What a fantastic opportunity we have been forced into! I know that could be interpreted sarcastically; I mean it completely sincerely. I am a teacher. Sometimes, I am a phenomenal teacher. Sometimes, I am a mediocre teacher. We all know teachers who have been teaching for a long time, teaching the same thing, plugging along … Read more
Two things that popped up this week. First, I realized that the majority of my students are new to me this year, and I have never seen their faces. I don’t know what their noses look like. I see their eyes and their hair and that’s all. Many of them, if they showed up to … Read more
The novelty of wearing a mask has worn off, and more kids are taking them off. I spent a fair amount of time during class this week showing empathy to their discomfort—I don’t like wearing one, either—and explaining why we’re wearing them. They didn’t seem to know. (That could be no one has explained it … Read more
The district where I work had students in the grades I teach start back to school this week on Monday. It’s been … interesting. I can’t speak to whether this can be generalized to anyone else’s experience—this write up is just what my week has been like. First, like many other things the last six … Read more
School has started or is about to start ’round here. For the moment, we’re all online, and many parents are struggling with the situation. Different households have different dynamics. Parents and kids have a wide range of personalities and interpersonal relationships. Be open to possibilities. Take what works; leave what doesn’t. As a teacher with … Read more
A combination of misc details from around life recently… We have Smurf glasses (think 80s McDonalds collectibles) and The Kid was asking about Smurfs. One of the glasses features Handy Smurf which got me to thinking about how he was my favorite, and how I would pretend to be him when I was a kid, … Read more
I’ve seen three people just today ask “What are you doing that’s working?” with regards to the kids being home. Here’s what’s more or less working here. Disclaimer: This is not meant to tell you what to do. Our situations might be entirely different. This is just what we’re doing that’s working (or that we … Read more
Schools across the country are closing in an effort to help contain the pandemic. This post is intended as a living resource for parents and other caretakers for online learning resources for kids. They should all be free or temporarily free. I have not checked every one. If you find any of these to be … Read more
When I was in college, the phrase “keyboard skills” evoked many negative reactions from many of us. Learning to play piano was, succinctly, not a good time. But even at the college level, we weren’t handed a Beethoven piano sonata and asked to plunk it out by whatever means necessary. This is what we’re doing … Read more
“Every time you learn something, your brain changes.” Whether you learn it correctly or not, whether you learn something big or small, something important or not important, something loving or hateful, it physically changes your brain. I heard this somewhere a couple of months ago, and it stuck with me. (Happy to cite if you … Read more