handwritten on February 7, 2020
Well..
There is great clarity when you wake up with zero intentions of looking out the window and seeing snow. And all of a sudden-there it is. There is snow. Beautiful and blanketed and flurrying like crazy from the skies above. Deeply, you think to yourself, I don't think we will get a delay. And then, you look at your phone and it magically appears. And then-that snow day call is made. And you experience the most delightful freedom you needed to get "caught" up on all those little things you just cannot get caught up on..because there is always more work to be done. But just for a moment that time stops and you actually feel like you have a moment to maybe look at that flurry outside...
handwritten on February 6, 2020
3.4 miles: This morning I was working on a variety of different centers and stations and reading and math and science and one of my students got so lost in her reading assignment that I forgot and she totally forgot to head down to breakfast-which she does every morning. It was about quarter after and we were ready to start morning meeting when I saw the look on her face and immedietely knew what I had forgotten. Her voice trembled as she said in a tiny voice, "If I go down now, they won't let me get breakfast." So I sped out of the classroom with her behind and we went down to the cafeteria to demand that a cereal and a milk be brought up with a spoon. And I think it was in this particular...
handwritten on February 5, 2020
Today was one of those days that just was a bit trying in terms of patience. And I must say, the children I have this year are just the most beautiful beings. However, we tend to all listen at different times and places, and it seems that sometimes repetition does not exactly interrupt our own thoughts that are most likely filled with our own dreams and third grade thoughts about friends and family and what I plan on eating for lunch. There was a bit of a kinesthetic math activity we were embarking upon and though I had mentioned multiple times to write down the shaded fraction as well as the unit fraction, one of my students still had not heard me (actually a few). We chanted those...
handwritten on February 4, 2020
I had a beautiful conversation with (what I believe to be) one of the greatest teachers and mentors to me. She is a complete expert in early childhood education and has worked around 50 years in the field in various positions. We talked today "in her den" about the future of education, what she hopes for one day, the memories she has had, the wonders she has learned and the advice she wishes to pass on to teachers still within the field. To say I admire this teacher is a great understatement. Her intelligence is beyond me, her vision articulate and her pure joy for the field unmatched and completely unwavering. Towards the end of our conversation (which happened to go in many directions)...
handwritten on February 3, 2020
3.2 miles: This has been the strangest winter I have endured in a long time. We have seen little snow but much warm air has been blowing through. In fact, outside today it felt like Spring and the sun kissed your cheeks as you walked outside amongst the trees. And i've come to the realiza tion that though we may not admit it affects us, lack of sunlight does something to the soul. Without windows in my classroom, I could still detect the stir from my students. It was as if they felt the sunlight chasing them down and they wanted to partake as long as possible. And with that, how often are we chasing sunlight or do we feel like we are chasing sunlight? Or do we just feel the sunlight when it...
