Today two of my students were waiting in the auditorium after school, until their parents came to pick them up. We were just chatting, when they began to ask what made me want to be a theatre teacher - because, they said, that each of them had recently been really considering it as a career. Praise God!! They wanted to know my story, and how I came to be where I am today... which, if you know about my four adventurous years of college, has been nothing short of a miracle.
I honestly believe that I have been called to teach, and although it is difficult, I wouldn't be anywhere else. I'd do it for free. I love my school, I love my students, I love my job.
I know it won't always be this easy - or will it? Maybe it's easy because it's fulfilling. Maybe it's because I'm passionate about it. Maybe it's because I love what I do. Maybe because I'm making a difference. Maybe I've been called here.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
I hope, more than anything, that my students are realizing the true value and necessity of the arts in a community, and in each of our individual lives. And it was so encouraging to realize that not only are my students acknowledging this value within their own lives, but are wishing to spread it to others, even if they can't yet identify it as such. This is really amazing.
We are truly blessed.
Praying that these last six weeks last a lifetime.
- Always joyful.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Closing Night
Just closed the show, The Rimers of Eldritch. My kiddos did an awesome job!!! They blessed me with this bunch of flowers and thoughtful gift.
They are as sweet as anything! It's really amazing. I have been so blessed by these students, it is difficult for me to even comprehend how I got here. Blessings are overflowing, and my heart is so full of joy. These kids are amazing, and I am ever-grateful.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. [Jeremiah 29:11]
Thursday, October 24, 2013
A Kurt Vonnegut-Quotable Summary of Week 10
And I've gone crazy, couldn't you tell? Threw stones at the stars, and the whole sky fell.
Well, this week I've gone crazy over Kurt Vonnegut quotes. Here are some of my favorites:
The truth is, we know so little about life, we don't really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.
People say there are no atheists in foxholes. A lot of people think this is a good argument against atheism. Personally, I think it's a much better argument against foxholes.
Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies- damn it, you've got to be kind.
If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'
And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.
Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'
In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in his cosmic loneliness.
And God said, "Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done." And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat, looked around, and spoke. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely.
"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.
"Certainly," said man.
"Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God.
And He went away.
Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.
And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.
Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go around looking for it, and I think it can be poisonous. I wish people who are conventionally supposed to love each other would say to each other, when they fight, 'Please-a little less love, and a little more common decency.'
I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.'
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.
Wake up, you idiots! Whatever made you think that money was so valuable?
All right - I'll tell you what you did for me: you went for happy, silly, beautiful walks with me.
That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.
Live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.
No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.
The letter said that they were two feet high, and green., and shaped like plumber's friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm. The creatures were friendly, and they could see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three. They had many wonderful things to teach Earthlings, especially about time. Billy promised to tell what some of those wonderful things were in his next letter.
Billy was working on his second letter when the first letter was published. The second letter started out like this:
The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just that way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.
When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "so it goes."
There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.
And in closing,
Be patient, Ophelia.
Love,
Hamlet
Well, this week I've gone crazy over Kurt Vonnegut quotes. Here are some of my favorites:
The truth is, we know so little about life, we don't really know what the good news is and what the bad news is.
People say there are no atheists in foxholes. A lot of people think this is a good argument against atheism. Personally, I think it's a much better argument against foxholes.
Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies- damn it, you've got to be kind.
If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.
And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'
And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.
Many people need desperately to receive this message: 'I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.'
In the beginning, God created the earth, and he looked upon it in his cosmic loneliness.
And God said, "Let Us make living creatures out of mud, so the mud can see what We have done." And God created every living creature that now moveth, and one was man. Mud as man alone could speak. God leaned close to mud as man sat, looked around, and spoke. "What is the purpose of all this?" he asked politely.
"Everything must have a purpose?" asked God.
"Certainly," said man.
"Then I leave it to you to think of one for all this," said God.
And He went away.
Like so many Americans, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.
And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep.
Love is where you find it. I think it is foolish to go around looking for it, and I think it can be poisonous. I wish people who are conventionally supposed to love each other would say to each other, when they fight, 'Please-a little less love, and a little more common decency.'
I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.'
What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.
Wake up, you idiots! Whatever made you think that money was so valuable?
All right - I'll tell you what you did for me: you went for happy, silly, beautiful walks with me.
That's one thing Earthlings might learn to do, if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times and concentrate on the good ones.
Live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.
No matter how corrupt, greedy, and heartless our government, our corporations, our media, and our religious & charitable institutions may become, the music will still be wonderful.
The letter said that they were two feet high, and green., and shaped like plumber's friends. Their suction cups were on the ground, and their shafts, which were extremely flexible, usually pointed to the sky. At the top of each shaft was a little hand with a green eye in its palm. The creatures were friendly, and they could see in four dimensions. They pitied Earthlings for being able to see only three. They had many wonderful things to teach Earthlings, especially about time. Billy promised to tell what some of those wonderful things were in his next letter.
Billy was working on his second letter when the first letter was published. The second letter started out like this:
The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just that way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.
When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but that the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is "so it goes."
There is no reason why good cannot triumph as often as evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organization. If there are such things as angels, I hope that they are organized along the lines of the Mafia.
And in closing,
Be patient, Ophelia.
Love,
Hamlet
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
We Did It!
The Rimers of Eldritch opened tonight with an invited dress rehearsal preview... and it was awesome! I'm so proud of my kiddos!!!
Also, #quotable:
"Somebody told me that I reminded them of you, that they think we're very similar, and I'm pretty sure I came very close to passing out."
Choose love. Be Kind.
Also, #quotable:
"Somebody told me that I reminded them of you, that they think we're very similar, and I'm pretty sure I came very close to passing out."
Choose love. Be Kind.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Parents
Today I was contacted by parents twice. The first was via letter (the original snail mail)... this letter was not very nice. I will say that. The second was via email. The note was incredibly kind and humble, just a parent asking for some advice. I liked that a lot better.
Evidently student teaching is not all sunshine and roses.
I am reeeeally tired today. I mean, really tired. I don't know what's up with me, I'm beginning to feel cranky and impatient, and even entitled to be loved. Well, that's simply not the case. I have been lucky - truly blessed - to have classrooms full of awesome students who do their work and love the process. This does not always happen. Perhaps it rarely happens. And the stars have simply aligned in this process to put me in such a wonderful, nurturing place... and yet, this week I'm left wanting more.
Why? I'm not sure what is going on in my head, except, as I said before, I'm tired. I love teaching, I love my job, I LOVE my students, I love what I do. And yet, I want things to be easy. And the reality is, that in larger perspective, they are.
Please remind me to count my blessings.
"She loved so much that she feared."
Evidently student teaching is not all sunshine and roses.
I am reeeeally tired today. I mean, really tired. I don't know what's up with me, I'm beginning to feel cranky and impatient, and even entitled to be loved. Well, that's simply not the case. I have been lucky - truly blessed - to have classrooms full of awesome students who do their work and love the process. This does not always happen. Perhaps it rarely happens. And the stars have simply aligned in this process to put me in such a wonderful, nurturing place... and yet, this week I'm left wanting more.
Why? I'm not sure what is going on in my head, except, as I said before, I'm tired. I love teaching, I love my job, I LOVE my students, I love what I do. And yet, I want things to be easy. And the reality is, that in larger perspective, they are.
Please remind me to count my blessings.
"She loved so much that she feared."
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Social Media Is Weird
Today two of my students found my profile on Twitter. Considering the fact that I haven't used Twitter in months, and had kind of forgotten that it existed, this was particularly surprising. They've decided to keep it a big secret so that I don't get in trouble (THANKS) and at the same time it seems like everyone knows. I don't feel like it's that big of a deal, although I'll certainly scan through my page and be sure there's nothing weird to be found!!
This week is tech week for the play, which is always a challenge, but it's going well, I think. I still love my students (like crazy) and I still love my job. I am ever-thankful.
Ever-thankful.
This week is tech week for the play, which is always a challenge, but it's going well, I think. I still love my students (like crazy) and I still love my job. I am ever-thankful.
Ever-thankful.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Announcement
Today marks the first time I saw a student outside of school - at my jewelry making class!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Saturday Rehearsals are an Excellent Excuse for Overjorts
Also, quote of the day:
"Miss Levine, I have something VERY important to tell you.... it's about my socks."
Every story is a love story!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Most Adventurous Day Of All
I had a crazy day.
It is possible that I've said those words previously in my life, but I truly believe that I never really knew the meaning of crazy before today!
This morning, first of all, I decided to wear a dress. This is the second time I've worn a dress to school. I also wore heels. This is the first time I've worn heels to school. My mother also got up early and made me coffee and grits. This is the first time this has happened as well.
So I left for school, obviously with no conception of what was about to happen next...
I successfully navigated 1st period essentially as I expected it to go. Then came second period, and here the world began to spin backward.
I have been working on my Impact project - five days to prove that I can impact student learning and am worthy of receiving my teaching certificate from the NC Department of Instruction - so this can be stressful. After the implementation of each day's lesson, I have to record some data and reflect on my teaching, which is exactly what I was about to do when a fox walked into the building.
Did you read that right?
Yes, yes you did.
A fox walked into the building. It's one of those things that seems like it couldn't possibly be true. I mean, I kept staring at it, thinking that maybe if I looked long enough, it would become a cat, as I kind of expected. Well, it didn't. It stayed a fox.
My teacher went out of the room, told the students to move away, and tried to coax the fox back out the door. I stayed in my chair, frozen, I think. This part is all kind of blurry. Well, a minute or so later, I saw the fox walk toward the office door. I don't remember if I stood up then, or if I was already standing.. I think I stood up then, as the fox began to walk toward me, and I instantly saw my life flash before my eyes, as well as my bloody fox-bitten ankles, which, thank the LORD were only a figment of my imagination. As I said, the fox started moving toward me, and I let out a loud YELP, and proceeded to dance a little do-si-do with the fox around the rolling office chair before he went under my desk and I went shooting out the door!
We closed the door, therefore trapping the fox inside the office, and as the administrators poured into the hall and called animal control, I attempted to process this amazing and terrifying experience!
Animal control arrived a little while later, so I hid in the theatre while they removed the fox. Then, I became terrified to touch anything, considering I'm a hypochondriac, and the fox had both a broken leg and some kind of disease, like distemper. WHAT THE HECK.
So, that happened.
And then the day went on.
And then fourth period came, and by that time all of my students had heard about this fox incident and wanted to hear the full story. Which I told them, and which they thought was just the funniest thing they had EVER heard.
And then the end of fourth period came, and my teacher went to work in her office, and I stayed in the theatre with the students for the last ten minutes of class... at which time one of my students came inside to tell me that blood was pouring out of another student's arm. Now, I'm obviously a weenie about foxes, but for some reason I turned into a superhero over this blood! (It really wasn't nearly as bad as she made it out to be, and we quickly cleaned it up and put a band-aid on it. Problem solved.)
Then rehearsal came, and everyone was crazy - especially when one of the lines was about fearing a fox. Yep, I'm never gonna live that one down.
Then after school, I found out my students also play "What Are The Odds," aka the funniest game in the world! Also a student asked if he can call me L.L.Vine (like L.L.Bean) and another student asked if she could call me L-Dawg..?
Then I came home. And immediately took a shower, because of the fox, and what did I find in the shower, but a GIANT BOOTY CRICKET! I trapped it, finished my shower, and then when I went to remove it, I also found a spider. Oooookay.
Then I checked outside the front door, and found my box of thirty brain-shaped stress balls, which I expected to arrive today, but also a package from Jesus. Seriously. It's in the return address. I haven't opened it yet.
Then I FINALLY learned how to use the can opener (can openers are my achilles heel), so I was able to make a burrito for dinner - AWESOME.
And this was my day. As I said, the Most Adventurous Day Of All.
I seriously love my life.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:38-39)
It is possible that I've said those words previously in my life, but I truly believe that I never really knew the meaning of crazy before today!
This morning, first of all, I decided to wear a dress. This is the second time I've worn a dress to school. I also wore heels. This is the first time I've worn heels to school. My mother also got up early and made me coffee and grits. This is the first time this has happened as well.
So I left for school, obviously with no conception of what was about to happen next...
I successfully navigated 1st period essentially as I expected it to go. Then came second period, and here the world began to spin backward.
I have been working on my Impact project - five days to prove that I can impact student learning and am worthy of receiving my teaching certificate from the NC Department of Instruction - so this can be stressful. After the implementation of each day's lesson, I have to record some data and reflect on my teaching, which is exactly what I was about to do when a fox walked into the building.
Did you read that right?
Yes, yes you did.
A fox walked into the building. It's one of those things that seems like it couldn't possibly be true. I mean, I kept staring at it, thinking that maybe if I looked long enough, it would become a cat, as I kind of expected. Well, it didn't. It stayed a fox.
My teacher went out of the room, told the students to move away, and tried to coax the fox back out the door. I stayed in my chair, frozen, I think. This part is all kind of blurry. Well, a minute or so later, I saw the fox walk toward the office door. I don't remember if I stood up then, or if I was already standing.. I think I stood up then, as the fox began to walk toward me, and I instantly saw my life flash before my eyes, as well as my bloody fox-bitten ankles, which, thank the LORD were only a figment of my imagination. As I said, the fox started moving toward me, and I let out a loud YELP, and proceeded to dance a little do-si-do with the fox around the rolling office chair before he went under my desk and I went shooting out the door!
We closed the door, therefore trapping the fox inside the office, and as the administrators poured into the hall and called animal control, I attempted to process this amazing and terrifying experience!
Animal control arrived a little while later, so I hid in the theatre while they removed the fox. Then, I became terrified to touch anything, considering I'm a hypochondriac, and the fox had both a broken leg and some kind of disease, like distemper. WHAT THE HECK.
So, that happened.
And then the day went on.
And then fourth period came, and by that time all of my students had heard about this fox incident and wanted to hear the full story. Which I told them, and which they thought was just the funniest thing they had EVER heard.
And then the end of fourth period came, and my teacher went to work in her office, and I stayed in the theatre with the students for the last ten minutes of class... at which time one of my students came inside to tell me that blood was pouring out of another student's arm. Now, I'm obviously a weenie about foxes, but for some reason I turned into a superhero over this blood! (It really wasn't nearly as bad as she made it out to be, and we quickly cleaned it up and put a band-aid on it. Problem solved.)
Then rehearsal came, and everyone was crazy - especially when one of the lines was about fearing a fox. Yep, I'm never gonna live that one down.
Then after school, I found out my students also play "What Are The Odds," aka the funniest game in the world! Also a student asked if he can call me L.L.Vine (like L.L.Bean) and another student asked if she could call me L-Dawg..?
Then I came home. And immediately took a shower, because of the fox, and what did I find in the shower, but a GIANT BOOTY CRICKET! I trapped it, finished my shower, and then when I went to remove it, I also found a spider. Oooookay.
Then I checked outside the front door, and found my box of thirty brain-shaped stress balls, which I expected to arrive today, but also a package from Jesus. Seriously. It's in the return address. I haven't opened it yet.
Then I FINALLY learned how to use the can opener (can openers are my achilles heel), so I was able to make a burrito for dinner - AWESOME.
And this was my day. As I said, the Most Adventurous Day Of All.
I seriously love my life.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Romans 8:38-39)
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
In which every day is a good day.
I'm sure I could say it a thousand times, and say it again, but I've been so blessed by my students - every time I say it, it remains just as true. They are so so great.
I love teaching, but I'm getting a little tired of student teaching... but I'll never get tired of these kiddos.
Today I played "Beautiful City" from the new cast recording of Godspell - this is quite possibly my very favorite musical theatre song ever in existance, and my students went CRAZY over it!!! I haven't seen them react like that to any of the songs so far... so many of them wanted to use it for their performance project - even the girls, but especially the boys!
I think I'm in love with them.
All of them.
Also, listen to this song if you don't know it - the version by Hunter Parrish.
"Out of the ruins and rubble,
Out of the smoke,
Out of our nightly struggle,
Can we see a ray of hope?
...
We can build a beautiful city,
Yes we can - yes we can,
We can build a beautiful city,
Not a city of angels,
But finally a city of man."
I love teaching, but I'm getting a little tired of student teaching... but I'll never get tired of these kiddos.
Today I played "Beautiful City" from the new cast recording of Godspell - this is quite possibly my very favorite musical theatre song ever in existance, and my students went CRAZY over it!!! I haven't seen them react like that to any of the songs so far... so many of them wanted to use it for their performance project - even the girls, but especially the boys!
I think I'm in love with them.
All of them.
Also, listen to this song if you don't know it - the version by Hunter Parrish.
"Out of the ruins and rubble,
Out of the smoke,
Out of our nightly struggle,
Can we see a ray of hope?
...
We can build a beautiful city,
Yes we can - yes we can,
We can build a beautiful city,
Not a city of angels,
But finally a city of man."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)