My husband and I watched Tres Metros Sobre Cielo (Three Steps Above Heaven) over the weekend. After hearing about it from all the teeny boppers, I decided to find out what it was all about. One of my students is doing her compare and contrast essay on this and Twilight, and after seeing it, I feel like the comparison is apt.
It's a Spanish flick about a school girl named Babi (pronounced BAH-bee, María Valverde) who falls for the bad boy, Hugo, or H as he prefers (pronounced AH-chay, Mario Casas). Though we never see H shoot himself up, it is pretty evident to anyone over the age of 15 that he is on roids for, like, the entire movie. He's a complete asshole, but somehow Babi, who at first seems like a sane human being, falls for him. Basically, if you found Twilight unfathomably hilarious, you must see this film.
I'm gonna go ahead and put a huge SPOILER ALERT here. If you want to be surprised by the LOLs, stop reading and go watch a pirated copy of 3MSC, as the kids call it, and come back later. And believe me, as the plot does not follow any logic known to the rational human mind. The only thing predictable about this movie are the eye rolls you will certainly be experiencing.
Okay, so at first you think that H is out of his mind and Babi will see right threw him, but after calling her ugly, crashing a party she's at, throwing her in the pool in a white dress, chasing her through the streets on his motorcycle, beating up her ride and scaring him off so he could give her a ride home, stalking her, breaking into her house, and coercing her to take off her clothes in exchange for a ride home; he finally wins her heart.
From this point, you may think that H is going to mellow out under the calming influence of Babi. You would be wrong. One day, he gets a bug up his butt to go to the beach. He meets her at school in the morning and convinces her to ditch. Hey, at least he didn't kidnap her. Unfortunately, Babi is spotted leaving by a strict teacher and threatened with expulsion the next day. Her rich-as-fuck parents make a generous contribution to the school, though, so it's all good.
H to the rescue. When Babi tells him what happened, he takes it upon himself to play the hero. H and his friend, Pollo (Álvaro Cervantes) kidnap the teacher's dog and threaten her not to give Babi any trouble. H exhibits many of the typical abusive boyfriend signs: Each time he roid rages out, he does something nice for Babi to make it up to her. In one such instance, he freaks out and takes his bike down a winding highway at breakneck speeds with Babi on the back screaming her head off. To make it up to her, he breaks into a house at the beach and the two of them start playing house there.
There are several moments in the film where the viewer may be completely convinced that the plot is about to take a moralistic turn. Is this really an admonishment against destructive relationships? No! No it is not. She forgives him. Every time. When she does finally break it off, it seems almost unrelated to the fact that he's been manipulating and abusing her.
The only moral I could manage to draw out of this story is that if you are a controlling, crazy parent (Babi's mom), your kid might rebel by almost getting herself killed by her psycho boyfriend on a regular basis. Another weird twist of events, though, is when her father goes to tell H that he can't see Babi anymore. H manages to charm the father to the point that I was left wondering whether the father wanted to make out with H.
There are so many more bizarre moments in this movie, that I couldn't even begin to cover them all here, but I've made a little synopsis of the plot in cartoon form with the basics. You have to see it for yourself. You will laugh so hard you may pee yourself. The shit that Babi does in this movie make Bella Swan look like the poster child for healthy life choices. H is Edward without the guilt complex or practiced self-control. In conclusion, fear for our youth.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Well, here we are again... wasting my time. I just read (skimmed) a history of the internet. Like I give a damn. That was my limit. Time to retreat back to my blog.
So, I can't figure out if this is a moment of culture clash, my inner type A taking over my life, or what; but today has been an exercise in shaking my head in disappointment. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea that a group of adults, supposedly responsible for the education of young people, can actually allow themselves to lose control of a situation on a massive scale.
Let me back up: We've been taking yearbook photos recently. They're really rather cute, but a huge waste of time. If you tell the teachers what you want, when it needs to happen, etc; then we should be able to organize everything and it takes less time, right? Not according to the computer teacher who is, at least in name, in charge of these photos. No, it's better to just call everyone out of class and have them mill about for 40 minutes while they could be learning things until they decide to take the picture. Because THAT makes the most sense. According to our natural teacher instinct, we even attempted to facilitate the process, but since we were all going on differing perceptions of what needed to be done: chaos ensued. Really, the icing on the cake is when the students groan and say, "This is just going to be a waste of time, though." Yeah, I know.
I think what really gets under my skin is this:
"La no planificación es la planificación al fracaso." Which for my monolingual readers (what readers, haha) is "Not planning is planning for failure," and this is something that has been used to admonish teachers at my school time and time again. So why doesn't it apply to the administration/coordination when it comes time for them to plan things in advance? I think that the following cartoon illustrates fairly well the answer.
And the history/overview of the internet for those of you who are new here:
So, I can't figure out if this is a moment of culture clash, my inner type A taking over my life, or what; but today has been an exercise in shaking my head in disappointment. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around the idea that a group of adults, supposedly responsible for the education of young people, can actually allow themselves to lose control of a situation on a massive scale.
Let me back up: We've been taking yearbook photos recently. They're really rather cute, but a huge waste of time. If you tell the teachers what you want, when it needs to happen, etc; then we should be able to organize everything and it takes less time, right? Not according to the computer teacher who is, at least in name, in charge of these photos. No, it's better to just call everyone out of class and have them mill about for 40 minutes while they could be learning things until they decide to take the picture. Because THAT makes the most sense. According to our natural teacher instinct, we even attempted to facilitate the process, but since we were all going on differing perceptions of what needed to be done: chaos ensued. Really, the icing on the cake is when the students groan and say, "This is just going to be a waste of time, though." Yeah, I know.
I think what really gets under my skin is this:
"La no planificación es la planificación al fracaso." Which for my monolingual readers (what readers, haha) is "Not planning is planning for failure," and this is something that has been used to admonish teachers at my school time and time again. So why doesn't it apply to the administration/coordination when it comes time for them to plan things in advance? I think that the following cartoon illustrates fairly well the answer.
And the history/overview of the internet for those of you who are new here:
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Technology Training
If there's anyone out there who still gets notified when I post to this abandoned blog, you know by now that I cannot in good conscience make any commitments to posting more than once a year, but here I am for my annual checkup.
So, a year after I began teaching, I have one concrete piece of wisdom to share: Full time teaching will consume your life. On the one hand it's your life, and you need it for things like blogging, reading, napping or staying in touch with loved ones: those who live on the other side of the globe as well as those lying next to you in bed.
On the other hand teaching is a sacred profession, and it feels almost sacrilegious to give it anything short of the best effort you have. You worry, fret and stress over plans and grades and students who don't seem to get it, even over those who don't seem to care. You make phone calls to parents and send notes; you try to find the balance between praise and consequence; you check and double check yourself on every fact and detail because you want to give your students the best chance they have to succeed, not only in your class but in life; and if you don't, you may be doing it wrong.
Then, every once in a long, long while, something comes along that you just don't give a crap about. For me, that something is technology training. And that, my two followers, is where I'm sitting right now, as they say in Chapín: pelándomela. In theory, I'm very pro-technology training. I think that using technology in the classroom can enrich and transform education when it is used in a manner that is appropriate, purposeful and creative. I myself am constantly looking for new ways to incorporate technology into my lessons that will grab my students' attention, while teaching them core skills and without alienating or overwhelming the less technologically inclined among them.
So, when they told us we would be doing a seven week workshop on Technology in the Classroom, I was pretty excited. However, as it turns out, this is Technology 101 for the internet-impaired. And that's AFTER they split us into a higher and lower level. What I have "learned" so far in this course includes: how to use email, facebook, twitter and now- blogger. Mind you, if the title of today's course were "How to Not Suck at Updating Your Blog," I would be hanging on the profe's every word (the trick there probably being to make a class blog, see Teaching consumes your life). The emphasis, though, in each of the 3 class meetings we've had so far (today is number 4) has been on the technical aspects of, literally, how to create an account, groups, posts; how to modify settings; how to mention someone in a tweet; etc.
Yes. In case that was not clear: I am in the "advanced" level of this workshop. I'm gonna give you a minute to let that sink in. In a city where there's an internet cafe on every other corner, in a school where every teacher has a personal laptop, in a building with wifi, in a teaching staff with an average age of 30...
Up next week: creating YouTube videos. Mine may look something like this.
So, a year after I began teaching, I have one concrete piece of wisdom to share: Full time teaching will consume your life. On the one hand it's your life, and you need it for things like blogging, reading, napping or staying in touch with loved ones: those who live on the other side of the globe as well as those lying next to you in bed.
On the other hand teaching is a sacred profession, and it feels almost sacrilegious to give it anything short of the best effort you have. You worry, fret and stress over plans and grades and students who don't seem to get it, even over those who don't seem to care. You make phone calls to parents and send notes; you try to find the balance between praise and consequence; you check and double check yourself on every fact and detail because you want to give your students the best chance they have to succeed, not only in your class but in life; and if you don't, you may be doing it wrong.
Then, every once in a long, long while, something comes along that you just don't give a crap about. For me, that something is technology training. And that, my two followers, is where I'm sitting right now, as they say in Chapín: pelándomela. In theory, I'm very pro-technology training. I think that using technology in the classroom can enrich and transform education when it is used in a manner that is appropriate, purposeful and creative. I myself am constantly looking for new ways to incorporate technology into my lessons that will grab my students' attention, while teaching them core skills and without alienating or overwhelming the less technologically inclined among them.
So, when they told us we would be doing a seven week workshop on Technology in the Classroom, I was pretty excited. However, as it turns out, this is Technology 101 for the internet-impaired. And that's AFTER they split us into a higher and lower level. What I have "learned" so far in this course includes: how to use email, facebook, twitter and now- blogger. Mind you, if the title of today's course were "How to Not Suck at Updating Your Blog," I would be hanging on the profe's every word (the trick there probably being to make a class blog, see Teaching consumes your life). The emphasis, though, in each of the 3 class meetings we've had so far (today is number 4) has been on the technical aspects of, literally, how to create an account, groups, posts; how to modify settings; how to mention someone in a tweet; etc.
Yes. In case that was not clear: I am in the "advanced" level of this workshop. I'm gonna give you a minute to let that sink in. In a city where there's an internet cafe on every other corner, in a school where every teacher has a personal laptop, in a building with wifi, in a teaching staff with an average age of 30...
Up next week: creating YouTube videos. Mine may look something like this.
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