14. Reflection: Last Week of September

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Things are finally rolling along pretty easily. Monday was tough -- the kids really off kilter. But in general...a good week.

Blue Spaces: This week held three Gold days, so I saw my 2nd period a lot. Friday was good, though. This was the day we got into Shark Tank presentations, and the engagement (and laughter) was intense. Even Dylan jumped in and made a presentation to a group of Sharks to sell his "Telepathic Gun" idea (Shoot a hole into the earth, jump in, and go anywhere in the world you want.)  I think he actually got an investor. Hard to remember in the chaos, but yeah...it was fun.

My creative writers are working hard on their short stories. I found out one was just rewriting (word for word) The Outsiders, so we had to have a conversation. He is now going to write a story from the viewpoint of one of the Socs. I think he can do it, and do it well. He obviously loves The Outsiders.

Green Spaces: My intensive readers continue to work their way through word connotation mastery, as well as the DEAN format to identify where in the text things are described, explained, argued, or told in a narrative fashion. The wheels were really turning in 5th period -- so much so, my para was greatly impressed at the fact that everything the kids wrote down were things they decided together. They weren't waiting around for an adult to tell them. Score! This is the same class that (surprisingly) had 5 out of 16 kids come up to proficient level on STAR. Will it hold? Who knows. It was interesting, nevertheless.

 River Flow: As we come up to the end of the first quarter, I'm feeling pretty good about the direction I've taken in all my courses. I've also pulled out some new and not-yet-practiced lessons I'm familiar with -- Post-It Note Plays for Creative Writing and a deeper look at how words are used through stereotypes and microaggressions in Speech & Debate.  In Reading, we will be moving into the Global Read Aloud. A lot happening, and my focus is staying clear -- to focus on Mastery, Identity, and Creativity in all we do. I'm seeking excellence as well as joy.  No small order.

A-Ha Moment: This doesn't have to do directly with school, but I want to report it here. I have taken time to look at ideas I have, and thought about generating new ones. But in the end I've decided not to pursue National Novel Writing Month. I think there are other things floating around that I can attend to -- organizationally, as well as writing-wise. I'm now thinking of what I'd like to do to make the most of that week off over Thanksgiving.

Until next time!

13. Today Was a Good Day

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Today was a good day.

I felt it when I left, and as I reflected on my drive home, and as I thought of something that happened at the end of the day. And I simply could not dismiss the idea of writing about it while it's fresh.

The Underground Rebellion

You know of my struggles with 2nd period, but today I decided to just be as chill as possible as they proceeded to work on an individual project. They have to create an invention or a business that takes care of a problem they see in the world, then they have to create an Elevator Pitch for it, or an advertisement, or bring it in front of a Shark Tank.

I am finding my 2nd period is the most creative when it comes to this project. They are coming up with things I'd really wish COULD be invented (it doesn't have to be realistic -- they just have to identify the problem, what the invention would do, and who would buy it.)  There is a girl who created the "black hole broom" -- just sweep anything you don't want into it and it disappears forever (Good for the environment!)  There are the "massage shoes" for people like me who get very tired and ornery feet as the day wears on.  As the kids were bringing me their invention ideas, I was begging some of them to invent the darn thing!

On the way home I started to think about two of the inventions I read about. For context: there is a small table of four 7th graders who are situated between the "color battle" I have previously written about. I think they have heard more of their fair share of exchanges between these two factions.

This table represents a mix: a black girl, a Hispanic boy, a white boy, and an Indian boy. I see a couple of them staging an underground rebellion on what they are seeing.  One invented the "anti-racist zapper" -- something cities would have to install so when a racist comment or act was committed, the offender would be "zapped."  Another boy invented the "racist puncher" -- much the same.  Racist remark?  PUNCH!

I simply cannot wait to hear the response when they present these ideas. Seriously.  I'm pumped.

Three Minutes

This year I created a sequence of some of the best practices in unlocking text structures that I've learned along the way.  My partners in crime -- Debbie and Wendy -- are using this sequence of activities as well, and we are all finding success. This sequence features students close reading text, analyzing words in context, and finally writing a summary that has a focus question. We have been through the process once, and are now on the second text.

Meanwhile, I was a bit dissatisfied with  a part of it. Then we had a faculty meeting when we were told that we were to be implementing a thing called "Mean, Say, Matter" the ELA Dept. has been using for years, and I've tried to use but never fully found it effective.

So I took the part of the sequence that was called DID (Details, Imagery, Diction) and I spontaneously reduced it to Details and Imagery. Then I added Why does it matter?

Magic.

We divided the text into three sections, and in each section we find an important detail, then an important piece of imagery. So already, they have revisited the text twice after an initial reading: once through for details, and a second time through for imagery.  By the way -- they were the ones who said they wanted to do all details first, then imagery. Gotta love that, as they volunteered to go through the text twice all on their own!

The magic came when we took each detail and imagery from each section, looked at them together and asked Why does it matter?  It is self-evident. It writes itself. And when done with this simple 9-part process, the students could be ready to write a summary. Everything is right there -- the entire piece, specific text evidence, as well as why each piece matters.

This worked beautifully when I spontaneously did it in 5th period yesterday. It worked even better in 8th when I did it with more purpose, and then again in 10th. In fact, in 10th period -- the end of the day -- we were rushed at the end because our discussions had been so productive. The office came on the PA saying it was time to turn on the news and go home, and we weren't quite done.  And that is when the unimaginable happened:  A girl said, "But we still have three minutes left. Why are they coming on so early?"  Each kid wrote every last thing down before I was allowed to go to the news.

WWWHHHHHHHAAAAATTTTTT????

I know this will probably never, ever happen again. But DAMN.  DAAYYYYAAAMMMM.

12. When the Universe Cooperates Perfectly

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It is time I paid homage to my awesome 1st period Creative Writing class. They come in quietly and ready to write. They are creative. Many of them shared openly right from the start. They are into storytelling big time.

We are working on drafting our first stories, and yesterday the Universe cooperated in the most perfect way.

It is often hard to get the kids to quiet down and work. It is sometimes hard to get them to do any hand writing since the Chromebook is so handy. But yesterday, right at the beginning of class, the internet went down in our school. This provided the perfect opportunity to have them use good old fashioned pen/pencil in hand.

Since I knew some of them were working diligently on stories on their devices, I gave them some alternative approaches. Outline your story in your notebook. Get a piece of plain paper and draw out your story -- the setting, the movements of the characters.  I then took out the electric candles (including the brand new remote-control operated ones I just got at Costco), and we shut off the lights and wrote.

For a half hour -- blessed silence -- as they delved into their stories without the distraction of what else they can do online. They had to rely only on their own creative effort with no assistance.  It was beautiful.

On Monday, the class created a character and I'm writing the story for this character. I was gifted with productive thinking time to organize the direction of the story, to think about how the various characters would interact.

The Universe cooperated so fully in this endeavor that right at the end of class an announcement came on that the internet was back up.  Thank the Lord, since I definitely needed it for my 3rd period class!

Thank you, Mighty Universe, for perfect timing.

11. Why I Despise 45

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Once again, 2nd period did their usual game-playing.

We have a rule: you can take the 10 minutes before class starts for the day to play on your Chromebook, but when the news comes on you close it and listen.

Today most everyone closed theirs except one (white) boy, who kept it open AND the sound on, as he was playing a Trump speech. This is obviously a slam at those who are most marginalized by the man who calls himself our president. I closed the computer and took it away.

After the news I was challenged by the boy's friend: "Would you have closed it if Hilary Clinton was speaking?"  I told him I don't care if was Spongebob, the fact is we have a rule about closing the books. The audio was an additional violation.

Gah.

I truly feel that the level of "okay to be hateful" has risen, and these privileged white boys are riding the wave. I hate it. And I know I can only do what I can do to combat it.

10. Promise

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After watching intensive reading students grapple with text, and borrowing a line from Nick Flynn's poem "Balcony" this poem emerged.



The only promise I can make
is I will do my best to
guide you in the direction you
are meant to go, that I will
encourage you, point out all the
place you shine, and let you
keep polishing that stone, that
gem inside you, that is waiting
to emerge, that will be a brighter
light, that will make you know
it is possible.

Dear Husband

Modeled after Peuo Tuy's poem "Dear Mother"




Dear Husband

From sunrise to sunset
you are a presence of love.

Daily, you set up our coffee
you take care of kitchen detail
you do the laundry -- perfectly.

You hug and kiss me and tell me you love me
without fail, every day
as I come and go.

9. The River is Beginning to Flow

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Ah...mid-September.

The river is beginning to flow without me feeling like I'm pushing it.

We had a well-attended first meeting of the CLMS Book Club on Tuesday. I was a tad nervous about that, but I guess I didn't need to be.

The admin has been balancing out our classes so I no longer have 24 intensive reading students in my 10th period class starting next week.  Alleluia!

This weekend I am actually cranking through some things that I simply cannot get to during the week. Working ahead. The past two weekends I've been nothing but a blob, doing virtually nothing. I feel my energy is rising again. Thank you baby Jesus.

I finally had a decent class with my tough and crowded 2nd period. Creative writing is heading into developing their first stories. Speech and debate are talking about topics they'd like to debate -- and this is the first really brave bunch I've had. Border wall. Vaping. Gun control. LBGTQ issues. Reparations. Formal debates will begin to be planned after we do one small independent project.

The Global Read Aloud is coming quickly, so planning time is needed for it.

But mostly I just want to say -- I like the way things are going and I love that I have energy returning. It's all uphill from here!