Getting Warmer

For the attendance chat snap today I asked my students if they would rather be too hot or too cold. With only about 60% reporting (block scheduling!) the results are 32 cold to 15 hot. It was not what I would have predicted; in the past, most of my students have been heat seekers. "Maybe since it's just the beginning of winter, people are feeling kindly about the cold?" I suggested to my co-teacher. "If we ask again in March, will they be wishing for warmer days?"

But on this cold night, we are having a warm and homey dish of lentils, rice, and smoked sausage along with some homemade sourdough bread and a salad for dinner tonight. It's the salad that takes a star turn here, but mostly because of a supporting member. The tomato wedges that accompany the arugula, watermelon radish and olives are among the last from our garden. That's right! On December 8, we still have a couple quarts of homegrown tomatoes.

And just the other night on a FaceTime call with my brother and sister, Bill filled us in on a few of the many wonders he and Emily have observed in their Covid quest to walk every single street of our fair county. Among the unexpected charms, they have also lately seen daffodils, forsythia blooming, and cherry blossoms. "It's disturbing," my brother shook his head. "It's hard to shake the feeling that something is very wrong with the planet."

Reformative Assessment

What do you do when the average grade on the quiz you gave was below 60?

Review and reteach, baby!

Joy to the Door

 I made a to do list today that included throwing or giving away at least one thing a day for the foreseeable future. Looking around from where I sat, I saw a pile of about a half dozen unread magazines, and decided to start with them. But first? I had to at least flip through each one, right? I started by paging through the two latest copies of The New Yorker, making sure to read all the cartoons, note any books, movies, or TV shows I should check out, and skim the articles of interest. Thirty minutes later, after reading a personal essay about mortality and Wheel of Fortune and an article about the human tragedy of poverty (in Alabama, specifically), I was almost ready to give up the whole magazine thing. 

I moved forward to a couple of alumni mags, one from college and another from high school, and those fortified me to continue on to Entertainment Weekly (which is now published monthly), and finish up with Martha Stewart Living. It was there that I found some recipes and a couple of holiday craft ideas, one of which I was determined to execute today! 

And so I did-- after a quick stop at the craft store, a bit of foraging through the evergreens growing in the neighborhood, and repurposing an LED candle and some ribbon I already had, my winter door decoration was complete!

Martha's:

Mine:

So Reclined

I had every intention of leaving my house early today-- working out, running errands, getting a Christmas Tree. 

But... I walk every day, and so maybe more vigorous exercise can wait another day or two. Plus, we're set as far as staples go, and the tree? Well, okay, I really do want my tree up, but the weather was cold and gray, and there were other holiday errands to do that only involved reclining in my Stressless chair with my lap top. 

Oh, somewhere around 3 PM I cleaned off the deck to prepare for the lights we'll string out there, and we decluttered a bit and scooted the living room furniture to make room for the tree when we get it (tomorrow!). Then around 5 PM we bundled up and headed out into the early darkness for that daily walk, which was magical! So many lights and decorations, 2020 has got at least that going for it. And back home, I made soup for dinner and returned to my chair to rest up for the productivity that is sure to surface

tomorrow.

Wish You Were Here

I enjoyed the bonus pix some kids posted to the first Chat Snap of the week so much that I made the second Chat Snap a photo by itself. 

Take a picture of something red or green at your house and post it, I asked, and the kids delivered, if not always in the way I expected. In addition to an elf on the shelf, holiday lights, markers, pencils, notebooks, blankets, and hoodies, they also posted images of green mouthwash, red deodorant, video game controllers, lighted keyboards, computer cables, paint, donuts with sprinkles, parakeets, solo cups, and grass outside the window. 

It was an interesting glimpse, literally, into each student's world, and I loved it. 

I was not the only fan, either. "This is my favorite chat snap yet!" posted one kid today. (I appreciated her growth mindset demonstrated by the use of the word 'yet'! She's right: there will be other great snaps!)

"Same!" replied another, and the likes kept rolling in. 

I was happy, but hardly surprised. Clearly we all appreciate connection and community where ever we can find it these days. I'm just glad we found it in English class.

One Day at a Time

How oddly the time passes lately! 

It's hard to believe that one week ago we were celebrating Thanksgiving, that tomorrow is the end of another school week, and that in two weeks and a day we will be on Winter Break. In other measures, it has been 3,996 days since I started this blog, 2,172 days since the first post on our family's selfie blog (Hi, Mom!), and 2,042 days since I started logging my weight and meals every day. This year's 100 Day Writing Challenge started 277 days ago, and my daily sit ups are going strong, but the mediation has fallen off. (I need to get back to that! Just 10 minutes, Tracey! You can do it!) I'll repeat my brother's wisdom that the days pass slowly but the time flies by.

Today I read that, upon his inauguration, President-elect Biden will ask the public to commit to 100 days of mask wearing. That would be from January 20 to April 30, 2021. Maybe it seems easy because I already wear a mask whenever I go into a public place, but still?

You can do it America!

Here Comes the Surge

After Thanksgiving Break it had been a while since I had "seen" my students, and so I set aside a longer period of time than usual to converse and connect with them at the beginning of class. 

"I'm warning you," I said, "I missed you guys last week, and so I'm going to ask everybody a follow up question to your Chat Snap today. I just want to hear your voices!"

I guess they wanted to use their voices, too. The question of the day was simply What was the highlight of your break? and the answers were predictable: food, family, and video games. But with a little prompting? Oh my! Some of the kids talked more than they have for the entire year put together, and in addition to pies and turkeys and Christmas trees, there were also pictures of kittens and parakeets and pugs in sweaters, and tales of family game nights and holiday movie marathons.

Unfortunately, there were also several reports of Black Friday shopping, huge family gatherings, and sleepovers with friends. I'm sure everybody thought they were being as safe as necessary. My own family ignored the CDC warnings not to travel. Of course we took precautions, but we also took our chances. I'm glad we did, and that makes it hard to begrudge others the same comfort and joy.

Even so.