Song Lyric Quote: Savatage- Follow Me

His whole life was written, written there inside

The new weekly bible, his modern TV guide

Every night he stares back at the screen, yeah.

I haven’t posted any ‘Tage lyrics in a while so I thought I should.

Judge Not Because You Don’t Know What They Might Be Experiencing

A few days ago, I found an interesting video on my Facebook feed. Unfortunately, I can’t find it now or otherwise it would be included in the post here. It showed a teenage boy and girl in different situations where they cast judgement on others for their own amusement.

In the first scene, the couple are in a cafe and one of them orders a slice of the cheesecake. The waitress taking the order, who is on the heavy side, remarks, “That’s a good choice, I could eat a whole one myself.” To which the boy comes back with, “Yeah, I bet you could.” The waitress, looking visibly hurt by the comment, sucks it up and walks off to fulfill the order. When she turns her back, the girl at the table holds up her nose with her finger simulating a pig face.

The second scene, a boy goes through a door and bumps into the boy, who’s with the girl, on the other side. The first boy says, “Sorry,” and here’s where I wish I had that video because I can’t remember what the boy from all the scenes says exactly but I remember it’s meant as an insult. I think it’s something on the lines of, “Are you blind or something?”

A boy is sitting at a bus stop looking at his mobile phone in the third scene. He is obviously upset. The couple spot him and now it’s the girl’s turn. She asks, “Are we having a bad day?” and then starts making crying gestures giving much amusement to her boyfriend. It is when the couple go off we see why this boy is upset.

At this point, it is explained why this couple were so wrong to cast judgement on their victims. The girl they insulted for being fat is starving herself. The boy who bumped into them at the door is preoccupied over the fact he is being abused at home. And the boy at the bus stop, he was so upset because he just received word that his mother is terminally ill. Here the video throws in another one, the old man they were ridiculing for being physically impaired, got that way by fighting for his country.

I wish I could have gotten my hair like this but it was long enough.

I loved these boots and wore them most of the time

I know what it’s like to be judged, I was throughout most of my childhood and young adult life. Having Asperger’s and DAMP makes you a prime target for judgement. Still, the worst of it was during the years between 1984-6. The first year after I left the marines was okay but a year later as my hair got longer and was still wearing boots like in the photo above, I got lots of intolerant judgement hurled at me. To them, I was just some weirdo who wouldn’t cut his hair and dressed like a hippy. What they didn’t know or didn’t want to know that for four years prior, I was serving my country. On account of military rules and regulations, I spent four years with very short hair and had to dress like everyone else to the smallest details. Before anyone says that I should have known this before I enlisted, I did. I was willing to give up my individuality for four years on the promise that I would get it back when I left the service. For me, I saw that promise broken. I was simply judged for my appearance and not on why I might have wanted to look that way or any other criteria.

As a result of these experiences, I now try not to judge someone on their looks or even how a situation might look because I don’t have all the facts. Here’s an idea, instead of judging others, take a minute to be in their shoes. Maybe they are seeking help and you might be in a positing to provide that help as opposed to pouring salt on their wounds. It’s just a thought.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Y00FKVMCQU5J&keywords=michael+d+lefevre&qid=1582576353&s=books&sprefix=michael+d+l%2Cstripbooks%2C205&sr=1-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Quote: EQ- Leaving

I’m leaving, I must be on my way

The game is over, there’s nothing more to say

I’m leaving and I won’t be coming back

I’m head south now in my big red Cadillac.

I Don’t Think I Could Cope With the Media

Today, I have been thinking about the death of English radio and television presenter Caroline Flack who committed suicide two days ago. She had a lot of media attention over the past few weeks because she was due to go on trial over assaulting her boyfriend in spite of the boyfriend saying he did not want to prosecution to go on. Many UK tabloids, especially The Sun, had run several articles about her and not always in a good light. It is believed that the negative media publicity contributed to Caroline’s suicide.

The Sun

Already there have been calls from celebrities for the government to pass laws to limit media intrusion. I can see their point. While I totally champion freedom of the press, there is a limit on which they should be able to hound an individual. Naturally, this has got me thinking about how I would react if I suddenly received lots of media attention. My Asperger’s influenced, “What if it was me?” thoughts have now kicked into gear.

Here’s another great example of the contradictory paradox which is me. Thinking about The Sun newspaper, articles in it about how victims of crime have been let down by ‘loony rulings in the law’ and denied proper justice has greatly inspired my writing of the book I’m currently working on. Delusions of grandeur here but I’m kind of hoping The Sun will promote my book because the content agrees with their stances on miscarriages of justice on account of the law seeming to trample the rights of victims to protect those of criminals via slimy lawyers, politically correct policing and ‘right on’ judges.

On the other hand, my political views don’t agree with those that particular newspaper endorses. I’m too left of centre for them. Therefore, if I were to become a celebrity author, The Sun would brand me a ‘luvvie.’ Trust me, actress Emma Thompson is constantly called it by this newspaper. Anyway, because of that, I would fear that if I said anything that paper didn’t agree with, they and other like minded papers, would have the knives out for me. I don’t know how long I’d be able to cope with a determined media intrusion against me, especially with my past which has often led me to see myself as a victim. While I’m not saying that it would lead me to follow in the footsteps of Ms Flack, I know it would cause me lots of anxieties which could lead to near disasterous results. Therefore, I can see why people would want legislation on limiting how much the media can intrude on an individual’s life.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KCKRL24QPCOY&keywords=michael+d+lefevre&qid=1581959407&s=books&sprefix=michael+d+l%2Cstripbooks%2C187&sr=1-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Quote: Damned Nation- Hiding Away From the World

Don’t let reality  take you by surprise

Open up your eyes

You live inside a dream like there’s no tomorrow

Movies Helped Me Learn

On further reflection on my career as a supply (substitute) teacher, there was an event that tugs on the coat tails of my anxieties. I think the reason why I haven’t mentioned it before was because there was no formal word from either the school or the agency but what it has done is to cause me to reflect on me as a teacher and me as a child learning in school.

Several years ago, I was supply teaching a Year 3 class on a very cold and wet Friday afternoon in February. From my standpoint, the day had gone swimmingly. There were no behaviour challenges and the children all worked very well. Therefore, at 2:30 in the afternoon, I thought I’d reward the class for the hard work and good behaviour. Because the weather was so bad and there was really no other real way to reward them, I decided to show the class a DVD I keep in my briefcase for such occasions. It’s about mammoths from the “Walking with Dinosaurs” series on the BBC. The children got into it straight away and were really enjoying the DVD. Then sometime halfway through the programme or just after, a teaching assistant came into the classroom and declared, “The Head doesn’t like children watching DVDs.” My response was, “I was never informed of this” and I kept the DVD on til the end.

Naturally, I was fearing some comment from the school although most schools are too chicken sh*t to say anything to the supply teacher directly but prefer to tell tales to the agency. However, that didn’t happen either. If the school had, the agency would have said something about it but never did.

It seems that these days, many primary schools are against showing films to children. There argument is that the children are just sitting there and not engaging in activity. I can see the point in the case of some children who would rather be ‘doing something’ as opposed to just sitting there watching a film. However, many children, after a long day of work would welcome the break and the idea of watching a DVD would be a treat. I know, because that’s what it did for me.

As stated in the title, watching movies in class was a great learning tool for me. This was especially the case in subjects like history where I got to see important historical events played out before me as if they were actually happening. It was certainly much more stimulating than reading it out of a text book or having some teacher drone on and on at the front of the class. There is an argument for other subjects as well, science in particular. I have always been interested in the other planets of our solar system and space in general and educational movies on the subject played a big part in churning that stimulation.

On the flip side, I can see a possible danger to it. Like anything, if it’s overused, then the intended objectives could backfire. If all a class does is watch films most of the time, that would be counter productive to learning. My answer is that like everything else, movies in school should be used as a means and not an end. Everything in moderation!

Now, my insane mind is going to put forward a theory as to why schools are so ‘anti- DVD’ these days. My theory is that a teacher did overuse DVDs in their classroom and this was picked up on by a Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI). The HMI slated the school for it and now because of that, many schools in a knee-jerk reaction, have totally forbidden the showing of DVDs in the classroom. I’m not saying that this was the case but in British education, it definitely would not surprise me if it was.

So, reflecting back to this and further back to when I was a kid learning in school. If I was in school today, the non-showing of films might have been a stumbling block to my learning. I would have become board with simply working out of a text book and with my DAMP, I don’t know how much of the lessons I would have absorbed. Therefore, my answer is to allow children to watch documentaries and appropriate historical films. Every child has their own learning style and films were a good way to suit mine.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?crid=9XPF7T7PZOBI&keywords=michael+d+lefevre&qid=1581625865&s=books&sprefix=michael+d+l%2Cstripbooks%2C147&sr=1-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Quote: Deep Purple- Knocking on Your Back Door

I can’t deny it, with that smile on your face

It’s not the kill, it’s the thrill of the chase

Feel it coming, knocking at your door

 

Song Lyric Quote: Little Angels- I Ain’t Gonna Cry

Did he share your bed like you did with me?

It sure is a crime but it ain’t no tragedy

I’m not the first, he won’t be the last.

So, I’m packing up my heart in my suitcase

Gonna hitch me a ride to a brand new place

And start again, a much wiser man.

I’m no one’s fool, but I got my pride..

I ain’t gonna cry believe it.

I ain’t even gonna think it over.

To think at all is just a waste of my time.

I ain’t gonna cry believe it

I’m just a victim of you and your hurting kind.

Anxieties Over a Response

Two months or so ago, I wrote a post about the anxieties I have working as a supply teacher. A few weeks after I had written that post, someone commented on the post that they were shocked that I allowed a child to write about suicide and that I wasn’t suited to work around children. I did respond to the comment but there has been no further response from that person. While, I don’t let the comments get to me, I still feel this need to clear the air, otherwise my Asperger’s anxieties will have my head spinning.

First, while I don’t like to stereotype, I can’t help getting the impression that this person is from a middle class American background, most likely white and when working as a substitute teacher, did so at leafy suburban schools. The closest to an inner city school this person ever got to was probably teaching in a school with a few token ethnic minority children. I also suspect that the person is female but I could be wrong. The person could be a male of non-white ethnicity and has taught in inner city schools.

Now onto my case! First, my problem with the school that day was not that they had a problem with me letting a child write about suicide, my problem was that the school told tales to the agency without discussing the matter with me. After all, a teaching assistant had come in while the child was reading his work to the class and went and told the Head that I had been discussing suicide with the children. I wasn’t, it was a case of one child reading what he had written in the lesson. If I had been allowed to express my side of the story to the school, then at least I could say that they were fair in their judgement, but they went about it all very underhandedly.

Why did I allow a child to write about suicide in the first place? Several reasons which I will now list as bullet points.

• Before this incident, I had worked in schools for children with challenging behaviour. At that time, if I had told a child there that he or she was writing about an inappropriate subject, I might have had a chair thrown at my head. This lingered in my mind when I began supply teaching in mainstream schools.
• In relation to the above, even though this wasn’t such a school, there would have been a chance that if I told the child that he couldn’t write about suicide, he might not have completed the assignment and it would have been twisted around to be my fault because I wouldn’t allow that child to write about something he wanted to. In other words, I would have been blamed for the child not completing the assignment because I didn’t allow him to write about suicide.
• I had worked in other schools in that area and had children write about subjects I consider worse and even when I did report it, nothing was done. In one instance, a child wrote about escaping from paedophiles but when I showed this to the deputy head of the school, he wasn’t too bothered about it.

This, unfortunately, is the state of supply teaching in the United Kingdom. It is simply easier for schools to blame everything on the supply teacher. It’s always a case of whatever a supply does, it’s going to be wrong. Plus, the agency will always side with the school, even if they acknowledge personally to the teacher that it wasn’t their fault. As for the unions, well, for teachers in a ‘proper’ job, my union is the best teaching union in the country. However, for supply teachers, if they have a problem, then the union sits in its ivory tower hiding behind legal jargon as to why they can’t help the teacher. I had this happen when a school told a pack of lies about me to the agency. No wonder supply teaching has given me so much anxiety.

You might be asking, “Why don’t I just pack in supply teaching?” The main reason is that, in spite of the anxieties, I still enjoy doing it. Besides, I spent four years training to become a teacher, so I should use my qualifications. Also, the extra money comes in handy too. I’ve been working as a supply teacher in addition to my regular job for the past thirteen years and I don’t intend to give it up. As for my suitability to work around children, I’ve been doing so for over two decades and there are many out there who would confirm that I’m totally suitable, like today for instance.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1K5L87BJV5U3Y&keywords=michael+d+lefevre&qid=1580847234&sprefix=michael+d+l%2Cstripbooks%2C152&sr=8-4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Quote: Frank Zappa- Be In My Video

Learn to speak Chinese, Won Hong Lo

I’ll make you wear red shoes

There’s a cheesy atom bomb explosion

Like all the big groups use.

Atomic lights will shine through an old Venetian blind

Making patterns on your face

And then it cuts to outer space.