Somewhere in a Middle School Classroom...

Can I get a drink?
Can I go to the bathroom?
Get out your books and read
He has my pen.
Who took my backpack?
Shut up
We don't say shut up
Be quiet and read
Can I go to the library?
Can I go to the office?
Can I get a drink?
Quit talking and read
There's a lizard in the room!
There are ants on my table!
He threw something at me
He has my pen
Quit touching her hair
What does "ye tang che" mean?
Totally hopeless
Shut up!
We don't say shut up
What do we say?
Be quiet
Can I print something off the computer?
Can I do TeenBiz for my Civics class?
Can I go to the library?
Can I go to the bathroom?
Can I get a drink?
Can I turn this in to the office?
Turn in your homework
Keep your hands to yourself
What does "ye tang che" mean?
Utterly exhausted
What page are we on?
Open your book
Get to work
Turn in to the tray when you are done
Where do I turn this in?
In the tray for this class
Can I sit at this table?
Can I sit outside and read?
Can I sit in the corner and read?
Can I go to the library?
Can I go to the bathroom?
Can I get a drink?
Can I do TeenBiz for my dance class?
Do the work for this class
She took my pencil
He took apart your pen, Ms. Sadler
Shut up
We don't say shut up
What do we say?
Be quiet
Signal
Listen for instructions
What were the instructions?
Uhhhh....
5...4...3...2...1
Listen for instruction
What was the instruction?
Uhhh.....
How come we don't do the orange vocabulary books?
How come you don't give us a list of vocabulary words?
Do you want a list of vocabulary words?
NO!
Why do we have to do Springboard?
Why do we have to do TeenBiz?
When are we going to write in our writer's notebooks?
Every class is like you're trying to teach us to be politicians or something, we are always discussing issues.
It's called critical thinking. It's what we do.
Why would anyone ban Captain Underpants?
I don't understand why they would censor Fifty Shades of Grey.  It's just about sex and that's natural.
No, I don't think everyone should get a trophy for showing up.
Yes, I think physical activity does help my brain.
Yes, middle-schoolers should be tested for drugs.
Can we have a brain break?
Can we play the Q & A game?
Can we debate?
Is there a debate class in school?
This is that class.
Can I go to the library?
Can I turn my homework in tomorrow?
Can I still do that assignment?
Can I go to the bathroom?
Can I get a drink?
What does "ye tang che" mean?
Be Fearless.

My All-Time Favorite Cooking Related Gifts

I know that my cooking mojo has subsided somewhat over the last couple of years.  I blame work, but maybe that isn't quite right.  I don't cook as much as I used to even when I have time off from school.  But when I do, I know where to look for inspiration -- and that brings me to five awesome gifts, all from family members over the years,which motivates me to put a delicious meal on the table without resorting to pulling something from Costco out of the freezer.

Let's start with three awesome cookbooks. 

My sister Margie gave me the Mexican Cook Book.  I was just starting to get into Mexican food when she gave me this sometime in the early 1980's.  As you may be able to tell, I have it held together with a rubber band because it has completely fallen apart.  I have searched online and can no longer find this particular book, and no other Mexican books have such delicious and easy recipes (even ones I bought in Mexico).  By far my favorite recipe is the Arroz con Pollo, but I also love Huevos y Chilaquiles, Mole Poblano, and Bistec Enrollado. Tasty Tasty Tasty!

In 1984, my brother Martin went to San Francisco and visited the California Wine Country before it was "THE California Wine Country."  He brought me home a bottle of Sebastiani Pinot Noir and the Wine Lovers Cookbook.  God, I love this book.  I have a dozen or so recipes in it at one time or another, and some over and over again.  I love the taste of wine in food, and these recipes rock.  The recipes range from soups to desserts, with everything in between. The cookbook available here and well worth it! 

My favorites from this book: Limehouse Chicken, Party Chicken Cacciatore, Spanish Fish,  Big Guy's Beef Stew, Stifado (Greek Stew), and San Francisco Crabmeat Spaghetti.  These are all terrific recipes when having guests.

And a side note.  Somewhere over the last few years there has been a quote drifting around attributed to Benjamin Franklin about beer being a sign that God wants us to be happy.  Well, in the Wine Lovers Cookbook the actual quote is presented.  Here it is:

We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage, in Cana, as a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain, which descends from the Heaven upon our vineyards, and which enters into the vine-roots to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy. -- Benjamin Franklin

Yes -- it's WINE, people.  Not beer.

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook is my cooking bible, and my true companion in the kitchen. It is an authentic cookbook because it tells you how to prepare every kind of meat, fish, vegetable, fruit, and more.  It provides all kinds of measurement equivalencies, and gives tips for storing and freezing every kind of food imaginable.  More than once I purchased some exotic looking vegetable at the grocery store or farmer's market and knew I'd be able to find out a whole variety of ways to cook it -- and even identify it if I didn't quite know what it was.  (Okay, sure, there is the internet.  But I love my cooking bible!)

My parents gave each of their children one of these cookbooks in 1979. Here is the inscription:

I didn't just add this to my library.  I have used it to the point several pages are spattered and stained; I have recipes collected from friends and relatives stuffed into the front cover as well as stuck in various places in the book.  When I see this book at one of my sibling's houses, I am always amazed how pretty and clean their cookbook is.  Guess it sat in the library as suggested.  Mine is a workhorse!  Chicken Marengo, Hungarian Goulash, Swiss Steak -- all those good comfort foods represented and more.  Every kind of pie and cookie and punch recipe.  How to cook up that perfect Thanksgiving turkey (okay, I admit -- that job usually falls to my husband or brother-in-law -- but I could do it if I wanted!!!)

Anyway, you get the idea.  

Now on to my favorite cooking implements.

For my 23rd birthday, my family pitched in and bought me this electric wok.  I was really into Chinese food and collected a ton of recipe books and found many favorites over the year.  These books taught me a lot about how to cut and cook food in different ways, and I loved blending the flavors and the ease of use.  Somewhere along the way my Chinese cookbooks have gone missing, so now I mostly use my wok for stir-fry.

This is by far my favorite way to cook. I have a wok that can sit on the stove, but it isn't as sturdy, nor is it as easy to use.  I love that I can control the temperature exactly on this thing, and that it is coated with Teflon, making it easy to clean.  I pray this wok never goes belly-up, because they no longer seem to make them. I have searched, but no longer can find electric woks anywhere.  I am glad this one was made in the 1970's when they were still making things to last.  If it were made even 20 years ago, I'm sure it would have been toast by now.

Here is a picture of the pork stir-fry I made for our Sunday dinner.

And finally, for Christmas 1984, my sister gave me a Crock-Pot (slow cooker).  It has been our Christmas Eve companion ever since. See, she gave me the gift on the 23rd of December that year, and I immediately planned a meal -- Boeuf Bourguignonne -- for Christmas Eve dinner. Ever since then, this Crock-Pot version of Beef Burgundy has been a standard.  I make it every Christmas Eve morning (sometime the day changes, depending on what is happening with the holidays that year), and it cooks all day.  Easy and delicious.  I use it throughout the year as well -- just made Beef Stroganoff last week when a recipe popped up on Facebook. I know slow cookers will continue to be popular, and I'll always be able to get a new one.

Consider this an entry under "C" for my Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life Collection.  For an explanation on exactly what that is, see my post Reflections on Kindness

My Music: Memorable Firsts

It's the fall of 1973.  I come home from a date with my boyfriend, Jeff.  No one else in the house is awake.  I turn on the television in the family room to catch the end of the weekly late night music programs that were popular at the time.  Before a commercial break, the blurb on the screen said, "Coming Up Next: Billy Joel."

I had never heard of him.  No one had.

The show resumed and it wasn't long before I was totally pulled in by this performer -- long curly hair, wearing a suit, pounding on the piano, singing with gusto, blowing the harmonica.  I cannot say that I really followed the story of "Piano Man" -- what I recall the most is how this man performed. 

I remember asking around the next day to see if any of my friends had seen the show. After all, I had sat up alone and had no other witnesses.  No one else had seen it, and it would be several weeks before I'd hear "Piano Man" on the radio.  Of course, the rest of the story we know.

***
It's near the end of my freshman year in high school.  My theology teacher, Sr. Renee, had allowed us to study music lyrics throughout the year as part of our religious studies.  So it wasn't unusual when she told us about a new song by Simon and Garfunkel that she claimed to be one of the most beautiful songs she'd ever heard.

A couple of nights later, I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom, doing homework or writing letters -- something -- and listening to the radio.  The disc jockey introduced a new song by Simon and Garfunkel, and my ears perked up.  I turned up the radio and listened to "Bridge Over Troubled Water"  for the first time, recognizing immediately that my teacher had not steered me wrong.  The masterpiece written by Paul Simon (who I contend is our best American songwriter of all time) built slowly, with lyrics tensing the opposition of rough times, darkness, and pain with friendship, comfort, and shining dreams.  By the time Art was singing, "Sail on silver girl..." I was in tears.  I honestly don't remember ever being moved to tears the very first time I heard a song -- but I did that spring evening in 1970.

Here's that version with lyrics if you want a reminder.

***
In high school, I used the radio to wake me up.  I had it timed so that I could hear two or three songs before commercials came on, reminding me it was time to get out of bed. At the end of my sophomore year -- May 1971 -- I distinctly remember the morning I heard these words coming through the radio as I awoke:

My father sits at night with no lights on
His cigarette glows in the dark.
The living room is still;
I walk by, no remark.
I tiptoe past the master bedroom where
My mother reads her magazines.
I hear her call sweet dreams,
But I forgot how to dream.

But you say it's time we moved in together
And raised a family of our own, you and me -
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be:
You want to marry me, we'll marry.

The voice was clear as a bell, and like none I had ever heard before. The music and atmosphere of the song was haunting. But what really caught my attention were the lyrics.  This was the time of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and other male-oriented music.  Since when did anyone sing about reluctance to getting married?  Or the truth of some marriages?

My friends from college they're all married now;
They have their houses and their lawns.
They have their silent noons,
Tearful nights, angry dawns.
Their children hate them for the things they're not;
They hate themselves for what they are-
And yet they drink, they laugh,
Close the wound, hide the scar.
But you say it's time we moved in together
And raised a family of our own, you and me -
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be:
You want to marry me, we'll marry.

I was stunned into silence.  I was drinking it in.  Yes, it was the time of the Women's Movement, but that rarely made it to radio airplay. That was something for the magazines and womens' television shows.  How did it make its way onto a major Cleveland radio station?

You say we can keep our love alive
Babe - all I know is what I see -
The couples cling and claw
And drown in love's debris.
You say we'll soar like two birds through the clouds,
But soon you'll cage me on your shelf -
I'll never learn to be just me first
By myself.

Well O.K., it's time we moved in together
And raised a family of our own, you and me -
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be,
You want to marry me, we'll marry,
We'll marry.

I was still of the mindset that marriage and children were the be-all and end-all.  I had no other aspirations.  This singer -- who did they say it was? Carly Simon? -- challenged my thinking in that early morning, and for many other mornings to come.  Carole King would do the same with her Tapestry album, and later Joni Mitchell would become my guru.  Perhaps these songs are dated now -- I don't know.  What I do know is that there was a moment in time that Carly Simon cast a net to young women and pulled them in to thinking about their lives in a different way -- perhaps more than Gloria Steinem or the others were able to do.  We were young -- we had dreams -- but Carly (who always wrote for adults) was challenging us to see the realities and make informed decisions.  Can't say it always worked in my case, but I will say this -- it wasn't as if I wasn't warned.

The Day I Fell in Love with Poetry

I showed this video, Why we read and write poetry, to my students as an Invitation to Write. They weren't exactly inspired, but I was.

I was in second grade -- Sister Flaviana's class.  At the time I was still a lover of school, and I particularly liked my second grade teacher.  This was St. Mark's school in Cleveland, Ohio, where everyone walked to school and went home for lunch.

It was a rainy day and I had come back early from lunch.  Guess I just couldn't wait to get back to the classroom.  My teacher told me to sit quietly and read. The book: A.A. Milne's The World of Christopher Robin.

I had never seen anything like this collection. It was POETRY.  I had picked it up because I had another Milne book that contained stories of Pooh and his friends.  I loved Piglet and Eeyore and wanted more. This was quite different.

 I remember puzzling my way through the various poems, many that had references to things like "sixpence" and "market square" and other English-y terms for which I had no background knowledge.  Then I began to read:

If I had a ship,
I'd sail my ship,
I'd sail my ship
Through Eastern seas;
Down to a beach where the slow waves thunder --
The green curls over and the white falls under --
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the sun-bright sand.
Then I'd leave my ship and I'd land,
And climb the steep white sand,
And climb to the trees,
The six dark trees,
The coco-nut trees on the cliff's green crown --
Hands and knees
To the coco-nut trees,
Face to the cliff as the stones patter down,
Up, up up, staggering, stumbling,
Round the corner where the rock is crumbling,
Round this shoulder,
Over this boulder,
Up to the top where the six trees stand...

This was something I KNEW.  Climbing cliffs, making friends with trees, floating toy boats (sailing my ship) in the Rocky River, the sounds of the Lake Erie waves and "sun-bright sand" on our trips to Cedar Point.  Being in nature was second nature to me, and the best times of my young life had been outdoors.

The rain continued to pour. The classroom was quiet, even as other students returned, soaking wet from walking back to school in the rain. Then I read the final lines, the ones that nailed poetry to my heart forever. It is about being on top of the world. Being the ONLY ONE. As a girl in a house with four boys, the final line was made just for me, because in my experience life was never about just me. So what Milne wrote was radical and revolutionary to my 7-year-old mind.  Since then, I've come to realize all poetry that moves us has that gift.

And there would I rest, and lie,
My chin in my hands, and gaze
At the dazzle of sand below,
And the green waves curling slow,
And the grey-blue distant haze
Where the sea goes up to the sky...

And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at the sea:
"There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me."

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Lakes Park -- Photo Poem

I went to Lakes Park this morning, camera in hand, to create a photo poem.  What follows is that poem, based on (and sometimes borrowed from) "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens. Enjoy.

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT LAKES PARK 

 I.

Atop a small tree,

the blackbird surveyed

the scene.

II.

I was of three minds,

like a flower

with a bee and a spider.

 III.

The blackbird trotted along,

wondering why the picnic was over.

IV.

A palm and a strangler fig

are one.

A palm and a fig and the earth

are one.

V.

I do not know which I prefer,

the beauty of shadows,

the intensity of silhouettes,

the blackbird cawing,

or just after.

 VI.

Tall grasses framed the

Great Blue Heron.

The eye of the bird

crossed, to and fro,

searching for breakfast,

an undisputed cause.

 VII.

Oh Englishman of Liverpool,

why do you sing of the blackbird?

Have you not witnessed the

statuesque Great White Egret,

a goddess of the grassy shore?

 

VIII.

I know red trees

in autumn.

And I know, too,

of impermanence,

the fleeting nature of life.

The dragonfly is involved

in all I know.

IX.

When the berries ripen

it marks the time

of harvest and feasting.

X.

At the sight of the boardwalk,

I am invited to journey forth

Even the sky beckons,

opening up to the adventure.

 XI.

She said purple

was a sacred color.

Angels rejoice when

we notice its gift,

and acknowledge it

with grace and blessings.

 XII.

The fountains are dancing.

The birds are gliding.

XIII.

It was sunny all morning.

Pinecones falling.

It's another hot summer day.

The blackbird

in the pine limbs.

Fusion Revolution--Appreciation

Today I have just been noodling around, thinking about what I want to write, jotting down ideas, and then poking around YouTube.  It is when I came upon this video that my appreciation for the current fusion revolution took over my mind and spirit, and I knew I had to blog it and share my perspective.

Elvis Costello + Mumford & Sons sing "Ghost of Tom Joad"

We see it in art, in music, in food. It is seemingly everywhere -- standing on the shoulders of those who came before, we are introduced continually to new designs, new fusions, new innovations.  Adding a little of this and a little of that.  Making it beautiful.  Making it work.  Integration.  Inspiration.  Intertwined.

Woodie Guthrie

What I love about the video above is that it inter-engages (my own word) so many things.  We have Elvis Costello -- one of the innovators of New Wave in the 1970's.  (I'll admit -- back then, I wasn't a fan. Now?  Love it!)  Mumford and Sons -- sending forth roots music with their own unique style.  Together they sing a Bruce Springsteen song, directly pulled from literature (Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath), and standing itself on the shoulders of Woodie Guthrie.  And, of course, the Woodie Guthrie song thrown in the middle -- "Do Re Mi" -- which according to American Songwriter website is "a sardonic anthem warning to those weary travelers who expect the good life to be waiting for them in California to think again."  I only know this song from a Nanci Griffith album and frankly, had never realized what exactly it was about. Social conscious.  History.  Real people. Real lives. All with the backdrop of some prodigious scenery. 

The bottom line for me is that I get inspired and motivated when I see how interconnected everything is.  In a way it goes back to my last blog post, where I talked about how everything we have depends on the kindness of others.  All art, music, every creation we have as humans builds on what came before.  We never stand alone.  We are not exceptional -- we are interdependent.  I think these concepts have been spoken of quite a bit lately, and I'm glad we have the conversation.  Meanwhile, we also have an awesome video to enjoy.  I appreciate the kindness of everyone everywhere, over time and space, that made this happen.  This is six minutes of joy for me -- and that is no small thing.  And somehow, the whole thing just makes me feel smarter and more alive.  Maybe that's just the English Major in me talking!

Thank you Elvis.  Thank you Marcus and the boys. Thank you Bruce.  Thank you Woodie.  Thank you John. Thank you all.

(Full disclosure -- this video was made by the One organization, which takes a hard line against extreme poverty and preventable diseases -- noble causes for sure -- and urges us to do something about it.  I share this video today for all the reasons listed above. However, if you are so moved,  check out their website.   It features stories of real people and real lives worldwide and they are focused on getting it right!)

Reflections on Kindness

A writer named Amy Krouse Rosenthal has come into my sphere of influence through Kelly Gallagher's book Write Like This.  In it, he shares AKR's memoir The Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life as a way to get students writing about themselves by addressing that which is ordinary. The examples he gives in the book range from feelings about vending machines to finding a place to park.

I took this idea and ran with it.  My students are creating their own collection of writings based on this idea. They are writing about food they love, brothers and sisters, games, cars, and why teachers say things like "No Excuses."  I'm only requiring one a week, and the results are not very impressive yet. But I have hope.  We will enter a revision phase at some point, and then they will collect everything together for our school's big Portfolio Night in March.

 I shared this video below with my students as an Invitation to Write.  It is AKR's take on how we can leave a legacy of kindness -- how it is basically built right into our DNA -- and how to get there.  It reminds me of the Buddhist teaching on kindness -- how everything we have in life that has been created by humans was actually done out of kindness. We have roads, books, food, medicine, and everything else because of the kindness of others.  A cynic may say that, well, the person was getting paid to go to work to package the food or build the roads. Yes, that is true.  However, they were kind enough to get up each day and do it.  That's good enough.

If you are interested in AKR's book, here here is the link..  Meanwhile, I will be sharing my own entries for the Encyclopedia of MY Ordinary Life here in this blog.  I am committed to doing the same writing as my students, although I have to admit it has been slow going to date. I have plenty of ideas, though.  Be watching!

Forgot My Phone

I read about this video in The New York Times last week, and decided I needed to show it to my students during our Invitation to write.  Most of them got the point of the video, and wrote about how we give our lives away to technology.  One girl sadly stated: "This was very familiar, as my mother is usually looking at her iPhone or iPad."  Another quoted Einstein: I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots. 

 I did have one hold out, though, who thought the girl was "stupid" for not getting a cell phone because, after all, "it's 2013 and everyone and their dog has a phone."

Yeah.

A little irony.  The day that I was showing this video, I actually HAD forgotten my cell phone!

If you haven't seen this video, check it out.

Making the Right Moves

Today I take a step forward to begin incorporating writing back into my life.  I had a blast this summer getting into the writing life, and this blog is a big part of that.  I knew that with school starting it would be tough, so I gave myself a bit of a break.  I managed a couple of posts, but in general I was overwhelmed with getting to know new students, new curriculum, new computer programs, and a new schedule.

I am finding the most important aspects of life are rising up, and that is the best I could have imagined when I made the decision to change my life by returning to middle school teaching.  I have started a daily meditation practice -- on the cushion, just 10 minutes in the morning for now.  This clears my head and calms me before the craziness begins.  Today I started walking again for exercise, and keeping a food diary to help myself eliminate some extra pounds that creeped in over the summer.

I am also cooking again. That wasn't even an aim -- I just started planning and putting together meals again. Cooking used to be a favorite activity of mine, but it had fallen out of favor with me the last couple of years.  To see it making its way back without effort on my part is interesting to me!  I'm reading books of my choosing (just finished Brewster by Mark Slouka -- fantastic), and I even got to see two new movies released this month:  Jobs and Les Daniels' The Butler.  Enjoyed them both.

The last couple of years had produced a burn-out in me that was so gradual, it was nearly undetectable.  I just kept having a "knowing" that something big was missing in my life.  Slowly, step-by-step, I am finding what has been missing.  A good GOOD feeling!

In general, I am loving my new school, my new students, my new colleagues.  The pace of middle-school has a hectic quality, but certainly not the intensity I've been used to at the high school level.  I feel an incredible amount of support from my wonderful department chair -- Heather Millican -- and my administrative team, as well as our tech support person.  There is always someone available to answer a question.  I love that.

Cypress Lake Middle School is a special place.  My life is more relaxed, and I feel more in-tune with myself and my teaching.   It is clear to me that I have made the right move.