Saturday, November 25, 2006

That's just how we roll around here

Two days after Thanksgiving, and the Christmas season has officially started.

Or it's open season on Christmas. Pick your favorite.

Today I added one more item to the list of Horrifying Evidence that I Am Indeed Becoming Just Like My Mother: I baked Christmas cookies.

I love baking, actually. The only problem with baking is that it produces baked goods. And the problem with baked goods is that if they're around the house, I'll eat them in quantities larger than what is good for me.

But these cookies are not for me -- they are for Other People. Family and friends. Being the kind and considerate person I am, I even baked light cookies.

The cookie tally currently stands at 4 dozen peppermint double-chocolate chews, 4 dozen almond biscotti, 2 dozen ginger shortbread wedges, and 2 dozen plain shortbread wedges. Still coming: 4 dozen mini chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies, and 5 dozen chocolate chip/mini peanut butter cup cookies.

I'll post the highlights of the ALAN conference later...off to roll more cookies!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Reflections on Term 1, 2006

Because, as I've learned in my (few but full) years in the classroom, good teaching comes from reflection.

The only problem is finding the time in which to reflect.

So, in a blast of stream-of-consciousness, Reflections on the Past Twelve Weeks:

1. Never, ever again will I have thirty students in an elective. Especially not when 26 are seniors. And certainly not when 19 of the 26 are young men. Trying to manage that class was absolutely exhausting. Of course, it had its benefits...I gained a newfound level of respect for grade-school teachers!

2. Order the Henry V texts way earlier in the term. The Shakespeare unit snuck up on me this year, and I ended up kind-of sort-of wasting a week waiting for the books to arrive. Shakespeare got short shrift this year, and that's irritating to me, since it's my favorite part of the term.

3. But on the silver-lining side, not having the texts forced some quick revision on my part, and I liked the way things came out -- the performance aspect took precedence over the textual analysis aspect, and I felt that the students' understanding of and ability to dissect the nuances of the play was much improved from years when I tried to do the heavy textual analysis first and performances second. They really got the idea that you don't have to understand every single little word in order to get what's going on and enjoy it.

4. Plus, watching clips of the Branagh Henry V is really fun when the students are calling out to see "their" scenes -- and even more fun when they're righteously indignant that lines are cut out of the film version!

5. Even if they did spend a lot of time saying "There's Christian Bale!" "There's Bilbo!" "There's Gilderoy Lockhart!" instead of paying attention to the words of the play. (Ian Holm plays Fluellen in Henry V and Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings; Kenneth Branagh plays Henry and also Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter. They didn't, however, recognize Emma Thompson, who plays Princess Katherine in HV and Professor Sybil Trelawney in HP. Must have been the lack of glasses and fluffy shawls.)

6. Numbering the in-class writing assignments on the board is a good idea.

7. Encourage the Vocabulary Game more. Keep the daily class participation log handy.

8. Resolution for next term: grade all papers within the week. Procrastination makes it harder to do the longer it's put off.

9. Having three ASO performances in six weeks, plus a dance competition in the middle of it, was way more stressful than I thought it would be.

10. I will start planning next year's fantasy lit elective over Christmas break. Hold me to it.

11. Maybe hiring a cleaning service to come in once a month to do the heavier housework would not be a bad idea, or an advertisement to the world that I am an incompetent housekeeper, or a lazy spoiled person.

Monday, November 13, 2006

November Rain

Or snot, as the case may be...

It's November, it's the week before exams, and like every other pre-exam week on record in practically my entire life, I've got a sinus infection. And unlike the days when I was a student and could stay home with chicken soup and orange juice, I have to be there.

So I'm teaching with a big bottle of water and a big box of Kleenex by my side.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Things that make you go "blech"

It's not a big secret or a big revelation to say that school Masses here are less than beautiful, reverent, worship-filled liturgies. In fact, Mass is probably the thing we do worst here, and yesterday's All Saints' Day Mass was no exception.

Part of the frustration inherent in trying to hold a Mass for a thousand students and two hundred faculty/staff/guests is that the only location that will accomodate the crowd is the large gymnasium, and the youngest half of the student body sits in folding chairs on the floor. Since the altar and lectern are also placed on the floor, it means that the only thing that most of the younger (and most easily distracted) segment of the community can see is the backs of each other's heads. Also, in an attempt to create a more reverent atmosphere, the lights are dimmed. Not the most aesthetically engaging environment for liturgy. Plus, the dim lighting makes it hard for teachers to see what kids in the middle of the crowds are doing (and half the teachers don't sit where they're supposed to sit or even show up to Mass, but that's another whole issue.) At the last school Mass, I collected three textbooks and four notes and pencils before the homily. Don't get me started on the gum-chewing.

Another part of the frustration is the "well, God loves any effort we put forth on His behalf, so anything and everything is perfectly acceptable and laudable" attitude. I will simply say this: if we had the same results and attitude about our academics, athletics, and fine arts that we have about our liturgies, nobody in their right minds would pay five figures to send their children to school here. The readers mumble and fidget, there is a positive herd of EMoHCs (who, in defiance of the removal of the indult, assisted with the purification of the Eucharistic vessels), and the music...well. Let's just say when people ask for a return to Latin in the liturgy, I don't think they're looking for "Gloria! (clap clap) Gloria! (clap clap)". There is a real feeling, too, that anything done in the liturgies is completely above reproach...because it's for God and all. So we applaud everyone under the sun at the end of Mass and "thank" them for "all their hard work" in putting the liturgy together.

I want, sometimes, to stand up and scream, "No! No, I will not thank anyone for his or her hard work or effort! It is a privilege to serve the Body of Christ. Applause for this work should be an embarrassment to those who do it!"

Beyond that, the Mass conflated the celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. The homily was a rubbishy "we're all saints and all the dead are in Heaven with God." Reminded me of The Incredibles: if everyone is special, then nobody is. If everyone is a saint, then what's the point of this feast? Look at us, we're so great and awesome?! And if All Saints honors all the dead, what's the point of All Souls?

Anyone hear an inspiring homily, besides the Pope's?