November 5, 2006

• Topic: Let’s do this

  Patience, patience, sweating, and patience.  Still, be patient.  I don’t expect anything anymore, not from myself, not from this world, but, from patience and sweat comes the occassional swell of energy that there is something more in the world, and something more in myself.

  I attribute today’s swell of energy to three events.  The first is a phone conversation with a close friend of mine who is purusing his MBA right now.  This person is driven to do good like no other person I know, dedicated to learning and doing as much as possible, so that he can improve the world in some way.  I’ve come to realize that these people don’t come around very often, I know good people, and smart people, but it’s a great feeling to come into contact with this type of person’s contagious energy.  A reminder that I need to proactively surround myself with the types of people who can bring out that side in me that wants to do, and wants to do good.

  The second event was watching part of the New York City marathon, as it passed by Park Slope, Brooklyn, along 4th ave.  I had the opportunity to see the front group, the “elite” runners, as well as Lance Armstrong (although I didn’t realize it was Lance until he had passed by).  Thousands of ordinary people accomplishing an extraordinary feet, 26.2 miles around NYC.  I looked at these people and said to myself, “This is something I can do, this is something I’d like to do.”  Watching from the sidewalk, the only difference between myself and many of these runners was their decision to make the decision to train for and run this race.

  The third event took place last night.  I went with my two sisters to see a play, “No Child,” at a theater on Barrow St. in the West Villiage.  It was a one-woman show about a theater teacher who tries to prepare a group of students at Malcolm X. High School in the Bronx to perform a play.  The actress played an incredible range of characters, including the theater teacher, the students regular and skittish first year teacher, the janitor, and a number of students.  I thouroughly enjoyed the play, laughing frequently at her portrayal of students, and paused often when issues surrounding teaching came to light…the student whose brother dies in a gang, the teacher who sees her idealism tarnished, the janitor who has seen it all before.

  Highlighting this play, was an event that took place after.  As my sister and I were leaving the theater, a man asked us if we were teachers.  My oldest sister and I said we were, and the man introduced himself as Samuel Freedman, an education reporter for the New York Times!  He asked us a few questions about the show and how we may have related to it, as well as questions about our family.  I only occassionally have thought about the fact that there’s so many educators in my family, from my grandmother who passed away last year, to my mom a retired math teacher, my aunt who teachers art, my cousin who teachers art, my sister who teaches home and careers, and two speech pathologists in the mix.  Mr. Freedman called us tonight to continue the interview, and informed us we’d be included in his article this Wed., Nov. 8th! 

  I’m a bit excited by this, although the cynic in me is expecting to see one line in a long article mentioning our names.  But still, it is quite exciting to have met this journalist, to have been interviewed, and to think more deeply myself about my thoughts on being a teacher.  I have begun to read much more since teaching has begun, and I have seen the connection between my teaching and my own learning.  In that spirit, I believe it’s important for me to begin writing more frequently, and to think more about my writing process, as I am teaching this to my students. 

  On that note, I’d like to write a brief summation and reflection of the book I am currently reading, “My Life” by Golda Meir.  The book is an autobiography of the first Prime Minister of Israel, Golda Meir.  The story begins with her life in Russia at the turn of the 20th century.  Faced with poverty and pograms, or attacks on Jews, her father and eventually the whole family emigrated to Milwaukee, USA.  Golda’s sister, Sheyna, was a very political girl and frequently had people over discussing socialism, Zionism, and how to address the social and economic injustices of the world.  This exposure greatly influenced Golda, who spent her days in the USA becoming more educated and more fervent in her views that a Jewish state of Israel was the only solution to the anti-Semitism Jews faced throughout Europe. 

  Many parts of Golda’s story I have been able to connect with.  First, she discusses how she often could not understand the conversations that her sister and company would be having, but knew there was something interesting to them.  That rings true for my own experience, often feelling disconnected from abstratct writing and obscure sounding writers, who are slowly becoming of interest to me.  Second, is her independence and focus towards her values.  She often goes against her parents wishes, speaking in public about politics and eventually leaving the US to help develop a Jewish state in Israel.  The third connection I have made is how normal a person Golda Meir is comes off as.  Her fame and achievements, like that of many of today’s marathon runners, are the result of both personal ambition, and chance.  It is inspiring to see how she develops in this way.

  I need to return now to planning for my students.  Our students have been asked to pick a topic that they will research and write an essay on this month, and I have noticed how like reading, when it comes to writing, many students need a great deal of support and encouragement to find something they can really sink their teeth into.  In some ways, I feel like the king lion, going out hunting for something to bring back to my students to eat for their own development, until the time comes where they know how to hunt for themselves.

  • 8:40 pm
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