Thoughts from a high school classroom. The best of “very special” episodes. And an obit on Thomas Edison

As part of my grad school experience/quest to become a high school English teacher, I’ve been spending quite a few hours in a New York City public school the last few weeks.
This fall I’m required by Queens College to observe/teach 100 hours in a classroom setting.  I was assigned to a fairly new high school (which I won’t name to protect the innocent and the guilty) that’s clean and fresh and all kinds of modern.
And the kids? Well … a few quick thoughts from my first few weeks of watching a pair of 9th grade English classes:
— All I’ve heard in the last 15 years is how much “smarter and more world-savvy” kids today are. Not so much. The kids I’m seeing seem really, really sheltered.
— Felt pretty ancient when a 14-year-old referred to me as “Old Dude” the other day. Laughing, I asked him how old he thought I was. “Ummm, 50?” (I’m 36).
Sigh. I think it’s the hair loss.
— Sitting in on teacher’s meetings and hearing them bitch about their students made me wonder how my teachers used to talk about me.
— I’ve gotten to see some very good teachers up close, who have left me kind of in awe. I’ve got a LONG way to go until I’m good at this.
— The lack of respect kids have for their teachers is one thing I expected. But lack of respect for each other? Kind of sad.
— It’s been three weeks and I haven’t wanted to kill any of the students in my classes yet. That’s a good thing, right?
— Finally, I can’t say enough about how prepared and on point most of the teachers in my school seem to be. This is such a hard profession, and the more I see it up close, the more scared I get.
But then, that’s how I felt at the beginning as a journalist. So maybe it’ll pass.
Or, you know, I’ll go crazy in five years and write a bestselling book called “How I escaped from the classroom before turning into a mass-murderer.”

**Don’t know about you, but a staple of my childhood was the sitcom “Very Special” episode. Not sure how intentionally cheesy these were meant to be, but man, they were horrendous. I particularly remember a “Growing Pains” episode involving Mike Seaver and some cocaine that sparked a drug talk from my mother back in the late 1980s.

Anyway, some brilliant Internet person put together this three-minute compilation of the best of the “special” episodes. It’s fabulous.

** I came across this the other day on Twitter and thought it was fascinating, especially in light of all the Steve Jobs obit worship. Here’s an obituary of Thomas Edison from October 18, 1931, from the New York Times. Truly amazing to think of all that man accomplished.

A fantastic piece on Ebert, Boner Stabone missing? And 30th anniversary of “Miracle on Ice.”

I don’t link to enough great writing on this blog. I’m going to try do it more often, because in my non-blog life, I’m constantly telling the people I know and love, “You have to read this newspaper article/magazine feature/book.” I’m quite the nag, constantly emailing great stories.

My first step toward highlighting amazing journalism and writing is this Chris Jones feature in this month’s Esquire, on the brilliant, but cancer-ravaged Roger Ebert. I’ve written about Ebert before; the man is truly a brilliant wordsmith, and his genuine goodness and upbeat spirit shines through this piece. Ebert hasn’t been able to eat, drink or speak for years, but his brain and his way with words still carry him through.

Jones is a brilliant writer, and this is a wonderful article. Take 10 minutes and read it if you can. (I posted an old photo of Ebert above here, just so you can see how jarring it is, looking at him now in the photo with Jones’ story.)

**I know this isn’t a funny story, but I’m sorry, part of me had to laugh. If you haven’t heard, a classic sitcom character from my youth, “Boner” Stubone of “Growing Pains” fame, is missing. His parents are looking for him, and say they haven’t heard from him in weeks, and that he’s been depressed for a long time.

That’s not the funny part, of course. This is the funny part; Kirk Cameron, aka Mike Seaver, tried to reach out to Andrew Koenig through Access Hollywood Monday night. And Cameron’s final quote just slayed me: “Andrew, if you’re reading this, please call me. Mike and Boner could always work things out when they put their heads together.”

First of all, as one who watched nearly every episode of the show, NO, that last statement is patently false, Mike and Boner never could work things out.

Mike and Boner were constantly screwing up, getting in trouble or doing bad things to Carol, and it never worked out for them. Mike, Boner and Eddie (the Fredo Corleone of that group, quite frankly) were a bunch of bumbling fools.

And second, please, please, PLEASE tell me Kirk Cameron didn’t really say that. Please tell me he wasn’t trying to liken his old friend’s serious depression with CHARACTERS FROM A TV SHOW that the two were on together 25 years ago! In the tone of Chandler Bing, could you BE more patronizing there, Kirk? Ugh.

I hope Koenig is found safely, and that he gets the help he needs. And that he stays far, far away from Mike Seaver. And Ben, too; I never liked that punk.

One final “Growing Pains” thought: I’m going to say that between characters named “Boner” and Ben’s friend “Stinky Sullivan,” that show had the greatest nicknames of any sitcom, ever. Seriously, tell me what show beats that combo?

**With the hockey buzz in America hopefully growing after Sunday’s remarkable U.S. win over Canada Sunday (and I watched the highlight of that Ryan Kesler diving, clinching goal a few more times Monday, and still don’t know how he did it), I thought this might be nice:

Monday was the 30th anniversary of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” game. Here’s some original game footage from the ABC telecast. Gave me chills. Good stuff starts at about 1:55 mark:

And you can bet all the tea in China that the fantastic HBO “Do You Believe in Miracles?” documentary on that 1980 will be viewed by your blogger this week.