Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Tears

I'm watching the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with my husband, which is interesting because he has completely different likes and dislikes in music than I do. But we do find some common ground.

It is kind of cute for him to say, "Oh man!" when Crosby, Stills and Nash start singing, meaning they sound so good they gave him a chill. 8-) But they didn't sing the song he wanted them to sing. Right now Bonnie Raitt is tearing it up. Makes me wonder why I haven't played her CDs in such a long time. We went to her concert and she was simply wonderful. That must have been ten years ago and she looks exactly the same, sounds exactly the same. For that matter, so do CSN, sound the same that is. They look quite a bit older.

Jackson Browne, with Crosby and Nash as backup singers. Oh, man! Indeed. This show rocks!
Fred says that Stephen Stills not having grey hair is suspicious. Would he dye his hair? Seriously, there's not one grey hair on the man. Just look at Crosby and Nash: ALL GREY. In fact they are shining beacons of grey hair. James Taylor has decided to just hide his head under a hat. Stupid. Show your head. We know you are old. The hat isn't fooling us.

Is Smokey wearing colored contacts? No matter, he still sounds great. They've got a photo of young Smokey, no blue eyes. I think he was trying to match his outfit. Tracks of my tears was the song, so maybe he wanted to emphasize his eyes.

Stevie Wonder's tribute to Michael Jackson was poignant.

Monday is going to be a rough day at school. One of our beloved teachers has passed away from a long bout with cancer. Monday will be the first day back. The funeral will be sometime this week. I imagine that most of us will be trying to just get through the day, like Stevie Wonder was trying to get through Michael Jackson's song. He did it. I now we can too.

Just Do Your Job GOP

Well, Sen. Whitehouse brought Harry Potter into the health care debate and as a librarian I just can't help but throw in my own two cents. Seriously, GOP, you're complaining about the length? Just do your job. Read the bill and object to the merits and facts of the bill. Objecting to the length is specious. No matter who we voted for, we voted for you to do your job and that job includes reading all the bills, no matter how long they are. So man up, GOP, and read it. And if any of you Democrats are thinking about whining about the length of a bill, shut it.

Perils of Team Teaching

The Veteran's Documentary Class that I am team teaching has been a great learning experience for me. We are creating a curriculum that is cutting-edge, using web 2.0 tools and also giving our students some real world social connections with older generations that they may not otherwise experience. In that sense, I think we have been successful. The team teaching has been a bit of a mixed bag. Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching says "experienced teachers often recall team teaching experiences as their best and worst experiences in a classroom." I would have to agree.

Team teaching is a bit like choosing a roommate in college. Usually you chose a friend, which can be a good thing or bad thing. Sometimes, you pick a person because they have the expertise you need and find that they are wonderfully pleasant to work with and a mentor to boot. Sometimes things work out, you have chosen a friend and you remain friends, your friendship grows deeper and you have a wonderful year.

Whatever happens, before you go into a team teaching environment, I think it behooves you to take a look at the following Ten Commandments from two Stanford professors. The key to a successful team teaching endeavor is to have EVERY member on board as a fully participatory member. That means that Commandments 1-7 are followed without fail. You all have to function as a team. You all have to be on board and understand every lecture, every assignment. You support each other and are able to add your different opinion to the mix.

Team teaching is not two or three teachers teaching separate things in isolation, which is often what administration thinks. It's important to educate your administration that all members of your team are teaching all classes.

Another thing that I have found that is important is that the students come first. So, if you have a disagreement about something, you need to sublimate your ego and put the student's needs in front of your own. But remember, I'm a librarian and this is my first class. All you teachers know this already! 8-)

Team teaching: it's worth the effort!