Getting Married

Those of you that know me also know that I am imminently going to be married. My fiancée is an extremely talented woman who I would describe as a ‘Jill of All Trades’. She can cook, she sews, quilts, crochets, makes jewelry, clothes, blankets, purses, and all manner of other creative goods. I really count myself as lucky. (She has her own blog about our wedding process here: Lydibug-Fluff)

One of the favorite things that Lydia and I do together is watch films. We regularly watch movies together, and have a subscription to Netflix that keeps us nice and supplied with new things to watch. Of course, we don’t always see eye to eye on the types of movies we watch. Lydia, for some reason that surprises and amazes me, loves thrillers and scary movies. If there’s a haunting, or a killer, or some sort of paranormal threat, she’s there (she does draw the line at the subgenre of ‘slasher flicks’ she doesn’t care for those ones as much). I on the other hand, enjoy watching more lighthearted fare, as well as being prone to watching the same movies again and again. Seems like every year that I watch the Star Wars saga, the Back To The Future trilogy, The Karate Kid movies, and the ever excellent Bill & Ted films (Speaking of which, I still have a very exciting Bill & Ted themed blog entry I’ll finish soon). Lydia knows what she’s getting into with me and Star Wars. She’ll begrudgingly let me watch all 6 movies, as well as endure my enthusiasm for them (she did make me an excellent Jedi costume that I wear whenever I can find a good excuse to). As an accommodation, I’ve agreed to watch the entirety of the Harry Potter movies with her each year. That’s a total of 8 films, so she’s the winner by quantities’ standards.

Lydia also puts up with many of my quirks. I see her roll her eyes and laugh whenever I open an automated motion-sensor door by waving my hand like a Jedi, or where I stop the microwave at the last possible moment as though I were disarming a bomb, or when I go into ‘Adventure mode’ while driving whenever a particularly action-themed musical score begins to play on my CD player (In adventure mode, I focus my eyes on the road and try to give my best, stern, action-hero face while I drive).

The date of the marriage is swiftly approaching, and I'm eagerly looking forward to it. I had no idea organizing and planning a wedding would be as much work as this, but in the end it will all be worth it. Hopefully the transition from being a singular into a true married couple will go smoothly.

My Favorite Video Games #1: "Riven"

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Myst fan. I've read all the books, i've played all the games, countless times, and in my younger years I even helped maintain an AOL Help forum for Myst and Riven, its sequel. I've gone to Mysterium, the annual Myst convention, when it came to Los Angeles back in 2007, and I also regularly contribute to a monthly podcast called The Cavern Today, dedicated to the Myst franchise as well as the Online Multiplayer exploration of Myst Online: Uru Live, which has recently become a free-to-play online game.

The Myst series over the years has remained my favorite franchise, created by the remarkable creative minds at Cyan Worlds. No other game spoke to me so powerfully with a deep story of betrayal and consequence, told subtly through the clues and environment, rather than through cut scenes and dialogue.

I was at CompUSA as a child, shopping for a new PC with my parents; the first real computer my family would own after the ancient 386 I had been using. With this computer (a prefabricated Compaq model that eventually proved less than sufficient. My parents weren’t the savviest computer shoppers), my parents allowed each of their children to select a software title of their choice (within reason; no $400 AutoCAD or anything like that.) My sister chose some Winnie-The-Pooh Clipart program; my older brother selected an early home-architecture program from Broderbund. My younger brother chose Jet Fighter 2, and I chose a game that captivated me with its box-art of a lonely island amongst an endless sea: MYST.

Playing the game is among the happiest childhood memories I have of playing games with my siblings. My older brother and I worked hard to solve the puzzles in the game together, drawing out notes and maps. I felt so proud of how well we had done when at last we solved the final puzzle and completed the game.

By the time Riven had been released, my siblings were already starting to move on from games, or adopt a more casual attitude towards them. He didn’t want to play Riven with me as he had done before with Myst.

This was a pattern that could continue on until today, where I still remain deeply passionate about video games, and my siblings either no longer play them, or only retain a passing interest in them (With the distinct exception of my brother Jon who is well into the clutches of World of Warcraft). Even so, playing these games with my siblings would leave me with my fondest childhood memories.



While Myst was an intriguing game unlike anything I had ever played before, it couldn't compete with the far superior Riven. The game had a much darker and almost steam-punky feel to it, thanks to the hiring of Richard Vander Wende, an artist and designer who worked for Disney on Aladdin.



Throughout the game there are some pretty dynamic moments. Chief among them are the sequences where you travel between the five various islands that compromise Riven. Most of them are connected by Mag-Lev transport (Magnetic Levitation) or through mine cart tracks.


The sensation was pretty incredible. The other aspect that really intruigued me was the design of the puzzles. Everything in that wolrd felt like it belonged. The game didn't follow the common adventure game tropes of having puzzles for the sake of having puzzles. All the puzzles in Riven felt like they belonged where they were, and had a good reason for being there.
A good example is a puzzle involving decoding a security password written in D'ni, the fictional language of the Myst series of games. Solving the puzzle involved figuring out the unusual base 5 and 25 number system, which meant finding a school-house on one of the islands that was being used by the villagers to teach their children. There is a mechanical hangman game in the classroom where one could watch the D'ni numerals come up, and count the number of clicks, extrapolating from what they've learned to pick up the remaining numbers. All of it felt natural, as though you were a detective using all your resources to solve a mystery.


To date, I own 7 copies of Riven:
1. Original 5 CD-Rom release (Cardboard art-sleeves)
2. 5 CD-Rom release (Double Jewel-case)
3. Playstation Release, 5-Discs
4. Ages Beyond MYST - Myst + Riven CD-Rom bundle
5. MYST Anniversary DVD Versions (Includes MYST, Riven, MYST III: Exile)
6. GoG (Good Ol Games Digital Copy)
7. Steam Release Digital Copy

This may seem like a lot, but I own nearly every version of *all* the MYST games. Everyone's gotta collect something, right?




Yes, there were Myst III action figures!


And finally, the MYST Board game.... It's not very good. Basically a 'Competitive Jigsaw Puzzle'

Powered by Coffee

There’s a few things that start off just about every day of my life. The first is a shower, since I like starting the day with a refreshing blast of water in my face.

The second thing is a hot mug of coffee. In fact, (and this may be strange to some of you), but I have a coffee pot that I keep set in my unusually large bathroom. That means that in any given morning, I can step right out of the shower and have a hot mug of coffee waiting for me. What can I say, I really like coffee!

As a young child, I was reviled by the fierce bitter taste of the coffee bean. It was an unpleasant beverage when compared to sweeter fare such as Dr. Pepper or apple juice. Still, as I grew older, I began to lose my taste for the sour and sweet candies I enjoyed most, and began to gravitate towards bitter flavors. Things like unsweetened teas and coffee.

Coffee is a delightful drink. In many ways it’s an adventure with every cup, since coffee tastes different every time I brew up a pot full. This is the nature of extracting a flavor from a living-growing plant that holds a slightly different flavor each and every day of its life and subsequent roasting. I drink it black too. No cream, no sugar, I take it straight. Some people like to put a pinch of salt into their coffee grounds to cut some of the acidity. I’ve recently tried this, but found I prefer the unaltered nakedness of a hot cup of smooth, bitter coffee.

The coffee I tend to drink every morning is Yuban. I really like the smell and taste of that particular South American blend, but there is also a strong factor of nostalgia involved, since that was what my father always brewed up every morning. One of the coffees I really like is the Dunkin Donuts brand. It is usually expensive to buy at the supermarket, and comes in smaller bags, so It is reserved as a rare treat. I have always wanted to try a hot cup of coffee at a Dunkin Donuts franchise, but the closest one to California is in Las Vegas… A little out of the way for morning joe, ya know? (Hey, I rhyme!)

Something I did not know about coffee: Coffee was used during some religious ceremonies in Africa, and during the 17th century, it was banned in some parts of Turkey as part of a political battle.


I typically drink 3-4 cups of coffee in a given morning. That might seem like a lot, but I always picture Fry from Futurama buying 100 $3 cups of coffee in a day with his $300 tax break.

Dogs

So, I've never been much of an animal person. The "pets" I've taken care of mostly consist of the few plants I've managed to take care of and keep alive; mainly my Succulent plant, which I've named Ereshkigal, after the Sumerian Queen of the Underworld.

Also in recent life are the two new kittens that terrorize me in the mornings, and throughout most of the day... actually pretty much any time their little eyes are open. It's a good thing they're cute.
Leonard

















Sheldyn
(Yes the names are inspired by characters from "The Big Band Theory")

But despite the presence of the kittens (who aren't actually mine), I've never really been in touch with animals, much less dogs.

Dogs have also seemed pretty normal for a pet. I don't know what it was historically that first connected man and dog, but they seem to be a made to coexist in a full symbiotic relationship. Dogs are fiercely loyal, and the perfect companions for most human beings. They're pretty strange too. I don't know how often anyone thinks about the existence of a hidden "dewclaw", but anything that doesn't exist on the human body is fascinating to me.

I never thought I would be one to really be exposed to dogs. As a child the barking dogs of the neighbors would frighten me. When visiting any childhood friends I knew who owned dogs, I invariably would cause a normally placid dog to begin to bark at me. They didn't seem to ever like me. Any dog. Furthermore, I have always been mildly allergic to dogs. Not to quote movies here, but when it comes to dogs, I constantly "Had. A bad. Experience."

So along comes my Lydia, who you may know to be my fiancée, and the love of my life. She has always loved dogs. When I began dating her, I was exposed to her old dog, Jesebel. While she was certainly a nice dog (didn't bark at me, for once), I never really felt comfortable around canis lupus familiaris. It wasn't until Jesebel sadly passed away that I was exposed to a different dog.

Tori, short for Victoria (After the queen, since this dog certainly thinks she is one).

This is the tiny little dog (a cross between a Papillon and a Long-Hair Chihuahua) that was rescued by my bride-to-be one fateful day. The dog is generally quiet, friendly, clean, and enjoys attention. Constant attention. Still, the little gal has really began to grow on me over the years. I think she likes me because I'm thin. When I sit in a chair, I sorta act as a nice concave lap to sit in; bowl shaped. I believe this is the base of my friendship with this tiny dog.

Dogs are always going to be a part of my life from this point on, since my future wife is going to want to have them around. She makes accommodations for me, though; Tori is bathed nearly every week in an effort to limit my allergies to her. Which his fine, because it's nice to sleep in a bed with a tiny animal curled up next to you, and let's face it: cats are far too aloof for that.

Favorite Album #1: The Protomen - "Act II: The Father of Death"

So, one of my favorite albums is the second album from the acclaimed Tennessee rock band "The Protomen".


Their self-titled debut album told a high-energy story of a man entrenched in an oppressive society watched over by powerful robots. This man, Dr. Thomas Light builds a 'child' to pour his hopes and dreams for a better future into. Eventually the child, Protoman, decides that the way to build this better future is to defeat the man responsible for controlling the robots and to restore hope to the beleaguered city. He fails, and is lost to the mercy of the machines that protect Dr. Albert Wily, the man responsible for the city's fascist state.

Years later, Dr. Light attempts to build a second 'child' named Megaman. Light decides this time, to protect this child and be content with the company. It isn't long before Megaman decides to follow in his brother's footsteps and attempt to save the dark city. In an intriguing twist, it's discovered that the general in command of Wily's robot army is now his own brother, Protoman. Protoman tries to convince Megaman that the people refused to back him in his quest, rather they left him as a martyr to fight and die for them, without being willing to help force the change themselves. Megaman, with sadness, strikes out at his brother, and leads the attack, but knows that Protoman was right, and the mass of people at his rear will do nothing to keep the revolution going once he's fallen in combat. Still, the album ends with the hopeful last words of Protoman: "If these people...tell this story...to their children...as they sleep...then maybe someday...they'll see a Hero...is just a man...who knows he's free."

The entire story is told through high energy rock mixed with some spaghetti-western influences. The music and powerful, and the vocal performances really strengthen the delivery of a story inspired by a simple video game franchise created by Capcom known in the United States as 'Megaman'.

I told you all of that so that I could tell you this:

Their second album "Act II: The Father of Death" is a follow-up to their first album that tells the story of how the city fell into darkness in the first place, and how Dr. Light himself was a partner with Dr. Wily, who unwittingly played a part in bringing the city itself into an industrialized robotic-driven work-state.


After losing his father to mining accidents, Dr. Light began work on a robotic work force that could aid the miners in more dangerous tasks. As he neared the projects completion, he grew hesitant to take the work away from such able-bodied people, but with the urging of his partner, Dr. Wily, he throws the switch and sets things into motion.

At the same time, Dr. Wily has plans of his own. After refusing to join him, Dr. Light's fiancée, Emily, is murdered by an assassin robot, and evidence is left to implicate Dr. Light. With the entire city keening in hunt of the man, he is soon taken into custody, and placed on trial. Despite feeling he has nothing to live for after losing the love of his life, he is found innocent, against the popular opinion that Light is a callous murderer: all a ploy by Wily to gain the city’s trust by proclaiming that the justice system was broken, and that his glorious technocracy is the best thing for the future of the city. Light is placed in exile, and the city begins to decay into darkness.

Years later, a boy named Joe begins to feel that things in the city are not right. He leaves town in an attempt to discover what can be done about it. Out in the outskirts he encounters Dr. Light, who shares his plan for “freeing” the city by cutting off the ever-present communication network that Wily uses to keep his constant propaganda fed to the people.

The mission is a success, and Joe sacrifices himself to make certain the ever-present illuminated communication screens around the city go black… But there was a backup, and within moments the screens are back, and Wily has an excuse to declare complete martial control of the city “for the people’s safety”. The city enters its darkest days, but Light, driven by the spirit the young boy Joe showed begins to formulate a new plan…. Too build a robot of his own: a son he will call Protoman.

The story is one of a dystopian future, but it’s the attention to the emotions of the characters as the album is performed that really makes it something I love to listen to. The Protomen are a band that stays “in character” during their performances and interviews, claiming to be “freedom fighters gathering support for the war against Wily”. The songs are acted out on stage, and the audience is drawn into a story that they get to participate in. The music itself is epic, pulling inspiration from spaghetti westerns and the futuristic cyber-punk feel of the story itself. For being loosely based on a simple video game, the Protomen have really made the story their own, and I look forward to anything else they decide to do as a band.

Rebirth

New posts coming soon. I'm not dead yet!

On Staff Meetings and Bathroom Breaks

So yesterday I went to a staff meeting at the school. It was an interesting experience. After an announcement made by the principle in regards to the “Staffulty” of the month, there was a sort of trophy handed off to that teacher as a physical symbol of the good work he had done.

The meeting itself was very much like a class. The teacher who gave the ‘lesson’ did so using teaching strategies and methods that they would have used in their own classes; In essence, reinforcing our teaching behaviors through clear, concise modeling. After a description of the lesson, the teachers were broken up into groups to create a product to present to their “class”. It was interesting to see the teachers all working together in a manner similar to the ways that students work in class. Each group had their strengths and weaknesses, goofballs and focused adults. It was interesting, and it all tied directly into the goals that the staff and faculty of the school wanted to set to continually improve themselves, and the school they work at.

I’ve been thinking about my own teaching as well. Since I am now in the heart of teaching a full load of classes by myself, I find a lot of struggles coming to the forefront. Planning lessons seems to be the easier part. I know what I want to teach the students when I come into the classroom, and I come up with strategies for doing so. The problem is in implementation. While I know some of this is tougher simply because this is not “my” class, persay; meaning I didn’t start with this class, and they may see me as a more glorified substitute teacher. It makes it difficult to command the same respect that my mentor teacher does. I know a lot of this also comes from my experience with classroom management. I don’t yet have eyes in the back of my head. I can’t tell what each student is doing just by looking at them. I don’t fully grasp the spocial dynamics of a class well enough to perfectly group the students where they will be most effective. That said, I have noticed some improvement in what I’m doing.

One of the issues I struggle with is dealing with students who need to use the restroom during class. I certainly don’t want to be an ogre that never lets them go, but I also don’t want to be taken advantage of. In reading the book I’m teaching as a class, having a student get up to use the restroom is an incredible disruption. Not only is the student missing a chunk of the book that they are absent for as they disappear to the restroom, I also have to stop the class to remind the student what page their on now, or one of their peers has to do it. Either way, it’s distracting the students from learning.

I spoke to one of the other teachers on campus who has an interesting approach to bathroom breaks. She offered a great system that I’ve decided to implement with my students. The students need to use the restroom during break, during lunch, and during their passing periods. If they ask to use the bathroom during class, I allow them to go, but their name gets added to the board. If they ask again (even on some other day, since the names stay all semester), they get a check next to their name that indicates that they’ve moved down a level in their citizenship grade (From Outstanding to Satisfactory to Unsatisfactory). Each time they ask to use the restroom during class, they receive an additional check. Obviously if they have a specific problem with this (For example, a medical condition) then there will be accommodations made. All in all, though, I think this is going to work out very effectively for me.

Classroom Management is Like a Box of Chocolates...

By this point, I’ve done some teaching. It’s been challenging, because no matter how much I seem to prepare, the most difficult part to master is the classroom management. My mentor teacher mentioned to me that once I get a good handle on managing my classroom, all the rest of the parts seem to fall into place rather easily. There’s a lot going on that you simply don’t think about until you’re actually trying to improve the things that you do in front of the class that help keep the students engaged.

One thing I quickly came to realize is that middle school students only have a 10-15 minute attention span. Once I get them working on something, I only have a short window of time in which they can work independently on one thing before they begin to grow restless and noisy. Obviously this makes certain longer activities, such as 30 minutes of Silent Sustained Reading much more difficult, since the students grow bored of whatever they are doing far before the activity is complete. A way that I’ve learned to get around this is to break up an activity 10-15 minutes into it and refocus the students by asking them questions as a class to check for understanding, or reiterating the directions of a section that I notice them struggling with in my observation as I walk around checking their work over their shoulders. Optimally, this will also help influence the way I structure my lessons in the class, since I know I need to segment them into small bite-sized chunks for the students to take in small doses before they change focus and reset their attention spans.

It can be tough to get a class back under control once I’ve lost it. Part of the challenge is asserting myself as just as important a teacher as the mentor teacher I’m learning from. I’m attempting to get across to the students that I’m not just a substitute; I have the same authority as their other teacher, and I deserve the same level of respect and obedience. This has been a challenge, but In working with them each day, I know they are starting to treat me better. Some of the ways I think I’ve managed to procure their trust and respect is that I’ve been around long enough to begin to know and share their interests and different personalities. I try to greet them all at the door, and I ask them how their day is going. From my classes, I’ve learned that this is a fairly effective strategy, especially when you know that some of the students possibly haven’t had any adult in their life take an interest in them personally, that day.

My mentor teacher summarized her stance on classroom management as “creating an environment where all students can feel safe and secure both physically and emotionally.” Secondary school is a tumultuous time for students. They need to feel that they are someplace where they are safe. If I am in control of my classroom, the students, on some level, know that they are safe there. If I lose control of the class, the students will turn towards the next person who can give them the sense of safety that they crave, and this is usually the class clown or an outspoken student. Once that happens, it becomes extremely difficult to gain that control back.

It’s a struggle, each day, but I’m learning as I go, and I believe I’m developing strategies and techniques that are working. Hopefully things will have gelled between the students and I by the time I take complete control of the classroom for several weeks while I solo teach.

"Wolverines!"

So one of my students was presenting a report on a career in the military, mentioning that they'd like to bomb the enemies of America, including Russia. It was unsettling to the other teacher, but I thought it was pretty funny. While Russia is certainly an ally now, I simply saw it a side effect of the fact that Russians still play a large part of "enemy forces" in a lot of popular video games, such as Modern Warfare 2, which more or less plays out a "Red Dawn" scenario of Russians invading US Soil. This, working in tandem with the fact that so many beloved movies deal with the looming confrontations of the cold war, make it difficult for younger students who aren't aware of global current events to the level that adults might be, to interpret and understand the current state of non-fictionalized relations between the US and other countries.

Raining and Pouring

Teaching in rainy weather is TOUGH! The students are noisier then they might have acted otherwise, probably because they’re wet and uncomfortable just sitting their in the dampness. There’s water everywhere. The sound of thunder causes all of them to excitedly chatter about the noise, disrupting any focus I may have had with the students. Oh, and then there’s the smell. Students simply toss their soaking clothing in the corner instead of hanging it up or tossing it in the drier. Over time, the damp smell begins to grow into something more odorous. The concept of mold prevention hasn’t caught on yet…

It really is a challenge, but it does introduce some fresh excitement into the classroom. Just gotta keep up the ‘go for gusto’ spirit, right?

"First Impressions"

I still feel the ache of nervousness. It’s terrifying and exciting to be here, finally. To finally find myself at the end of my comfort zone. No amount of training and theory seems to help, though, I still feel unprepared for all this. The only thing that will help me now is experience, and the only way to get experience is to plunge forward and simply get in front of my classroom and teach. I have people here to help push me along, and watch my back as I do so, but that doesn’t seem to make it any easier.

I teach my first lesson in another day: my first real lesson in front of a full set of classes throughout the day. I find myself sabotaging my own confidence with doubt and worries. I know what my capabilities are, and how I’ve taught before in more controlled settings. There’s a teacher beneath this nervous wreck and I just need to find a way to stop over thinking it all.

My mentor teacher gave me some good advice. This is a group of middle school students so all I need to remember is that “I’m the smartest guy in the room.” It’s good advice, but we’ll see if I can just push through how I feel and teach like I know I’m meant to.

My first impressions of this student teaching have been mixed. Although this is probably more due to the fact that I’ve had a lot of changes in my personal schedule very suddenly, I’ve found myself struggling to keep my energy up between teaching all day, working on homework and lesson plans in the evening, and my general sense of stress and worry. I suspect this will all change once I begin to get more into my groove and solidify my confidence a bit more.

My experience has probably been a little more different than some of the other student teachers because my cooperating teacher has already asked me to teach. It was one of those lessons that went badly at first, but as I got towards the end of the day, I began to get the hang of what I was trying to do with it. 6^th Period got the best version of me. My first class could have gone better. I felt like I did more lecturing than engaging students. Eventually I let the students get on with their writing, and some of them got a good head start on writing their essays. Some of the other students who were either less interested or struggling to understand got left behind. I know there’s a lot of ways I can improve what I did, but this is all practice after all. Still, it feels a little sad to subject students to substandard teaching just for my sake, doesn’t it?

Maybe it’s just so surprising right now because I shouldn’t really be teaching yet, based on the way they’ve tried to structure this new “Clinical Practice” program. I don’t know if that says a lot about my cooperating teacher’s confidence in me, or that I just ended up in the wrong place. I didn’t feel ready to teach just yet, but at the same time, I don’t think I’d ever feel ready if I didn’t have someone there to push me.

All in all, it was a good week. I learned a great deal in a short period of time. I’m learning strategies through observation, and through my own trial and error in my lessons. I’m finding ways to fill the discrepancy between the way I believed things might be with my theory classes, and the realities of teaching a group of students. I have a long way to go, but I am having fun.

Welcome to my Blog!

1-4-2010

Hi, everyone. This is the new blog that I'm starting to help record some of my thoughts, feelings, and experiences as I go through the final stages of my teaching credential and student teaching. There's a lot involved in the process, and I'm learning as I go. I might also include entries that share some of the processes I go through, and what sort of outside stimuli are currently affecting or inspiring my thoughts and actions. Enjoy!