From the Mirror of my Mind, I See Reflections of You and Me…
Friends, I’ve had a lot of time to sit lately. Instead of eating, my usual favorite sitting activity, I’ve been thinking. Since my ankle is NOT cooperating, and still refuses to allow me to walk sans crutches, I am stuck in places that require thinking on my part.
So I’ve been thinking. (Unusual, isn’t it…)
TK’s things he’s done thought about recently:
School:
It’s the end of the year. I’ve spent a good portion of the last few weeks getting my students ready to leave me and second grade behind. This is going to sound incredibly lame, but it’s my ebjournal, so deal with it. I feel like when the kids leave my room, their time of innocence at school is rapidly coming to an end. Next year, they’re in third grade, and they begin the harsh transition into letter grades, reading to learn (which we’re doing in our class, but ever so gently) instead of learning to read, and standardized testing that gets all teachers more uptight than anyone should be. They get to experience all sorts of fun new learning, and somewhere down the road they will remember all of three things I taught them; the rainforest, the Washington D.C. monuments, and maybe “Don’t panic.” So the end of the year tends to be a little depressing for me. In August, I’ll be psyched for my new group of students, but for now, June is bittersweet.
On Friday, as I was thinking about all of this, I was suprised and delighted to receive a letter from one of my former students. She was in my class last year, but moved in the middle of the year. It was a sort of vindication, that yes, I am making a difference in some students’ lives, even if they don’t realize it at the time. (And really, how could they, with most of the focus of their thinking centered around cooties vaccinations, Ice Age 2, and birthday parties?) Tomorrow night is my first Poetry Night, and we are nowhere near ready, but one parent told me on Friday that the kids are excited, and that her daughter has been practicing her poems at home. I didn’t even tell them to do that! Awesome.
Family:
We’ve been having family issues lately. Not end of the world issues, just things that kick around in my head, and I feel like I need to think about it. However, this is not the forum for it. (Hi, family!) But I’ve been thinking about all of our different families, and how we fit into them.
Television:
There is a lot of good television and movies out there. TLEMK and I are at the point of the year that we get to watch a season of a show, because all the regular shows are done for the summer. For instance, back at my birthday time, Stuck gave me the season of Firefly. After watching Serenity, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. However, I’m miffed because there was only one season of it. HBO finally put Deadwood season two OnDemand, so we caught up on that last weekend in anticipation of season three, which starts June 11th. Though it’s by far the filthiest show I’ve ever watched, it’s one of the most fascinating and well-written shows out there. Finally, we’ve been watching Band of Brothers, the HBO docudrama that was made a few years ago on the first paratroopers of WWII. I read the book about 4 or 5 years ago, and I didn’t remember that much from it. The series has been excellent, and makes me glad I’ve never had to go to war. (See, Zigzags? I can be cultured, too!)
However, all of these had relatively short lives. Firefly has ONE season, because it was on Fox. HBO has already announced that Deadwood is done after season three, because they need the director on Rome. Obviously, Band of Brothers was short (well, actually, about 10 hours for a documentary). The point is, the smart television I like gets cancelled. Thankfully, Veronica Mars will be back next year for a third season, only after serious efforts to keep it on the CW. The CW, you ask? The merged network of UPN, and the WB. The people that are bringing 7th Heaven,(for it’s billionth season!) even though they finished the series on the WB, and instead cancelled Everwood. I fear for the future of television.
Misc.
I’ve been thinking about baseball, grad school, and moving, pretty much in that order. My fantasy team sucks, but I’m holding on to the fact that they might be second half players. Grad school picks up three days a week (5 hours a day, plus commute) starting June 12th. And we’re moving, hopefully in mid-July. TLEMK has started packing, and I feel terrible that I can’t help her. IF I get my boot soon, that should make things get back to the normal balanced team that we are usually. For now, she’s the best for doing all the stuff I can’t.
Coming up this week:
Mon.-Poetry Night
Tues.– Half-day, pack up the classroom, finally get my castboot/camwalker?
Wed.- Last day of school
Thurs.– MRI, Sox game
Fri.– Flecktones!
Sat.– Wedding
Sun.– Old friends?
Mon.– Grad school starts. Yikes.
So that’s the tip of what I’ve been thinking about. Lots of wheels churning. Very irregular and unusual. Kinda scary!
Better go back to eating. 
(Edit: What are YOU thinking about? Check out the new poll!)
RSS Trackback URL 4. June 2006 (08:09)Filed under: General, School Daze, Unfortunately Serious, Random, All about me