Being yourself

i can't get enough of

i was just looking at my blog and noticed that i have two back-to-back entries having to do with movies. just then it struck me that i really do like movies, sometimes, more than i am willing to admit. it got me wondering what else i really like, anything, including those things that i have a hard time admitting to.

1. checking email: there's just something about it. i look forward to checking my email and seeing if something exciting has come in. it's like a little treasure box that i get to open a few times a day and often find a new treasure in.

2. eating ice-cream: this might be a temporary one. ever since i got pregnant, i cannot get enough ice-cream. sugar, fat and milk -- what else could be better? the one situation i will recount forever will be the day it was 29F outside and i found myself in the ice-cream shop, occupied by one other being -- a 2 year old. we both just had to have our ice-cream that day.

3. having a clean kitchen: after living with vamshi all these years, we have come to have a decent equation about tidiness around the home. it's a delicate balance between our individual notions of what tidy means and what needs to be tidy. the one place where i won't let go is the kitchen. i am the kind of person that cannot think when things are out of order. i have come to adjust but i continue to have a complete brain freeze if the kitchen is in a disarray. i clean as i go and i bug vamshi to do the same. his calm nature makes our kitchen a tolerable place to be.

4. hearing a story as i fall asleep: i had the priviledge of having 4 grandparents and a great grandparent alive and around me when i was growing up. this meant a sumptuous story time before i feel asleep. i still love a story, anytime but especially when falling asleep. as the years have rolled, even me just reading aloud a story is fine. often, i fall asleep as i am reading. i cannot wait to read stories to the little one. i don't think i will get to fall asleep during those.

5. the sun: it was out today and after weeks of gloomy weather, i couldn't appreciate it enough. sunny weather always cheers me up and i have a high tolerance for heat so i just can't get enough of the sun.

the Oscars

For me, the Oscars come and go most years. I hear of the winners on the radio or through other people. Sometimes, I happen to be channel surfing and come across them. This year, however, we got invited to an Oscars party at our friends Acya and Richard's. Richard grew up knowing the industry intimately so the Oscars are a big deal in their home. We enjoyed what turned out to be a great way to watch the award ceremony. We heckled, grimaced, commented galore at the dresses and laughed our hearts out. Added to that, Richard had a little contest going in which we each picked our winner for each of the big categories. You got a point for every pick that eventually won. The person with most points won, getting a nominated movie of their choice as the winning prize. Needless to say, I did not win but I sure had a fun evening and I did not think that The Departed deserved to win the Best Movie category.

5 days, 10 movies

The possibilities that PSCS makes real continue to amaze me. This past week, we paused our 'regular' schedule and have each staff member focus on a single topic with a group of interested students. One of the topics that emerged was "Movies -- watching them for the whole week". I twisted that to be "Teach Anoo American Through Movies". And, so began the process of picking out the movies. My only restriction was that they couldn't contain gore or violence. Several students contributed to the process -- hey, who was going to give up the chance to tell Anoo what she should watch? Here is the final set, embelished with my comments, that we ended up watching:

Breakfast Club: I thought this was a very cleverly done movie. I walked away getting a real feel for the life of an american teenager in the 1980s presented through an unusual setting.

Donnie Darko: When we first watching this movie on Monday, I felt it was good. As the week wore on, I felt less excited about it -- I could do without the bizarreness of it.

Jesus Camp: Now, here's a must watch! This documentary represents a real, and, the very scary might I add, reality of Jesus Camps held by a group of Pentecostal Christians for their young children.

Benny and Joon: This is exactly the kind of movie I would like and I did! It is so sweet, and, real in so many ways to how I like to look at the world. Of course, the fact that it had Johnny Depp in it, helped.

Cry Baby: Yeah, I know this is one of those 'oh my god, American movies' but I could have done without it, even though it had Johnny Depp in it. I am just not into 1950s musicals that are overly dramatic.

Clerks: The plotless, real nature of this movie, grabbed me. Besides, there aren't many things more American than convenience stores, wouldn't you say?

Rebel Without A Cause: I am glad I watched this classic, but I don't think my life would have been incomplete without it. James Dean did not exactly do it for me.

Edward Scissorhands: I really appreciated the 1950s suburban representation in this Johnny Depp bonanza. I found many subtle and important messages conveyed -- the struggle for acceptance that is true for all "not normal" people and the conforming nature of suburban living.

Davy Crockett, King Of The Wild Frontier: I really like movies set in old times and I found this Disney production of the legend that was Davy Crockett quite enjoyable.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape: Oh, what a sweet role Johnny Depp plays in this movie. Leonardo Di Caprio was at his best! I was really moved by how american the movie was.

Needless to say, I am overdosed now and a little more educated on american culture or more than that, on what my students like watching.

my mum

My mum left today after a 7 week stay with me. Before she arrived, I did not know if I really needed her to come and keep me company while Vamshi made a short trip to India. Over the years, I have come to really appreciate my relationship with my mum and this trip brought it to the forefront all over again. Now that she has left, I am beside myself with sorrrow, perhaps it's pregnancy hormones but I also think it is just her and me missing her. What hit me the most is that she is the one person who takes care of me so wholly! I like that - it is nice to have someone who cares for all those simple and little things that can be such annoyances. She smooths out my rough-edged days with just the right level of attention to little things like undone business in our home, or my crazy home projects or making it easy to entertain friends. In many ways, I feel embarrased that at 32 I still enjoy being taken care of by my mum, but I just cannot deny it. I miss my mum!

a new way of learning?

"Teachers observe children’s play and listen carefully to children’s questions so they may support emergent projects and creations that come directly from the children instead of the teachers. In small group work teams and large group free choice activities, teachers provide invitations to the children on topics they express interest in.", that is what the Learning model at Hilltop Children's Center in Seattle is all about. In so many ways, it is exactly like PSCS. I have had the pleasure of visiting Hilltop twice now, spending time with the children and having discussions with a teacher who has taught there for 20 years. Based on the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy, Hilltop provides a very supportive environment for children to follow their natural curiosity and passions.

In my second visit this week, some things were very stark. Children are not rushed from activity to activity, when they play, they play for 2-3 hours at a time, allowing them enough time to start/create a game, alter it, have others join them, run into conflicts sometimes, resolve conflicts on their own, re-create the game and so on. The tremendous number of learning opportunities in what seems like a simple cycle of play are many -- for one there is the chance to create something, imaginative play, of socializing while playing, of dealing with conflict and learning to resolve it, of adjusting based on changing conditions, desires and ideas, of having the freedom to really explore something, of staying focused on one basic activity for a long period. Don't these just sound like basic skills that any grown human to eventually have? And, they are coming about in the space of extended play time, experienced by 3-5 year olds.

Another thing that stood out to me was that there was no adult-child conflict. There was just no power play or control being exercised by adults. When adults wanted children to do something, they gently suggested it. Most often the children just accepted the request. This also happened vice versa. It was so refreshing to not hear the words, "I need you to do ...", a term used so often by teachers. Instead, teachers walked up to the children and said, "your blocks are on the floor and we are going to go out to play in a few minutes". The child then inferred what they needed to do next. How about that? Not having to exercise authority, demand action and face resistance when doing so!

This week, I also got to watch a video of one of the original Reggio Emilia schools. In this one, 4-6 year olds were focused on a project about the lion. It was inspired by the stone statue of a lion outside the town church. The children explored the lion in every which way -- by climbing on it, measuring it with a tape, making molds of it's body parts, doing shadow drawings, then creating their own shadow theater, making sketches, creating clay sculptures (yes, 5 year olds created fantastic clay sculptures), painting, making costumes, having puppet shows, all lasting 40 days (I don't know if this happened day after day every day, I imagine not though). How fabulous? Instead of looking through a book of pictures and having the teacher talk about lions, explore and 'feel' them in every which way possible! Imagine the questions and varied aspects of lions that the children might have come across in this process.

I get to return to Hilltop one more time. This time, PSCS students will read children's story books that they themeselves, wrote, created and illustrated to 3-5 year olds. I cannot wait to experience it!

Did I say, I love doing what I do?

sweetest compliment

I received one of the sweetest compliment today. I did a bunch of work for a class that my students really appreciated. In addition to their appreciation of the work for the class, they all added, "you are going to make such a good mom". It warmed my heart to hear that. It means quite something to receive this compliment from a bunch of youth that don't always have the most endearing way of looking at adults, let alone those that might be parents or prospective parents.