Sitting in my favorite chair in my study, typing this blog entry while Theo sleeps contentedly in my lap.
Welcome home, Theo.
Practical Theory
A View From the Schoolhouse
Chris Lehmann
Keith Olbermann and 9/11
Please forgive the foray back into politics, but I was in NYC on 9/11, and I hope that I never have a day as strange and sad and overwhelming as that day ever again in my life. I remember parents coming to Beacon covered in ash, only wanting their children to be with them. I remember the smell of a city that smelled like death. I remember emailing everyone I knew to tell them I was o.k., I remember emailing everyone I knew who worked downtown, trying to find everyone. I remember Kat coming to Beacon with a pizza in hand, because she figured I would have fogotten to eat. I remember a city that rallied around itself and refused to lay down and die, even when faced with disaster. I remember feeling the love of the rest of the world as we mourned our dead. And I will always remember watching the Bush Administration use our tragedy as a justification for a war that most of the New Yorkers I knew didn’t want. I remember our outrage as he claimed he was going to war with Iraq in our name.
So it’s with all those memories and many more that I watched Keith Olbermann talk about the five years since 9/11. Scathing isn’t a strong enough word, but it’ll have to do. Needless to say, I agree with him.
SLA Reflections: Day Two
(Well, after taking a day or two to try to catch up on sleep…)
Day One was hectic, but in the end, it’s an exciting day… everyone is keyed up and ready to start… much of the day is procedural anyway… and good will goes a long way.
Day Two is the day you start to see what you’ve really got.
We’ve got a lot going for us.
What was the biggest complaint I heard from kids on Friday? They’ve already got homework. I’m o.k. with that. ![":-)"]("http://practicaltheory.org/serendipity/templates/default/img/emoticons/smile.png")
We had a great first two days, construction issues notwithstanding. I saw teachers and students really beginning the process of building a powerful learning community. Science classes were headed outside to observe chemical reactions in the city. Drama classes had kids up and interacting. And kids were willing to work with us to learn in new ways, right out of the gate.
Now, we have to keep working toward that promise. The laptops have been delivered, and we’re working to get them into the kids’ hands in the next couple of days. We’ve moved the website to ournew domain, scienceleadership.org, and the new moodle site has launched, and teachers will be using it as soon as every kid has a computer in their hands. (And the kids are already continuing what they started in the summer by finding new ways to use it.)
What’s humbling and daunting is that all the planning we’ve done — and we did a lot of it — pales in comparison to the work we have in front of us. Kids want teams, they want activities, they want a mascot, they want amazing classes, and they want to be a part of what we promised them. And they want those things for the best reasons, I think. It won’t be enough to have some great classes, we’ve talked about creating a vibrant learning community. We have an obligation to work with the kids to create one.