Oysters and Pea Crabs

It started with a conversation about dinner. "Should I get some oysters for tonight?" Emily asked. From there we discussed whether they should be raw or Rockafellered. A quick call to the seafood market revealed that oysters were only available by the pint or in the shell, and for our purposes the jar would not work. 

"Let's get an oyster knife and learn how to shuck them!" I suggested. "Wouldn't that be a fun family vacation project?" 

So Emily got the oysters, and I went to ACE Hardware to get the knife and a pair of gloves. "Of course the knife will go right through these," the guy at the store shook his head as he pointed out the gloves. "They'll give you a better grip, but it's a dangerous, dirty business to open oysters. Better to go to a raw bar."

I thanked him for his help and ignored his advice. Upon arriving home I showed the new gear to Victor. "Are you up for learning to shuck oysters?" I asked, and before too long he was doing some research on YouTube. Dinner time found the two of us in the kitchen poking and prying and twisting and popping and scraping. It wasn't long before we got the hang of it, and pretty soon we had a plate of six oysters on the half shell.

"This one has a little crab in it!" Victor said as he popped open the next one. Sure enough, a tiny round crab the size of his thumbnail feebly waved its eight legs. Treat was working on his computer at the table, and he quickly searched the creature as Victor and Emily took pictures. 

It turns out that it was a pea crab, which is a parasite that invades the oyster when they are both larva and attaches itself to the gills, eating part of the oyster's food as it filters through. The crab does not harm the oyster. "Will it harm us?" we wondered.

"You can eat them, and, listen to this," Treat read, "they were said to be one of George Washington's favorites.

We set the little crab aside and continued shucking oysters. Two more of them had crabs in them, and the three tiny crustaceans wiggled weakly as we debated what to do with them. It seemed cruel to throw them away, and even though the ocean was just steps from our door, they couldn't survive alone in the sea; it was most likely they would become some other animal's meal. I sat down for a moment and pulled out my phone to read up on these pea crabs. According to my research, they were actually a sign that the oysters were fresh and healthy. Not only edible, they were reportedly delicious either raw or fried.

With that, I got a little skillet and tossed some butter in it. When it was sizzling, I apologized to the little crabs and tossed them in. They turned from gray to a delicate pink, sort of like shrimp. A sprinkle of salt a and a squeeze of lemon later, I plated them in the center of a small fiesta ware plate and showed them to Victor, Treat, and Emily. 

Treat tasted one first. "It's really good!" he said.

Victor had the next. "It is," he agreed.

Emily let me have the last one. The tiny bite was crispy and crabby, a little like soft shell crab, and actually pretty delicious. "I can see why George Washington liked these!" I said.

Later, as I rinsed the gloves and washed the oyster knife, I thought of the guy at the hardware store and shook my head. No way any raw bar could have been better.

Teach from the Beach

Ever since we have started working from home we have been tempted to relocate temporarily and carry out our virtual duties from somewhere fun and beautiful. Today I finally got to try that model out. 

On the day before Thanksgiving Break, no teacher plans a serious lesson, and with the added complication of only teaching one of our two block days, my plan was to log on, take attendance, and direct the students to a light activity, leave the call, and enjoy the ocean view from my window. 

It didn't exactly go that way... the beach house where are staying is lacking robust wifi; so much so, that the only place I had a reliable signal was next to the router. So I scooted a tall kitchen stool over to the nearest chair in the living room, plunked my lap top onto the seat and spun it around to face me. At 7:45 in the morning, the sun rising over the ocean created a glare on the screen, so I pulled the blackout curtains, placed my iPad on my knees, held my breath, and joined the call.

And everything went just fine!  Neither the ambient conversation of my non-working family, nor the barking of four dogs impeded my instruction, (although my empathy for the kids who work in such conditions every day increased a hundredfold) and I knew at the end of every class that I?

was still at the beach.

Late Autumn Dip

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how cold would you say it is?" Annabelle asked me as I shivered in the outdoor pool at our beach house this afternoon. When we arrived, it seemed amazing that the pool was still open so late in the season, even here in the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina. And yet? There it shimmered two stories down, deep blue and inviting, rivaled only by the wide sky and the ocean just beyond. And today was the day, nearly 70 and very sunny, that I decided to take the plunge, literally. To be fair, I was egged on by Annabelle, and the two of us stood first ankle deep in the frigid water and then up to our knees. I might have changed my mind and said no, but I did not. Punching the swimming workout on my watch, I listened to it counting down and 3-2-1 dove in. The cold water took my breath away, and even though I could easily stand, I lifted my feet and began treading water to stay warm. 

"An 8!" I answered. "Are you coming in?"

EUI

I glanced at my watch before taking it off for the night and noticed that I only needed 35 calories to close my activity ring. "I'll be back!" I told Heidi and headed for the spare room and the Bosu ball. I had enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine, but it seemed like a great idea to do a little vigorous step activity to meet my goal. And I would have gotten away with it, too, if...

Well, maybe I wouldn't have gotten away with it, because about 2 minutes in, I stepped down from the bouncy Bosu and felt my ankle roll. I heard it crackle, and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. Miraculously, it was a soft landing, and although my ankle was sore, I could stand. A couple of ibuprofen and a compression brace later, I was in pajamas and off to sleep, 10 calories shy of my daily goal but feeling fortunate and a little wiser for the reminder that at my age? I need to be careful! 

Tales from the Chat 2

Because of the way block scheduling works at our school, I teach four of my five sections alternating two and two every other day, but there is one class I see every day for half a block. Splitting the lesson and activities in a way that makes sense adds an extra layer of planning, but so far it hasn't been too bad. I do have to give that group two additional chat snaps every week, though, and that has led to some interesting conversations. 

For example, yesterday, since we were working on character traits, I asked them if they would consider themselves extroverts or introverts. I happen to have an assistant working with me in that class, and she and I have known each other for at least 20 years. She is an extrovert, and I am an introvert, something we have joked about a few times over the years. Before we read the answers, I asked the students to guess what we were. They knew Ms. P was an extrovert right away. "She's so smiley and friendly," one student said, "you can just tell!"

"What about me?" I asked. 

"You're definitely an extra!" one kid said. "You do everything in this class, and you are definitely always talking!"

"That's funny!" I said, "because that's just my teaching personality. Right Ms. P?"

"Oh yes!" she told them. "Ms. S is very quiet!"

Maybe because they've never met me in person, they were unconvinced. 

"Let's try to guess what the students are," I suggested to Ms. P. and we went down the list, making our predictions. Believe it or not, we got every single one right. I'd have to say we aced that formative assessment.

Sometimes it seems hard to believe that we are really reaching the kids we are teaching from a distance; getting to know them, making connections, and building bonds from so far away seems impossible. But there are small signs everywhere, you just have to check for them.

Tales from the Chat

When did we become such a people of indecision? Lately it seems that every answer the students give me begins with "It depends" or ends with "some where in the middle." It's so wishy washy!

For example, before we started our lesson on organizing an argument essay this week, I asked the kids to reply in the chat whether they thought they were organized or disorganized. A few students were willing to commit quickly and succinctly with one choice or the other, but most of them wanted to split some hairs, equivocating along the lines of what the situation was or how long it would take to become and/or stay organized. 

There were a couple of great answers though. One kid confessed that he was extremely disorganized, but he could always find whatever he needed. Speaking as one with a similar approach, it sounds like he has system, whether he knows it or not. 

Another boy wrote that he used to be disorganized, but that had changed. 

I asked him to unmute and elaborate. 

"Well," he started, "at the beginning of the school year everything was new and confusing." 

I nodded sympathetically. 

"Distance learning was hard," he continued, "and I lost track of some things. But now I'm really organized!"

"Wow! What changed?" I asked, impressed.

"I have some folders," he explained, "and my mom sits right next to me."

Now, she seems like a resolute person.

A Couple of Shakes

Just when I was feeling kind of low about the limitations of distance learning, a couple of genuine connections with kids grabbed me by the shoulders and gave me a shake. 

With block schedule, I teach 2 1/2 classes a day, the same lesson 5 times, but one of those sessions is split over 2 days. I'm really lucky that the first group I have most of the time is very high functioning and pretty small. They are the perfect trial subjects, and I often tweak the plans when their class is over. That's what happened today-- I realized that an opportunity for collaboration would improve the assignment, and so I quickly set up breakout groups for the next class. 

Many of those kids are English language learners, but again, they are very compliant and generally hardworking, and hopping in and out of their small groups as they worked together to complete their assignment was amazing. Not only were they helping each other, but when I was there they were also asking questions and interacting with me; it was a refreshing break from the radio silence that I hear so much of the time. 

In the next class, My trusty teaching assistant was running a bit late from her earlier class, and so I asked for a volunteer to read the chat as I checked the students off for attendance and participation. There was a moment of awkward silence, but then one girl, who is usually pretty shy, unmuted her mic and accepted the job. It was so great to hear a new voice transforming the monologue to more of a conversation, and what was even better? The other kids posted much more quickly. I think we might be on to something there!

And honestly? I'm willing to give almost anything a shake to help these students engage a little bit more with their learning.