I’m here to amuse you? #DWHABIT

I’m funny how? I mean funny, like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh? I’m here to amuse you? Whattya you mean funny? Funny how? How am I funny?
I better be there to amuse them. If I don´t amuse them, I certainly will lose them. Could you imagine sitting through a 6 hour show that was dry and boring? As the one time assistant to a magician, I often equate my day as a six hour show. It is one hard gig.
The prep. It is the backstage work, the rehearsals, the set construction and costume design and it definitely is not long enough! I spend my time at home revising the day, the lesson, the conversation. There is Smartboards to create, animated gifs and text to download, fonts to chose and the best interactive venue to be chosen.

The different acts of my day must draw them in.  There must be action, suspense, drama, and certainly comedy.  I must also be able to read my audience.  Why are they here?  Are they invested or are they just here because they have to be?  How can I get them invested?  How can I get them to care about the show that Iḿ putting on?  How can I get them to see that they are not just the audience but the characters themselves.

Of course Iḿ here to amuse them.  They are children and they are here to have fun.  I just have to sneak the education in there.

Posssess or Not To Possess

In trying to increase my daily writing habit and the fact that Iḿ home sick and done binge watching tv, I thought I would embrace the challenge posed by Teach Write. The Word of the Day challenge is to eliminate the fear of the blank page. The word for today is possess.
The first thing I thought of was, ¨Wow! There are a lot of Ss in that word.¨  The next thing I thought of was Sarah McLaclanś song Possession. That song was constantly on the 5 disc changer during college.
More prevalently, as I look at the wrapping paper and gifts to be wrapped, I think about all the possessions that my little ones have.  TOO MANY!! There is too many possessions for them to keep track of, to clean up, to appreciate.  I think they have more toys then my 4 brothers and I had put together.  I ask myself is this a sign of the times?  Are we a society of possession hungry people.
I hear the news of the middle class having a hard time making ends meet, of Long Island homeowners being house poor and I wonder what have we created.
I remember driving around in a used station wagon.  Not us today.  I have a beautiful Ford Explorer and my husband has a Chevy Colorado.  We just did our house over, with new tile, new countertops, new siding.  I see something online and click! I buy it.  It cannot just be me that can confess this kind of spending and accumulating of possessions.
I drive about two hours a day and the majority of cars are new.  The expectation for a destination vacation is commonplace.  We are a society of possessions.
We just studied the Native Americans of New York and how they met all their wants and needs from the good Earthś natural resources.  While my students marveled at the idea of living such a way, I saw the beauty in the simplicity.  Iḿ sure their lives had their hardships but Iḿ sure they also had less need for Xanex.
I wish I could turn back the clock for my kids and help them appreciate having all of what they need.  I first need to get rid of my own possession addiction and Amazon account.