Emma C. Johnson Writer/Artist/Musician: 2022

Sunday, November 27, 2022

My Teaching Persona (Song)

I wrote a song about being quirky but trying to be professional in the classroom called "My Teaching Persona"!

Watch the video! :)

https://youtu.be/wjuocGVn8EI

“Teaching Persona” (Song)

Lyrics, music, performance, and videography by Emma C. Johnson, November 2022

Recorded/performed November 27, 2022

[Duration: 7min, 7 sec]

[Key: E minor/G major] [Chords: G C G D Em Am B, Em6 E] [Melody: E D B D E B “I can never fake it”] [G C G D] [Em Am Bm Em6] [G C G D] [Em Am Bm E] [G C G D] [G C G D] I’m quirky. It’s not intentional. I try to look professional. Controlled facial expressions. Measured responses. Educational anecdotes that don’t reveal. So I’m approachable yet unemotional. I wear a blazer And a starch-white shirt to connote success. Shiny black heels slight embellishments But it doesn’t compensate Because my hair’s a mess. I spilled coffee on My black peacoat that hides everything. Students think it’s chic. It saves me on dry cleaning. Praying no one notices I don’t have it together. I need to get it together. When will I get shit together? [B7 Em6] Maybe next semester? Maybe next year! [Em Am Bm Em6] I want it so much I’m going to vomit. Young(-ish), eager to please, and prove myself. I bought a polyester blazer that seems like something a graduate teaching instructor should wear. Thing is I’m a little wacky and like to dress with a flair. My sartorial choice does not express my voice How can I be relatable if students can’t get to know me? I need a professional teaching persona I’m trying to fake it ‘til I make it But do I come off as inauthentic? But would authentic be too much? How do I reconcile personas inside and outside class? How do I find my voice? I’m at an impasse. How do I strike a balance? A dalliance with stiffness alas. Now, I must be in the classroom, organic with some sass. [G C G D] Let’s take a break from style and focus on substance: I’m talkin’ about The rhetorical appeals! Ethos is credibility. Do I have the ability To convince them I’m the teacher I pretend to be? Until that projection becomes me? Pathos is emotion. Can I use emotion to provoke them to see that a writer is a good vocation to be? Logos is logic. I wear a blazer. All professors who wear blazers are professional. Therefore, I’m professional. Enthymeme. I wear a blazer, therefore I’m professional. Visual rhetoric. Can’t you see my aesthetics reveal my disposition? Kairos. Now is the time. Let’s figure it out today! [B7 Em6] Let’s figure it out today! Let’s figure shit out today! [Em Am Bm E] I can never fake it to professional But no one can accuse me of being boring. Forget presentation. I’ll focus on content. How to teach the material And the rest will come (to me). Soon my facade and my spirit will converge. [chord progression] [G C G D] (… in) A pencil skirt with ruffles Now my outside matches my inside I don’t need to hide I can take pride Being my authentic self Me and not what I think I should be What I should be is what is needed. While professionalism should be heeded The new me superseded My past self for the authentic yet professional teaching persona! My professional teaching persona! My professional teaching persona! (I’m glad I found) my professional teaching persona! [strum G] teaching persona!

Sunday, June 26, 2022

The sky above Auschwitz-Birkenau [06.26.22 Oświęcim, Poland]

I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and took a picture of the sky. I was inspired by artist Anton Kusters who took Polaroids of the sky at Nazi concentration camps across Europe. His work is about preservation and memory. I don't know why he took pictures of the sky, but for me I was compelled to take a (digital) picture of the sky because the sky is something that connects us, no matter our geography or circumstance. I find humanity in that. We also share the sky with people from the past. I share the same sky with the people who were there.