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Scouting in a Pandemic

Thursday 06 May 2021 | 0 Comments

is boring. Well, not necessarily boring, but almost all the trips disappear, pack and den meetings are carefully choreographed disasters of social distancing (always) and mask wearing (when indoors at least), and everyone gets the feeling that scouting is just not what it used to be.

This evening, we had the final pack meeting of the year before the crossing over ceremony later in the month, when E and the other bears move up to Weblos. After that portion of the meeting, we adults talked about what trips we might take next year. Some of the decisions we made:

Overnight at the Lost Sea, billed as America’s largest underground lake
Overnight at an aquarium, sleeping in the shark tunnel with sharks swimming all around us
A hike to the top of Table Rock, a local formation here in the Upstate
A winter tubing adventure

I told the Boy about these things as we drove home. “I definitely want to sign up next year!”

First Concert

Wednesday 05 May 2021 | 0 Comments

The first concert I ever attended was in Johnson City, Tennessee in about 1985 or 1986. The band was Huey Lewis and the News, and even though I was not the biggest fan, I joined two friends (who were brothers) for the concert. Their dad dropped us off and then met us once it was over.

It wasn’t until a few years later that I went to a concert because I truly loved the band and not simply because I had the chance to see someone live. It was R.E.M. in Knoxville, and it’s a concert I remember to this day.

In college, I got to see a number of bands like the Pixies and U2, but the most exciting for me was Pink Floyd.

But there was always one band missing, always a single concert that I thought, “If I ever get a chance…” My first love. Genesis. Now, there’s no way I’ll ever see the Genesis I’ve always truly loved — the Genesis of the early- to mid-seventies with Peter Gabriel on lead vocals and Steve Hackett on lead guitar. But the genius of the band, musically speaking, has always been the keyboard player, Tony Banks. He’s still with them. Phil Collins can no longer stand for long periods, and Mike Rutherford — who knows? But they’re coming out of retirement for one last tour. And my best friend and I have tickets to see them in Charlotte. And we have an extra ticket, for the Boy’s first concert.

“I’m a little nervous,” he confessed. “It is my first concert. Mama said it will be very loud.”

“It will be,” I confirmed. “But you’ll have ear protection.”

Testing 2021, Day 2

Tuesday 04 May 2021 | 0 Comments

I read the instructions to the kids -- the same instructions I've read for years. It's the same test program they've used for years. (Doesn't the company to which our state pays millions of dollars ever develop new software? Isn't this just antiquated after so many years?) Then comes the statement: "Do your best when answering the questions." It might not be a word-for-word quote there, but it's the gist.

I literally remind the kids to do their best.

To be fair, though, it's hard for the kids to see any sense in this test. By the time the results come back in September, they're a month into their high school adventure -- what do they care about middle school scores anymore? As far as they can tell, the test does nothing for them, affects them in no way.

That's a two-edged sword, to be honest. On the one hand, it saves them worry and stress. On the other hand, it makes it more difficult for them to take the thing seriously. And why should they?

I usually level with them: "It has no real effect on you."

"Why do we do it?" they ask.

"It's a measure of my effectiveness." If all my students fail the test, that reflects badly on me. If the expected number fail the test, I'm an adequate teacher. If fewer than expected fail the test, I'm an excellent teacher.

It's all about the numbers, as it always is. Weezer says it best:

There's always a number that'll make you feel bad 'bout yourself
You try to measure up, try to measure up to somebody else
Numbers are out to get you, numbers are out to get you
Numbers, ooh
They say that you're too short to join the team
And your IQ's too low for poetry
Numbers are out to get you, numbers are out to get you

Education has three agents:

students,
parents, and
teachers.

It's only that third element that can be legislated, and those numbers are a useful metric in that endeavor.

So I smiled and read again today, "Do your best when answering questions."

Testing 2021, Day 1

Monday 03 May 2021 | 0 Comments

After hours of testing, confined essentially to little boxes, my students decided to have lunch standing.

Tournament Weekend

Sunday 02 May 2021 | 0 Comments

Both the kids had tournaments this weekend. The Girl's tournament was outside Atlanta, and it was her first time in competitive sand volleyball.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"I got sand in my mouth," was the first impression.

The Boy's tournament was local. They made it to the semifinals then lost.

"We should have won" was the sentiment. How to get him to accept "win some, lose some" and still have the fire in the belly?

Team Picture

Saturday 01 May 2021 | 0 Comments

Liszt and Beethoven

Friday 30 April 2021 | 0 Comments

Possibly my all-time favorite piece of symphonic music is Beethoven's Symphony No. 6. No, not because it was in Disney's Fantasia -- I knew it before I ever watched that film. Perhaps that's why I love it so much: it's one of my first musical memories.

Glenn Gould also recorded it, but as usual, when he plays Beethoven, he slows everything down radically.

Final Practice

Thursday 29 April 2021 | 0 Comments

Ready for Covid-Era Testing

Wednesday 28 April 2021 | 0 Comments

Last year, we didn’t conduct the end-of-year, state-mandated, federally-mandated, all-but-teacher-student-mandated testing because of the blossoming pandemic. This year, we’re having it.

But that presents a new problem: how to keep kids who are facing each other in plexiglass pods from cheating? (Do many of these kids really have an interest in cheating? I find that hard to believe. This test has no immediate effect on their lives, and the only time I see cheating is when a grade that will land in the grade book and affect the report card is at stake.)

The solution: the district bought thousands of sheets of poster board and even more clips so that we can attach blinders to the plexiglass.

The result: pockets of invisibility throughout the classroom. In fact, as the proctor, I won’t be able to see most of the kids at all at any given moment.

If kids are interested in cheating, the powers that be just made it a whole lot easier for them.

The Poster and the Fall

Tuesday 27 April 2021 | 0 Comments

The Poster

I was out Friday so I could run all the errands and such K would normally run so she could try to rest some and get well. The kids at school took to heart the cliche about cats being away, but they did so in such a way as exceptionally clever kids with good senses of humor would do:

While at the book fair, they bought me a poster of a Korean boyband and hung it in my room. When I came back Friday, I asked them who was responsible. They admitted it with giggles immediately. “I’ll keep it up under one condition,” I said. “You all have to sign it.”

I love the fact that

they thought of doing this as a funny prank;
they were willing to spend the few dollars to pull it off;
they knew me well enough and trusted me enough to know how I’d take it;
they liked me enough to be so silly.

It’s a silly, silly gesture, but a touching one nonetheless.

The Fall

In the evening, when K, E, and I were walking to CVS to pick up a prescription (and L was at sand volleyball practice), it appeared that the Boy had had a bike wreck. He was some distance away, so it wasn’t really clear what was going on. But the bike was clearly down, and there was little to no movement.

I began jogging down the hill toward him. I wasn’t terribly worried because there were no sounds of wailing or pain. But there was no movement.

“I was just waiting for you guys,” he explained with complete nonchalance.

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