Day 2 of Blog-mania

Well,

I'm gonna try to stick to my guns about keeping it positive. It's tough, though. I'll start with something I learned the other day from the Mentor Panel (a select group of mentors (mine was included) spoke to the cohort as a whole, answering questions and giving useful advice and information) which was probably the most useful "class" to date. One of the mentors was talking about how the three R's have changed from reading, writing, and arithmetic to relevancy, relationships, and rigor. I thought that was very insightful. It's a catchy little twist on an old idea in the trend that this program leads toward, which is cultural relevancy and, a confusing line from our H210A class, that it's about the content (but it isn't).

Oh, I know. I can talk about my mentor for a little bit. I'm convinced he's the best of the bunch or, at the very worst, tied for the best. He's intelligent, sardonically funny, and is actually an effective teacher with strategies for teaching and reasons behind them. I'll give you an example of how much you should appreciate this fellow. His name is John. We were discussing Bring It On
before class one day. Both John and Dave were mentioning how much they loved that movie. I was flabbergasted to say the least. They kept saying it was such a good movie. I wanted them to articulate their feelings a bit more. They taught me about this word "kitsch." The dictionary definition is different from the one they gave me, but they said it was a piece of art (usually cinema) that elicits nothing but good feelings. What I mean to say is, there is no deeper meaning to the work. It's just about happiness and good things. Lollipops and daydreams. Rainbows and cotton candy. You got it. Now, I still was unable to understand fully. That answer wasn't good enough for me. I mean, the way they were talking about BIO, you would've thought it was the greatest movie on the planet. They may have even argued that. So, John proposed an analogy. I was willing to hear it because I thought there was no way I could relate to his feelings . . . and then he said, "Bring It On is the cinematic equivalent of Starland Band's Afternoon Delight. Do you know that song?" I admitted right there and then how that was the absolutely most perfect analogy anyone in the world could have ever come up with. Seriously. I mean, put one million people in a room for a million years and they would be hard pressed to find a better example of "kitsch" for me.

It does not end there, though. We mention the song occasionally in the mornings because it's so bad and so good at the same time and it's a good inside joke. Well, here's another piece of the story. John was telling us how to get through terribly boring, and mandatory, school meetings after class: he plays BINGO. He makes up a couple of BINGO sheets with words they have to listen for in the discussion. Then when one of them gets BINGO, they have to somehow subtly say BINGO in a comment they make so the other people will know he won. Example: Raises his hand, "So, you're saying that we're just supposed to introduce the topic and, BINGO, the kid's supposed to get it?" Something like that. Genius. Anyway, he also suggested just having a word of the day and trying to work that into a comment for the group at these meetings as well. So, John mentioned briefly, and I thought jokingly, about working Afternoon Delight into the panel discussion. Well, I forgot all about this, and his second to last comment to the group was answering a question about what teachers do with state mandates. Do they follow them? Try to bend them? John answered thusly, "Well, I can remember a situation I encountered when I was teaching in D.C. We had a state mandate that children were required to read in their English class for ten minutes. Well, the English class I was teaching met right after lunch, and I made them do the reading right at the start of class. We called it the Afternoon Delight. So, yeah, you work it in when you can. I mean, you're legally obligated to do so, but you make it your own." See what I mean? Genius. I couldn't believe he did it. He might have made up that whole story just to fit that in there. I had forgotten he was going to try, but no one had any clue besides us four who have him as a mentor. I was impressed.

So, that's John. He gives good feedback and things to watch for in our teaching.

This is leaning toward bitching, but it's more of a thought I've been having lately. I wish I wasn't so busy. It seems like such an excuse for not keeping up with personal friendships. Most of all it's unfair to Kelly. I talked with her on the phone last night, but I was so worried about a lesson I had to do today that my mind was other places (the lesson plan fiasco is a whole 'nother story, that if I were to get into would break my cardinal blogging rule of not bitching. Man, was I pissed, though). She is so understanding and is clearly not trying to upset me because I'm 1200 miles away and cannot do much about it. But, she did say she was doing great which is a double-edged sword. I'm glad she's not sitting in a closet weeping while staring at a picture of yours truly. But, a part of me feels better when I know she misses me as much as I miss her. Unfortunately, our last few conversations have mainly been a one-way street, me not divulging very much information. So, it very well could be a response to the lack of feeling I have perhaps conveyed to her.

That reminds me of a lot of people's reactions when I told them I was moving. They asked, "So, are you going to stay with Kelly?" I immediately replied, "Of course." I do truly feel a woman like her does not come around often, sometimes not even once. And then, naturally, the follow-up comment comes, "Cool. Well, long-distance is hard." No, shit. Thanks for the pearls of wisdom. Yeah, it's hard. I'm sitting on my bed in my room, alone, listening to Afternoon Delight, with pictures to keep me company. That doesn't mean I can't do it. I'm going to make it work. It's a temporary thing. It's not like I work in Boston, and she's moving away and we will visit once every three months for the next five years or something. I mean, it's a year-long program. I can do that. I lived, or half-lived, my life for 19 years before I met Kelly. I believe her when she says she loves me and that we will get through this. I'm not an emotional wreck or anything. I just feel she makes me a better person. I do miss her being here. Talking on the phone is not enough. If you can't tell, it's quite difficult articulating this feeling. I mean, I wish I could send her flowers every day, or write her extended letters. She is in my thoughts constantly during the day. But, when I'm done with my work, I almost always just pass-out. Also, it ain't cheap living out here so I can't buy her stuff all the time. I don't even buy myself stuff. These are not excuses though. I think that's why I started writing about it here in my whine-o-blog. I understood what I was not providing for her last night and this morning. My schoolwork was brought home with me (again, for extenuating circumstances that still irk me) and I could not focus on the important people in my life. That's something I will work on.

I can tell you one thing, though, the worst part of my day is hanging up the phone. It's so significant. It's not like the conversation is over and then you think of something else to say and can just tap them on the shoulder and say it. You've already done the goodbyes and physically closed the flip-phone on them (or in this case, her). She is coming out here for two weeks, though, and that's going to be great. She's worried about getting used to each other again, but I don't even remember who that guy is yet. I can't wait for her to see me because when I'm not the "Adam she remembers" all the time, I feel like I'm letting her down. Well, I won't have school, work, or anything, so it will be devoted to finding the beans together. Actually, she'll be here for two days I have school and I have to finish a bullshit paper, but that's it. I'm really excited. I don't get excited often.

That's all for now.