"Mindwalk", if I may!

Mindwalk was a beautiful movie with Liv Ullman and 2 American actors, whose name of course I don't remember! They are are from my life now! and as all Alzheimer patients, I remember things from my past better than from present! A little side story about parents and administration in America. At Open House once in telling the parents that I tell the kids if they need me to review an assignment for them or communicate anything to me it is best if they write it down on paper or email. To make a joke, I thought, I said, "My memory is really bad, I think actually I was born with Alzheimer!" I think they laughed, but a couple of days later the principal called me to tell me that a parent had complained about my statement!! They did not think it was funny!! And I keep on making it!!! I don't learn good, he?!!
So back to my movie! The whole movie was filmed in the Mont St Michel, in Normandie, France. A long conversation between a physicist, Liv Ullman, an American presidential candidate who just lost the election (the lawyer in one of those law shows, L.A. Law, I think?! very good) and an American poet, friend of the American politicien. Their conversation was about the position of humankind in the universe, sort of. Well my walk this morning took me to my position in this world, in this place right now. How am I going to be affected by this experience? What is going to be my biggest lesson? Does a big lesson have to be learned?
Things that I know:

• I will be more appreciative of our students back home, realizing that they are just like every body else. They learn, they are lazy, they joke, they question, they are rude, they are polite, some show they care, some don't, they like shopping, they like going to the movies, they think "Twilight" was the best book ever written... JUST LIKE THE STUDENTS HERE!! I love teaching because I love the interaction with the kids. I think I had lost that perspective a bit. Some of you know this story, but let me say it for those who don't. We had just finished the unit on Reproduction, and as usual I end with the National Geographic film "The Human Body" (Carole, Joanne, was that the name?! ...told you my problem, right?!) The film follows the birth of a baby from conception to actual birth. Magnificent! At the end of the movie, they show the labor pains of the woman and the actual coming out of the baby. Well, a young man, with all the stereotypical characteristics of a "hoodlum" very quietly says to himself: "I am going to give my mom a hug when I get home"! And he actually thanked me for showing them this movie. One of those moments are worth a 1000 pats on the back!


• What can I bring the students here? An outside perspective. In studying electroplating last week with the 8th graders, last week, I told them about the American penny that used to be made of 100% copper but since 1982, we went into the war issues, copper becoming more precious now it is made of zinc inside and a thin layer of copper electroplated on the outside. Today I had to substitute for a bio teacher. The class was wild in the beginning. Double whammy for them, a substitute AND the foreign teacher! When finally I could get a word in, upon learning that they were studying migration, I told them about the turtles that lay their eggs in Key Biscayne and go off to West coast of Africa and come back to assist their baby hatching. There was suddenly silence in the room. You mean they cross the ocean? We talked about "Flying Home" and the ultralights. That was it, I had them! I worry about their sacrosanct exams! Not with the substitution class, but with my regular class. They have a very prescribed curriculum which must be known and regurgitated as is! So will it matter that they know about our copper penny? The way I see it, it's a "stretching exercise" for the mind, applying something they know to a new model. It is good practice for learning, no?!

In conclusion, I miss home, I miss coffee in the morning with Pantal, I miss hopping in my car for an errand, I miss Sunday soup at Elsie, then "les Danie's" visit. I miss fights with Sole, and then long talks :-) Friday movie nights with Boris and Danielle (see, they don't have a TV at their house!) or by myself. I miss relaxing moments with my colleagues in the hallway between classes at CRHS. Long phone conversations with Pascale. Being able to call on Nael for anything I need! Antoine's cameo visits, once in a blue moon. My iPhone! Bike riding to school. OK, let me stop before I need another Pizza Hut dinner!

The list might seem long, but I have to admit, I am committed to my time here. I love being here, I love teaching, I appreciate my colleagues here, I am baffled by India, I want to absorb it all. I want to understand, if only slightly! I am learning. I am happy. :-)