I Made It

The commercial unit is a nice break for the students, but it's a nice break for the teachers, too. Creating a silly product from a bunch of gadgets and producing a commercial to sell it is fun for kids and encourages them to be both creative and playful. As for me, I like to play during the unit, too.

Circulating from group to group, trying the product, and helping out with slogans, and props gives me a chance to show my own silly, creative side. So this morning when a group was using a tape dispenser to play the part of a mouse in the trap they were imagining from their gadget, I turned to my arts and crafts supplies, which are extensive after 26 years in the same room. A little brown felt, some pipe cleaners, facial tissue stuffing, and a stapler yielded an unsatisfactory product, a little on the abstract, lumpy side.

But I was not to be deterred.

When the next class was working just fine without me, I searched up a pattern for a little felt mouse. Digging through my desk drawers, I found some straight pins and a needle and thread. Over the course of the day I was able to cut out a few felt pieces here and there, but it was when the last bell of the day rang that I was able to sit at my desk and start my little project.

Threading the needle? Was a little challenging, but once that was done, I began whipstitching away, even as my colleagues and I discussed the specifics of revising our rubric into one that was aligned with the IB. I took a brief break to attend an IEP meeting, but was back at my desk piecing and sewing when one of my teammates came in.

"May I ask what you're doing?" she inquired.

"I'm making a mouse!" I answered.

"May I ask why?" she continued.

I paused. "Well," I said, "right now? It's therapy!"

Just the Highlights

I can't say that I was too interested in watching the Super Bowl last evening, but professional concerns demanded that I be familiar with the commercials. Not to worry, though-- they are all available online and few of them suffer from being out of context.

So today I was able to confidently start all my classes with the reliable and engaging hook Who watched the game last night? followed by What was your favorite ad? From there we talked a little about persuasive techniques, reviewing what we had learned last week and setting the stage for the activities of the day. What I wasn't prepared for was any discussion of the halftime show, which came up in all of my morning classes.

And when a colleague mentioned it again at lunch, I finally just went over to the computer and pulled up the show on the SmartBoard in my room. The four of us munched and marveled at Shakira and JLo-- women not too far from our own ages who really put on an amazing show.

Who needs a Super Bowl party?

Scheduling Conflict

Every year, when we put away our Christmas decorations and return to work, our cold, dark winter mornings and evenings are lit by the glow of knowing that when the weekend comes we will meet my brother, and sister-in-law, and as many nephews as are around to see a movie and go out for a nice meal. We gather on those January and February Saturdays and Sundays to get ready for the Oscars. It's our tradition to see as many of the nominated performances and films as we can, and then go away for a long weekend together to shop, beach comb, cook, eat, drink and bet on the awards. It's like a little holiday that bridges winter into spring and gives us an excuse to spend some extra time together.

This year, instead of being in late February or even March, the Academy Awards are being presented next weekend, and in addition to making it really hard to see all the nominated movies and performances, the timing has made it impossible for us to have our annual weekend away.

Why, Oscars, why? 

Learn by Hearing

When it comes to learning styles, I am primarily an auditory learner with a strong visual learning aptitude as well. Fortunately for me, traditional instruction was heavy on both, and so school was never really a problem for me.

I am so auditory, though, that often times I can remember exactly where I was when I heard something of note. For example, last summer we were on our way home from staying with my mom for a month, driving in stop-and-go traffic through Chicago, its iconic skyline to our left when I snapped on the radio to listen to All Things Considered. Michelle Martin was interviewing a guy who had made a short animated film about a black dad who struggled but learned how to do his daughter's hair. Their conversation about "Hair Love" was interesting to me on several levels-- I like animated shorts, black hair is emblematic of cultural and political issues, as is a dad of any race caring for his daughter.

When the lights went down in the theater this afternoon and the first movie of the Oscar-nominated Animated Shorts came on, for a moment I was back on the Ryan Expressway with the late August sun shining off Lake Michigan to the east, feeling cautiously optimistic: my mom was recovering in rehab, and the new school year was only a couple of days away.

I returned to the present moment as the story unfolded on the screen, and when it was revealed that the little girl's mom was being treated for cancer, which was part of the reason why the hair style was so important to both daughter and dad, I couldn't help weeping, both for their heartache and mine.

Tele-teacher

When it comes to jobs, teleworking and teaching seem incompatible. The flexible, get-up when-you-want, errand-running, Netflix-watching, going to the gym, as-long-as-the-work-gets-done model of  production is impossible to jibe with that essential face-to-face transaction that defines public school.

But on a teacher work day? When kids are off and the to-do list is mostly grading and planning? Location can be arbitrary, particularly given the online tools of today.

Our district has offered the option for a couple of years now, but I have never chosen it, partially from the suspicion that some might think if we don't need to come in, we don't need the day, and also from the self-awareness that I get more work done at my desk. But for today, with Heidi off, and most of my colleagues planning to be out of the building, I took a deep breath and checked 'yes' on the Google form, indicating that I would work from somewhere other than my classroom.

And... I probably did less today than I might have otherwise, but my grades are due when they are due, and they will be done. AND? It's not like teachers aren't used to working outside their contract day, plus I got to stay up late with my writing group last night and sleep in a little today. 

So, I'll call it wash.

Life Before

Part of the fun of our media literacy unit is watching a whole bunch of commercials with the kids in class. In fact, we even plan it for this time of year to coincide with all the Super Bowl commercials, and one tweak I've made to the daily plan is to watch a "commercial of the day" where the quote of the day discussion ordinarily takes place.

Today we watched the latest Amazon Alexa ad, an early Super Bowl release. It features Ellen Degeneres and Portia DiRossi and whimsically imagines what people did before there was Alexa. After viewing, we have a quick discussion where students identify the persuasive techniques they noticed.

Of course, testimonial was number one for this particular commercial. "That's right," I confirmed to all of my classes. "Both Ellen Degeneres and her wife, Portia DiRossi are celebrities who use the product."

And every time I said it, my breath caught just a tiny bit, for it was not long ago at all (but definitely before Alexa) that I never could have imagined even mentioning in school two women who were married, much less say it just as casually as I did today in the lesson.

My students accept same sex marriage as a given; they cannot even imagine life before that was so. Now that? Appeals to my emotion.

Stay at Home

I can't say that I ever considered what it might be like to have a wife of the homemaker variety, and yet, while Heidi is away from school on medical leave for six weeks, that's kind of the current situation. Unfortunately, there is a lot of emotional baggage that goes with this arrangement: being in recovery from surgery, facing physical limitations, and the boredom and restlessness of such a different routine have all made the staying at home the last couple of weeks a little rocky. But today, after the two-week check-in with her doctor, Heidi has accepted the reality of it all. AND? The opportunity! In addition to teaching our cats to ring bells for treats, who knows what she can accomplish in the next four weeks?