Saturday 9- A Hard Day's Night

 

A Hard Day's Night

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) John Lennon sings that he's been working like a dog. What's the hardest job you've ever had? What made it so difficult?  I am going to say teaching.  You are in charge of putting together lessons to help kids learn and if they do not learn, you must find different ways to teach them.  I have always worked in special education, but this year I am in regular education (pre-K).  The kids are learning so fast.  I am very impressed with them.  Then there are kiddos that have problems at home and you fill a lot of time teaching them how to handle pressure and stress.  I actually love teaching that the most.  So my work is harder, but I love this job the most.  This is the sign hanging on the ceiling by my classroom door.  I still haven't taken pictures of my classroom all finished, but I will.  I need to share it with you.

2) Despite the hard work, he likes his life and asks, "So why on earth should I moan?" What's the last thing you complained about? Who were you talking to?  Our Principal changed our schedule on us last minute the other day and it threw my whole class off (the kids).  They had a bad day.  The next day we were back to normal.  The kids did better.  I talked to the other pre-k teacher about the kids and how they were struggling.  She said her kids were too.  Anyway, it is worked out now.

3) John was raised by his Aunt Mimi. She meant well when she told the teen-aged John, "The guitar's all right, but you'll never make a living out of it." What's the worst advice you've ever received?  I can't remember. 

4) This week's song was cowritten and also sung with Paul McCartney. Paul's father was more supportive of the lads' show business aspirations than Aunt Mimi was, but he still worried that his son wouldn't be able fully support himself as a musician. To please his dad, 17-year-old Paul worked over the Christmas holiday season as the "second man" on a delivery truck. Paul would be the one to hop off the truck and drop off the packages while the driver could keep the motor running and the heat on. Where was the last package you received from? (Extra points if you share what was in it.)  It was a package from Lakeshore Learning and it was a chart for our daily schedule in the classroom.  This is what it looks like.  This helps visual learners.  I have 4 year olds.

5) After Christmas was over, Dad insisted Paul get a full-time, year-around job. He ended up at a factory, winding heavy coils to be used in electric motors. He hated the work but enjoyed the lunch hours, eating jam sandwiches and, weather permitting, kicking a soccer ball around the yard with his coworkers. What's for lunch at your house today?  We can have ham or turkey sandwiches or if we want something hot, we can have burritos.

6) In early March 1961, the Beatles accepted a booking to play lunch hour gigs at Liverpool's Cavern Club, and so February 28, after less than two full months, Paul said goodbye to factory work. What's the shortest you ever stayed at a job?  I had a job where I worked with adults with mental handicaps.  I did this line of work for years, over 10 years, but I worked for this one company only a year or so before I went back to the first company I had started with.  I quit doing that when I  got married.  I was working 3-11PM and my hours were so different than Karl's.  The answer to the question though is one year.  I am usually a dedicated employee.

7) Enough about these Brits! Labor Day was introduced to celebrate the achievements of the American worker. How many different employers have you had? Over the years, I have had close to 10 .  I jumped around companies as mentioned before and moved out of state briefly.  I have been in education for 16 years now.  I got a late start.

8) This weekend may offer a golden opportunity for napping and sleeping in. Do you snore?  I think so.  I didn't when I was younger, but I have gained weight and my head tucks down and it makes it hard to breathe right.  Karl says it is not a normal snore though.

9) Labor Day traditionally marks the beginning of the new school year. When she was a kid, Samantha was crazy for her brand new box of 96 Crayola Crayons. It even had a sharpener in the back! What do you remember about preparing to go back to school? If you're an educator, let us know how you get the classroom ready for the kids.  I don't remember preparing to go back to school.  I think my mom just bought everything and sent it with me.  I remember clothes shopping though.  I hated shopping then too.  Preparing to go back to school as an educator is a lot of work.  I was creating a brand new classroom this year, so it took weeks to get ready (we are expanding our early childhood department.  I am still putting things together.  I still need to have the janitors hang my curtains.  I am hoping next year will be so much faster and smoother.