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Monthly Archives: August 2018

Modern Art

It’s late at night. I had a cold brewed coffee in the late afternoon as I graded papers. It was after 3:00. Caffeine after 3:00: not a good idea, he says, with nary a wink of sleep coming over him. It’s an hour before midnight. The full moon is rising and marching with Mars across the […]

Sometimes it Works, Sometimes Not

I tried to get them talking to each other about math today. Just some light conversation about what kinds of gotchas they thought might trip them up. I had talked about some of the gotchas… dropped negative signs, missed terms, that sort of thing. “Talk to your shoulder partner,” I said. “Share what gotchas you […]

First Week Retrospective

So the first week of school was pretty good. Sure, there were a few heads down on the desks. And I did collect some phones and ear buds and a book that a student had in their lap. But there was nothing that pushed the limits. Push-the-limits events — belligerence, aggression, cursing… — have been […]

The Joy of Bamboo Wind Chimes

It was Friday afternoon. The students were working on a foldable. They were alternatively picking up and setting down colored pencils, shading in x-related and y-related things on their papers. The room was dark so that the screen projection of what I was doing was easy to see and follow. The only sound was the clinking […]

Daddy’s Ties

In the scramble of yesterday morning, I searched for a tie. I have not worn a tie in many years. I had not opened that container forever. It was a difficult search ending in all my ties scattered on the bed and not a one tied around my neck. (For what it’s worth, I saw […]

Observations from Day 1

1. Good Indicators I left early this morning so that I might get a few final things done in my room. The commute was fine, even though it’s outside the county. Indeed, the drive time is less than half my previous daily commute. As a bonus, I didn’t have butterflies which seemed a bit odd. […]

The Day Before Tomorrow

I should be reading the newsletter our principal sent this afternoon reiterating the things that need to happen tomorrow, the first day of school. I should be making a few more notes on my plan. I should be getting horizontal. I should be closing my eyes.  But before that, a few words… Morning Meeting. As […]

Just When That Was

We bumped into each other in the hall. He and I had actually met a few days ago. He smiled at me like he was seeing and good friend. “Hello!” he said. He mentioned that he had heard that I might be interested in helping with student council. He nodded understandingly when I confessed to […]

Awesome

We met at Caspian Grill. “Could we have some must-khiar as an appetizer?” I asked. She glanced up. “The yogurt and cucumber?” “Yes please.” After Kelley and Gregg and Trudy, I ordered the Koobideh and rice.  She glanced up. “The K2?”  “Yes please.” “You like using the names,” she said. I agreed. She smiled. The food was […]

Our Convocation Chant

It was time for the annual school district convocation of faculty and staff who converged on the special events center on Friday morning. Breakfast was served, which served to motivate on-time arrival, even though parking was tight. Inside the auditorium, we sat by school, each of us wearing a school-specific T-shirt — ours Crayola Blue with […]