Month: November 2021

I adore the fall season, as I’ve said many times before. I can go on and on about apples, changing leaves, cozy blankets, soups, etc. One more thing to love about fall: the end of daylight savings time. It’s just an hour, but it feels like a major gift.

What will I do with my extra hour? I don’t want to spend it all in one place. Maybe I’ll sip my morning coffee a little more slowly. Maybe I’ll linger a litter longer with the Washington Post crossword puzzle. Perhaps take Sasha on a longer walk, read more, practice piano.

Am I expecting too much from this one hour?

Chris, Maxine and I went over to some friends’ house for dinner this evening while Edwin took the car and met friends at their old middle school to enjoy the Harvest Festival and see some familiar faces. After catching up with a few teachers and checking out the repainted and reconfigured lobby area (they disapproved of the stripes), they walked to Clarendon for dinner. Later, they would walk back, and Edwin would drive back home. At first, I was nervous whenever he took the car out and tracked his every move from my phone. Now, I’m thinking it’s pretty nice not having to shuttle him around town.

Meanwhile, up at our friends’ house, their son, whom I’ve known since he was born, traipses in with about six of his friends, all hungry and very tall. They had been out playing soccer and worked up quite an appetite. After they scarfed up all the remaining food and offered deep-voiced expressions of gratitude, they were off again into the night.

It’s kind of disorienting to look up one day and find these boys have now turned into young men.

I’ve always known Michael Jordan is one of the greatest of all time but seriously: he has superpowers. I started watching The Last Dance today, the docuseries that follows the Bulls in their 1997–1998 season on their quest for a sixth NBA title.

Besides focusing mainly on this epic season, the episodes occasionally jump back and forward in time so that we get glimpses of his youth as well as his armchair commentary in the present day. He is regal and beautiful in his dark jeans, deep blue shirt and a glass of what I think is scotch on the table next to him.

We also get to zoom in on Scottie Pippin, Dennis Rodman, and the coaches Doug Collins and Phil Jackson. I am learning so much about the dynamics and history of this fascinating team and the ultimate GOAT of all time anywhere, any sport. Period.

Chris and I are enjoying a quiet evening at home. The cats are on our laps, Sasha is dozing by our feet, and a steaming mug of tea sits within reach.

In about half an hour, a dozen or so ninth graders will descend upon the house. We’ll turn on the outdoor heater for the first time since last winter, start a fire in the fire ring, and set out the snacks. We’ve set a stop time for 11:30. My eyelids are already drooping. I’d better get my second wind.

I’m watching Virginia election results roll in, and I’m not sure I’m up for this. I am still traumatized by 2016 and the nail-biter that was 2020 (not to mention the nightmare that came after). The boogeyman is still out there, and anything that validates or encourages him is anathema to me. Not that that’s the only issue here, but it’s forefront in my mind.

I joined a teacher research cohort this year, and we had our second meeting this afternoon. The facilitator is a teacher at a different school, but I’ve gotten to know her over the years through the English department. Our group is an eclectic little mix: the facilitator and fellow reading teacher, an assistant principal, our IB coordinator, an ASL interpreter, a design tech teacher, and me.

At our first meeting, we each crafted a research question we will focus on this year and spent the hour giving each other feedback, asking questions, recommending books, and discussing directions in which we could take our research. We were settling into the group last week, and by the time the hour was up, we were all ready to pack up and say goodbye.

Today was a different story. For the first 10 minutes, we wrote about how our research questions may have changed over the last month and what new questions we’ve stumbled upon and paths we want to explore.

When the 10 minutes were up, we each took turns sharing an overview of what we wrote while the rest listened, put notes in a Google doc for each other, and then discussed. Well, nearly an hour and half later, we were still going. We had so much to ask each other, connections to make, suggestions on how to approach our research, and philosophical discussions on grading and student motivation.

I think I’m going to enjoy this little group of ours. I won’t have the pressure to write a full paper, but I expect to learn and keep improving with age.