Dear Future,

First day of teaching today. Sobering in a number of respects. Affirming in a number of respects. Exhausting in a number of respects. The VRTTP is beginning to prove itself, in fact, VR. And I was only responsible for about 1/8th of the day. (After which I could have used an 1/8th!) (Suppressing my impulse towards this sort of joke is among the more exhausting aspects.)

When I was done in the classroom my advisor gave us letters she'd had her own students write to new teachers. Here's the one I received.

May 25, 2011

Dear Future,

Have you ever had a bad teacher? I have. I want to tell you what a good teacher does.

A good teacher lets us work with partners. They don't just tell us what to do. They show it! They play games while they teach. They play games when we do something correct. They would let us have recess. When we make mistakes you should say, try again. You should teach in a fun way. You should stay on the subject until we get it. Some good teachers reward their students when doing something perfect on the first time. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Latasha C.

Italics don't quite do justice to her deliberate script. And sure, she's totally passive-agressive, but somehow her letter didn't read that way this afternoon.

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I was really hoping to balance the sincerity of this post with a Seinfeld clip - No, I don't eat dinner. Dinner's for suckers. - but it is impossible to find more than a handful of Seinfeld videos on the Internet. Internet, this is your tragic flaw. Instead, to keep you from being crushed under the weight of both my sincerity and Craig Minowa's, here is a quick visit to the end of the sincerity spectrum on which I am most comfortable.

Hayes Carll - Hard Out Here

Oh, God, we're all out of beer!

Just Stay One Minute More

About moments that last forever.

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It must be hard to sing about moments like that. I enjoy the Simms Twins version of this song, but when it's over I confess to finding myself unsure as to where, exactly, it's at.

The Simms Twins & Sam Cooke - That's Where It's At [Chatter]

The Simms Twins - That's Where It's At

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A key ingredient for moments that last forever: feeling it. This is how the feeling began a year ago today.

DJ Crunchtime - Wedding Playlist: First Set

Sailing the Seas of the South Side

This post must begin with an overdue public thank you to Gimme Noise. Their local mixtape roundup is letting me feel like a much stronger embodiment of the Twin Cities than should be allowed for someone who has such a difficult time remembering to follow the Twins.

The Giving Tree from Greg Grease is one of the many excellent source mixtapes represented in the mixtape roundup. In addition to some laid-back beats and verses still ringing in my decidedly inexpert ears, The Giving Tree also includes tracks featuring production by a certain Noam the Drummer, formerly of Radio K's Beat Box. It's good stuff, and I was especially pleased to hear Mr. Grease digging deep on the final track. "Wizards of the Coast" seems to be a track that Tom Waits originally recorded for Rain Dogs but omitted from the official release. A shame, really.

Greg Grease feat. Vance Astrovick - Wizards of the Coast

Tom Waits - Singapore

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Mr. Waits did his own fair share of embodying the Twin Cities. I could go for a prostitute-named donut right about now.

Tom Waits - 9th & Hennepin

And, of course, I'm looking forward to Valentine's Day.

Sam Cooke Way

For the next five weeks I will be living at the Illinois Institute of Technology - Chicago, and participating in a Very Rigorous Teacher Training Program (VRTTP) with hundreds of other new teachers eager to transform student lives. Quite a lot is invested in our continued inspiration during our time here. Some will draw real energy from our organization's Vision, which is distinct from our Mission; some will be moved by our Core Values, which are distinct from our Norms. And of course nothing motivates the way Frameworks motivate.

To each his own, of course, but I intend to draw my energy one mile from campus on the newly-christened Sam Cooke Way.

Nearly 80 years after he moved to Chicago as a child, legendary soul singer Sam Cooke was honored with the renaming of a street Saturday afternoon near his boyhood home in Bronzeville....The renamed street, a stretch along 36th Street, runs near the site of the deceased musician’s family’s original home at 3527 Cottage Grove. “Sam Cooke Way” begins at Cottage Grove and runs east past another one of his boyhood homes at 724 E. 36th St.

Sam was a teacher, too. Here he is helping out The Soul Stirrers.

The Soul Stirrers - Oh Mary, Don't You Weep (Chatter)

The Soul Stirrers - Oh Mary, Don't You Weep

You may not believe this, but no time lost/the water rolled back and the children crossed.

Indeed.

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Also: Jerry Butler is the Cook County Commissioner? That's probably worth it's own post, but for now I'll just celebrate with a favorite tune from the Iceman.

Jerry Butler & Betty Everett - I Can't Stand It