I started teaching in 1973. For my birthday in 1974 a friend of mine gave me a guitar. I knew some basic chords that I had learned when I was a teenager and this new guitar inspired me to sing folksongs and incorporate them into my teaching. Granted the students (6th graders) that I was teaching were not going to be impressed with the Kingston Trio’s “Tom Dooley”, but they did get into songs like “This Land is Your Land”, “The Titanic”, “Ballad of Jesse James”, and “Battle of New Orleans”. The summer of my third year of teaching a fellow teacher, Jerry Silverstein, took me to the Philadelphia Folk Festival for the first time, and I was introduced to a whole new set of tunes to use in class. Singing with kids became an important part of my teaching. I continued singing throughout my career.
I’m sorry, what did you say?
As I get older, it seems that my hearing has become more sensitive and less accurate at the same time. The same thing goes for my family. Obviously aging has something to do with this. Heredity plays a part also (my mother became hard of hearing when she was older). Part of my hearing sensitivity has to do with the environment I married into.
I married a woman from Iowa. She was very sensitive to things that were loud. She enjoyed quiet evenings in quiet places, which might have had some influence why she doesn’t like to go to movies. I grew up in New York right next to a subway train yard, loud radiators, in an apartment that had street sounds and light flashes all the time. My wife and I settled in a suburb in Long Island. The longer that we lived together the more used to quiet I became. Then we had my son. He grew up with a sensory integration issues. Too much stimulation, especially noise, made it difficult for him to do things. Hence there was even more quiet. The more used to quieter things I became, the more sensitive I was to louder sounds.
What’s in a name?
When you are born your parents give you a name. For some it takes many hours to determine what that name should be. Some want it to reflect family heritage. Some want it to be connected to popular culture, based on some famous book, TV or movie character. Some just like the way it sounds. For whatever reason, you are given a name that your parents want you known by. Then you grow up and your name gets personalized. Your name becomes the unique identifier of you. In some cases decided by some and accepted by everyone. In some chosen only to be used by select groups. In some cases you choose it yourself.
For some it is just a shortening of your name. Jonathan becomes John, Christina becomes Tina, Elizabeth becomes Beth or Liz, etc. For others it is a true nickname. George Herman Ruth became the Babe, Doctor Leonard McCoy became Bones, Djeliba Baba becomes Baba the Storyteller, to name a few.
When I generally interact with people I shorten everyone’s first name, I refer to my son David as D, my niece Alison as Ali, Michael – Mike, Rachel – Rache. My name shortened would be Harv and no one refers to me as that. My first name does not lend itself to many options. With a given name like Harvey, most people call me Harvey.
Technology and change
There have been a lot of articles written recently about the decline of interpersonal connectiveness due to the increase in use of technology. There are more people texting on cell phones, spending time on Facebook, Twitter and other online social networks, not to mention surfing the Internet and other electronic anti-socializing tools (iPad, iPod, .mp3 players). All this has contributed to people drifting away from face to face contact and truly knowing each other… or so the articles say.
My wife and son are strong believers in these thoughts. They credit the obsession with technology for increasing divorces, having less solid friendships and basically a decline in our society. Where I believe that all this technology is causing a disconnect between individuals, I cannot quite believe that it is the decline of our society. I’d like to think of it as the evolution of our society. Now understand that these opinions are all coming from someone who has become somewhat immersed in technology, where my wife and son have not.
To tell or not to tell? – that is the question
I recently was preparing for a storytelling concert in which the theme was kindness and Bucket Filling. For those of you that don’t know what Bucket Filling is, it is based on a book by Carol McCloud, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? To fill a bucket one does things that makes others feel good about themselves. It can be anything from complimenting them to just smiling at them. You can fill your own bucket also. That usually happens by filling someone else’s bucket. The opposite of a bucket filler is a bucket dipper. That happens when you take away from someone’s good feelings. Bullies are bucket dippers.
With that as the theme for my program I did my usual research to find stories that I already tell and new ones that fit the theme. One of those new stories I chose was ‘More Than a Match’ by Aaron Shepard. Aaron gives permission for storytellers to tell this story. The story takes place on the road between the cities of Here and There. A giant blocks the road. When the king’s most powerful warriors are defeated by the giant, the Wise One discovers the giant’s true power (the giant’s father is the wind and mother a curved mirror so he shows whatever he sees reflected back) and through kindness learns how to defeat the giant and get his help. Aaron states on his website that this story is suited for ages 5-12 and adult.
As is my usual practice when learning and telling new material, I go to my local schools and practice on willing classes. Since this performance was going to be for grades 1-2 and 3-4, I decided to practice on classes within that age range.
The first class I practiced with was a 3rd grade class. After telling the story the teacher asked the class how the giant was defeated and with a little prompting was able to get the mirror analogy from a student. My second class was also a 3rd grade class. They however could not get the analogy and therefore did not understand the underlying meaning of the story. There were two reasons that they didn’t get the story. One was that the analogy of a mirror was probably too abstract for them. And two, I used a wrong term when describing how the giant helped the Wise One.
Continue reading To tell or not to tell? – that is the question…
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Where do I get it from?
What is it about growing up that defines the kinds of people we become? How do we chose from the myriad of characteristics and values of our ancestors, which will become part of our makeup? There are many characteristics of my parents that I see in myself. Just as there are characteristics of me that I see in my son. Then there are a number of characteristics of my parents that I chose not to adopt. What influenced me to make those choices, if they were choices at all?
Continue reading Where do I get it from?…
Technology – a love – hate relationship
What is it about technology that gives the perception of using it such a varied point of view? I look at technology as tools to use to make our life simpler and more efficient whereas others look at technology as just a plaything or a geek thing. Take writing for example, when I’m writing on the computer to compose a story or other piece of writing, each person in my family looks at what I’m doing from a different perspective. I look at it as I’m doing writing. The rest of my family look at it as I’m using technology and that is where the discussion regarding my activities focuses.
Payback
I’ve always loved slapstick comedies. When I was young I used to imitate some of the physical pratfalls that comedians did on TV and movies. I excelled at falling down and walking into things. This became very useful when I actually did walk into things, since no one knew how clumsy I really was. I used to do these types of activities just to amuse myself, and others, especially my young nieces and nephews. My favorite was walking into walls and doors. When close enough to a wall, I would drag my back foot so it brushed my front foot, and thus creating the impression that I was tripping over something. As I headed toward the wall in question I would raise my hand and slap the wall just as my head was close enough to look as if it hit it. The sound of the slap, followed by a rebound of my head was enough to look as if I had tripped into a wall. I would immediately put my hand to my face and look dazed to complete the impression. Depending upon who was the witness, there was either shock or laughter. Adults tended to be shocked and wanted to offer help, children laughed. This type of slapstick behavior continued well throughout my young adulthood. Sometimes doing these types of behaviors did not have consequences.
Recurring dreams
Think about what dreams you have that are recurring. We all must have some. Those are probably the ones that are more likely to be remembered over time. When I was young (between 9-12 years old). I always had this recurring dream of being in a city excavation site. There were big steam shovels that were digging up things and burying them. Somehow I was always part of the burying part, as in the object being buried. Sometimes my parents were there, sometimes it was just me. I’m sure all you Freudian psych majors out there have already figured out some devious meaning behind all of those dreams.
As I got older I still had recurring dreams, but they usually were based on other themes. Continue reading Recurring dreams…
More Itch
Uncle Itch was a folk music enthusiast. You could always hear him singing Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger or Peter, Paul and Mary songs. Some songs he sang just stuck with you. I still can’t get the song, “The Cat Came Back” out of my head whenever he’s around. His main instrument was the guitar, though that didn’t stop him from attempting other instruments. He has also learned to play the fiddle, mandolin, and harmonica as a performer. He told us that he took piano lessons as a child for a short time and in Junior High School he played the trumpet. As an adult he tried learning the viola, string bass, saxophone, and both hammered and mountain dulcimers, but just couldn’t stick with them.