Wildly Predictable

This year, because of a change in our district calendar, spring conferences were relegated to a three-hour period on a Friday afternoon, which happened to be today. At our school we have long prided ourselves on well-prepared, student-led conferences, but it was necessary to change that structure to accommodate the abbreviated time period. We decided on a drop-in, first-come, first-served model where parents were encouraged to bring their students, but it wasn't required.

How strange it was to sit in my room at noon today wondering which of the families of the 100 students I have would show up and what they would want to hear. Oh, I had a number of tools at the ready-- my gradebook, some recent standardized test scores, a few work samples, but in the end it was really just my professional opinion that was requested.

"This is your agenda," I started after welcoming each of the 13 parents who stopped by, "what questions can I answer for you?"

The response?

Even though they all knew what grades the student had, it was always the same: How is she (or he) *really* doing?

And the follow up didn't change much either. How can I help him (or her) do better?

Just You Wait

I'm obsessed with Alexander Hamilton.

A few weeks ago I heard an interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda about the fact that his award-winning, hip hop musical, Hamilton, was based on the 2004 800+ page biography of that founding father by Ron Chernow. Knowing I couldn't get tickets to the show, I downloaded the audiobook (all 36 hours of it!). And I have been listening ever since: 10, or 20, or 30 minutes a day I have made my way through half of Hamilton's life. So intense a story is it, that I dream about Alexander Hamilton.

A couple days ago, after finding out that one of my homeroom students (who happens to be named Hamilton) is equally obsessed with the musical, I downloaded the soundtrack as well, and so my sixth grade students and I have been listening to the title track each morning. It fits perfectly into their social studies curriculum: at this very moment they are studying the Constitutional Congress, but until recently, only James and I knew who Alexander Hamilton was.

This morning we watched a video of the cast performing that number at the Grammys-- twice! by popular demand. Oh, we'll probably move on to other songs, but definitely not until I finish the book-I started listening to the rest of the album yesterday and was extremely alarmed by the spoilers in just the second track!

What Does the Groundhog Say?

Spring ding ding ding springa ding ding ding!

Or something like that.

Just yesterday, mild temperatures and blue skies had given me some springtime in my step, but this morning when I took the dog for our walk, my eyes watered and the pine trees at the bottom of the hill whined in the chill wind.

Exactly one month after Punxsutawney Phil concluded that spring was right around the corner, I had my doubts, especially considering that we were only two weeks out from the alternative, six more weeks of winter. And then there was that slushy mix that is in the forecast for tomorrow night.

Oh well. Maybe we'll get that one last snow day.

Super Tuesday

The coincidence of Super Tuesday and the beginning of our annual Slice of Life writing challenge gave my sixth grade students a lot of fodder to post about today. Even though they could have written about anything, over a third of my slicers chose the same topic. We live in a pretty liberal, politically aware community, but honestly I was unprepared for the strength of their reactions.

Here is a digest of their unedited thoughts about the current election:

im no really into pollitics as long as donald trump dose not win

Donald Trump would make America go downhill in flames. My mother says if he wins the election we would move out of the countr.

If he is elected for president I am going to steal a car and go full speed towards Canada and out of the country! I probably shouldn't say that I did this but I kicked one of the signs!

At least Hilary Clinton has some sort of common sense but personally I feel we really don't have any good candidates .

If Donald Trump is elected president, then I will probably flee the country and move to England.

Today i am sooooo scared, its super tuesday! for me its more like am i gonna have to move out of the country tuesday. i bet its like that for a lot of other people too, but down in Richmond people are like " YAY!!!!! We FINALY get to vote for DONALD frikin TRUMP.

my friend was like make America great again? You don't need to do that it's fine the way it is sheesh

I DONT LIKE TRUMP. He is a misguided person with crazy ambitions for America. 

If I could vote I would not vote for Donald Trump because he is so rude and I do not like him at all.

He is a cruel, mean and half hearted rich guy trying to take over the USA.

Today, was the day people would vote for the presidental candidate. I pick Trump. NOT!!!!!! I would never do such a thing.

Today is Super Tuesday, and as much as I hate to admit it, Donald Trump may become the President. He has far too much popularity and he is so charming, it's impossible to believe. He's going to charm the Mexicans into paying for a wall that's going to keep them out of America! Two days ago, I wrote about how I thought that Trump had bribed Chris Christie to endorse him. But I now know the real reason Christie endorsed Trump. He knows the idea of President Trump is inevitable and he wants to get on Trump's good side. But no one's going to admit that! One more thing I hate to admit is, when President Trump is ruling this country, Canada is going to be a bit too overpopulated for everyone to move there. So make yourself nice and cozy, and remember, stay on Trump's good side.

Oh, and of course there was also this remark, which was much more in line with my expectations:

HeLlO!!! Today is voting day. To be honest since we are kindly giving our space to the community we should get today off.

But, that's the wonderful thing about this writing challenge-- people will surprise you when you give them a chance to say what they think!

Exits and Entrances

Taking advantage of the beach cruiser bikes that were included in our rental house, Emily, Heidi, and I pedaled out the rutted clay road yesterday morning. Our destination was the northernmost spit of land on our little peninsula, but the way was not direct. We meandered around a little pond and through a horse farm before we even made it to the main road. At one point we rounded a little bend, flustering a half dozen vultures feeding on a deer carcass by the side of the road. A few held their ground as we rolled by, and I could neither unsee the long stretchy piece of gore one was pulling from the gut, nor unsmell the sharp stench, but those unpleasantries were joined by an abiding appreciation for the role of the scavenger, especially when half an hour later on our return trip we pedaled by four times as many vultures and the indisputable calculus that over half the deer was gone. 

Acceptance Speech

We are away at the beach for our traditional Oscar party weekend, and to be honest, although we have spent the last 30 hours trying to put as positive as possible a spin on it, the house we have this time just doesn't measure up to past rentals. It's puzzling, because we are using the same company, but after being spoiled by smart renovations and stylish furnishings for the last two years, we were disappointed to find a chopped up three-level place with shabby furniture and a so-so equipped kitchen. Far from allowing it to spoil our weekend, the four of us have spent the day improvising and innovating our way around such obstacles as a dishwasher rack with falling off wheels (scouring the drawers for missing parts and rubber bands), no charcoal lighter (a brown paper bag and tin foil  fashioned into a chimney), and creating a sand sifter from an olive container. We have certainly congratulated ourselves plenty for our ingenuity, but in the spirit of the weekend...

I would like to thank my mother, who always taught us that no matter what the problem is, if you use your imagination and know-how, you can figure out a way over, under, or around any obstacles and fix what needs to be. (Waves golden statuette in the air and exits stage right as the orchestra swells.)

Power of Suggestion

"Frozen waffle are my jam," said the very talented chef the other night on Top Chef.

Heidi and I looked at each other. "Uh oh," she said.

"What?" Kate, Josh's girlfriend asked.

"He's going to get eliminated for that," I predicted. "No matter how good his dish is," I shook my head sadly, "you can't use frozen waffles at this point."

The four of us giggled through the episode as it played out just as Heidi and I predicted. "I can't believe that," Josh laughed at the end.

I was making coffee when he and Kate got up this morning. "Do we have any waffles?" he asked me without a trace of irony.

"Why? I asked, "Are they your jam?"