Side Story right now.

11  Or should I qualify that: I'm previewing technical materials for classes.

12  I'm trying to find a good way of letting students realize that Romeo and Juliet is an eternal theme.

13  So I popped West Side Story into the evening. 

14   I even took notes and vocab ideas.

15   <basketball buzzer>

16    I don't mean to insult anyone, but the dance at the gym worked, at least for around five seconds.

17   I then started shouting at the teevee set, "They STOLE that entire concept from Grease!"

18   Or something.

19   I settled. I then looked at a coupla calendars online and realized, "I'm old..."

20   I ALMOST used the word, "almost" but decided not to. 

21   

22   Anybody lookin'?

23   AnywayZ...

24   Once I got past the stealing concept  I heard the classic song Tonight, from the movie.

25   Leonard Berstein. Stephen Sondheim.

26   I hadn't heard that music in quite some time.

27   Does it hold up?

28   Opinion question.

29   Let me say this: I'm still looking.

30   We have Monday off and I have jury duty Tuesday.

31   My English 1A classes are closing out R and J. It's tough because I'm going to be out. I usually bring in a mini drama unit and have them put together some skits. We get Shakespeare, drama and poetry this semester. Those are tough things to change when you might be absent for several days, or even months depending upon the trial.

32   akfkjfdjfdkjfdsffjkds

33   Thinking aloud.

34   Dayum.

35   Moving On, Part Two: I'm loving the rain.

36   I KNOW. I KNOW. 

37   It's not enough.

38   Wish I could help out. 

39   I claim it's the Man.

40   I claim everything is the Man nowadays.

41   I'm SURE that the Man is the reason my bones crack and I forget things.

42   I'm becoming that crabby old man whose house flies away with balloons and odd kids.

43   THAT guy.

44   Nah.

45   Well not yet.

46   Anybody lookin'?

47   Right now I'm that guy who loves taking naps.

48   My birthday is coming up any time now. I just can't remember when it is.

49   I'm pretty sure I'm turning a hundred and eight tho.

50   There's the rain again. 

51   I wish I could snooze. 

52   By the way, I'm well aware that West Side Story pre-dated Grease. 

53   Common Core. Everything about it makes you want to crawl under the covers and hide.

54   It's a livin'.

55   Gottago.

56   Give a smile and hope for rainbows.

57   See you again.

58   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

1   I wanna ditch work today.

2   Anyone down?

3   We're "rolling out" the new tests that will be used for the next two thousand or so years. 

4   Hmmmm.

5   Let's see...

6   Nope.

7   No avoiding it. 

8   I'll go in.

9   They want me to get there a half-hour before school starts so I can get schooled on stuff. 

10  The deal is I'm not giving a test in my room. My job is going to be checking on attendance and being a bathroom escort. 

11  Fortunately for me I  took around six or seven classes in college that trained me for those things.

12   

13  I count my blessings this morn.

14  I think of how stressful this entire thing must be to nearly everybody else and I feel I have dodged a metaphorical bullet.

15   Yeesh.

16   I hope I didn't just jinx myself. 

17   Probably not.

18   

19   Oh well. Kudos to the people who rode this wave all the way to this day.

20   I nearly went out of my mind the past few weeks wondering when I would get back control of my lessons. 

21   Did I mention that I was called for jury duty on April 1?

22   No fooling.

23   <groan>

24    I am all for civic duty.

25    I'll do it. 

26    It's quite liable to sink the rest of  the school year. 

27    Or not.

28    Quite a blow.

29    Yeesh.

30   I can't stall it into the summer. I can't even consider it. Gotta be done now. 

31   Welp, those are the realities. 

32   Moving On, Part One: When's baseball again? Last week? Australia? Dodgers won???

33   I keep threatening and I am now ready to jump off the hood of a Buick.

34   Anybody lookin'?

35   Ah just kiddin'.

36   The good end is I'm caught up on  paperwork, or at least reasonably caught up.

37   Plus a student asked me yesterday: "Mr. H, are you going to get Mr. Spoon?" He was referring to a sub for when I have jury duty.

38   "Who's that, some Disney character?" I asked.  I was thinking Beauty and the Beast or something. 

39   I had never heard of a sub named Mr. Spoon, but I asked the inquisitive fellow if the guy was any good.

40   Around five minutes later he called me over to his desk. 

41   "This is Mr. Spoon," he said. I looked a the picture on his phone and it was this monstrous guy with ridiculous muscles. He was wearing a Speedo. It wasn't pretty. 

42   " I never gave anyone permission to use my picture!" I said. 

43   Polite laughter.

44   I laughed. He was one of those guys that you could Google but would never want to look at for more than three seconds. 

45   Last night I got home, thought about the entire day, and about today when I remembered Mr. Spoon. 

46   I decided to Google the guy. This guy came up:

47  Ten reasons I am never absent. One picture.

48   Oh sometimes I think I must go mad!

49  I gotta get another job.

50  Anybody lookin'?

51  Gottago. 

52   Wish me luck.

53   Wish all of us luck.

54   See you again.

55   Peace.

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/

The DN

1   Happy Mondeeeeeee!!!!!!!

2   Uh...according to who?

3   To whommmmm?

4   Got outta THAT one.

5   The worst thing about Monday is all the stuff you wanted to get done as of Friday.

6    I wanted to find out everything out there about Beethoven as of Friday.

7   Beethoven?

8   Well yeah. This student heard me talking about the BBC Much Ado and steered me to this amazing documentary about Beethoven.

9   I was instantly addicted. 

10  The difficult part about the doc was that it was a series of about a million nine-minute docs. 

11   Let's see: It was late last night when I decided to send this out on the DN, so I'm crossing my fingers that this is the gateway to the mix:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx_4UY83C1I

12   Anybody lookin'? I just tested this and it launched! Fingers still crossed. 

13   The other night I decided to put on some headphones and tuck myself away for the night, hoping this would mix itself through and teach me about the Beethoven.

14   It seemed to, although it got interrupted several times by Geico ads and other nonsense with lizards.

15   My feeling is this: pay the toll if you wish to cross the bridge.

16   Fantastic documentary, at times brilliant, at other times almost impossible to watch. 

17   I watched it in nine-to-ten minute increments, disrupted only by having to push a button that said Skip Ad. 

18   Ahhhh the idyllic life of an absurdest nerd.

19   I played it this morning but found instantly that Beethoven doesn't work first thing on a Monday. Still...

20   Best waste of time I ever experienced.

21  And this was just a gateway.

22  The major irony is that I'm getting pretty tired of online stuff. It's become TOO transparent. I saw that Facebook started pasting people's ages. Who wants THAT out there? Some other website put a map to my home. 

23   Crazy stuff. For the record, teachers don't always want people to know where they live. We just don't. We like to be left alone sometimes. 

24  I like silence. I don't like loneliness but I LOVE being left alone.

25   I like idyllic settings. Beethoven felt that the way to experience God is to be with nature.

26   Indeed.

27   Quite often the internet can get loud and disruptive. Sometimes I'll have two windows open on my laptop and one will suddenly pop loudly with some obnoxious ad. I grow a-weary.

28  Last night I got weekend sleepy from all of it. 

29  Weekend sleepy is the time the wee people run in and send all sorts of rainbows and nonsense into an Irishman's head.

30  It's all good.

31  They're Irish. 

32  We dream. Or we enjoy napping. I want to nap right now. So do you. <stretchy yawn>

33   Moving On, Part One: Anybody lookin'?

34   It occurred to me last night that Beethoven gets to head for the country while I need to get the new Common Core stuff going.

35   That test is finally here.

36   We give it on Tuesday. For the first time in quite some time my classroom will NOT be used for testing.

37   It's a roll of the dice. 

38   For years my classroom has always been used for testing. It's sort of nice because I think my room is one of the nicest on campus.

39   It has a vaulted ceiling and cathedral windows that look out on the green hills of Sannozay.

40  Those of you who have moved: do you remember how beautiful the Sannozay hills look this time of the year? Let me throw a little Love-in-Idleness at you. Here are the hills:

41   Ah, lads and lassies: they are as glorious as ever. They look like a visit to Tuscany, only without castles.

42   Green and worthy of a whistlin'.

43    On any given day I can look out my classroom window and see these very hills. At this point in life it is a welcome moment. When the last student has left the room at the end of the day the silence is as beautiful as any sonata. 

44   Just remembered me something. 

45   Ah nothing much. I hear a bird.

46   I gottago.

47   Have yourself an awesome Monday if you can bear it.

48   Fly low. Nobody's ready, trust in that one. Go gentle today.

49   See you again.

50   Peace. 

~H~

https://thedailynews-h.blogspot.com/