seasonally adjusted momentary fragments

December snow....siatica issues and constant meanderings of my inner workings...

Sister DJ's Radio Band at the Farmers Market, Wise Hall, it was cccccccold!

linking

I am working on a few ideas in order to fit my reality (my work at present) with that of TLITE and all its inner workings.

1. collaborate (with another teacher-attempt #2) Possibly English-or playwriting (grade 12)

2. observe (not unlike the lone ethnographer of the past but without that smug notion of 'objectivity')

3. online learning (homelearning vs. attending school)

4. finalize into a term video to share

The TheatreLink idea is fabulous but I would need to have a school support the program as it is intensive and would require a whole semester to complete. It would work well in a grade 12 Playwriting/Directing class. Now to have that class!

memory

...its so surreal to drive with no wiper in the rain....

On the way to the summer institute for TLITE, my wiper on the driver side, just stopped moving, crashing into the passenger side one...while I was on hwy #1 going east in a torrential downpour! I believe this was a sign of some sort...(like how come the driver's side one?) i waited at the side of the hwy...pondering what to do....go home? wait? keep on going? I was not even in Burnaby yet! I saw that the sky looked clearer in the east so I went for it! To my surprise, the further I went east, the less it rained and the less I had to squiggy my windscreen...It was sunny all day.

nov/dec

so here it is...I am classless....invisible but not a 'visible' minority.... trying to allow my journey to unfold-keep on task and try to come up with ways to work with what I've got...for the moment-which could change at any given moment.."always an adventure" (teacher on-call slogan) However, the perks are the freedom I have: no prepping, no marking, no report cards....but on the other hand: no security, no regular paycheque, no longer term connections with the students except those who I have connected with already.

But, I do like the fact that I can share my knowledge in my TOC-ing. I go to schools and share my stories, my real-life dramas (-the play that I currently am working on, YouTube videos I've come across through others in the program and on my own, ProD workshops which I have integrated into my teaching, especially Drama, English,Art and Technology classes.)

So the reality of my current situation, of being 'on-call', has validity, even though at times I have felt unappreciated and expendible.

I bring with me my life experiences combined with my empathy and respect and merely expect to be treated the same way in return. I get so much pleasure from just chatting to students, asking them about what music they like, movies they've seen recently, what sports they play and school subjects they like or don't. I also sometimes ask them why-why some classes are more fun or interesting than others? Most tell me that its the classes where they have freedom and independence and opportunities to show what they know...These classes always seem to look like this: students in groups, collaborating, brainstorming, sharing, organizing, laughing, arguing, debating, creating, moving, thinking.....I live to travel extensively here.


So this is where I'm at for now.... meanderings mixed in with the wobbling and occasional angst..I embrace the unknown and go with it!