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My Space For Old People

3K views 38 replies 21 participants last post by  matt1970 
#1 ·
My Space For Old People

Okay…dont shoot me yet…this was the funniest moment of my stressful week.

Some of you may know I am a teacher…I teach Highschool and most of my students are juniors and seniors…ie as big as you can get…so some days and some moments can be kinda stressful…like a Friday afternoon when you are trying to have a serious discussion on the formation of trusts in the 1890's…trust me…not too easy any time of the day but 6th period on a Friday--kind of challenging keeping 16 year olds excited.

That has nothing to do with my story though…earlier this week…the funniest moment was when I was working in my classroom during my prep period…checking my umpteenth e-mail and writing back my last parent I decided to take a moment to check my personal e-mail and that led me to Lumberjocks (which I RARELY ever check at work…but needed a momentary break)...although a prep period is a period with no students…there is a class of students in the room with another teacher…

The class is a great group of kids that I know…it is the Peer Support Class…a class that has students trained in listening skills to go out and support/counsel/listen to fellow students who are struggling with something…

I know all the kids in the class because I teach the Psychology class (in addition to US History) and in order to get into Peer Support the kids have to take my Psych class the year before and get recommended by me--thus I know all of them really well.

Ok…if you have read soooo far…here is the funny part…in that MOMENTARY break…I checked my LJ home page…and one of my former students waiting for his "counselee" noticed looking over my shoulder…and he said out loud…"What is that? My space for OLD PEOPLE?" Next thing I knew i had 6 Peer Support COunselors around my desk saying: "Oh ya…" "Just like my space"...and then they really laughed when they noticed…"He even has BUDDIES…" All of this was in jest and we were laughing together…these are all good kids who were interested in what I was looking at and surprised that an "old" person would be communicating this way with others…

I dont think this note shows how funny the moment was…since i dont use my space and dont know what it looks like I didnt know…but we were all laughing…

HEY--I take this as a compliment…because all of us OLD people are using technology the way the "young" kids are…and MARTIN…if this is like Myspace…may you die a RICH MAN…and oh would that be sooo cool…since yoiu are such a good person…

I hope I didnt offend anyone…just wanted to share a light moment from my week with a population you may not have much contact with…there are a lot of good young people out there…

thanks for listening…

matt
 
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#3 ·
I'm thankful for My Space for OLD PEOPLE, too! I don't do My Space either so I'm with you in not knowing much about it, but this site gives us old folks an opportunity to hang out together!

A few years back (before DVDs), my husband was showing our grandkids a filmstrip that a church had given us since they felt it was too outdated for them to use and they knew we work with kids in a volunteer afterschool Bible club. Our grandson asked, "Grandpa, were those the videos of your day?" So we can appreciate the humor of your situation today.

We OLD PEOPLE do need to hang out together!!
 
#4 ·
MAtt,

Aren't high school kids the greatest!!??! I never tire of their sense of humor and the way they look at things with "new eyes". And, for you to be able to laugh along with them is fantastic!
 
#5 ·
I totally get the image and it's hilarious. Great moment and good for you to share it with the rest of us old farts. I never understood the fascination that youngsters have (had?) for Myspace and such sites though.

Kids these days… ;o) seem to forget that, while they have never known a world without the internet and cellphones, it is our generation and the one before us who have invented all those technologies. Duh!

On the other hand, isn't it sad that woodworking seems to suffer the attached stigma of being a "gramps-activity"? Is it really the future in the hands of IKEA? I hope not… or, at least, I hope I won't see it happen.
 
#7 ·
After I suggested my shop students use the LJ site for project research, and I again reminded them a day or two later. Someone asked, "what is this again?" and another student referred to it as "my space for woodworkers". So basically that is the general comparison of this site. Great job on creating it. I would take it as a compliment. My kids are from St Louis, good old midwestern city boys.
 
#12 ·
I have a myspace page as well too keep up with friends from college and work, and I swear I dont use myspace nearly as much as I use lumberjocks hehe (even though I wish I used it more than I do!)
That being said, I havent seen any half-naked lumberjock profile pictures yet… and I'm so glad for that LOL!
 
#14 ·
That was funny Matt.

Why don't you ask the kids if they know what carbon paper is.

I'll bet you stump them.
 
#16 ·
that was a hilarious story and it made me laugh out loud (that would be LOL).

when I was in college ( in my past-college years) a "youngun" cried because she was turning 20.
I told the story to my husband and my kids in the backseat of the car, (they were 5 & & at the time), they started laughing along with us at the story.
Then, my son says, "that's funny. You aren't old until you are 30!"
My husband and I , who were 30 at the time, stopped laughing.

But last year, when my son turned 30 - oh well… the last laugh is the best laugh! Next year it's my daughter's turn.
 
#21 ·
The carbon paper thing is true. We transfer our router sign designs using carbon paper. I have always had a few that didn't know what it was, but there was enough that could inform the others. Last year was the first year that no one, ALL DAY, knew what the stuff was.

I also have a student, in fact it is Tooldad's apprentice, who is one of my better if not best students that found an oil can (same style from Wiz of Oz) during cleanup this summer, and he asked me what it was.
 
#22 ·
It's not too difficult to explane what an oil can is….its harder to explane how you opened it. :) My day job is in telecommunications and I can hardly keep up.

Seems like just last week my son was born, if he stays out of trouble, he'll be graduation highschool this year. The older I get, time itself seems to go by faster, no matter how much I want it to slow down.
 
#23 ·
Lately for me, the weekdays seem to go by faster than the weekends.

The months are only a week long now.
 
#24 ·
Hey Matt, I think this shows perfectly the humor in the situation! At least anyone who knows the attitude of 16-17 year olds.

And… Congratulations to you! If the kids take the time to poke fun at you and laugh then that means your students like you - that's a tough thing for a HS teacher to accomplish.
 
#25 ·
ahhhhh…thanks…I dont teach for them to like me--but when it happens it makes it much easier to get through the day..

Thanks everyone for chiming in…the fun moments are really important and you gotta love them when they happen…on a bad note…today was not so fun…our school lost a student last night in a car accident…so as kids came back from the weekend and learned the news it was pretty tough…I did not know the student…but got choked up several times…since I help out with the Peer Support teacher and program we were pretty busy today…

so laugh when you can laugh…life is too short…

thanks for listening…
 
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