Leveraging Learning

 I am not teaching summer school this year, which has been delightful for me and frustrating for my housemates. I love school a lot, and I was also ready for a break. That said, I can't sit still. Sure, we have traveled a bit, gone to the pool, binge watched some TV (mostly at my youngest's behest), but when we are not doing those things, I do projects. Thus far, I have made unsuccessful attempts at bunny proofing the garden, restaked the pole beans, sorted the clothes in my dresser, revamped the laundry room and installed a hummingbird feeder - alas, no hummingbirds yet. This morning, I decided it was time to tackle the fridge. As a math teacher, I like to count things. We had 4 jars of mustard, 17 cans of beer, 5 different types of jelly, capers from 2016 and 7 different types of pickles. I dutifully dumped the unwanted down the sink and recycled the containers. I saved all the beer and the cherry jam (my favorite). It was the Spicy Szechuan Sauce that made the least sense to...

A former student showed up to visit this week and with her was a friend who had not been a student at our school. We had a lovely visit, talking about the past and the future, and wandering through the hallways of our incredibly beautiful building. The friend was blown away by the light, the space, the furniture, the colors and the newness of our school. "My middle school was not this nice," she remarked. My immediate family is fortunate in our academic and professional places. My older son works at an arboretum, which we not-jokingly refer to as "the most beautiful place on earth." It's filled with plants, space, structures and light that are all designed to bring beauty and peace. My younger son is working towards his PhD in applied mathematics in Hoboken, New Jersey. Each time I visit him there I am in a awe of the Hudson River and all the buildings and lights and walkways that support human wonder. And, of course, my school was designed to keep middle school...

 This year, kids and teachers across the country have gone back to school in extreme heat. Some schools have fared better than others due to air conditioning, but many have suffered discomfort, malaise, irritability, unsafe temperatures and disruptions to learning. I spent the summer feeling crummy as a result of most of the things on the list above. Crummy is actually putting it mildly, but that is beside the point. I saw some medical professionals, spoke with some experts, complained to my family and yet, I wasn't really able to get a handle on what was wrong or what to do about it. If you want to feel like a hardcore loser, have vague medical symptoms. Anyway, the place that I landed was to reduce my discomfort by being more anti-inflammatory. More fatty fish, more berries, more sleep, more fitness, more seeds and nuts, but fewer processed foods, less sugar and (sadly) less beer. It is a process, but I am feeling better.  My efforts to reduce inflammation were thwarted some...

 I have an unhealthy relationship with attendance. I come to school almost every day because I love school and I hate being absent. It took me a long time to understand that people cannot be preset every day. Some of this understanding came from personal experiences. You can't be present when your offspring are home sick, when you have COVID, when your 18 year old kitty has a stroke, when your partner is having surgery, or when you're at your brother's funeral. Life does get in the way of school and maybe that's a good thing. I have a mindfulness app that encourages me to "be present." The app seems to imply that if I breathe and notice, I am "present." While this may or may or be true, I interpret "present" as an active thing. Yes, I need to breathe and notice, but I also need to do stuff. Being present is more than just being in the moment. It's knowing the plan for the day and the people who are needed to make the plan work. It's...

 That's me. Now you know.  Five days in and I still don't feel great. Who are these people lucky enough to get COVID for 48 hours? Sitting on my sofa or on my patio for a bunch of days is not as blissful as I had imagined - especially since I've felt like crap for much of that time. Julie Andrews would encourage me to list my favorite things in a moment like this. I promise to do that, but only after I list some things that really chap my ass about having COVID. Jammies should have pockets. Yesterday was the first time I wore actual pants in several days. This decision was motivated by a desire to at least seem like a productive member of society as well as a desire to stop losing my Chapstick. Pockets are easy to make and all jammies should have them. Chris Pine is an unconvincing Robert the Bruce. Captain Kirk, sure. Scottish patriot, not so much. Trying to get kids at school to finish a project remotely is hard. It was one thing when we were all remote, but with just me ...

 Over these last two weeks, kids at our school and across our state took the dreaded state-wide assessment. I was asked to administer the test to a lovely group of 7th graders, about half of whom I had previously taught. Practically no one looks forward to these experiences, but I was impressed with all the kids who showed up ready. They had a sense of determination and effort combined with a desire to do their best. In a project based school like ours, kids don't have a ton of exposure to formal testing but these kids had learned some skills over the year and were ready to show them off. That is, until we started the math portion. The same kids who carefully and tirelessly wrote essays and analyzed form the week before appeared dejected and defeated by math questions that I personally thought were fun. I saw them plan and organize thoughts for their writing but stare in blank frustration at math problems that I knew they could reason their way around.  It made me sad that all...