Mush!

"You're all invited to come back in February," our tour guide told everyone on the motor coach from Denali, "for the Iditarod and some Northern Lights!" We laughed at her teasing, but it was more a little tempting. Imagine that, I thought.

I forgot her playful invitation until I saw a piece on the news a little while ago about that annual dog sled race. Watching the video footage of the ceremonial start of the Iditarod gave me a little pang-- despite the snow, it was easy to recognize the same downtown Anchorage we criss-crossed on foot for a couple days last August. Imagine that, I thought.

Later, at my computer, I clicked over to the official site, scanning through the progress of the mushers, and reading about how, because of the warm winter, they had actually had to ship in snow this year for the Anchorage leg of the race. One link in particular caught my eye. Teacher on the Trail it read. I knew the Iditarod had a robust collection of educational materials, but it turns out there is an annual contest to choose one teacher to create lessons and post dispatches from the trail.

Imagine that!

Makes You Stronger

"I must have picked up something from my niece," our neighbor coughed a little while ago as we visited. She sat in the rocking chair across the room from us. "Better not come any closer," she warned with a half-hearted laugh.

She needn't have worried. As school teachers, we both have super-resistant to most common bugs in this household (takes a moment to knock on the wooden desk). I don't want to jinx it, but by my calculations I have been exposed to somewhere near 5000 grubby little germ factories in my career...

...and I thank them all for contributing to my immunity!

No Complaints

We have had the excellent fortune to have enjoyed the last two weekends away, one on a cruise to the Bahamas and another to a waterfront beach house on the Chesapeake Bay. Relaxing and recharging, both were spent with people I love; I saw the sun rise out of the sea each morning, walked the beach each day, and watched the sun set each evening.

This Saturday I paid the bills, did my taxes, washed and folded clothes, graded some papers, and took the dog for a long walk.

It's good to be home.

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!