thought of the day

To the kids with ADHD, the kids with learning differences, and the ELLs in my life:

"Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Einstein

removed from meaningful context

THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE all SANG THE MAGNA CARTA while climbing MOUNT CYANIDE while 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES DROWNED IN THE DESSERT.

wielding the mighty AXE OF THE APOSTLES HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY in pioneer square.

our hapless hero, ST. PAUL CAVORTED in the north park blocks LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH, "oh my UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS!"

some words of wisdom: DO UNTO OTHERS BEFORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU with AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION

fry-day

I remember sneaking out some of Njeri's cds at night when I was hanging out alone late at night in the restaurant washing the dishes (nobody but me and the Co-op ghost, that is!). Thanks to her, I discovered India Aire (which considering that I was already into Lauryn Hill, it was kind of a logical thing to get into at that time in my life).

I really shoulda turned this cd back into the library this morning (because it's due), but I decided to hang onto the cd for one more day, and played it during writing time. (Only one kid complained, but a little while later, I caught him turning it up louder, so that might be an endorsement in disguise). I'm experimenting with playing music during writing periods to limit the talking impulses and keep the 6th graders focused for the relatively long periods that I'm asking them to work. It's also a backdoor method of reinforcing some of the ideas we've talked about in class...India Aire is nothing, if not positive and I think the kids need more of that. And of course, I can justify it on the grounds of Multiple Intelligences. On the plus side, I turned on my cooperating teacher to something new.

"Headed in the right direction, I can see the light of day..." When I got home this afternoon, I did something I haven't done in a really long time--I went on a good walk. I went over to Brentwood park and swing-swang-swung on the swings, then sprawled out in the green green grass and laid there watching the clouds roll on by. I watched dogs running around at the dog park, and saw all the birds out hopping around and twittering, I looked at all the buds beginning to swell on the trees (the plums will bloom pretty soon, and the quinces aren't far off either). On the way back home, I watched the sun set behind the skeletal frames of the trees and for the first time in a long time felt pretty good about life. It's amazing what a little fresh air will do for you, when February has got you feelin' down.

"Headed in the right direction, I can see the light of day..." Lately I've been getting a lot closer to some of the things I've been wanting out of life and it feels really good. I drove past our soon-to-be-house again for the millionth time and felt really good about what we're doing. I think we've managed to do pretty well for ourselves. All I'm waiting on is the closing date, then the fun begins.

"Headed in the right direction, I can see the light of day,
I've got love as my protection, there's no need for me to be afraid"

"Headed in the right direction, I can see the light of day,
I've got faith and intuition telling me that I will be okay"
The kiddos were working hard today-I think my "git 'er done" speech did its job. Almost everyone is where they need to be. I was definitely impressed. This week, two of my "troublemakers" are turning out to be decent students and I'm absolutely thrilled that (for whatever reason) they keep on turning in their work on time and doing the right things (and not goofing off as much as usual). It's actually kinda spooky, and I've probably jinxed next week completely by even alluding to it.

My afternoon group was more cooperative than they've been yet, and aside from some minor incidents, they've been nearly perfect (I've always had a harder time with them because they never got my big spiel like the morning group) and sometimes they act like they don't need to listen to me. February's kind of a tough month on all of us, and I think some of the grumpiness is starting to go away now that it's starting to be a bit more spring-like.

"Headed in the right direction, I can see the light of day
Now I've found my pearl of wisdom, there's no need for me to be afraid."
When I first started out, I didn't know what to think of 6th graders, and I was a bit nervous about teaching them, but they're starting to grow on me and it's been going fine.

"Headed in the right direction, there's an angel showing me the way
I have found my inspiration, headed in the right direction"
Today turned out to be a pretty good day. The weather was nice. The odyssey to Beaverton went well, and I had a nice evening. All in all, a very satisfying Friday.

a nice loooong weekend is a good thing eh?

Nothing like having a nice long three day weekend, especially these days. Getting up at 5:30 every day gets a bit old and it's nice to have a break from the rigors of the #72:

Friday: We celebrated Valentines Day a day late which works amazingly well. In this case, you have all of the good times, and none of the crowds or wallet gouging. You can go anywhere you want without making a reservation, and it sure is nice not having to compete with the whole world. Definitely a smart move worth repeating. (Valentine's Day has always kinda been kind of low on my list of priorities, anyhow.)

Saturday: I had to go over to PSU to work on some things, and I didn't feel like waiting around forever for the bus, so I drove, but when I got there, I forgot that you had to pay to park on Saturdays, so I had to drive all the way back to the east side and try again. Lesson learned: just suck it up and ride the bus. The cool things is I ran into Hong, so I got to talk to her for awhile. (I miss my classmates).

Sunday: We went and spent the day at IKEA looking at house porn because we found out we're going to be moving in March. I'm not sure how I feel about assembling my own furniture, but then again, DIY...Then we went to Powell's to get some books about ponds.

Sunday: Another nice day again, although very windy for some reason. It was too windy to ride bikes. Brian's all excited about ponds, so we elected to go look at pond supply stores and try to score some cardboard boxes. I also spent some time packing up a few things...might as well since I actually feel like it. The novelty will wear off shortly.

moving on up...

Sticking to the tradition, it looks like we're going to be moving pretty soon because we're taking the plunge and buying a house.

Although we've talked about it for awhile, we hadn't planned on doing anything about it until closer to summer time (for one I'm still in school and really don't want to move in the middle of it all, and two, who really wants to move in the rain?), however a house that I've been admiring for quite awhile (that I walk past it almost daily) unexpectedly went up for sale a few weeks back, so we decided to jump on it and not wait around. The asking price was a lot lower than most comparable houses in the area and it's in really good condition so we decided to get moving on it. It's a 3 bedroom single-story house built in 1910 that's two blocks down from where we live (on the same street) and has a nice big fenced yard (yay!).

This means that we can finally get a dog, dig a pond in the yard, install a woodstove, get some rain barrels set up, build raised beds, plant fruit trees and do all those other crazy things you can't do when you're renting.

We'll probably be moving in about a month or so, and while I'm not looking forward to cardboard boxes and packing and unpacking and buying appliances, I am looking forward to having a lot more space and freedom. I'm especially looking forward to putting my bargain hunting skills to use and see if I've still got the moves...

evil TK20

I finally motivated myself to lug the binder full of the aftermath of Worksample I over to PSU, and spent the rest of the afternoon scanning in the documents that I don't have electronic copies of. My sense of accomplishment would be much greater if I had any idea how to "submit" all of this, but TK20 is EVIL and I can't for the life of me, figure out how to do it...

sigh.

Like Dr. Claw used to say, "Next time gadget, next time..."

home inspection day

Today we did our DIY home inspection (one of the benefits of having all those building code certifications is that you can do all of this yourself) so we spent about three hours looking at structural supports, pipes, testing outlets, examining roofs, and so forth. The weather was cooperative today (it was sunny and fairly warm) so we were able to spend a good bit of time outside as well. After all, it's hard to get excited about doing an exterior inspection when it's pouring down rain.

Didn't find any glaring code violations or anything too quirky or exciting. Things are in good shape, and there weren't any huge surprises. Structurally, the house is quite sound, and it's functional, in good overall condition, and in good repair. I'm grateful this is the case because I really am not at a life-stage where I want to spend a lot of time fooling with a fixer-upper. Maybe later, but not here and now.

I'm officially allowing myself to get excited about this...I've been trying to be restrained about the whole affair because who knows what could go wrong, but I think now it's safe to say that things are looking pretty certain and we'll be moving this spring--a couple of blocks down the street anyway.

I'm glad we will be able to stay in the same neighborhood. I don't have to learn the quirks of a new bus, we already know where things are, and all that. I know what to expect and I like that. It'll be the easiest move we've ever had, and I can still walk to the bakery every Saturday.

Now it's time to start stalking home and garden magazines. I finally have a reason!

alrightee then!

Today sure was an interesting day...a bit too interesting perhaps, but confidentiality agreement means I won't be going into details, especially not on the internet! What's important at the end of it all is that it's a solid reminder that being a teacher means you do a whole lot more than just teach kids readin', writin', and 'rithematic.

In spite of the mid-afternoon drama, today was a good day for me. I felt like things went well in class today, I was very happy that the discussion went well, that behavior was generally a lot better today, and that in general class felt really smooth. Very productive.

In my opinion, kids, especially at this age (12-14) are a whole lot like puppies. They're squirmy, wiggly, they whine a lot, they like to chew on stuff (especially pens), they want to go to the bathroom all the time, they generally act kinda goofy, and are good at finding some trouble to get into, but all the same, they're generally so darn cute (and awkward) that it's hard not to laugh at their antics. I'm sure a lot of people reading this won't agree with me on the "cute" part, but what can I say--I have a soft spot for adolescents, and of course they all go home at the end of the day to someone else...

I'm glad to be home though. It's been kind of a long week. The horde has been restless. I've had to do a lot of classroom management (which incidentally is getting a lot easier now). We've been busy trying to buy a house in the middle of everything we normally have to do during the week. And I haven't been able to have a quiet evening at home all week. Oh and of course, one of us is sick...

Right now I'm listening to Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 which is my fabulous library find of the last couple weeks. Like most of my current students, I like R&B (among other things), but quite UNlike them, I like the older stuff, so this has been quite a treat and is a good speed for February's rhythms of slow, rainy days. It reminds me of being back in Z201, listening to folks such as: Pinetop, Joe Turner, Louis Jordan, Nat King Cole, Wynonie Harris, Ruth Brown, Willie Mae Thornton, Ike Turner, Junior Parker, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Soul Stirrers, etc, etc. As one of the Amazon customer reviewers put it, "this is no-less than a music appreciation course on compact disc. A history of rhythm and blues' fascinating transformation into soul." It's well worth remembering (now that I'm no longer in the south) but that in no way changes the fact that African-American musicians' contributions constitute a significant portion of the enduring musical achievements of the previous century.

It's Friday and I'm looking forward to a few days where I don't have to get up at 5. I'm sure we could all stand to sleep in a little bit, and unwind. It's been kind of a wild ride right now...

yep, it appears to be the case that...

Today's headline round-up, proving that once again, the world IS going to hell in a handbasket. You heard it here first...

Something smells like global warming to me, I don't care what the doubters say..."Tornadoes in South Kill 50 in Rare Winter Strike... The deadliest tornado outbreak in almost a decade tore across the southern US late yesterday, killing at least 50 people..."(Bloomberg). Umm hello, does this in any way seem normal? I don't think so.

"Chadian President Says Govt. in 'Total Control' After Rebel Assault", You know, I always wondered what you called people from "Chad", now I know. They're Chadian...at least in English. Awkward...

Just yesterday I was reminiscing about my professional activist days..."Breaking News: Some Clinton staff working without pay to save money...some senior staff for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign have begun working without pay to save money for the New York senator's cash-crunched political effort." Hmm, I don't know what's so shocking about this, aside from teachers I can't think of another line of work where you are more likely to routinely work beyond "contract" time. What you really think teachers go home when the kids do?

What sounds like the latest craze in water sports, is just another sad example of what passes for policy in the Bush administration. "US 'may' use waterboarding again-US President George Bush might consider authorising the controversial interrogation method of waterboarding in future, the White House has said (BBC)". Hmm, seems like our international reputation has sustained some "water" damage. Not that anyone with a pulse needed to be reminded by the truth that the Bush administration's current strategy is to fight terrorism by acting like terrorists. Note to self, the moral high ground is 300 feet below sea level and sinking lower every minute.

Oh, and of course there's always Wing: http://wingmusic.co.nz
Yep, it's a crazy word out there folks.

2008 Portland African-American Read-In

Today I went to an event I've been looking forward to all week, the African-American Read-In at the North Portland Library.

Presented in part by the Portland chapter of the International Reading Association, the event encourages and highlights literacy by bringing works by Black authors to life during and afternoon of readings by prominent locals who come out and read their favorite works during the afternoon event.

I will readily admit that a great deal of my motivation to leave the house (a rarity on my few days off) was to see J. California Cooper again. She's such a delightful person that I wouldn't miss a chance to see her, and I'll confess that I got a bit spoiled seeing her all the time last year and miss it. Since I no longer am in a situations where I'm going to cross paths with her, I made a point of coming out and see her do her celebrity bit. She's such an amazingly lovely person in real life (kinda like Gertrude), I really miss having the privilege of having her come in my door brighten up my whole afternoon. The fact that she was an author I discovered later, when I found out by accident, glancing over at the fiction shelves at the library one afternoon. There was one of her books sitting there, right at eye level. Of course I checked it out, I'm nosy, after all.

It was a nice afternoon, and wrapped up in the familiar cadences I learned as an 8th grader in an old wooden desk in Ms. Delk's room, I listened to folks read both familiar and unfamiliar beloved stores, poems, and essays. One of the PTP folks read a poem by Sonia Sanchez that should probably be read at the induction ceremony of teachers everywhere. I didn't even know about it, but I'm going to reprint it here for your convenience. Everyday at the Humboldt, we say the Humboldt Pledge, which I happen to like, but I think teachers need a daily pledge as well, and for us, I think this poem is as good as any I have ever heard. If you need to refocus about why you're doing it, go ahead get together with some colleagues, hold hands and all that jazz, and read this baby out loud. You can thank me later.

I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield til I die.

I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield til I die.

i had come into the city carrying life in my eyes
amid rumors of death,
calling out to everyone who would listen
it is time to move us all into another century
time for freedom and racial and sexual justice
time for women and children and men time for hands unbound
i had come into the city wearing peaceful breasts
and the spaces between us smiled
i had come into the city carrying life in my eyes.
i had come into the city carrying life in my eyes.

And they followed us in their cars with their computers
and their tongues crawled with caterpillars
and they bumped us off the road turned over our cars,
and they bombed our buildings killed our babies,
and they shot our doctors maintaining our bodies,
and their courts changed into confessionals
but we kept on organizing we kept on teaching believing
loving doing what was holy moving to a higher ground
even though our hands were full of slaughtered teeth
but we held out our eyes delirious with grace.
but we held out our eyes delirious with grace.

I'm gonna treat everybody right
I'm gonna treat everybody right
I'm gonna treat everybody right til I die.

I'm gonna treat everybody right
I'm gonna treat everybody right
I'm gonna treat everybody right til I die.

come. i say come, you sitting still in domestic bacteria
come. i say come, you standing still in double-breasted mornings
come. i say come, and return to the fight.
this fight for the earth
this fight for our children
this fight for our life
we need your hurricane voices
we need your sacred hands

i say, come, sister, brother to the battlefield
come into the rain forests
come into the hood
come into the barrio
come into the schools
come into the abortion clinics
come into the prisons
come and caress our spines

i say come, wrap your feet around justice
i say come, wrap your tongues around truth
i say come, wrap your hands with deeds and prayer
you brown ones
you yellow ones
you black ones
you gay ones
you white ones
you lesbian ones

Comecomecomecomecome to this battlefield
called life, called life, called life. . . .

I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield til I die.

I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield
I'm gonna stay on the battlefield til I die.

Sonia Sanchez
Shake loose my skin: New and Selected Poems
Beacon Press
(c) 1999 by Sonia Sanchez