Teaching from Behind

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

SOLSC 12 of 31 - 3AM Musings

Some people wake up in the middle of the night, and can not go back to sleep. Perhaps it's their worries, stress, dreams, a noise they think they heard. That has never been my problem. I am a night owl, prone to staying up late but sleeping hard once I fall asleep. If I wake in the middle of the night to: adjust covers, go to the bathroom or from a dream, it usually only takes a roll onto my side and I'm out again instantly. In fact, for 99.999% of my adult life, the typical slice between 3:00-4:00AM could be summed like this:

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ - Perhaps with some snoring if my wife is correct.

Yes, there were a few late nights for all the right (and wrong) reasons through the years, especially in my early adulthood. When my daughter was born, there was a lot of interrupted sleep, although we figured out I don't wake up for much between 3-6AM so I got the 10pm-2:59am shift.

But since last Friday, I've been wakened in the early morning hours but a tickle of a cough almost every night. So tonight, I sit, again, on my couch, hoping my wife is now able to sleep, and wishing I could slumber too. My only company: a snoring cat, Kleenex, cough drops, tea.

I'm not actually that sick! I'm fine during the day. A little tissue, yes. Maybe a cough or two an hour, yes. Sleepiness from the might before, yes. Feeling healthy and relatively normal during the typical waking hours, yes.

But at night, a few hours after I go to sleep...the tickle is deep in my throat and feels like a droplet of water hanging to an icicle. For the longest time, it clings there, nothing but potential. Suddenly, it's energy is released, and I cough. Maybe one, unfulfilling cough, or several, until I can lay silent, feeling the incessant droplet reforming. There is just enough time between coughing spells to almost fall asleep. But then I'm coughing again and eventually I decide I'm awake and it's time for the couch.

Here few things I did notice tonight post-3AM awake time:

- I left the dining room light on at the lowest dimmer setting, as if I expected I would be up. It was actually welcoming as I stumbled downstairs.

Not the Monet painting, but a surprisingly similar composition.

- I realized the moon is almost full because the house casts a moon shadow in the backyard, at the same place the sun does.

- The snow, under the moonlight looks blue and reminds me of the The Magpie by Monet, that I saw in the Musee d-Orsay in Paris.

- The snow, under the harsh street lights of the front yard, looks white.

- My cat is sleeping on the blue fleece blanket I was hoping to cover myself with. I don't want to disturb another creature's slumber so I will use the slightly scratchy wool blanket instead.

- Sleep is hard to come by again tonight.

Lion photo credit:<ahref="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/4069723340/">Martin_Heigan</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

Magpie photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandiffendale/8383646529/">diffendale</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

SOLSC 11 of 31 - Snowy Recess

Join me this month as I write a slice of my life each day this March and join many others sharing slices at twowritingteachers.com. My students will also be slicing this month and you can find links to their daily blogs HERE.

"Did you get hit in the back of the head with a snowball?" the front office secretary asked as I walked in from recess today.

My right hand reached up and felt the mass of wet sticky flakes attached to my hair. I wiped my hair a couple of times, the flakes almost instantly transforming to water droplets as I answered, "Maybe we should have had indoor recess today."

The rule at our school is below twenty degrees or in blizzard conditions, we do indoor recess, or as I like to call it, HELL. I would rather endure almost anything than the pain of getting the 150 students, ages 8-14 to take their shoes off, run around without causing injuries, deal with the racket, and finally getting shoes back on to go to class. It takes so much energy and voice and herding of cats to make it feel like anything close to recess happened.

So today, while I monitored the lunchroom, and watched the snow fly sideways in the twenty mile-per-hour wind, and plaster itself to everything in it's path, I thought, "It's not below twenty. We are going outside." As students came to ask me where recess would be, I said with assurance that we could handle fifteen minutes in the elements and, "You should be dressed for it anyway."

Fifteen seconds after exiting the building and walking into the wind, my blue fleece was completely white. My sunglasses were a mass of wet, and three-quarters of the students were walking backwards towards the playground and field. Another teacher on duty ran to his car to get his snowboarding jacket. A student tripped over a shrub she didn't see while walking backwards. Students created huddle piles. The football game never advanced past the midfield mark due to the wind. Mammoths lumbered across the frozen tundra and glaciers formed in the packing lot.

No one threw a snowball, but perhaps I would have gotten the message sooner if they had.

Playground photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bensonkua/6585852763/">Benson Kua</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Snowball fight photo credit: <ahref="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thethingsitdoes/7945245340/">thethingsitdoes</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Sunday, March 9, 2014

SOLSC 10 of 31 - First Bike Ride of the Year

Today's slice is pretty stream of consciousness. Hope it works for you.

Today is my first bike ride of the year! Last night, when I looked at the weather and my responsibilities for the day, I realized I could bike the six miles to work and then back! The last month-and-a-half of last school year, my car broke and I biked to work pretty much every day in May and June. The great plan of biking much more this school year has not worked out so well with added childcare responsibilities on my end as my wife does more tutoring. But today I ride!

Getting ready for the first biking of the year is a bit of a process. Here's a rough outline of my thoughts and actions as I tried to prepare last night, because my brain is pretty foggy in the morning.

"Hey! I could ride my bike tomorrow! It will be a chilly ride in (about forty degrees) but it will be sixty-eight for the ride home!"

Walk to the garage and squeeze the bike tires. "Yup. Those will need filling." Scan the bike equipment hanging from my bike. "That stuff sack has the spare tubes, little pump, pressure gauge, and tube repair kit." Open the bag and make sure. "And there's the multi-Allen wrench tool...where is my Leatherman? Must be on that shelf inside. Oh. and there's my helmet and the little mirror that sticks to it."

Walk inside. Plan clothes for tomorrow.

Ride in: Long underwear (top and bottom), athletic-type underwear (which will be good for Ultimate practice too after school), athletic socks and shorts (see underwear note), Windstopper fleece (Also good for a light rain).

At School: Nice pants, navy socks, nice collared golf shirt (short sleeves since it should be really nice but I may be a little chilled), belt (I actually just remembered it as I wrote it and had to go get it), shoes...I'll wear the same shoes for biking in, school and Ultimate. They will work "fine."

Ultimate practice and ride home (should be the same for both): shorts, short sleeve "performance shirt" (I like the blue one best). Will all the extra clothes fit in my backpack? Probably. Oh yeah! The backpack! The Leatherman too. Grab it. First try! Right where I thought it was. Didn't even have to ask my wife!

Go to garage and get backpack. Take out "Survival Kit" bag since I shouldn't need to rescue myself/survive in the woods or make a fire on short notice without a lighter. Take out a few other things I needed from the snowshoe trip with my class two weeks ago. Leave in First-Aid kit since I want it for Ultimate practice or unintended handlebar vaulting.

Next, turn to the bike, hanging upside-down form hooks in the garage. First, put tire repair sack and combo lock into the backpack. Remember Leatherman in pocket and take sack back out, include it in the sack and put it back into the backpack. Carefully take down bike so as not to drop it on my wife's car. Lean it against the wall and take down the big, T-handled bike pump. "Why is this valve cap on the front tire Blue?" Shrug and fill tire with air to 90psi, "I think that's the right psi for these hybrids." Fill back tire too, noticing that the valve cap is black. Put back air pump. Notice the hose is very warm from all the high pressure air and have a science teacher moment and think of Boyle's Law.

Check the brakes...Seem ok. Spin the wheels to make sure they are not dragging on the brakes. Uh oh. Back wheel needs a little adjusting. Get the Allen wrench tool and play with the brake wires until it seems to spin freely and still allow the brake to function. Wonder if there is an easier way by messing with the spokes? Decide not to mess with them tonight. Rub shin from when the pedal whacked it while the back tire spun the wrong direction.

Grab backpack and go inside. Put in clothes and homework, from normal work bag, that I will need tomorrow. Figure there is enough room for lunch, laptop and Ultimate book/practice plan folder.

WATER! I just realized as I type this I don't have any. Go to fill up bottle and put it on the bike. While out there, remember that keys and sunglasses are good things for the day and they are in my car. Grab 'em. Keys on hand key snap thingy in the backpack. Sunglasses on my helmet so I put them when I'm ready.

I think that's it. What did I forget? What time does the sunrise after Daylight Savings? I want to leave at 7:15. And my wife checks and it's 7:19. Light enough, although I will check the headlight and taillight to make sure they are functioning. Yup.

I'm sure I forgot something else vital since it's the first time in months, but that's part of re-learning each year. Kind of like the first big hike of the season. Hopefully it's not a big deal, but deal with it whatever it is. Happy Monday!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

SOLSC 9 of 31 - Ten Things Right Now

I decided to use the "Be Inspired" section of the SOL page since it spoke to me tonight. Thanks Mandy Robek's post from a few months ago.

Ten Things Right Now in no particular order of importance:

1. Getting over a cold. I felt it coming on all week and tried to fight it. I sucked on zinc lozenges for two days while sitting on a jury. I took extra vitamin C and other healthy supplements. I did not get enough sleep. Each morning was a little more flemmey until finally, I started coughing this morning around 4AM. I "slept" on the couch so my wife could sleep and had chicken noodle soup for breakfast and lunch.

2. Keeping up to date with the Slice of Life Challenge. I struggled to write and post every Tuesday, but I've kept up with this month so far. I don't like everything I've written, but a couple of things I really like. I have a post I want to make into a poem, and a poem I want to expand into a children's book. The first idea is more likely, but the second seems more fun.

3. Encouraging my students to complete the SOL Classroom Challenge. Maintaining two blogs is hard and I am behind in commenting on my students' posts. But my kids are awesome and doing a great job, many posting every day!

4. Preparing for student/parent/teacher conferences in two weeks. I have twenty-three middle school students in my class and we have a 30-40 minutes conference with their parents to go over their portfolios, where the show their learning from this past trimester. Grades would be much easier, but the conferences and portfolios are deeper and more useful.

5. Supporting my family. It's been a very crazy time lately within my extended family. I had a cousin who died last month in a skiing accident and the funeral and memorial service were so special and important. But it is hard. Then ten days ago, my grandmother, 92, collapsed and spent a week in the hospital. At least she lives in town now, so we could visit while they diagnosed her need for, and implanted a pacemaker. We had dinner with her and her husband tonight (just celebrated their 75th anniversary) and they are doing well. It is so wonderful to just "be there" for people you love. But it is also hard when it is unexpected and plenty else is going on.

I'm worried this is getting to be a "my life is so busy list" so I'll try to switch it up here.

6. Learning harmonica. I've been at it for a little over a year and am decent for really not knowing what I'm doing. I want and need lessons to help me both see and achieve the next step. So it is time to figure that out and just do it...with all my spare time. Since I feel like I have no spare time, I just need to make it, just like I do for Slicing or family or me on occasion.

7. Coaching Ultimate. Also known as Frisbee Football, Ultimate is a ton of fun. Several students at my school showed there was interest and asked me to coach it since they needed an adult and I do throw Frisbees with them a lot at recess. I've never coached it, or played it beyond pick-up game level, but we are having fun and games just got scheduled. I am excited to be learning something newish and coaching again for the first time in seven years.

8. Planning individual units with my class. This is both a ton of fun and a ton of work. I am lucky that I have a very independent group that is really rolling already on things they are passionate and interested in. But helping each student take their next steps in a variety of academic subjects, as a person/student, all while making sure to stay true to their interests and intentions is hard. Some days (weeks, years) I'm better at than others, but I am excited by what I have seen so far!

9. Getting outside. I need outdoor time to be fully me. Not just a recess or a walk, but entire, or large potions of, days in the elements doing something. With the springing forward today, I gain an extra hour between work and dark. Some days, I need to go play disc golf, get to the park with my daughter, go for walks with my wife and daughter after dinner, or do some gardening/yard work.

10. Working out/eating better. I don't have specific goals, but I want to be in better shape for the summer. I want to hike several fourteeners and get closer to my goal of climbing all 54 of them in Colorado. I've summited 27 mountains over 14,000 feet thus far. So I'm trying to do some cardio and light weight lifting at the gym two nights a week. I also went to a rock gym last week and hope to return every couple of weeks to work on rock climbing moves. I won't need to do lots of roped up climbing to do the peaks I have my eye on this summer, but feeling confident on rock is important. I am eating better food overall and snacking less, although the teacher's lounge has often been my snacking downfall in the past. Doing pretty well so far though and I have yet to even eat a Girl Scout cookie this year. CRAZY!

11. Bonus - List of things I would like to be doing more of, or be working towards, or that I just think are interesting/good to do: Disc golf, fly fishing, writing articles on education, writing children's books, taking art classes, getting an MBA, buying/fixing/renting houses, taking my wife on vacation, visiting my brother's family, writing more letters to people I love, traveling, walking in the woods, starting a school, working towards becoming a school administrator, volunteering my time, saving the world, sleeping, forgiving, learning guitar, inventing stuff, writing my memoirs, performing stand-up comedy, and other fancy stuff.

SOLSC #8/31 - My Commute is too Short

Join me this month as I write a slice of my life each day this March and join many others sharing slices at twowritingteachers.com. My students will also be slicing this month and you can find links to their daily blogs HERE.

This last Tuesday, I was called upon to show up at the "Jury Assembly Room" at the courthouse and do my civic duty. While I have been called for jury duty six or seven times, I have never actually sat on a jury, or even made it into the jury box and then been cut. But this time, it was my turn to sit on a jury for a civil trial and I spent Tuesday-Friday at the courthouse instead of my classroom. I learned many lessons this past week about, court proceedings, car accidents, back injuries, and procedures to stop back pain. Another thing I learned was, my normal commute is too short.

That's actually a ridiculous thing to say, but I think it might be true. My normal commute to work is about twelve minutes. With perfect lights, I can be there in ten and if traffic is "bad" it may take as long as seventeen minutes. To get to or from the courthouse, it should take twenty-one minutes according to GoogleMaps. My fastest time was over half-an-hour. I could count on being stuck in stop-and-go traffic for much of the time and usually allowed forty-five minutes, "just in case."

While I didn't enjoy driving in traffic, the time to just be by myself and prepare for or process the day was wonderful. I could listen to a couple of complete stories on NPR, or to other stations and know I would likely hear as much music as commercials or DJ talk. A timeout starting and ending the workday is what I may be missing in my life. So long as I didn't get all stressed about the traffic and other drivers, which I am getting better at as I approach forty, I felt relatively refreshed arriving to the courthouse or to home. There was time to let things come into and out of my brain. Time to process and discard. Time I HAD to spend on me.

I may look for a longer route to work on Monday.

Traffic photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/196792901/">Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Red Light photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicshark/1288380740/">atomicshark</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

Friday, March 7, 2014

SOLSC 7 of 31 - Poetry Friday - Night Music

I am also linking up to Poetry Friday today. I have only shared one poem so far but I'm ready to share this one. Margaret is hosting the Poetry Friday at HERE this week.

Night Music

Daytime sounds have faded away

Lifting the melody, the overlay

TV off,

Radio ‘click’

Worries.

Is my child sick?

Fridge lays down a bass line hum

Mantle clock ticking is the drum

A child’s cough,

Car door slams,

Snoring cat

Night Music Jam

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/deux-chi/4146284063/">deux-chi</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Thursday, March 6, 2014

SOLSC 6 of 31 March 6, 2014 - Once Upon a Time

Are there more magical and comforting words than Once upon a time? As a parent, it is so pleasing to watch my child, snuggle into a comfortable position, start to relax, and open her mind to the tales I'm about to bring forth from the book in front of us or my own imagination.

"You make up a story first Dad, then I will." Clara lay face down on the couch cushion, that previously had been the wall to a fort, and gazed at me expectantly.

"What should I make up a story about?" I ask as I lay down on another former fort wall.

"The princesses." She then proceeds to list six Disney princesses/heroines that often star in our stories.

I begin to weave a tale about a picnic in the woods, a game of hide-and-seek, friendship and the fairy godmother who saves them from a poisoned apple. We count aloud with Cinderella and Snow White as the rest of the friends hide. Clara interjects once in a while with ideas about what should happen next. I offer that the apple can have a good or bad enchantment and let Clara decide the result. In the end everything works out well and I say, "The End."

During these stories, I often try to incorporate new experiences she's having, or even perhaps behavioral issues she is working on. She loves the Disney princesses, but I worry about the inherent lessons they can teach to girls. So I give them strong wills, confidence and the ability to do many things, regardless of their gender. At times, they are mystery-solving members of a rock band. Or they may dig secret tunnels between their houses and meet up on rainy days without getting wet. They also go to dances, and put on make-up since she wants that to happen too.

In the end though, I just try to make the story flow, get some laughs from silly situations, and make the problems come out alright.

"Now you tell me a story Clara," as I secretly hit record on the digital voice recorder on the floor.

"OK. I'll tell about Winnie the Pooh and all his friends. Once upon a time..."

I snuggle into a comfortable position, relax, and open my mind to her tale.