Someone Needs a Review

While most of my colleagues probably spent the first weekend of the school year chasing those final days of summer, I have been agonizing over a presentation I agreed to make tomorrow, despite my resolution to keep my life as uncomplicated as possible.

I guess that's what formative assessment is for.

Humility Grows Here

My dream of growing a watermelon was violently derailed yesterday when I stopped by the garden on the way home from school to see how it was doing without me now that I am back to work. There was nothing but a sour smell and a swarm of flies where my two little watermelons had been on Tuesday.

A little ways away I found a couple of broken and empty shells where whatever critter had beaten me to my melons had dragged them. With a sigh, I tossed them in the compost bin and filed the experience under major garden disappointments, right next to the pumpkin tragedy of 2013.

Under the Sun

At the beginning of every new school year there's at least one new initiative, or approach, or gimmick. I'm not sure why that is, other than idealists idealize things, like new years and new opportunities. To be honest, I learned early in my career what a big contrast there is from one year to next, a lesson that came mostly from being shocked by the changes-- in personnel, personalities, and group dynamics, to name the most obvious.

This time is no different, but if I've learned anything in my 25 years of teaching, it's definitely the Buddhist precept of non-attachment. Who knows if that information system, curriculum, teammate, etc. will stick?

Even so, I'm a little intrigued by the "Lead Simply" materials our principal introduced to the leadership team. Sam Parker's framework of Model. Connect. Involve. is actually quite simple (everything is contained in a slim 6'x4' 61 page volume) and aligns well with both my philosophies of leadership and teaching, which in many ways is really a specialized form of leadership.

As part of the initiative, we got Parker's book, and some swag, too: a pen, a notepad, and some sticky-notes. I had the pen, boldly emblazoned with LEAD simply, with me at our big staff meeting yesterday, and I noticed one of my very experienced teammates looking at it. Later on she stopped by my room ro ask a question and noticed the book on my desk.

"I have to ask," she smirked, "is that the instruction manual to your pen?"

Chops

I came home from school this afternoon and cooked. I took what they gave me in my veggie share and what I had on hand, and I put it all together to make corn on the cob, braised cherry tomato sauce, and kimchi pickled cucumbers: something for today, something for tomorrow, and something for the future.

I think that's the kind of year it's going to be. 

The Wai-yai-ting is the Hardest Part

Except that on Sunday night, I know what to expect on Monday morning. It's the uncertainty that gets me out of sorts.

Let's get this party started, SY18-19!

Pre Reqs

In the final days of summer we went to see Spike Lee's new movie Blackkklansman yesterday afternoon and finally scored tickets to the National Museum of African American History and Culture  for today. Both were sobering and thought-provoking reminders of institutional injustice and white privilege, which are essential considerations as we prepare ourselves to step into our classrooms and begin another year of educating the people who might finally rid this country of both, allowing it to fulfill those founding promises of freedom and equality for all.

Escape the Routine

This year our administrative team decided to do something different for the first leadership team meeting. We had a morning session covering some nuts and bolts, and then after lunch we adjourned to a local escape room.

Three randomly assigned teams of educators had 60 minutes to free ourselves from the silly scenarios they had set up there.

We did it!

I think it might be a good year.