education and teaching

First Day 2022

Monday 15 August 2022 | 0 Comments

The Boy had a rough day of it: he's been in a multi-age classroom for four years, meaning he's been with the same group of people (mostly) for those four years. Fifth grade, though, doesn't have a multi-age program, so he's back out in the general population -- and none too thrilled about it. All his closest friends from the last four years -- all of them -- ended up in different classes. A few of them got grouped together, but none of them are in E's class. Which makes him less than thrilled about school after this first day.

We tried to help the Boy see things from a different perspective, but for the longest time, he just wasn't interested. It was going to be a disastrous year, he was sure of it. There was no way it could get better -- he was convinced. He might as well just switch to homeschool.

After some time in the pool and a lot of reassurance, he informed us on the way home that "all of Mama's speeches" had made him a little more excited about tomorrow.

As for the Girl, she sat down in the car after volleyball practice, looked at me, and said, "Guess what we have in English class?" I raised my eyebrows in anticipation. "Articles of the week!"

I've been giving my students an article of the week for almost ten years now. It's one of the most effective tools I use.

"Do you know what this is?" one of the Girl's friends asked her.

"Yes," she whispered back. "I've been grading them for years." Which is dramatic sounding, and it probably got a laugh, but it's not quite true. I've had her checking multiple choice questions, adding up the points, and using my scale to determine and write the grade on the paper, but that's not really grading them.

"Same difference!" L playfully huffed when I pointed this out.

Teachers’ First Day 2022

Monday 08 August 2022 | 0 Comments

We had our first day back at school today -- teachers have a week of preparation before the kids come back. To be honest, a lot of it is less preparation and more endless meetings: three hours this morning; meetings in both the morning and afternoon tomorrow.

In the afternoon, returning home, I discovered that the Boy had painted the ramp into Papa's room (always it will be Papa's room) in the morning. After dinner, he applied a quick second coat and now we have a lovely, freshly-painted ramp.

Orawskie Lato

Sunday 17 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Today was an annual festival here in Jablonka -- the thirtieth year in a row. That means they began having the festival just a few years before I first arrived. When we're in Poland, we usually get at least to drop in on this festival.

This year, I saw several former students from those early days. Except for one, I didn't recognize any of them immediately. I had to ask their name. When a bearded man in his mid-thirties approaches you, you'll be forgiven if you don't recognize him as the former student you last saw at age eighteen.

End of the 2021/22 School Year — Countdown Begins

Monday 06 June 2022 | 0 Comments

Today was the final day of school for me. The kids didn't have school, but teachers have to go in for at least one more day to get things squared away for the summer: materials returned, documents completed, papers signed, report cards mailed. During my first year at Hughes, I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we had to do. Since then, teachers' "To Do" list has been drastically simplified. One whole task, which often took hours, has been assigned to others. I use the passive voice there because, quite honestly, I don't know who made that change, but I am grateful nonetheless.

Getting this last day out of the way is such a relief because I reach a point where I can finally stop thinking about school for a while -- I'm not even planning on doing any prep work this summer. For one thing, I have too much to do this summer:

Trim the Leyland cypresses (a two-day job in and of itself)
Clean the outside of the house
Pressure-wash the deck
Apply ample coats of water-proofing to the deck
Pressure-wash the concrete portion of the drive
Complete the furniture assembly for the remodeled basement

Then there's all the travel:

L's final tournament in Orlando
L's job
L's physical therapy
L's volleyball conditioning
L's individual volleyball lessons
E's play dates

Still, this is a fairly short list for the summer, but this is all in the next three weeks, for in just 23 days, we'll be heading to Poland as a family of four for the first time since 2017. Five years. Five years. It's the longest period of time I've not visited Poland since I first went in 1996. K and E went last summer; L went on her own in the summer of 2019. (Or was it 2018?) But it's been five long years since we all went.

That means L was E's age the last time we were there. And L has gone from being a pre-teen to an almost-licensed (driver-permitted?) employed teen with all that entails.

The Boy has one from a little five-year-old thrilled with everything new to an increasingly cynical (but still fascinated by many things) ten-year-old.

We'll probably take the same walk we always do on the day we arrive, and we'll definitely enjoy Babcia's rosół the day we arrive, but everything will be just a little different. And that's probably good.

Warning

Friday 27 May 2022 | 0 Comments

It's the end of the school year, and that can only mean one thing for my English I students: letters to next year's students.

"Make a little nervous," say to them with a smile. "Impress them with your writing, and don't lie -- but scare them just a bit, too."

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this year's letters:

Mr. Scott’s class is everything you’ve heard: awful, torturous, bewildering, etc, but it’s also a class that will form you into a better student, and you will find yourself writing things that you never believed you could. But trust me, reaching this did not come easy.
I am sure that if you have earned your way into this class, you have heard the array of rumors regarding its difficulty. I for one recall questioning every former student to dig up any detail I could. I am here to tell you that the rumors about Mr. Scott and his dreadful class are not hearsay, but in fact very true. This class is very strenuous and involves lots of work.
Most of your teachers are probably droning on about the student handbook, class rules, and retake policies, but not Mr. Scott. That’s your first clue about what kind of teacher he is. This class has most certainly been one of the most rigorous and challenging courses I have ever taken, but I have come out on the other side better for it.
Mr. Scott will push you past your limits and tears will be shed during this Journey. From the beginning to the end of a very long year you will come out a completely different writer and person once he is through with you.
Don’t let [Mr. Scott’s] glumpy old face get to you: he’s kind of a nice guy that’ll make English a living hell but at least it’s only for 180 days.
Prepare yourselves for the most challenging class of your middle school years. This class will push you to your limit. There will be times where you will hate Mr. Scott, and you will learn he can be very annoying. Often he doesn’t answer your questions and just makes you figure them out on your own. But that will make you more independent as a writer and make you come up with your own ideas.

Awards 2022

Wednesday 25 May 2022 | 0 Comments

We had a drive-through awards ceremony tonight. We did it a couple of years ago because of Covid; now it seems we're doing it every year. I like the traditional kind better...

These are some of my kiddos that came through.

Nearing the End

Monday 23 May 2022 | 0 Comments

Nearing the end of the year, and my honors students are still working hard. There are only eight days of school left, and they have two more writing assignments. One of them is a major assignment: the showcase letter to next year’s students.

“Don’t lie,” I tell them, “but scare them a little bit. And impress them.”

They’re also working on the end of Lord of the Flies. They have one short writing assignment for that: the last analytic writing assignment they’ll have for me.

They don’t know it yet, but it will be the only completion grade I give them for the whole year.

Dedication

Tuesday 17 May 2022 | 0 Comments

Our eighth-grade vice principal, who served as my immediate supervisor for most of my time teaching at Hughes, retired just a couple of years ago. An avid sports fan, he also served as the athletic director for most of that time. As such, our school dedicated the gym in his name tonight.

Much deserved recognition for an outstanding man.

Entertaining Your Brain During Testing

Thursday 12 May 2022 | 0 Comments

“How Not to Fall Asleep While Doing Nothing for Three Hours”

The title is misleading: to suggest that I do nothing at all during the three hours of state-mandated standardized testing would be to suggest a testing violation. That cannot be: a testing violation means paperwork, emails, meetings, reprimands, and the like. It means notes detailing the testing violation in one’s employment file, and in an absolutely worst-case scenario, it can mean termination of employment.

So what does this proctoring look like? I have three chairs I use in my room for such an occasion: proctoring means walking around the room and looking at everyone then sitting down in one of the chairs. After a few minutes, I get up and do it again, returning to a different chair. And then again.

“Why don’t you use the time to do lesson planning?” Testing violation.

“Why don’t you read?” Testing violation.

“Why don’t you grade papers?” Testing violation.

“Why don’t you write letters?” Testing violation.

There are only two things I can do other than walk around and watch kids take the test: create a seating chart and alphabetize the test tickets (why call them tickets — it’s not like they’re admission slips for something they really want to do). So I take a long time doing both. I work on the seating chart throughout the whole test: it’s like nibbling at a bit of candy you’ve been craving for so long. I alphabetize the test slips slowly and in stages.

And I daydream while staring at the backs students’ heads.