Journaling yesterday in sixth grade, students were asked:
Explain why you do or do not agree with this quotation: "A picture is worth a thousand words."
Personally, I completely agree or so I thought for potentially no other reason than the scrabble word game in which you rearrange letters of a word to see how many other words you can make. With all of the words/phrases that a picture inspires you to think or say aloud it is almost impossible for those words/phrases not to spark another set of words/phrases therefore technically allowing one picture to be worth a googolplex words. However, when you take all of those words and begin to create new words from those, the words eventually reduce to two...I and a...so then is a picture only worth two words?
On another thought wave, when I see a picture with let's say a lemon, the word lemon doesn't come to mind but rather pictorial references to other lemons I have encountered. The same thing happens when I see the color yellow...instead of clearly viewing the word yellow I tend to reference other things that are yellow. If this is the case with most everyone else, shouldn't the phrase become:
A picture is worth a thousand images?
2.4.09
31.3.09
cast in green tights
Green tights...green tights...
...the hideous kelly green running leggings that we were forced to wear all four years of high school cheerleading under our skirts if it was even remotely cold outside.
Green tights...green tights...
...the hideous kelly green running leggings that have now repurposed themselves in my running wardrobe after, do I say it, thirteen years. Now serving the purpose they were initially created for.
Green tights...green tights...
...to limp/run the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle in 1:00:39 (yes, embarrassing...but injury is my excuse) and meet up with high school friends to celebrate a mini "before the ten year reunion" hang out, dinner and wine session.
Green tights...green tights...
...my kryptonite, the essential downfall that was needed to let my body heal in order to become healthy again.
Green tights...green tights...
...currently replaced by a soft walking cast.
...the hideous kelly green running leggings that we were forced to wear all four years of high school cheerleading under our skirts if it was even remotely cold outside.
Green tights...green tights...
...the hideous kelly green running leggings that have now repurposed themselves in my running wardrobe after, do I say it, thirteen years. Now serving the purpose they were initially created for.
Green tights...green tights...
...to limp/run the 2009 Shamrock Shuffle in 1:00:39 (yes, embarrassing...but injury is my excuse) and meet up with high school friends to celebrate a mini "before the ten year reunion" hang out, dinner and wine session.
Green tights...green tights...
...my kryptonite, the essential downfall that was needed to let my body heal in order to become healthy again.
Green tights...green tights...
...currently replaced by a soft walking cast.
25.3.09
lyrics
dashboard confessional
as lovers go
let's just put it this way...if anyone were this passionate about me...I would fall instantly head over stilletos
She said, "I've got to be honest, You're wasting your time if you're fishin' around here." And I said, "You must be mistaken, I'm not foolin', this feelin' is real." She said, "You've gotta be crazy! What do you take me for? Some kinda of easy mark?" "You've got wits, You've got looks, You've got passion, But I swear that you've got me all wrong."
I said, "I've got to be honest, I've been waiting for you all of my life." For so long I thought I was asylum bound, But just seeing you makes me think twice. And being with you here makes me sane. I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side. "You've got wits, You've got looks, You've got passion,But are you brave enough to leave with me tonight?"
mrs. potter's lullaby
counting crows
very difficult for me to narrow down my favorite part(s) but I tried to keep in the lyrics that spoke the strongest to me...including visualizations
Well I woke in mid-afternoon cause that's when it all hurts the most. I dream I never know anyone at the party and I'm always the host. If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts. You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast.
Well, I am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame. I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame. If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame. And though I'll never forget your face, sometimes i can't remember my name. favorite lyric of all time that reminds me of teaching
...And the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings. And there is always one last light to turn out and one last bell to ring. And the last one out of the circus has to lock up everything. Or the elephants will get out and forget to remember what you said. And the ghosts of the tilt-a-whirl will linger inside your head. And the ferris wheel junkies will spin there forever instead. When I see you a blanket of stars covers me in my bed.
...You can see a million miles tonight But you can't get very far. Oh, you can see a million miles tonight But you can't get very far.
as lovers go
let's just put it this way...if anyone were this passionate about me...I would fall instantly head over stilletos
She said, "I've got to be honest, You're wasting your time if you're fishin' around here." And I said, "You must be mistaken, I'm not foolin', this feelin' is real." She said, "You've gotta be crazy! What do you take me for? Some kinda of easy mark?" "You've got wits, You've got looks, You've got passion, But I swear that you've got me all wrong."
I said, "I've got to be honest, I've been waiting for you all of my life." For so long I thought I was asylum bound, But just seeing you makes me think twice. And being with you here makes me sane. I fear I'll go crazy if you leave my side. "You've got wits, You've got looks, You've got passion,But are you brave enough to leave with me tonight?"
mrs. potter's lullaby
counting crows
very difficult for me to narrow down my favorite part(s) but I tried to keep in the lyrics that spoke the strongest to me...including visualizations
Well I woke in mid-afternoon cause that's when it all hurts the most. I dream I never know anyone at the party and I'm always the host. If dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts. You can never escape, you can only move south down the coast.
Well, I am an idiot walking a tightrope of fortune and fame. I am an acrobat swinging trapezes through circles of flame. If you've never stared off in the distance, then your life is a shame. And though I'll never forget your face, sometimes i can't remember my name. favorite lyric of all time that reminds me of teaching
...And the price of a memory is the memory of the sorrow it brings. And there is always one last light to turn out and one last bell to ring. And the last one out of the circus has to lock up everything. Or the elephants will get out and forget to remember what you said. And the ghosts of the tilt-a-whirl will linger inside your head. And the ferris wheel junkies will spin there forever instead. When I see you a blanket of stars covers me in my bed.
...You can see a million miles tonight But you can't get very far. Oh, you can see a million miles tonight But you can't get very far.
getting through
Getting through what you might ask?
My list:
typing lesson plans
grading all projects
creating decorations for the book fair
entering grades
writing a teacher manipulatives book
running 8 miles (supposedly)
reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
checking summer school boxes for reading and math teacher resource books and student editions
drawing shoes
ordering summer school supplies
ordering art supplies
While working through my list yesterday...and many of these things stay on my list from day to day until I can check them off...I happened upon an amazing visual image from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close:
I hid behind a mound of earth that had been dug up to make a grave for some books, literature was the only religion her father practiced, when a book fell on the floor he kissed it, when he was done with a book he tried to give it away to someone who would love it, and if he couldn't find a worthy recipient, he buried it...
...The books had been buried, so I hid this time behind a group of trees, I imagined their roots wrapped around the books, pulling nourishment from the pages, I imagined rings of letters in their trunks...
Since the reading of this passage I just keep trying to find a way to visually represent this...a way in which to represent this without screwing it up...without making it seem/look/feel trivial. This passage sums up the way I think about, look at, react to books. This passage sums up the way my parents and family think about, look at, react to books. If only the artwork in my mind could be extracted for the enlightenment of others...but then again, isn't that what every artist wants to accomplish?
My list:
typing lesson plans
grading all projects
creating decorations for the book fair
entering grades
writing a teacher manipulatives book
running 8 miles (supposedly)
reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
checking summer school boxes for reading and math teacher resource books and student editions
drawing shoes
ordering summer school supplies
ordering art supplies
While working through my list yesterday...and many of these things stay on my list from day to day until I can check them off...I happened upon an amazing visual image from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close:
I hid behind a mound of earth that had been dug up to make a grave for some books, literature was the only religion her father practiced, when a book fell on the floor he kissed it, when he was done with a book he tried to give it away to someone who would love it, and if he couldn't find a worthy recipient, he buried it...
...The books had been buried, so I hid this time behind a group of trees, I imagined their roots wrapped around the books, pulling nourishment from the pages, I imagined rings of letters in their trunks...
Since the reading of this passage I just keep trying to find a way to visually represent this...a way in which to represent this without screwing it up...without making it seem/look/feel trivial. This passage sums up the way I think about, look at, react to books. This passage sums up the way my parents and family think about, look at, react to books. If only the artwork in my mind could be extracted for the enlightenment of others...but then again, isn't that what every artist wants to accomplish?
24.3.09
training schmaining
After virtually no training for the past 3 weeks...and a night out...I went ahead and hopped back on the training wagon for the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon and ran 7 miles.
Wow! Was that real?
Yep.
For the first time in a long time, I amazed myself. In this fresh amazement and with a little help from a popular tv show called The Biggest Loser, the decision has been made to fully train and participate in the Louisville Half marathon in exactly 1 month from today. However wrong it may be...if the fatties on The Biggest Loser can run an entire half marathon without walking...I can too.
Wow! Was that real?
Yep.
For the first time in a long time, I amazed myself. In this fresh amazement and with a little help from a popular tv show called The Biggest Loser, the decision has been made to fully train and participate in the Louisville Half marathon in exactly 1 month from today. However wrong it may be...if the fatties on The Biggest Loser can run an entire half marathon without walking...I can too.
18.3.09
the wiz
On Friday morning I was handed a note...the kind of note that kids pass to each other in the halls...from a former student's younger sibling.The note stated that quite a few former WB students were performing in the musical The Wiz at their high school...great heads up. Thank goodness I leave most Friday nights free. After hearing about the performance, another teacher was more than happy to attend the $5.00 performance with me.
Amazed. Rewarded. Proud.
Watching these students sing and dance in front of a room full of people maybe around 150 was amazing. Some of the students even had primary roles. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of all of them...even the students that weren't on stage but who helped paint the set and make the props and costumes. There were times in which I had taught more than half of the performers.
After the show, I made my appearance known to the girls. One response...since the note was only from one student and the rest had no idea I would come or have even thought of me since they left was
Um, hi...You look really familiar...confused look lasting about .2 seconds...Oh my God!...Ms. Bell!?! Followed with the world's strongest hug, screeches, and more hugs competing for a title...then pictures.
It's always nice to know that you have made a difference in someone's life...no matter how insignificant...and even if it is only a few years after they've left that they remember you.
Also, a BIG thank you to the teacher who braved a long drive, off-key and sometimes non-existent lyrics to go along with kid choreographed dances, and for assisting me to an utterly rewarding experience.
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