I hear ya! Er, I see you? I think you know what I mean...

Something we'll learn about in an upcoming chapter is active listening.  I realized today in church that I was showing all the signs of an active listener from eye contact, head nods, and verbal responses.  I looked around at one point and realized there were quite a few people looking in other directions, holding non-responsive facial expressions, and even playing with their phones.  I kept my eyes on the pastor and his face when he looked at those individuals, and realized he kept coming back to me, maybe because he knew I was paying attention still.

This got me thinking about my own classrooms. There are times when I am teaching a new concept that I can start to see students glaze over or get distracted by something else, not actively listening any longer, but there's always a couple in each class who keep the active listening signals going; I often look to those faces for reassurance just as my pastor was doing to me.

Seeing that full-circle really struck me. 

So much noise!

A big part of Chapter 1 talks about the concept of noise.  There are four kinds of noise it addresses, and already today I've been greatly distracted by two of them.

The first is physical noise. Starting about halfway through my day yesterday, the vent in the back of my room started squeaking.  It was described as a cricket, a sprinkler, and even a squeaky chair/desk.  For someone in my room for a short while, it might not have been very noticeable, but after listening to it for a full day, I was pretty certain I could hear it even after I left. Some students shared it made them unable to concentrate while reading yesterday; one student went so far as to cover her ears. That's a pretty clear example of it being physical noise, for her especially.

source: http://healtheatingfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Loud-noise-health-effects.jpg



Another kind of noise I am experiencing is psychological. In other words, my mind is distracted. Last night, my oven stopped working. That's not good with Thanksgiving around the corner, and two meals yet this week dependent on using the oven.  Plus, I LOVE baking holiday treats! Because I don't like things unfinished, my mind keeps going back to my family's need for a new stove while we are on a budget for my son's birthday and the holiday season in general.  I spent much of my prep first block doing research on affordable ovens in the area rather than what I had written on my to-do list because I was preoccupied with the need for an oven whenever I tried to get something done on my to-do list. This is a great example of psychological noise!

Source: http://www.essentialappliance.com/Pictures/uncooked_turkey.png



For those of you still trying to figure out the differences between the kinds of noise we discussed, I hope this helped a little bit.   

No, I'm not crying...

It is common knowledge that I've had a tough past 7 days or so.  I'm also feeling a little stressed with packing, grading, lesson planning, and senior activities. With this in mind, I do understand why someone who saw my eyes watering would think that I am on the verge of tears, but I'm not. This example of nonverbal communication is actually related to either allergies or the new contact solution I am trying. My eyes are dry and itchy, which means my eyes keep watering to relieve that discomfort; it isn't due to crying. I got most of that out of my system before returning to school.

Nervous haibts

Like a mentioned in class today, I discovered my mom and I both have the same nervous habit for picking our nails. I noticed it yesterday as we were waiting in my Gramps' room for Macken Funeral Home to come and pick my Gramps up.  It was awkward due to the situation as well as the silence; I don't do very well with complete silence.  I am left wondering if this example of nonverbal communication is something that in inherited or learned from watching, nature vs. nurture. 

http://www.divinecaroline.com/sites/divinecaroline.com/files/styles/slide/public/shutterstock_104835665.jpg?itok=U6OwjULp

Earworm!

My mind has been a little distracted the last couple of days, and not just by my 4th quarter stresses (grading, Baccalaureate, senior trip planning, graduation planning, packing my room...), but by an earworm.

Definition from Wikipedia: An earworm, sometimes known as a brainworm,^[1] is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing.

source: http://theskinnyon.typepad.com/.a/6a01348010bbb6970c01543592fdcc970c-800wi

 It isn't abnormal for me to have a song in my head; that's pretty typical. What isn't normal is that it has been the same song since Sunday afternoon. It just plays on repeat in my brain! I find myself humming it, bopping my head to it, and even absent-mindedly writing it's lyrics on students' journal comments rather than the intended note! 

This is a pretty serious case of psychological noise!

Now, in case you were wondering what song it is, or maybe you are looking to have your own earworm, here you go:

 

A little "downtime"

Part of my son's  bedtime routine includes bedtime hugs.  His bed is a loft-style bed, so he often gets to choose if we do hugs on the floor before he climbs the ladder or from his bed after he climbs up. 

Yesterday, I was able to finally return to the gym after over a week and a half off, and I did back-to-back Zumba and kickboxing (I love kickboxing!).  Anyway, last night's class included a lot of squats, which isn't normally a problem, but I hadn't done any in a while, so my body was feeling it a little bit. 

Okay, so back to last night.  My son chose to have hugs on the floor, but due to the squats, it wasn't the most comfortable for me.  He asked why, so I said it was because I did too many squats at Northgate. He asked what a squat was, so my husband and I explained and demonstrated.  This is what happened next:

Murphy: So, you had to get down low to the ground to do squats?
Us: Yes...
Murphy: And Mommy spent a lot of time down low doing squats?
Us: Yes...
Murphy: But, I thought Mommy liked having "down" time.  *smirks*

Do you get it?  Downtime (relaxing time)  down time (time low to the ground, down)

There is some wordplay I hadn't expected from a four-year-old!  His verbal skills amaze me daily.

Neil and Noise

This morning, my first block class, Enriched English 11, was viewing the second half of Dead Poets Society.  It was the scene where Neil was alone in his room after he was told by his parents that he would no longer be able to act; just before this scene, Neil did an excellent job of playing Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream. 

For those not familiar with this movie, it is a really intense part. There isn't any speaking, just quiet and suspenseful music.  Just as the scene was reaching its highest point of intensity, the construction workers outside began to drill in my wall loudly.  It completely ruined the moment and disconnected people from what was happening in the movie.  I was incredibly disappointed in the timing of this physical noise.

Source: http://www.speedlivin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Neil-Perry-Dead-Poet-Society.jpg