So the Patriots are out. I guess I miscalled that one. However, I did call the number of points for the Patriots (34). I just had the Colts scoring a few points fewer than that instead of a few points more. But the Red Sox open spring training in about a month and all will be well in the world again.
The Oscar nominations are also out. A few surprises. No best pic for Dreamgirls. I'm actually in agreement that it did not deserve a nomination, but I am nevertheless surprised. It will probably take the two supporting categories for Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. And maybe a couple others (Art Direction, Song). In lead actor I was happy to see Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson and Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond. I figured DiCaprio to get one for The Departed, but he is indeed better in Blood Diamond, so I guess they got it right. I fear both will lose out to Forest Whitaker though.
I still believe Babel is one of the most overrated pics of the year. And it may very well win the big prize. Reminds me something of how I reacted to The English Patient. All that buzz and hoopla, and I found it to be just so-so.
Today I'm off to see what all the hype is over Peter O'Toole in Venus. That is, after a mind-numbing peformance of Lord of the Dance. The next biggie on my list is Letters from Iwo Jima, followed by Pan's Labyrinth.
And the big news....
At 1pm on Friday I took over the position of English Department Chair. My now retired predecessor brought me into the office, asked if I felt he had cleared enough out, and handed over the keys to the kingdom. I walked with him to the principal's office. The principal thanked him for 35 years of service, including seven as department chair. There were handshakes, and then he was gone. He left with a bottle of champagne (from another teacher), a book (from me), a few mementos from his desk and office, and 35 years of service and thousands of students to be proud of.
As for me, I had to stay in the principal's office for my first official sit down with him. We talked about what the first week would be like, how I planned to manage the chaos that will ensue on Monday morning, and about the leadership style I would offer in this new position. This was my second big meeting of the day, as earlier Friday morning, I had done something similar with the superintendent downtown in the central office.
The rest of the day I spent integrating my brain with literally volumes of information. MCAS standards and performance goals. Citywide objectives for 2007. Vertical alignment plans between high school and middle schools. District standards for personnel evaluation and supervision. Personnel files for the sixteen people in my department. Those are interesting. Some of them are about 3-5 pages in length. Others could fill books.
Then I did some of the small detail planning that will make the next week as smooth as possible. Reassignment of classes and classrooms to different teachers. Shuffling of new semester class lists. Changing the master schedule in the principal's office.
Then I went back in on Saturday. Becoming department head means I drop from five to two classes. Which means my (former) classroom would be wasted on me. So someone else gets to move in. So I spent some time packing up that room. Didn't finish, but I'll be back at it Monday afternoon. Then I did some moving into the office. Again, still a work in progress.
So I guess this marks something of a new chapter in life for me. I know it marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of my school. I am the first of a new generation of educators to step up into a leadership role. In the next few years, I will certainly be joined by many others. I can feel the symbolism of the moment, mostly because my superintendent and principal keep reminding me of it. It's very exciting, but yet challenging. I feel ready for the task, and obviously my superiors feel the same.
On with the new chapter...
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Happy Sunday
So it's truly a Sunday in late January, maybe a little bit because it's been bitterly cold out the last few days but mostly because the Patriots and Colts lock up again for an AFC championship game. I must say that after last weeks win over the Chargers, I like the Patriots' chances. When these kinds of games come along, they always seem to find a way to win. I called the game last week for the Patriots by three. I didn't call a score, but I got at least the margin of victory right. I imagine it will be a relatively high scoring game, so for today I'll go with Patriots 34, Colts 27.
Spent yesterday away from the cold with two movies and a comedy/music show at the "new" Citi Center for the Performing Arts. The movies were a pair I'd meant to see for some time. Started with The Last King of Scotland, for which Forest Whitaker is getting all kinds of praise and awards. I thought the movie was just okay and he, although good, might be getting too much attention. He effectively runs the gamut from charming to downright menacing as the Ugandan dictator Amin. But I feel like if you count the minutes of on screen time, he's more a "supporting" than lead actor.
Then on to Miss Potter, the very charming tale of Beatrix Potter and her writing and selling of her Peter Rabbit and other children's books. It's short, entertaining, and requires very little thought. A nice antidote to what I started with. Rene Zellweger is very good, but the movie's strength is its art and set direction.
After my double feature, it was time to work Jamie Foxx. I expected a comedy show. It was just that for about 40 minutes (of two and a half hours). The rest was a concert. I could have done without the concert part, but his comedy routine was absolutely hysterical. The concert segment did have one really "cool" part when he came out as Ray Charles and did a couple of his songs. That was fun. And then a quick tribute to James Brown.
I was just looking ahead on my calendar as I was writing in some work events coming up. And in so doing I realized how quickly we're moving towards April, which marks the first of a few eagerly anticipated trips for me. For ten days in April, I will enjoy my first ever trip to Italy, with stops in Venice, Florence, and Rome. That's an adults-only school trip which should be a lot of fun. Then in May I have five days in London around the Memorial Day long weekend, including performances of the new Lord of the Rings musical and the great play Equus (starring a Harry Potter-less Daniel Radcliffe). Then just after school gets out in June, I return to Italy for two weeks, but this time to Rome, Sorrento and the Mediterranean islands of Capri and Lipari. I will of course look forward to all of them, but something tells me that the last one will be much needed when we get to mid-June.
Spent yesterday away from the cold with two movies and a comedy/music show at the "new" Citi Center for the Performing Arts. The movies were a pair I'd meant to see for some time. Started with The Last King of Scotland, for which Forest Whitaker is getting all kinds of praise and awards. I thought the movie was just okay and he, although good, might be getting too much attention. He effectively runs the gamut from charming to downright menacing as the Ugandan dictator Amin. But I feel like if you count the minutes of on screen time, he's more a "supporting" than lead actor.
Then on to Miss Potter, the very charming tale of Beatrix Potter and her writing and selling of her Peter Rabbit and other children's books. It's short, entertaining, and requires very little thought. A nice antidote to what I started with. Rene Zellweger is very good, but the movie's strength is its art and set direction.
After my double feature, it was time to work Jamie Foxx. I expected a comedy show. It was just that for about 40 minutes (of two and a half hours). The rest was a concert. I could have done without the concert part, but his comedy routine was absolutely hysterical. The concert segment did have one really "cool" part when he came out as Ray Charles and did a couple of his songs. That was fun. And then a quick tribute to James Brown.
I was just looking ahead on my calendar as I was writing in some work events coming up. And in so doing I realized how quickly we're moving towards April, which marks the first of a few eagerly anticipated trips for me. For ten days in April, I will enjoy my first ever trip to Italy, with stops in Venice, Florence, and Rome. That's an adults-only school trip which should be a lot of fun. Then in May I have five days in London around the Memorial Day long weekend, including performances of the new Lord of the Rings musical and the great play Equus (starring a Harry Potter-less Daniel Radcliffe). Then just after school gets out in June, I return to Italy for two weeks, but this time to Rome, Sorrento and the Mediterranean islands of Capri and Lipari. I will of course look forward to all of them, but something tells me that the last one will be much needed when we get to mid-June.
Friday, January 5, 2007
The Times They Are A-Changin'
So wrote and sang Bob Dylan. And lately its lyrics have been in my mind at work.
In three short weeks, my department chair will be retiring. His retirement affects the entire English department, which is the largest in the school. When he is replaced, all of us will feel the "weirdness" of working under someone other than him. By my count, of the sixteen department members, he hired or welcomed as intra-district transfers ten of us. So there are ten people who have known only him in that role. As for me, I was hired by his predecessor, who left the job six months into my first year. So I as well have really only known him in the role.
It is pretty much known who his successor will be. But since it is not official, I won't write of it here. But it is someone from within the department, which should hopefully engender some sense of continuity. But the elevation of a department member combined with his retirement itself presents a series of challenges (both large and small) for the new chair and the department. Fortunately, much of these are foreseeable and have been planned for in the last few weeks. Questions like, who will teach the sections of Advanced Placement Senior English currently taught by the chair? And once those go to someone, what two classes will he/she give up in return? Department chairs teach two classes whereas the rest of us teach five. Which two will the one who is promoted keep and which three will be reassigned? Will the classroom vacated by the new chair go to a brand new teacher or will someone else be given the "right of way" to the room?
Those are some of the small ones. The biggest challenge, of course, is to hire a new teacher to fill the void that will be left when all the shuffling is complete. Recognizing that his stake in the hiring is very small since he will be gone, the chair has formed a hiring committee to handle this task. I am on this committee and we began the interviewing this week.
Less than a week after the change occurs, we will have our February "contractual day," after school departmental meetings and projects. And that meeting will be led by someone new. And that will feel weird.
In three short weeks, my department chair will be retiring. His retirement affects the entire English department, which is the largest in the school. When he is replaced, all of us will feel the "weirdness" of working under someone other than him. By my count, of the sixteen department members, he hired or welcomed as intra-district transfers ten of us. So there are ten people who have known only him in that role. As for me, I was hired by his predecessor, who left the job six months into my first year. So I as well have really only known him in the role.
It is pretty much known who his successor will be. But since it is not official, I won't write of it here. But it is someone from within the department, which should hopefully engender some sense of continuity. But the elevation of a department member combined with his retirement itself presents a series of challenges (both large and small) for the new chair and the department. Fortunately, much of these are foreseeable and have been planned for in the last few weeks. Questions like, who will teach the sections of Advanced Placement Senior English currently taught by the chair? And once those go to someone, what two classes will he/she give up in return? Department chairs teach two classes whereas the rest of us teach five. Which two will the one who is promoted keep and which three will be reassigned? Will the classroom vacated by the new chair go to a brand new teacher or will someone else be given the "right of way" to the room?
Those are some of the small ones. The biggest challenge, of course, is to hire a new teacher to fill the void that will be left when all the shuffling is complete. Recognizing that his stake in the hiring is very small since he will be gone, the chair has formed a hiring committee to handle this task. I am on this committee and we began the interviewing this week.
Less than a week after the change occurs, we will have our February "contractual day," after school departmental meetings and projects. And that meeting will be led by someone new. And that will feel weird.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Is It Really January?
Near 60 tomorrow. Chunks of polar ice caps breaking off. I guess that settles the global warming issue for me (if I hadn't known already).
I got to Blood Diamond tonight. An excellent film. I've written here and said many times recently that Leonardo DiCaprio delivers the best performance in this year's best movie, The Departed. And he does. But believe it or not, he's better in Blood Diamond. A commanding performance, very nuanced and convincing in his role. He is superbly supported by Djimon Hounsou, who deserves Oscar's notice. And Jennifer Connelly is excellent as well in her supporting role.
So tomorrow we will make a bit of history in Massachusetts when Deval Patrick becomes our governor. This is a moment I am very exicted about. After a steady diet of weak, distracted, and ineffective governors, who were generally unfriendly toward any causes I support, I look forward to the next four years (or more). Although, I must offer a slight disclaimer and admit that I did like Governor Weld and agreed with him on many issues, and in fact, cast my first vote in 1994 for his re-election, which is still the only time I have ever voted Republican.
I expect Deval will have to confront many obstacles and parry many challenges in the years ahead. But he's up to all of them. I wouldn't have voted for him if I didn't think so. This was the first vote I cast in some time where I felt like I was fully behind the candidate for whom I was voting for what he stood for and what he promised, instead of for what I perceived to be the lesser of two evils or "anyone other than so and so" (in other words, John Kerry). Oh and a note to the senator: please don't try again in 2008. Save yourself the money and embarrassment.
I got to Blood Diamond tonight. An excellent film. I've written here and said many times recently that Leonardo DiCaprio delivers the best performance in this year's best movie, The Departed. And he does. But believe it or not, he's better in Blood Diamond. A commanding performance, very nuanced and convincing in his role. He is superbly supported by Djimon Hounsou, who deserves Oscar's notice. And Jennifer Connelly is excellent as well in her supporting role.
So tomorrow we will make a bit of history in Massachusetts when Deval Patrick becomes our governor. This is a moment I am very exicted about. After a steady diet of weak, distracted, and ineffective governors, who were generally unfriendly toward any causes I support, I look forward to the next four years (or more). Although, I must offer a slight disclaimer and admit that I did like Governor Weld and agreed with him on many issues, and in fact, cast my first vote in 1994 for his re-election, which is still the only time I have ever voted Republican.
I expect Deval will have to confront many obstacles and parry many challenges in the years ahead. But he's up to all of them. I wouldn't have voted for him if I didn't think so. This was the first vote I cast in some time where I felt like I was fully behind the candidate for whom I was voting for what he stood for and what he promised, instead of for what I perceived to be the lesser of two evils or "anyone other than so and so" (in other words, John Kerry). Oh and a note to the senator: please don't try again in 2008. Save yourself the money and embarrassment.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Babel .. a whole lot of nothing
So I went to see Babel last night. Somehow I hadn't seen it before and the timing worked, so I figured why not. I think this one belongs on my prior list of disappointments of 2006.
The first hour is some of the most tedious movie watching I've done in some time. It felt like three hours. I will say that the second half is much better. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment that the movie finally came to life (it involved border patrol, a nanny, two little kids, and Gael Garcia Bernal). From then on, it was intense, a bit poignant, and featured some solid filmmaking. But on the whole I think it was not as good as I was hoping.
The remaining elusive pic is Blood Diamond, which I hope to find somewhere in the next week or so.
The first hour is some of the most tedious movie watching I've done in some time. It felt like three hours. I will say that the second half is much better. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact moment that the movie finally came to life (it involved border patrol, a nanny, two little kids, and Gael Garcia Bernal). From then on, it was intense, a bit poignant, and featured some solid filmmaking. But on the whole I think it was not as good as I was hoping.
The remaining elusive pic is Blood Diamond, which I hope to find somewhere in the next week or so.
Monday, January 1, 2007
The Top Ten Revisited
So I went on a movie going spree this week to try to catch a few that had eluded me. I started with a revisit to The Departed, and I was reminded why this was my favorite movie of the year. Nicholson is classic Nicholson, and Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg are solid. But I think the stand out performance comes from Leonardo DiCaprio. And Scorsese's direction is flawless.
Damon, who like I said was solid in The Departed, is even better in The Good Shepherd. It's a long movie, but you would never know it the way it moves through its story.
The Pursuit of Happyness is better than I thought it would be. Will Smith will get himself an Oscar nomination for this one.
Notes on a Scandal is quite good. Judi Dench is nothing like you've ever seen her, and Cate Blanchett matches her in terms of performance. Plus there's an excellent supporting performance from Bill Nighy and a very good score by Philip Glass.
And then there's Dreamgirls. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this, and I'm afraid it just doesn't live up to any of it. There is no question that Jennifer Hudson is absolutely thrilling in her part. She literally electrifies the screen in two scenes/songs I can think of. But take her out of the movie, and there's not much movie left. The one exception to that might be Eddie Murphy, who is good in his supporting part. However, I was impressed more by its costumes and its art direction in particular.
So my top ten revised (or expanded from eight to ten):
10. Notes on a Scandal
9. The History Boys
8. Bobby
7. Before the Fall
6. The Queen
5. Half Nelson
4. The Good Shepherd
3. Little Children
2. Little Miss Sunshine
1. The Departed
Damon, who like I said was solid in The Departed, is even better in The Good Shepherd. It's a long movie, but you would never know it the way it moves through its story.
The Pursuit of Happyness is better than I thought it would be. Will Smith will get himself an Oscar nomination for this one.
Notes on a Scandal is quite good. Judi Dench is nothing like you've ever seen her, and Cate Blanchett matches her in terms of performance. Plus there's an excellent supporting performance from Bill Nighy and a very good score by Philip Glass.
And then there's Dreamgirls. There has been a lot of hype surrounding this, and I'm afraid it just doesn't live up to any of it. There is no question that Jennifer Hudson is absolutely thrilling in her part. She literally electrifies the screen in two scenes/songs I can think of. But take her out of the movie, and there's not much movie left. The one exception to that might be Eddie Murphy, who is good in his supporting part. However, I was impressed more by its costumes and its art direction in particular.
So my top ten revised (or expanded from eight to ten):
10. Notes on a Scandal
9. The History Boys
8. Bobby
7. Before the Fall
6. The Queen
5. Half Nelson
4. The Good Shepherd
3. Little Children
2. Little Miss Sunshine
1. The Departed
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