handwritten on May 9, 2019
Today was our in-school orchestra concert. Two of our elementary schools go on tour for the day and get to play at both our school as well as a second elementary school. We all huddled together on the gym floor, anxious to hear the performance as we currently have a new orchestra teacher who arrived in December as our permanent sub for the Spring. From his interactions with the students, it is easy to see he is dedicated and passionate and loving towards everyone. He has a strong passion to change the world and to change student lives through music. This is abundantly apparent in the spring in his step as he walks down the hallway to his smiles and vibrant voice as he is teaching a lesson...
handwritten on May 8, 2019
My mother used to sing me this song "There is a hole in the bucket dear Liza dear Liza...So fix it dear Henry dear Henry."
"With what should I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza,With what should I fix it, dear Liza, with what?
With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,With straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with straw."
Long story short, poor Henry could not fix the hole with anything and Liza was not happy. But she still tried everything she possibly could to mend that hole. But to me, this song contains some important words of wisdom and some whimsy, too. Because you have to think, that hole probably would not have been there in the first place if Dear Liza and Dear Henry had not used that...
handwritten on May 7, 2019
Sometimes there are encounters that make you realize again just how lucky you are if you can get out of bed without taking twenty pills, put on your clothes by yourself, eat what you want, exercise when you wish and begin the morning with coffee because your body allows you to do so. Because at this moment, there is whimsy in realizing you are healthy and free and not everyone has this luxury.
Well I was metaphorically runnin' from 4:00 this morning to 6:00 this morning. And it was not the kind of pleasant running that takes place under the blue skies with tennis shoes and dream-filled pavement. This was the kind of runnin' where your body rejects literally everything you ate the night...
handwritten on May 6, 2019
In the teaching of Concrete Poems today, the students had to make a list of just about every concrete noun they could think of that might be in the running for creating a concrete poem where words and visuals intertwine together to create a beautiful whimsical encounter. The list students came up with contained every image in the word one may or may not automatically find beauty within such as a clock or origami. One particular student decided to create a poem entitled "origami." Her words beautifully formed the folds and shapes of origami paper. Though simplistic concrete poems are, the purpose is to seek whimsy no matter how commonplace the object may seem. This student wrote:
"Fold and...
handwritten on May 4, 2019
Historically, Saturday has been marked as a day of violence in Northview Heights. But not today. Last week we came off of tangled weeds and multiple fights on the soccer field. There was kicking. Slugging. Hurtful words. And much anger. Today there was peace. There were talks and understanding. There were stern voices but also love. There was organization and respect.
Soccer this season has been different. Not only do I have a lot of 7 and 8 year old soccer players in my group, but conflicting personalities do not always get along. But they are incredibly vibrant souls. And we do not always know how to manage our anger. So we have been working on complimenting but also setting very stern...
