The two of them walked up after the test. “Can we go give Mr. Smith a sticker?” they asked. These two are crazy about stickers. I’ve seen them shuffling thru sheets of them pointing and laughing. And they’ve gone to Mr. Smith before. I confess that I don’t understand this. I’ve previously had students who […]
Yearly Archives: 2024
Years Behind Me
Mon, 23 Sep 2024, 07:36 PM (-06:00)
We didn’t have much time. His grandmother was coming to get him soon. We had a couple more algebra problems to review, a couple more equations to write. Then she stuck her head in thru the door, flashing eyes, floating hair. She shouted over to him. “He’s a good teacher, you know.” And then they […]
Negative Numbers
Sun, 22 Sep 2024, 10:47 AM (-06:00)
1. A High School Math Teacher’s Lament Something’s not happening in middle school math. For six+ years, students have been showing up in my Algebra 2 classes with little ability to think about (much less calculate with) fractions or negative numbers. You’ll hear this from any high school math teacher you talk to. And it […]
Girlish Figures
Sat, 21 Sep 2024, 03:50 PM (-06:00)
1. Shorts It was afternoon after work. We were changing into comfy clothes. I had just put on a beige pair of shorts and was buckling the belt. I reached for a T-shirt and looked across the room. There were my beige shorts lying on my pillow. And my belt. Wait, what? “Why are my […]
Being Earnest
Tue, 17 Sep 2024, 07:30 PM (-06:00)
She came walking across the room as everyone else was walking out the door. There was a smile on her face, which is not really saying much, since she is always smiling. “Mi Mila. What’s up?” I asked. “Mr. Hasan,” she said. “I just want to say thank you for teaching us so … earnestly.” […]
Trajectories and Orbits
Tue, 17 Sep 2024, 11:27 AM (-06:00)
Years ago, when I taught at a different school, there were two students who often ate lunch with me. They were usually happy, and almost always giggled. I called them the “Giggly Girls”. They graduated years ago and should be most of their way thru college by now. They did stop by my classroom once […]
Dream with Cinnamon Rolls and Map
Sun, 15 Sep 2024, 04:21 PM (-06:00)
Scribbled on pieces of paper years ago. Stashed under a pile only to be rediscovered recently. A transcript of a dream evidently recalled just after I woke up… 1. I woke up camping beside a cliff. I could see and hear a creek in the distance. And there was a cave. My grandmother is there, […]
The Future
Sun, 8 Sep 2024, 05:35 PM (-06:00)
1. Waymo When Paul came out of the restaurant, Trudy and I got up from the bench where we had been sitting in the sun. We all started to walk across the parking lot. I had been watching a man with a bag getting into a car with no driver. There was a large spinning […]
Starliner Touchdown
Fri, 6 Sep 2024, 10:07 PM (-06:00)
In the dead of night through the eyes of infrared cameras after an autonomous deorbit burn, two drogue parachutes and then three mains slowed an uncrewed Starliner to a successful touchdown.