kitchen table math, the sequel: Different Planets

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Different Planets

I went to a gathering of top state educators this evening. (Maybe someday I can give more details. I have a number of funny anecdotes.) There was no particular agenda or goals. Everyone just got to talk. I realized that I couldn't talk about anything. I felt like I was at a party where everyone wanted to talk about politics or religion. I clam right up in those situations. I was thinking that they were all so darned sure of themselves. I realized that I felt this same way at many of the school parent-teacher meetings I've attended. They are on a different planet. It's like when one of my brother-in-laws starts talking about politics (or Buddhism). The conversation is one-directional by definition. I contrast this with the bi-directional conversations I have with another brother-in-law. We have interesting conversations about everything, and it's not because we agree.

6 comments:

Catherine Johnson said...

Oh gosh - I wish I could have been there.

Did I ever post Ed's line about how our administrators are on a "Civilizing Mission"?

Catherine Johnson said...

They're not exactly from another planet but they are from another continent.

Also a superior civilization.

SteveH said...

"Civilizing Mission"?

I missed that.

Actually, my son was at the gathering too. He was invited. He said at one point (to us) that they were acting like first graders.

Catherine Johnson said...

you've got to write those stories down

I have to hear them

John said...

For all you Rosemary Sutcliff fans, there is a new film out about the disappearance of the famously proud 'legio nonae hispana'. It stars Dominic West, star of The Wire. Here's more on the Ninth for those interested: http://www.romanscotland.org.uk/pages/narratives/IXth.asp
My youngest daughter (12) is gobbling up Adele Geras novels at the moment, Troy and Ithaca being two of her favourites.

palisadesk said...

A propos of The Eagle of the Ninth, I read somewhere that Kevin Macdonald, the British film director who got a BAFTA award for the documentary Touching the Void (great book and film, BTW) and who directed the quasi-historical drama Last King of Scotland (a gripping tale of the reign of Idi Amin, shot on location in Uganda, and for which Forest Whittaker won a Best Actor Oscar) will be producing a film version of Eagle of the Ninth in 2010. If Macdonald's other work is anything to go by, it should be outstanding.