Saw this on BoingBoing recently--Philip Zimbardo on 'The Powers of Time". It's an animated video in which Zimbardo (Professor Emeritus at Stanford University) discusses how our perspective on time affects how we see the world. Entertaining and educational!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg
Also, while I'm at it, have you read Mark Frauenfelder's "Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World" yet? You probably already know this, but he's the founder of boingboing.net, editor-in-chief of "Make" magazine, and a lively, funny writer. This book chronicles his start as a DIY, and in the process takes a look at the entire DIY trend in the U.S. today. Great summer read!
Got any good books to recommend? (I'd love to hear about them in the comments!)
6/9/10
Daily Life, 57
Kindergarten Music, doing a puppet show with teeny animal puppets on a teeny tiny stage:
Jana* Hey, Ms. N, my lion's hungry.
Me Uh oh, better give him some cereal, fast.
Jana* Silly! Lions don't eat cereal, they eat meat.
Tomas* Yeah, they eat, like, other animals and stuff. Like giraffes and that.
At this point, all of the kids who had non-lion puppets scurried their puppets away from the lion one.
Kids' puppets: "Don't eat me, I'm not dinner!" "Get away from me, you meat eater!" "Go eat someone your own size!" "Have some chicken McNuggets instead!"
Jana* (turning to me, her eyes wide) You know, Ms. N, chickens make eggs. You know, like we had for breakfast this morning. Those were little baby chickens, for real!
A chorus of 'eeews' greeted her announcement. She turned to the other children:
Jana* No, I'm not kidding. My Mom told me. Eggs are really the beginnings of baby chickens. That's what you're eating when you eat an egg.
Kids* Dis--gusting! EEEEWWWW....
Me Hmm...I'm not sure the eggs you get in your school breakfast really could turn into baby chicks if you didn't eat them. But let's feed the lion some pizza right now, so he's not quite so hungry, OK?
*Jana is, of course, not this budding vegetarian's real name, nor is Tomas this young puppeteer's real name.
Jana* Hey, Ms. N, my lion's hungry.
Me Uh oh, better give him some cereal, fast.
Jana* Silly! Lions don't eat cereal, they eat meat.
Tomas* Yeah, they eat, like, other animals and stuff. Like giraffes and that.
At this point, all of the kids who had non-lion puppets scurried their puppets away from the lion one.
Kids' puppets: "Don't eat me, I'm not dinner!" "Get away from me, you meat eater!" "Go eat someone your own size!" "Have some chicken McNuggets instead!"
Jana* (turning to me, her eyes wide) You know, Ms. N, chickens make eggs. You know, like we had for breakfast this morning. Those were little baby chickens, for real!
A chorus of 'eeews' greeted her announcement. She turned to the other children:
Jana* No, I'm not kidding. My Mom told me. Eggs are really the beginnings of baby chickens. That's what you're eating when you eat an egg.
Kids* Dis--gusting! EEEEWWWW....
Me Hmm...I'm not sure the eggs you get in your school breakfast really could turn into baby chicks if you didn't eat them. But let's feed the lion some pizza right now, so he's not quite so hungry, OK?
*Jana is, of course, not this budding vegetarian's real name, nor is Tomas this young puppeteer's real name.
6/8/10
Daily Life, 56
I stopped one of the 4th grade teachers in the hallway, to show her some of the kids' work.
Me Hey, Mrs. Grant*, take a look! Here's our graphic novels from Music class. The kids created them and then set them to music.
Mrs. Grant* Wow, those look great. Speech bubbles and everything.
Me Yep. A lot of writing got done for this project.
At this point, one of the boys at the end of the line of kids let out a yelp.
Jent* Whaaaat? Hey! You got us to write!
Me Yeah, I did. What about it? It was part of the project.
Jent* I know! But I hate writing!
Me Well, you did a lot of it today. And artwork, too.
Jent* Art's OK. But I hate writing!
Luckily, he was smiling by the end, although somewhat ruefully.
*Jent is, of course, not this reluctant writer-but happy graphic novelist's real name.
Me Hey, Mrs. Grant*, take a look! Here's our graphic novels from Music class. The kids created them and then set them to music.
Mrs. Grant* Wow, those look great. Speech bubbles and everything.
Me Yep. A lot of writing got done for this project.
At this point, one of the boys at the end of the line of kids let out a yelp.
Jent* Whaaaat? Hey! You got us to write!
Me Yeah, I did. What about it? It was part of the project.
Jent* I know! But I hate writing!
Me Well, you did a lot of it today. And artwork, too.
Jent* Art's OK. But I hate writing!
Luckily, he was smiling by the end, although somewhat ruefully.
*Jent is, of course, not this reluctant writer-but happy graphic novelist's real name.
6/7/10
Daily Life, 55
Second Grade Music, around 1pm this afternoon:
Me Hey, Jonas*, wouldja wait here a minute after class? I want to ask you something. You're not in trouble.
Jonas* OK.
We waited until the class left, then sat on the bench in the hallway. I leaned down, retying my shoelaces (and taking a very long time to do so).
Me So, um, anything going on for you today in Music? Anyone bothering you or anything?
Jonas* Nope.
Me Well, you seemed out of sorts all class. That's not the Jonas I know. The Jonas I know is someone who's usually bouncing around trying to play every drum, and cracking jokes, and having fun.
Jonas* Not today.
Me Hmmm. Today I noticed that you got crabby when I noticed you were fooling around rather than playing the drum. That's not normally your way, either.
Jonas* Mm hmm.
Me Hmmm...what'd you have for breakfast?
Jonas* Nothing.
Me Well, what'd you have for lunch--cookies? candy?
Jonas* No.
Me You sure? Because you seem like you've had a bunch of sweets, and now the grumpies have invaded you.
Jonas* No.
Me Come on, pal, talk to me. I can tell something's not right but I'm not a mind reader. What's going on? If I did something to bug you, please tell me so that I can fix it, OK?
Jonas* I ate lunch. I had a pb and j sandwich and I ate every bit of it.
Me OK.
Jonas* (with a completely frustrated sigh) And I'm still hungry!
Me Did you ask your teacher if she had more snacks, or the lunch ladies if they did?
Jonas* My parents won't let me ask the lunch ladies for food.
Me OK. How about your classroom snacks, the ones you guys have in the morning?
Jonas* I ate that too. I'm still hungry. I didn't get dinner last night either. I'm HUNGRY.
Me Well, that explains a lot. Jeepers, Jonas, I get crabby as all get out when I'm hungry. How about we find you a snack? Look, there's the PreK teacher going by with the PreK snack. Let's see if she has any extra.
(She did. She offered him an orange right there, or to come to the room for an apple from the basket. He chose the apple.)
Me Hey, buddy, remember, when she gives you the apple, what're you gonna say?
Jonas* looked up at me, finally yielding a small smile. "Thank you?"
Me Yep. And if this happens again, let someone know, OK? It's no fun to be hungry.
Jonas* OK.
You know, a year ago, I would've scolded this child for fooling around during class, and sent him off to his room. Makes me grateful for the people in my life from whom I'm learning to be a listener first.
*Jonas, of course, is not this child's real name.
Me Hey, Jonas*, wouldja wait here a minute after class? I want to ask you something. You're not in trouble.
Jonas* OK.
We waited until the class left, then sat on the bench in the hallway. I leaned down, retying my shoelaces (and taking a very long time to do so).
Me So, um, anything going on for you today in Music? Anyone bothering you or anything?
Jonas* Nope.
Me Well, you seemed out of sorts all class. That's not the Jonas I know. The Jonas I know is someone who's usually bouncing around trying to play every drum, and cracking jokes, and having fun.
Jonas* Not today.
Me Hmmm. Today I noticed that you got crabby when I noticed you were fooling around rather than playing the drum. That's not normally your way, either.
Jonas* Mm hmm.
Me Hmmm...what'd you have for breakfast?
Jonas* Nothing.
Me Well, what'd you have for lunch--cookies? candy?
Jonas* No.
Me You sure? Because you seem like you've had a bunch of sweets, and now the grumpies have invaded you.
Jonas* No.
Me Come on, pal, talk to me. I can tell something's not right but I'm not a mind reader. What's going on? If I did something to bug you, please tell me so that I can fix it, OK?
Jonas* I ate lunch. I had a pb and j sandwich and I ate every bit of it.
Me OK.
Jonas* (with a completely frustrated sigh) And I'm still hungry!
Me Did you ask your teacher if she had more snacks, or the lunch ladies if they did?
Jonas* My parents won't let me ask the lunch ladies for food.
Me OK. How about your classroom snacks, the ones you guys have in the morning?
Jonas* I ate that too. I'm still hungry. I didn't get dinner last night either. I'm HUNGRY.
Me Well, that explains a lot. Jeepers, Jonas, I get crabby as all get out when I'm hungry. How about we find you a snack? Look, there's the PreK teacher going by with the PreK snack. Let's see if she has any extra.
(She did. She offered him an orange right there, or to come to the room for an apple from the basket. He chose the apple.)
Me Hey, buddy, remember, when she gives you the apple, what're you gonna say?
Jonas* looked up at me, finally yielding a small smile. "Thank you?"
Me Yep. And if this happens again, let someone know, OK? It's no fun to be hungry.
Jonas* OK.
You know, a year ago, I would've scolded this child for fooling around during class, and sent him off to his room. Makes me grateful for the people in my life from whom I'm learning to be a listener first.
*Jonas, of course, is not this child's real name.
6/3/10
Daily life, 54
So this morning, Deanna* came scurrying off the bus, straight down the hall to me.
Deanna* Ms N, Ms N! Look at my tooth! It's nearly out!
Me Wow, Deanna. There's only a little thread holding that in your mouth. Maybe you better go to the nurse and get a tooth necklace--you don't want to lose that tooth!
Two minutes later:
Deanna* Look, Ms N! My tooth is out! It's in this pretty little carrier!
Me Well, keep it safe all day today, sweetie. You want to be able to leave it for the tooth fairy tonight.
Deanna* Oh, the tooth fairy doesn't come to our house. My Mom is the tooth fairy. She keeps ALL of our teeth. It's pretty disgusting.
Me Oh.
*Deanna is, of course, not this missing-a-front-tooth-Kindergartener's real name.
Deanna* Ms N, Ms N! Look at my tooth! It's nearly out!
Me Wow, Deanna. There's only a little thread holding that in your mouth. Maybe you better go to the nurse and get a tooth necklace--you don't want to lose that tooth!
Two minutes later:
Deanna* Look, Ms N! My tooth is out! It's in this pretty little carrier!
Me Well, keep it safe all day today, sweetie. You want to be able to leave it for the tooth fairy tonight.
Deanna* Oh, the tooth fairy doesn't come to our house. My Mom is the tooth fairy. She keeps ALL of our teeth. It's pretty disgusting.
Me Oh.
*Deanna is, of course, not this missing-a-front-tooth-Kindergartener's real name.
6/2/10
Daily Life, 53
More random comments:
Second Grade, Frankie*: Ms N, my Dad snores so loud I can hear him from my bunk bed!
First Grade, Kate*: Do you know what? My Grandmom calls when she's sad because her husband died. I make her feel better by being sweet.
And in Kindergarten:
Kids were 'drawing the music' while listening to it....I'd said something about everyone having music inside them, and how important it is to listen to that music.
Walking around, looking at the pictures....
Me Wow, Matthew*, that picture rocks! You drew a drum set inside that guy's body!
Matthew* Well, see, the music he hears is really loud. It's in his heart.
Wow.
*Matthew, Kate and Frankie are, of course, real kids---but these aren't their real names.
Second Grade, Frankie*: Ms N, my Dad snores so loud I can hear him from my bunk bed!
First Grade, Kate*: Do you know what? My Grandmom calls when she's sad because her husband died. I make her feel better by being sweet.
And in Kindergarten:
Kids were 'drawing the music' while listening to it....I'd said something about everyone having music inside them, and how important it is to listen to that music.
Walking around, looking at the pictures....
Me Wow, Matthew*, that picture rocks! You drew a drum set inside that guy's body!
Matthew* Well, see, the music he hears is really loud. It's in his heart.
Wow.
*Matthew, Kate and Frankie are, of course, real kids---but these aren't their real names.
6/1/10
Daily life, 51
Random comment as the rest of the kids were getting ukes out and choosing picks:
Grade 3
Marnya* Guess what? I'm not going to Afterschool. I get to spend the rest of the day playing in our yard.
Me Sounds like fun.
Marnya* Well, sort of yes and sort of no.
Me What do you mean?
Marnya* Well, it's not so nice outside right now. The bugs are out and ready to eat some people.
and
Grade 1 As I was lifting down the conga drum from the shelf:
Dirk* Wow, that drum looks heavy.
Me Yep. It is. That's why I'm getting it down for you.
Dirk* How come it's so heavy if it's empty?
*Marnya and Dirk are, of course, not these children's real names.
Grade 3
Marnya* Guess what? I'm not going to Afterschool. I get to spend the rest of the day playing in our yard.
Me Sounds like fun.
Marnya* Well, sort of yes and sort of no.
Me What do you mean?
Marnya* Well, it's not so nice outside right now. The bugs are out and ready to eat some people.
and
Grade 1 As I was lifting down the conga drum from the shelf:
Dirk* Wow, that drum looks heavy.
Me Yep. It is. That's why I'm getting it down for you.
Dirk* How come it's so heavy if it's empty?
*Marnya and Dirk are, of course, not these children's real names.
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