Make My Day!

Most mornings you can find me outside my classroom door greeting every student I can by name. As part of our cultural competence training early in the year we read an article that said in large secondary schools kids can for days without ever being personally recognized. As our school grows ever larger each year, that seems like more of a risk for us. A simple solution? Teachers greet each student by name as they enter the class.

I have a student in my homeroom this year who is in our school's life skills program. Such a placement is only made for students with very low cognitive ability, a severe physical disability that impacts learning, or both. This guy is kind of a tough nut to crack. Almost completely non-verbal, he demonstrates aptitude in many areas, but inconsistently. Except technology. The kid literally loves pushing buttons, and he knows what he is doing, so it has become his job to turn the smartboard on and off each morning for and following the broadcast announcements.

He is often the first to arrive, unaccompanied, although a personal assistant follows not far behind him. I always wish him a good morning, but he rarely shows any indication that he has heard me. Early in the year I learned to enlist the other kids; he is much more likely to respond to them. His speech is mostly parroting things he has recently heard, so I was really impressed a month or so ago when he greeted his assistant by name.

But not nearly as impressed as when I saw him coming down the hall this morning. "Good morning!" I called to each student as they approached.

"Good morning, Miss Sheh-har-son!" he answered.

I'll take it!

Bundle Up, Buttercup

"What's the weather like?" a colleague asked this afternoon peering across my room to a pair of the rare windows in our school building.

"Gray and blustery," I answered, and we exchanged unimpressed looks.

"Did you hear that next week..." she started.

"we're going to get a polar vortex!" we finished together and laughed.

"Polar vortex?" she shrugged. "It's like the new thing. We're always getting them lately, and they sound so... dire."

I nodded in agreement.

"What did we used to say?" she asked.

"Cold snap?" I suggested.

"Cold snap!" she agreed. "Much less dire." She paused. "Have you seen the latest cabinet picks?"

Risky Business

An integral part of the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme is its focus on 10 learner profile traits. IB students and their teachers are encouraged to foster inquiry, being knowledgeable, thinking, communication, being principled, open-mindedness, caring, healthy risk-taking, balance, and reflection in ourselves.

To reinforce these concepts, we explore one per month and then students are asked to nominate a member of the team who exemplifies that trait. It is the 21st century, and so we conduct these nominations by way of Google form survey and then we teachers get a spreadsheet with all the responses.

There is something about the process though, that gives some students a sense of anonymity, and so sometimes the data we get is either clearly self-serving or fit for a gripe box.

For example today we had a student nominate himself as a healthy risk-taker because he sticked up for what he believed in

And in response to the question How do the adults in the building demonstrate this behavior?

He wrote, I see how they use bad behavior

The In Crowd

One of the challenges of teaching is actually co-teaching. Because students are identified by so many labels-- some of them academic, some of them federal, some of them self-chosen, but all of them significant in high-stakes testing data which impacts schools and districts, there are often several educators in a single classroom. Finding the time to coordinate with such a team is a challenge in itself, and so there are definitely times when the teacher of record is put in the awkward position of directing and redirecting a person who is technically a peer.

My friend Mary and I were laughing about just such a situation today. It was around 5 PM, and we had just finished planning the week ahead and were commiserating about how much we had left to do when the subject of one of our colleagues (who was long gone for the day) came up. This teacher is assigned to Mary's class for one period a day and sometimes becomes so involved in completing the assignments herself that she forgets to interact with the students she is there to support.

"It's because our lessons are so awesome," I joked. "If only the kids felt the same way!"

"I know," Mary answered. "I think she just wants to be one of us."

"And why wouldn't she?" I said. "We're living the dream!"

Dressed for Success

I chose my wardrobe pragmatically this morning: the weather forecast was damp and chilly, so I put on something warm and toasty.

"Wow!" said a student as he entered the room. "Don't you look like a writer!"

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"I think it must be the black turtleneck," he answered. "It really makes you look famous!"

Hats in Space

It's true: sometimes I can be a jerk, even with those I love most.

Today we were killing a little time at the Air and Space Museum gift shop before seeing the movie Arrival on their ginormous screen. 'Tis definitely the season, and a lot of our conversation around the merchandise was centered on whether or not it might make a good gift or stocking stuffer. As I descended the escalator to the lower level of the three-story establishment (impressive in itself for a museum gift shop!) Heidi called my attention to a rack at the top. "Did you see that?" We should get it for Treat!"

I shook my head. "What was it?"

"Hello Kitty in a space hat!" she told me.

I frowned, the escalator continuing its slow descent. "Hello Kitty, what?" I asked.

Full disclosure: Our 21-year-old nephew used to be quite enamored of Hello Kitty back when we counted his age in single digits.

I get the idea of jokey throw back gifts, but even though I was in the National Air and Space Museum, I could not for the life of me fathom what a "space hat" was, even when she repeated it. "What?" I asked again.

"You know, Hello Kitty in a glass bubble on her head? What's it called?" Heidi answered.

"A helmet?" I said.

"Yes!" she replied giving me a dirty look, because I was laughing. "Did you know what I was talking about?"

"No!" I told her, honestly, but then spotting another display of dolls I picked one up. "Oh, Hello, Kitty!" I cooed. "I love your space hat!"

Members of the Clan

We were running an errand in Old Towne early this afternoon when we noticed quite a few folks in kilts and other festive tartan-wear. It didn't take long to figure out that we were swept up in the aftermath of the annual Scottish Christmas Walk, traditionally held on the first weekend of December. Not being in any hurry, we strolled over to join a group who were drumming and piping right outside a pub, where we fit right in since we were wearing plaid, too!

May ye aye keep hail an hertie till ye'r auld eneuch tae dee.