To Have and to Hold

My friend and CLT colleague, Mary, and I have been kicking around ideas for our students' writing notebooks. What will they look like in this time of distance learning? Typically, we start the year with a kind of Unit 0: How to Create a Writer's Notebook, which functions both as a get to know you community building tool and a practical introduction to some of the requirements and other nuts and bolts of the course.

This year, we wondered if we should even have a notebook at all, and if so, would it make sense to have it be virtual. To that end, we researched several options, many involving teacher-created templates using a slides application.

But today, as I dutifully continued my online course, one point they made resonated with me. Everything doesn't have to be online. Students can work with pencil and paper and show you on camera, or upload images of their work.

And suddenly it became clear to me that we should have real notebooks. That way kids could work in them without splitting the screen on their devices (or even using their devices at all), and it would offer another mode of expression that would benefit some learners. Plus, everyone would have something concrete to hold onto in these weird, virtual times, and beyond.

Our school is organizing material and supply pick-ups for students before the year begins, and if we have our way, there will be a writing notebook for every sixth grader included in the package.

The Challenges of Asynchronicity

This morning was so dark and rainy that I turned on all the lights in the living room, and with nothing happening outside, we decided it was time to start a 10 hour webinar on improving our online teaching. This particular offering was recorded by educators from the Stanford Online High School (Yes, that Stanford. The place is a grade 7-12 model school for education and research. It is completely online.) and provided free to teachers.

From the start of the course the content was no-nonsense: well-organized, clearly delivered, and of course relevant to the situation we find ourselves in. Were there bells and whistles, fun and games, interactivity? No, for although the organizers were surprised by the thousands of people participating live, not to mention the many times more that number who would watch the recording, there's only so much you can do in a one-off situation like that.

Still, we wanted to learn, and the fact that this experience would fulfill a big portion of our independent professional learning requirement, made it all the more important to us. But then... we paused to get paper for notes, and a little later we logged in to see what our district requirements would be. The we stopped to talk about the content, and then take the dog out, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, and order lunch. As much as we wanted to watch, there were just too many other things competing with that recording.

Which was the biggest lesson of the day. 

Queen of Tarts

A happy byproduct of my refusal to throw away even a little bit of my sourdough starter has been the pastry recipe I adapted from Jacques Pepin. I have long used his pate brisée as the base of all my fruit galettes, because it is so simple and so good. A cup and a half of flour, a stick of butter, a generous pinch each of salt and sugar, and then cold water to bring the dough together will yield an easy to handle, buttery pastry the consistency of pie dough.

But, cut the flour to a cup, grate into it your stick of cold butter, and add 1/2 cup of sourdough starter, straight from the fridge, and the result is amazing: tender and flaky, more like puff pastry than pie pastry. Every few days or so, I throw together a batch, chill it for several hours or overnight, and then make either a sweet or savory galette. So far we have had a few with peaches and blueberries, one with Swiss chard, caramelized onions, and fontina, and this morning I made 8 individual tarts with cherry tomato sauce, rosemary, and basil to share with our neighbors.

I have plans for a summer squash version, perhaps with fresh thyme, savory and cheddar, another one with berries and cream cheese, and maybe roasted eggplant with tahini and mint. And when fall gets here? Oh boy! In addition to apples (of course), I foresee wild mushroom, butternut squash with goat cheese and sage, all sorts of greens, and more finding their way to a palette of pastry.

"I just want to eat tart every day!" I told Heidi at the pool recently.

"Then you better keep swimming, Babe," she replied, quite practically.

And I did! But what am I going to do when the pool closes?

Insider Trading

Our neighbor was bursting with excitement when we ran into her walking the dogs this morning "I got the DNA results back for Benny!" she told us.

And before we could even say Cool! she continued. "I'll tell you what they are, but you can't tell anyone. The big reveal is tonight."

We knew that a group of her buddies had chipped in on the test as a birthday gift earlier in the summer, and it made sense that they would get together to share the results. 

We looked at Ben: 85 pounds, short white hair with a few brown patches, huge gray eyes in a giant block-shaped head, and a big smile. "Can we guess?" I asked. 

"Okay!" she answered, "but you'll never get it. There are four breeds."

"Pitty?" Heidi guessed.

"Yep!" she answered. "We expected that, right?"

"But those eyes!" I said.

"Great Pyrenees!" she revealed. "And then there was Boxer, and... Husky! Can you believe it?"

We agreed that he was an unexpected mix of mutts, and patting him on his Great Pyreepityoxerusky head, we went on our way.

A little while later we got a text from the dog friends. We are going to find out today what breeds make up our favorite gentleman Mr. Ben, it read. Come on by my house at 6:30 and participate in the best guess contest. He has four breeds, so bring your four guesses in a sealed envelope.

I looked at Heidi and laughed. "I think we can win this one!"

Day Shift

I spent the day somewhere between Monday and Tuesday. Summer vacation can do that, especially one with so few breaks in the break. Every day blends thoughtlessly into the next.

Now that I'm pushing sixty, I have a couple of those 7 compartment pill and vitamin organizers, and they ground me in the calendar at least once a day. Oh, it's Monday again, I told myself as I chewed my gummy multivite. But then I forgot.

Floating in the pool later I mentally checked my fluid agenda. Soooo... Teachers "report" 2 weeks from today? Or was it yesterday? And students start 4 weeks from... today? Tomorrow?

In the end I was certain we have roughly 2 weeks to get ready to spend, more or less, 2 weeks getting ready for whatever is going to happen in around 4 weeks.

I'm on it!

Never mind the obvious follow up question: how long will we have to get ready for the next thing?

To Float

Recently, we've been booking the 6 PM slot at our community pool. At that hour it is less crowded; most families are at home for dinner, and the golden slant of the evening sun over the aquamarine of the still water is beautiful. We enjoy treading and floating in the deep end and talking away as many of our cares as we can. That's a big job this summer, but the weightlessness of the water helps.

It takes a little planning to make it to the pool at that time. We eat dinner when we get home, so I like to have our meal ready to go. Lucy needs exercise, and I have all number of other chores for myself. Some days I go to the garden, some days are for baking bread, and every day is for writing, reading, and working out. Having all of those things taken care of before we go to the pool makes the evening much more enjoyable.

And so here you find me, but not for long: exercise ring closed, tomatoes picked, bread rising, summer seafood chowder simmering, dog exercised, and blog written.

The pool awaits!

Something to Look Forward To

Since my vacation was canceled (Yes! I'm still bitter!) I was poking around looking at other rental options for the near and distant future this morning. One place I found was on a farm just outside Gettysburg, PA. The chickens and horses were part of the experience, which also included six bedrooms, a game room, hot tub, and, wait for it... an indoor heated pool!

This is the perfect location for Oscar weekend! I thought. But wait! When are the Oscars next year?

I can be forgiven for not knowing-- they have been messing around with the date for the last few years. In 2018 they were in early March to make way for the Winter Olympics, in 2019 they were the last weekend in February, as they have been for a while, but this year they were moved all the way up to February 9, so early that we were caught unprepared; we barely saw any of the movies, and our annual holiday was canceled. (Yes! I'm still bitter!)

And it turned out to be wise that I checked the date, because next year the ceremony is scheduled to be held on April 25! It's COVID, of course, and, wouldn't you know it, the perfect house is already booked for that weekend. "But we can plan on it for 2022!" I told my sister on the phone this morning.

Put it on the calendar, gang: February 27, 2022, Oscar Weekend in Gettysburg!