He May Not Follow Lesson Plans

A lovely frum couple walk to their room

Erev Pesach 5767

Camp Isabella Freedman

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Thanks to Shoshana for pointing out an article about "a teacher who really engages his students." It paints a picture of 81 year old Arnold Blume who remains sane and talented enough after 49 years of teaching (29 years regular, 2 decades subbing regularly) to rivet students four days a week as a substitute. This man's ability to share of himself in a way that humans who were born onto a different planet than he was is remarkable.

The following is the piece of the piece that jumped up and bit me:


Barbara W. Andrews, North Middle’s principal, said Mr. Blume had carved out a niche at the intersection of teaching and oral history. He may not follow lesson plans as much as some would hope, and he has been known to talk a little too much about himself, she said. “But Arnie brings something to our school that no one else brings,” she said.

In that paragraph you find all you need to know about the typical school administrator.

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Another thing that struck about the article is that it's an article. Articles follow formulas. I would be less aware of this if a journalist and a photographernfrom The Record didn't once watch me for a day in school. The outline of what was done in each case is remarkably similar, Very early on both pieces mention the classroom number, and the age of the teacher. Very soon they each turn to quotes of what the teacher says to the class, and how the kids react. Then they turn to remarks from the students and from an administrator about the subject of the article.

Thank G-d, when I was written up in a major newspaper the assistant principal quoted was one of the kind, wonderful, caring ones.

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The cliche' works in poems

as it works in any kind of writing - badly.

Do not use the cliche' in a poem unless, perhaps,

you are writing a poem about the cliche'.

-Mary Oliver

That quote comes from A Poetry Handbook, which I bought on erev Yom Tov.

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I think improvising is under appreciated in life. I improvise a lot when I present publicly. I've learned to trust that - to some extent. My two major talks on Y"T were topics I've never spoken on before. I was juggling davening (I davened Shacharit and Musaf from the Amud as well as laining and being Gabai) and logistics while anxiously anticipatng may talk and what I'd say. It went well - I think - thank G-d.

On Shabbos I'm slated to speak on love in Judaism (ala Shir HaShirim), and I really need to gather my thoughts. One idea - a speaker today mentioned that some see Shir HaShgirim as metaphor and some see it as about man and woman. She left out a possibility, that some see it as both.