Oh, Rachel Martin and Kwame Alexander in the morning. I haven’t felt this way about words on the radio since John Ciardi’s. We woke up to Rachel and Kwame’s challenge this morning. How about this… I dream a world where allmy students walk into our room.I dream a world where we come together and no […]
Monthly Archives: January 2021
Hoping For Contagion
Sun, 17 Jan 2021, 07:14 PM (-06:00)
“Mister,” said a disembodied voice from the monitor on the wall. This rarely happens. So few remote students speak up. Certainly none as loudly. “It’s Yolanda!” a student in the front row said. “Go ahead, Yolanda. What’s up?” “Mister, is that because…” She proceeded to ask a question related to simplifying square roots. It was a […]
Was this a test?
Sat, 16 Jan 2021, 09:59 AM (-06:00)
A message popped up. It was from a student who has recently gone remote again. Many students are going remote again — some because their families are no longer willing to accept the risks, others because the school is doing contact tracing on kids testing positive. But I digress. A message had popped up. The […]
Greek Letters
Sat, 9 Jan 2021, 11:22 PM (-06:00)
The bell had just rung. The students were settling in. Sixth period is always a little rowdy at the beginning, and this day was no exception. Suddenly one of the students was shouting. “Mr. Hasan! What are these letters?” The others looked over. He was holding the class notes up with both hands. “They’re … […]
On Looking Menacing
Sat, 9 Jan 2021, 01:03 PM (-06:00)
1. On The Balustrade It was long ago, it was summer, and it was Saturday. The air was warm, the sky was blue, and the sun was shining. I grabbed a backpack and caught the Metro to the Mall. From Metro Center, I walked to the Capitol. I climbed the steps to where you can […]
Forgot It All
Sat, 9 Jan 2021, 08:48 AM (-06:00)
It was the first day of the second semester of my third year as a teacher. What period was it? I don’t remember. First, second, sixth. One of the pre-AP classes. It had been a minor struggle all morning. The upgraded Zoom apps had a new user interface. The wireless was slow. Zoom was slow. Things […]
Transfer Paperwork
Fri, 8 Jan 2021, 11:03 PM (-06:00)
She came into the classroom before school started with a pink piece of paper in her hand. “Hi Jennifer,” I said. “What’s up?” “Would you please sign this?” I looked down. It was a form to transfer out of our pre-AP class. “Sure. Where do I sign?” “Here, I think.” I signed on the line. […]
Where He Parked
Fri, 8 Jan 2021, 10:44 PM (-06:00)
The double doors to the hallway were closed and locked. They always are after school, to reduce the chance of students wandering around. As I walked up, a young student was coming up from the other side, which was odd. I opened the doors. He motioned as if he were going to walk through. “Who […]
Click to Delete
Tue, 5 Jan 2021, 08:21 PM (-06:00)
There are many ways Google Classroom has been a game changer for teachers with remote students. On the other hand, after using it for almost two semesters, I can say that the Google approach to app development — build the bare minimum set of features to impress first-time users — leads to horrors. (Horrors, I […]
Too Many Steps
Sat, 2 Jan 2021, 07:21 PM (-06:00)
“That’s too many steps, Mr. Hasan,” Daniel said. This complaint occurs regularly. After four things, someone will speak out. Too many numbers. Too many variables. Too many equations. Too many steps. It’s as if math is the only subject that requires them to remember things. Or maybe the only subject where it’s reasonable to complain. […]