Krump'n

I'll occasionally give in to my classes on a Friday afternoon before the bell rings for the weekend when I know the regular Tech Ed projects/lesson just isn't going to hold their interest...actually, nothing often does at that point in the week. Being in a computer lab, I do have the option to let them visit other sites. I learn a lot from this...more than they realize.

Sixth graders love to visit their favorite game sites...usually some mild-mannered "Super Mario" or "WebKinz" games. It fascinates me that some of the girls at that age love to visit this paper doll, dress-up site where they put different outfits onto paper doll cut-out figures...some things never grow old, I guess!? My 7th graders, depending on what they're into will get into a little more sophisticated games. "I know, I know...no guns, shooting, blood and violence." They all know that rule by now...though I have to keep a close eye, as what doesn't have some of that these days?! (From "Webkinz" to blood and gore in the short little skip and a jump of one year!)

8th graders find their way onto MySpace which even though it's officially blocked by the school filter these kids are savvy enough to find their way around it. The latest entry point is something called "VTunnel". I quietly stand behind them as they navigate to their site and observe what pictures they've posted. Most are reasonable as far as how suggestive they look. However, I find the girls, especially the Hispanic and Brazialian girls, offer some rather provocative poses - lips all fat and pouty, chests out, shoulders and stomachs bare, and they've got the bedroom-eyes look down. All a mere 13 - 14 years old, mimicking poses that you see from any of today's latest teen music stars and movie heart-throbs.

I recently watched as some of the boys showed me some You-Tube videos that they've posted. Again, You-Tube is blocked from the school site, but these guys find their way around it.

They showed me a recent "Krumpin' Showdown" that they were a part of at some local Portuguese-American Club. Being in this population for awhile now, I actually know what Krumpin' is! (and I'm probably giving it far too many letters by spelling it that way...probably "krumpn"!) Anyway, the video showed one kid at a time coming out onto the floor and doing their moves...arms flailing, hands flashing "signs", legs bouncing and kicking to the rhythm of the hip-hop music in the background, and every now and then a little dive to the floor with some old-school break dancing moves. As each guy finished, a kid from the other team came out and countered with his moves. I couldn't really tell which moves were better than others, but every now and then the boys in my room watching would say, "Ooh!" or "Ahh!" or, "That's mad sick!"...all at the same time, so I took that to mean somebody threw down a good move (HA! listen to me!).

Apparently the term "krump" comes from - Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise...and was developed in LA as a way to vent anger and help alleviate violence between neighborhoods and gangs. Not sure that my guys know where the name came from, I'll have to check in on them with that. But, the moves I saw them doing - arm throwing, chest thumping, kicking, poppin', lockin', and power poses, definitely made me think and feel like there was a battle of sorts going on. As long as in the long run nobody gets hurt, I guess it's okay. ..?

Of course, that said, one of the kids proceeded to show me what he feels is really the latest thing with them and that's some kind of all out fighting. Apparently called mixed martial arts, it has some rules...though, it seems more like no holds barred, everything goes. I couldn't look at that for very long...it is violent and yes, it appears that they do get hurt in the end.

Just relaying an observation of the world I work in and what's important to them...

Turkey Trot

We live in a town that used to be farms and wooded areas that in the past 25+ years has given way to being a comfortable bedroom community outside of Boston. (More than comfortable for some folks when you see them drive by in their 4 miles to the gallon Hummers and Land Rovers with big cargo carriers on top and "safari rhino guards" on the front-end of them...I mean really...is all this so necessary for the BIG wildlife we might encounter around our area?!)

Anyway, morning and afternoon commuter traffic hours fill up our roads earlier and earlier, as a normal 20-30 minute commute to or from the city can take as long as 1 and 1/2 hours if you don't get started early enough.

However, my commute to work is in the opposite direction, which is fine by me...through the towns, not the highways, is how I like it! It can cause for some snowy, unplowed terrain in an early morning snowstorm in the winter. Or, sometimes the road hazard of an occasional family of deer gracefully leaping across the road in front of me as I skid on the morning ice to avoid them. And, sometimes a traffic tie-up as we all try to navigate water at mid-hubcaps as the spring rivers overflow and turn some low-lying roads into small ponds.

Recent mornings however, I've run into another seasonal delay that I tend to forget about from season to season. The local farm tractors head out to the fields in the early morning to get them turned in time for some spring planting. I'm often still sort of "asleep at the wheel" in my early morning commute, so it took awhile the other morning to realize that this tractor was not going to turn off the road anytime soon. I resigned myself that my morning ride was going at a bit slower pace than normal...and eventually enjoyed the sights at the pace that probably was meant to be.

Finally, Mr. Farmer found his field and everyone in the line of slow-moving traffic behind him stepped on their gas pedals to make up for lost time.

So, there I was zipping on a curvy, woodsy part of my drive when the car in front of me swerved to avoid something. I couldn't tell just what - until I saw exactly what the problem was...a wild turkey nervously trying to dodge cars as it attempted to run across the street and the guy in the car in front of me swerving to miss it.

In the split second that I realized what we were dealing with, I slammed onto my brakes in time to look down from my driver's side window and see Mr. Turkey's red head right below me...not quite eye-level, but it was definitely the closest eye-to-eye that I'd ever had with a wild turkey! He was looking to me like - "Hey! I'm coming through here!" Though, my thoughts were more like, "I'm so sorry...for sure you're a goner and in short time you will be "one" with my tire tracks."

yuck...

But, just as quickly, I saw in my rear-view mirror that, (fortunately no one was behind me), Mr. Turkey somehow miraculously trotted behind my car untouched, and made it to his destination on the other side of the road!

And, so was my morning commute ... no safari rhino-guard needed...though a close call with some big local wildlife!!

Eastern Wild Turkey