Monday
"Mon Petit Miette" [Post-Tech Room Class]
Tuesday
"Dewey's Gone Fishing ..." [Dewey Readings]
Wednesday
"Lost in Thought ..." [Post-Dewey Readings Class]
"Lost in Thought (in Russia) ..." [Organize Online Life]
"Lost in Thought (Outside) ..." [Post-Organize Online Life Class]
Thursday
"A Long Day of Games" [Pre-Games Class]
Friday
"Life is Just a Game We Play" [Post-Games Class]
The Cast of Characters from the Previous Installments:
Mr. G – history teacher, narrator
Leah (nee Stilman) – French teacher, fellow MACer
Mrs. Filipovic – history teacher, "voice on the line," in Russia
Mrs. K – science teacher, Curator of the School Garden
Mr. Palapas – school carpenter
Naomi (nee Miller) – fellow MACer
Dr. Vi Quach – former Chemistry teacher, fellow MACer, apps creator
Madame Vice President – Vice President of the United States
Sage – Mr. G’s daughter
Chantel – Mr. G’s wife
Male Students (in order of first appearance) – James, Hideki, Yuri, Manny, Amir
Female Students (in order of first appearance) – Ana, Sarita, Amara
International Student(s) – Yarina
James's Uncle – Matthew
***
I looked at my schedule notes again:
"Friday: (1) Team (Individual-Group) SPELLs: History and Science: Round 2: [Assessed by Outside Professional and Me], Morning Session (2) Free for Afternoon Session: Plant Tree w/ Sage, Chantel, and Leah in School Garden! (3) Finish Video for Sage! (Thank you, Randy Pausch, for your lecture!) (4) Final Preparations for Trip!"
The game and simulation were both completed. No more SPELLs for me, I guess. Vi had just left. He offered to stay, but should I have ... And James and Amara and Hideki and Yuri and Ana and Sarita and Manny and Amir ... They've all left, and I didn't--Should I have-- I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Ahhhh ... Time to garden ... well, plant a tree ... My eyes teared. And then, the video ...
A flood of memories suddenly swept over me. The homemade videos my parents have of me and Nick when we were young ... How many people know that I had a Michael Jackson Thriller jacket when I was seven and that my parents caught me on video moon-walking in front of our house ... Did I have a glove for just one hand?
I smiled and wiped away the tears. Our Scarlett video discussion group: me, Andrew, and Emily ... Eating fish tacos from ... What was that place called? Revive? Replenish? ... Andrew's sexy radio voice ... I knew that voice was meant for radio! And when he told us that he did the 4 am to 6 am radio slot for undergrad at IU--I knew it! I wonder if he ever told anyone else in the MAC program about his radio days? ... But, what a great teacher he has become! I wish I had gotten through ... I wonder why he didn't answer my calls ... I would've loved to have heard that voice one more time and the positive vibes and just funny remarks that would've carried over the phone and a proper--I should've called--I should've told people sooner ...
I found myself staring into space for a moment. And, Emily had mentioned a blogger for Rory and Jeff's class--What was the blog called? "Larry" something. "Larry's Opinion," maybe. Or, "Larry's Drive-Thru"? And, there was a YouTube video that he had included ... and his most recent post at the time had to do with a Cloud--And who was the other Edublogger I checked out? "Clarence" something? The site was ... "Remote Control"? No! "Remote Access," and he had a post or more about 3D printers ... Had I not looked at those two sites, I might never have advocated for the Interactive Cloud and Holographic ...
I turned toward the large Multimedia Screen on the wall behind me, changed my seat to the one in front of the French doors, and viewed the recording of the game that Amara, Ana, Hideki, and Yuri played this morning. What a great job everyone did today! But, no Andrew and no Emily to offer me positive feedback ... Just watching this one by myself ...
There was a knock-knock-knock at the French doors behind me. I turned and saw Leah smiling. "Hey! Someone's late to the garden! And, someone's here to help!"
"Papa!" Sage came running toward me, and I stood and picked her up and gave her a big hug. She hugged me tightly, and whispered with enthusiasm in my ear, "Papa, Auntie Leah's going to help us plant the tree!"
I looked at Leah, smiled, and whispered back into Sage's ear, "I know! I can't wait!"
"Papa?" she whispered.
"Yes, Mon Petite Miette?"
Sage's face was looking at the Multimedia Screen, as she said a little louder this time into my ear so that what she said carried to Leah's ears, as well. "You're a great teacher ... and Papa!"
I hugged Sage a little more tightly, fought back the tears (which was not easy when Leah put her hand over her mouth and started to tear at Sage's words), kissed the side of her head, and whispered into her ear again, "Thank you, Miette!" as I slightly rocked back and forth with her in my arms like when she had been an infant to stop her from crying. But now, I was the one who needed the hug, who needed the rocking.
***
TO BE CONTINUED
Hello again, Mr. Griffiths. I love that you danced like Michael Jackson. I also love that Andrew shared his passion of early morning/late night radio with someone other than myself!! It made me so happy to imagine him doing that because it is so him. I really hope that he is not dead!! You told me today that was not the intention which tells me that you are creating twists and turns as an author without even realizing it! I love that you question your thoughts from the past in your blog - it makes it extremely believable. You would never really remember the name of a restaurant that is so far away. I also love that you capture the pride you get from your daughter or could get from students. I felt that tonight at the culmination event tonight. Love it!
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know, I've moved to taking notes in the comments while I read your blog. So first, that video is going to stick with me forever. 2. I see that you've started to use a lesson planning structure and am sticking to it. In this future reality and in reality. I can't imagine how great a teacher you will be. You made these SPELLs however long ago, and then adapted each story to fit them just as you will adapt each day to fit your day's objective a year from now.
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