Quote of the day

Me, to six-year-old student: OK, so how far is it between D and E in the alphabet?
Student: One inch.

Tearful Violin

There was a question on a blog about whether people have had students cry in lessons.

I can't remember if I ever cried in a lesson; I don't like to cry in front of people. I did almost have a panic attack in a piano lesson when my teacher tried to get me to sing. I now realize that's a necessary skill, but I was in high school and super self-conscious, so she let me get away with humming.

As a teacher, I've had plenty of children cry in their lessons. It's usually due to frustration, and I admit that I sometimes push too hard and/or miss the child's cues that they're at the crying point. If it's a total meltdown, I utter a silent prayer of praise that the parent is in the room and I calmly end the lesson. If it's just regular tears, I let the child decide how to proceed. I never jump in to comfort beyond mild verbal reassurance, because that's not my role.

I actually prefer tears to the little guy I had once who just shut down every single time I asked him to change or repeat anything. I was reassured to find he did this with two other teachers before me; I hope he's finding life easier now than he was then.

Qu to the ack

Overheard in the Public Garden, from a young woman showing her friend around: And right over there, there's the famous duckling posse.

Cause for alarm?

Should I be concerned that the Red Line tunnel at South Station is filled with smoke?

Something almost not quite like that

This dialogue happened between me and a ten-year-old student who has a pet bird.

Me: OK, that really just needs a little more practice; I can't really say anything else about it. I mean, I can, but I don't need to.
Student: Yeah, you could say that it sounded like it was coming from the bird and that she was trying to talk through her tail!
Me: ...talk through her tail...
Student: It's like in this book (Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men) where this one character says something about "...them sayin' my playin' sounds like a spider tryin' to fart through its ears."
Me: I could say that, but it wouldn't be nice. Or true.
Student: But it would be funny!
Me: Well, yes.

QotD

"I love NEC. It's like basket weaving for musicians, only really hard." --- A cellist friend of mine

Probably not quite appropriate

In a hall where I teach, a 9- or 10-year-old girl complained to her grandmother that the book she'd just picked up was "too hard". I was about to indulge in some gratuitous mental snarkery, when I noticed that the book was "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".

Yyyyeah, um, let's see if we don't have some Nancy Drew or Babysitters Club for you around here somewhere, dear?

Whoa

OMG, the sight of the inbound train approaching Savin Hill is more than a little alarming.

What Teachers Really Want To Tell Parents

I often consider myself greatly fortunate not to be a classroom teacher, because I simply could not do it, and I have great admiration for those who are and who care enough to do their best.

However, due to certain parental types, their hands are often tied, and some of the best teachers, no matter how much they love their students, are quitting because of the parents.

And as long as I'm writing open letters

Dear sir-who-appears-to-have-seen-better-days,

I don't mind when people don't have money to tip me. I did, however, find it a bit disturbing that you croaked "I don't have any money; this is all I have" and threw a half-smoked (thankfully no longer smoldering) cigarette on the ground at my feet.

I mean, thank you for not throwing it my case, I guess...

Puzzledly,

TAF

Almost right

Dear public school string teachers:

I could not do what you do, and I greatly admire you for it, but please, teach your students the appropriate bow hold for their instruments so I don't have to fix the young violinist who's been using a cello bow hold for a year.

Love,
TAF

(A new student came to me yesterday, and after I watched her play, I asked "Is your teacher a cello player?" *big eyes* "YEAH! How did you know?")

Cause and effect

Sorry, kid, but when you deliberately smack a tree with your balloon animal, you forfeit the right to be upset when one of its little paws pops.

Low. Ri. Der.

Just walked past a guy on the Common who was playing "Low Rider" on the harmonica.

Whoa hey

As much as I like the renovations to Arlington station...and I really do...the wind tunnel effect on the escalator makes it surprisingly difficult to maintain my modesty.

Plan to ponder

If I decide to do a "Christmas In July" thing tomorrow and play entirely Christmukkah songs, will I get tipped well or beaten up?

(For anybody not in the Boston area, we're under an Excessive Heat Warning tomorrow, with a predicted high of 99F and heat index values up to 107F. Yes, I'm sure I shouldn't be busking at all tomorrow, but I like having a house to go back to when I'm done being itinerant.)

Wait, what?

Waiting for the train, hear an announcement of an Amber Alert that says to call "nine hundred eleven". There were even hyphens in the text; why is it not automatically programmed to say "nine one one"?

Oh, duh

The ado at Porter was due to the disabled train's actually having broken down in the tunnel between Harvard and Porter and passengers being evacuated. Gotcha.

Y HALLO THAR HARVARD

At least the automated announcement apologizes for "any inconvenience this has caused" instead of "any inconvenience this may cause". But why does it say AleWIFE instead of ALEwife?

(Which reminds me of my nephew thinking it was pronounced "ah-leh-WEE-fay". Which, in fairness, happened the day after I pronounced a certain Cranium category as "sculp-toh-RAH-dayss". It's Sculptorades. I live in a heavily Spanish-speaking area, ok?)

Whoa

Looks like something happened at Porter. Two ambulances, two fire...vans..., couple Transit police cars. No wait, there are three of all the above, bunch of emergency personnel and a guy with what looks like a news camera. Now I'm wondering if the "disabled train at Harvard" was a front or if something else happened at the same time.

I'm on a bus!

LOOK AT ME NOW, I'M ON A MONKEY-FIGHTING BUS