homework

homework serves a variety of purposes: foremost, it's a responsibility piece.* hopefully, it serves as extra practice on what our students learned in class that day while giving parents a window to view that learning.** it can also be used as data to drive instruction, provided the students do the work themselves and don't copy.***



*shoot, even grad. students have to be responsible and do some work at home...


**best-case scenario.


***obviously, best-case scenario.

notes on drumming, music, and life

i love miles davis. and writing. here's a piece i wrote after watching a miles davis DVD followed by a peter eskine video on drumming . i especially like miles' advice on performing (see quote):

always relaxed, shoulders back, arms at my side,
ride steady quarter note
simple and solid, straight 4/4--the skeleton of western music
everything is timekeeping--here's my signature:
comfortable, confident, competent disciple of expression and natural freedom
feeling the vibe from the floor to the ceiling
keeping it open to creativity--try to make music feel as good as it can be
now breathe--go with the flow--trust in yourself, subconscious tempo
sing some slow, some fast, and in the middle
motion and movement, subdivision, space...
not a trace of doubt from the starting count
what you put in you get out!
downbeat: clean -- groove: smooth
fast track heel up attack approve
make them move--that's your m.o.
heads bobbin', hips shakin', tappin' their toes in time
to the primary pulse, persistent, persuasive pattern
cymbals ring like saturn, bright like the moon
send sonic signals throughout the room
critics may boo--"play through it--there's only two vibes:"
onstage and in the crowd--radiate heat all around
symbiotic sound--the give and the take--can't fake when an audience reciprocates
reverberate, resonate rhythm, learn how to listen, perfect your precision
maintenance--the daily routine--relationships also need proper hygiene
for good health, longevity: don't take life too seriously!
we're all here for a good time, not a long time
improvise--instant composition of
brain, of heart, of your imagination
elasticity--interplay
always compose when you play.

op. ed #3 "chalk and awe"

with the recent school shootings, i think educators should all rally around state representative frank lasee's (r-wisconsin) idea "to allow school personnel to carry weapons."

as stephen colbert so eloquently and persuasively argued on his oct. 9 colbert report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcVmmbmPfgA

"ARM THE TEACHERS. the only way to keep guns out of our classrooms is to put guns in our classrooms. guns will be a deterrent... to keep our kids safe, we must first take the safety off."

"reloading is fundamental...plus, 9mm teaches the metric system!"

a happy day

i wrote this after a(n?) horrific day i had teaching...

a happy day awakes to the alarm clock plugged in.
a happy day receives no ticket for running a stop sign...on a bike.
a happy day sticks to the schedule.
a happy day completes each task.
a happy day lifts our burdens.
a happy day greets us as friends.

free to be ignorant

another favorite jefferson quote:

if a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.

thankfully, this doesn't describe anyone i know...

tyranny

i have the pleasure of teaching "a new nation" in our "reading first/no child left behind"-sanctioned open court reading series. one of the reasons i enjoy this unit so much is because i teach about thomas jefferson, a personal hero of mine. this is my favorite jefferson quote (inscribed around the perimeter of the jefferson memorial in washington, DC and featured in the tim robbins movie, bob roberts):

" i have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of men."

hmm, i wonder if jefferson had state-mandated reading programs in mind...

1873

i love new bohemians. and edie brickell. i teach one of her songs, 1873 (buffalo diary) for the "going west" unit. check out the lyrics:

1873 was a very bad year for me
when our life here just disappeared so suddenly.
they got their tickets for the train,
raised their weapons and took aim.
laughing from the railroad tracks
they shot my brothers in the back
in 1873.
no more thunder on the ground.
birds were flying round and round.
though the dust we once kicked up no longer could be seen.
and 1873 was a very bad year for me.
we cradled their babies,
made up their houses,
covered their feet.
they took what they needed,
never took us for granted,
but they were defeated when people shot at me
in 1873.
laid out in the broken sun,
rain beat on us like a drum.
the rhythm of that emptiness which shot my spirit free
in 1873.
1873 was a very bad year for me.


it's like she's singing the selection, buffalo hunt.

i'm so excited--edie brickell and new bohemians are going to perform on the tonight show with jay leno in 15 minutes--i haven't seen them perform together live in over 15 years!!!

update: they served it. they performed "no dinero," and edie even did a birthday shout-out to "dear pablo." ahh, ain't married life sweet... 12:45a.m.

it's only a ride pt. II

unbeatable.
here's my sequel
for all the people who did not heed
my last will and testament (gotta rest a minute)
before i proceed...

undeniable.
reliable, without rival
in word and indeed.
incomparable, incontrovertible,
convertible, given the need...

freed from familiarity through artistry and sincerity.

unbreakable.
unmistakable.
unshakeable, like a redwood tree.
unforgettable--it's essential,
and so simple: we're born to be free...


the poetic pugilism of DiDacTicNaTioN.

it's only a ride

i love notebooking. and bill hicks. i had the good fortune to see him perform at UCI in 1992. here's a piece that i crafted in my notebook that was inspired by his words:

tremendous apprentice, fantastic fanatic,
superior interior, mind automatic
transmission transcending mere auditory waves,
hit ya in the third eye, sending suckers to their graves.

the moral: we're mortal, but ideas live forever--
through time, through space, and beyond, if they're clever.
you never really know, but we'll always keep searching,
through questions and inquiry, one thing's for certain:
it's only a ride, and you choose love or fear, but
if you ask me, the choice is quite clear.
options seem infinite or freewill's just a farce--
we're all lying in the gutter; some are lookin' to the stars...

to the brightest and the best it's a quest everyday
just to keep our heads up and bowed low when we pray.
humility and grace have a place in our lives--
i just hope that my words can help you recognize--
it's imperative to care to give your time to the art
of matters of the mind, soul, body, and heart.

op. ed. #2

merit pay is a superb idea. what better way to nurture a healthy community of scholarship than appealing to our sense of greed? after all, greed and competition tend to bring out the best in us humans. (seriously, i almost ran over one of my colleagues to get the last parking space--cooperation and collaboration are for losers.)

now it can be told!

the name of this blog borrows the title of the second (and arguably best) devo record, duty now for the future. given my profession, the addition of the word "yard, " was inevitable.


for those who already know, forgive me for fulfilling my genetic imperative--i must repeat.

for those who don't, this is for you: we're all devo. you. me. them. this blog. especially this post.

class

believe it or not, i've got class.
mondays and wednesdays, afterschool.
any other day, and i ain't got class.
now the scholar, now the fool
thus they appear on earth:
the free men


my application of a hindu verse

op. ed.

schools should be run like businesses. everyone recognizes the superior efficacy of private corporations when compared with bloated, bureaucratic governmental institutions! the examples are legion--halliburton immediately springs to mind or worldcom, maybe even global crossing--and i still think the business savvy of enron is the paradigm our schools should strive to attain. (seriously, ken lay would've made an AWESOME administrator, but i digress...) just think how successful our schools would be if they were more like wal-mart or starbucks--why there'd be one on every corner! better yet, our schools' marquees could read "SONY elementary...56 billion students served," just like mcd's... and their uniforms could be stitched with corporate sponsors' names like NASCAR drivers. our curriculum would promote students being good consumers over being good citizens. this is the best way to prepare our students for their glorious futures as serfs in our corporate feudal state...

I QUIT!

i walk into the principal's office and quit.
i'm so stressed out, my teeth got zits.
my car has a flat.
i get to classes late.
teaching and learning
giving me a headache....


luckily i vent in verse.