1. I have learned that almost 100% of the time, when a student is disgruntled, complains about class, blows up, comes late to class, seems distracted, doesn't get work done, acts like a jerk, seems out of sorts, it's not about the course and it's not about me as the teacher or as a person. It's not very often about the student being a jerk. It's always something crappy in the student's life outside of class, some pressure at work, a problem with a friend/spouse/girl-boy friend, something family related with custody or problems a student's child is having at school that the student brings to school and acts out about. It doesn't matter what the student's age is. It's universal. I have resolved that if it seems to me a student is trying to pick an argument with me or is looking for trouble, I'll be patient, try to wait it out, and almost always what surfaces, without me asking, is that the problem is really elsewhere. It happened again today and the student in question and I said our farewells after class today on great terms. By not getting riled up and staying calm, I sure make my life smoother, sometimes easier.
2. I hadn't been to the Bier Stein for a while and dropped in after work and enjoyed, half a glass at a time, three Weihenstephan Festbeirs, an Oktoberfest/Marzen Lager with a half a tuna salad sandwich and a cup of beer cheese soup. I love German lagers and this one was perfect for me: light, a little sweet, clean, crisp, slightly bitter, very easy to enjoy.
3. I regaled the Deke this evening from my side of the living room as I played parts of songs from the mid to late sixties. What a golden age of pop music! The classics: "Try to Remember" sung by Andy Williams, Robert Goulet, and Jim Nabors. More Jim Nabors: "Impossible Dream". Ed Ames, "Try to Remember". I played "Love is Blue" including the Claudine Longet vocal version. I played "Sugar, Sugar". "I Think I Love You." Some Brooklyn Bridge -- "It's the Worst that Could Happen". Oh there was more and the Deke laughed and identified songs as quickly as she could. ("I'm good!" She is.) We wrapped it up with Jeannie C. Riley and "Harper Valley P.T.A.".
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