Blessings, part 2

Not only is today's writing "Blessings, part 2," it's writing-with-sophomores, part 2.  My T/Th section of sophomores is a little bit bigger class, but aside from numbers, they are basically the same...interested and eager learners for the most part.  A fun group to teach and work with.  We are listening to Yo Yo Ma while we write...another one of the blessings in my life :)

When I was thinking of the word "blessings" a few minutes ago, I thought of how many of my friends end their letters with the word "blessings."  Quite a few of them do in fact, both male and female.  In a way, it's kind of a throw-away tag line, maybe even a trendy one.  I know when I first became a principal I was concerned (not in a major way) about how I would end--and begin, for that matter--any communication I sent from my office.  My direct supervisor always ended his missives with "4 His Kids."  His supervisor closed hers with, you got it, "Blessings."  So...what was my tag line going to be?   Truth?  I never did figure it out.  Many times it would be "Take Care."  But that would depend on how well I knew the recipient.  Most of the time, I just tried to say something that sounded like a satisfying ending...almost like the ending of an essay!  My salutation dilemma I solved with a simple "Good Morning," "Good Afternoon," or "Good Evening," depending on when I was writing.

But back to the blessings.  A blessing today is our Week of Prayer speaker.  He looks almost exactly like Kris Kristofferson, but few of our students would know who that was.  They think he looks like Jesus, a dirty-blond-haired Jesus.  And he's telling them some pretty cool stories of Jesus, so in a way, that fits.  Anyway, he's been a huge blessing to us and it's only his second day.

Looking Back to Yesteryear

My second day (and third class period) of writing with my students.  This time it's seniors.  The lucky 13 in my first-thing-in-the-morning British literature class.  We're studying Hamlet and, unfortunately, had to take a three-week break right in the middle of it, so today we'll be looking back in order to understand the things that lie ahead (see the quote from yesterday's first entry) in Hamlet's life.  But first, they are writing.

It's interesting to go through a "last semester of high school" with seniors.  They struggle with wanting to get out now and hang on as long as they can.  They are done (or want to be) with high school work, but not necessarily high school life.  Especially in a boarding school environment, I think.  For me, I have to literally look all the way back to my senior year to remember what it was like for me so I can give them my best as we go through this last semester together.  Sometimes, especially as the end nears, I feel frantic that I didn't do enough, that I didn't tell enough, that I didn't take enough time with them--as a class or as individuals.  I don't like having regrets, but that's always one of them every year.

So, what are things that I need to work on?  Using my time better in class?  Using my influence more out of class?  Going back to my thoughts of yesterday about content of character as opposed to content of essay . . . what do I give them?  What do I say and do to help them know they need Jesus more than any single other thing in their lives????

Semester Reflections

"Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead." --Unknown

I'm writing with my students today.  It's been awhile since I've done that.  Years ago, I did it all the time.  Actually kept a journal in my classroom and wrote whenever I had them write.  I got away from it for some reason and have missed it.  Today, at the beginning of a new semester, I've resolved to get back to it.

So it's 1:10 p.m.  I have 16 sophomores in the room, heads bent over the page reflecting on the past semester.  What are things that worked in your academic life?  What are things that need work this new semester?  What will you do to assure success in 2013?  I love the sounds of thinking!  It's a beautiful thing to see and hear.

And what is it that I saw and heard from them last semester?  And what did they see and hear from me?  We learned to write from the ground up.  Bit by bit, piece by piece, we learned how to build an essay.  For some, it was easy.  The words flowed easily and smoothly.  There was no struggle to let them loose from their mind.  Others had to fight--with themselves, with those around them, with the distractions that are part of an active classroom.  But they learned.  And so did I.

There are always things that I know for sure work.  And then there are those I need to work on.  It's sometimes hard for me to explain something that comes so easily for me.  Not that writing is easy.  But I know how to do it...  So I have to try to remember what it's like to not know.  And sometimes that frustration keeps me from doing my best.  That's what I will work to improve this semester.

Now, it's nearly 2:30 and I have the AP class with me.  This is a full classroom of juniors and seniors.  With them, I want to do more serious academic writing and thinking.  We've had a good semester, and they've done well, but we need to start focusing on the test prep.  I don't like teaching to a test.  Something in me rebels against that.  I don't know what exactly.  I like the freedom to determine what is important for my students and that takes it all away from me.  Which may be what frustrates me.  I am far more interested in the content of their characters than in the content of their essays!  But that makes it a little difficult to take an AP test if all I've done with them is develop who they are . . . and not what others think they should know.

Empty Nest = Full Nest

I've been reading quite a few Facebook posts from friends who have college-aged children.  Most of them are bemoaning the quietness of their homes now that those children have gone back to school.  I understand that loss, but it rather amuses me that I, on the other hand, am somewhat bemoaning the fact that tomorrow, I will be getting up early to face a not-so-quiet classroom full of children who have left their homes today to come back to school (I work at a boarding school).

While the quietness of my classroom beckons at the moment, I will be ready to exchange it somewhere around 10 tomorrow.  While I've enjoyed the break--longer than I usually have at this time by a few days thanks to the calendar--I am ready to get back to the regular routine (although it's anything but routine!).  What is an empty nest for some will become a full nest for me.  I look forward to it!

Gratitude Unlocked...

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

The day after Thanksgiving has dawned bright and beautiful.  For the third time in my life I did not spend Thanksgiving Day with family and even though I did pass a delightful afternoon with the families of two colleagues, I still felt a little bit empty.  For so many years Thanksgiving Day has meant lots of family--upwards of 30 people from four very connected families have gathered together to ask the Lord's continued blessing.  And of course they still gathered...but without so many this year.  The two oldest members of the group and one other are no longer with us, having passed away within the past year (one most recently a week ago). My youngest sister and her family, my oldest niece and her new husband, and a nephew were not there, nor were several others.  I missed them all.  And I imagine those who were there realized the absences keenly, too.

And yet.  There is much to be grateful for. My aforementioned close-knit family.  My colleagues and friends who make each work day a pleasure.  My students--past and present--who keep me going day after day.  My church family that is loving and nurturing.  My cats, faithful companions for the past decade.  My friends--near and far.  The list could go on an on.  I am truly blessed.  And for the actual Day of Thanks, even though I was not home with family, it was enough to be with my work family, with people who love me enough to count me family, and with the promise of being home soon for Christmas.  

Teacher Valentines · 365 Project

Teacher Valentines by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I was showered with valentine sweets today from the start of the day through its end. Candles, candies, cupcakes, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, sweet thank you notes in journals, good conversations, cooperative and engaged classes. It was a good day. Most days I love what I do. This was one of them =)

This is just part of what wound up on my desk throughout the day.  I especially I love the "Teachers R All-write!"  How appropriate for an English teacher!

Carded · 365 Project

Carded by Rondi Aastrup · 365 Project

I was grading journals this morning when this card fell out of one! It was from one of my senior boys who is an avid reader. He'd been talking about a book he really wanted to read and I found it and bought it for him. He was so pleased...and responded with this nice thank you card. It's amazing how little things can make a difference to some...

Recommended Recent Reads

I've been on the receiving end of two books from author-friends within the past couple of months.  A former student wrote one of them, chronicling her struggle with anorexia.  A blogger friend wrote the other, a collection of short essays about women in the Bible.  Both books were interesting and inspiring, both were about real women's struggles, even though they lived centuries apart.

Tiffany Schroeder Bartell's book, Healing a Hungry Heart, is honest, poignant, and, ultimately inspiring, especially for young women who struggle with the same issues of self-esteem and perfectionism that Tiffany did.  It is also instructive for people like me, someone who is "in" the book as one of her teachers who had no idea what she was going through at the time, although I remember wondering at things I now understand after reading the book.  Tiffany found her way out of the depths her despair and now helps others with similar struggles.

Trudy Morgan-Cole's lovely devotional/inspirational book, Daughters of Grace, is the perfect book to give your mother, your sister, your daughter, your best friend.  But it is also a great book to share with the men in your life.  It's a collection of essays about 26 women in the Bible, their struggles, their triumphs, and how they relate to 21st century Christian women...and men, too.  Beautifully illustrated, the book paints amazing pictures of lives that inspire.  More to the point, Trudy's words paint the pictures clearly and beautifully.

Both these books are good reads--for you and a friend!

O Come, O Come Immanuel

Facebook is a really cool connector! Tonight, I found another student from 30 years ago. He was a sophomore when I last knew him. Now he's a 40+ professional Christian musician. He doesn't know where, when, or how he was born, but was found in a garbage can some days after his birth in Korea. He was adopted and brought to America and eventually ended up at the boarding school in Michigan where I started teaching. Here is a movie he made about his beginnings:



And here's a video of what he's doing now with his life, making beautiful music:

Non Nobis Dominie

I just finished studying/watching Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V with my seniors. We loved the story of a young king trying to do the right and honorable thing. We were particularly interested in his skills as a good king. Having studied Hamlet prior to this and noting how not to be a king (Claudius, who kills his brother, married his brothers wife, and plots to kill his nephew/step-son), we felt strongly that Henry V had a positive message to learn about leadership, Christian leadership at that.

The final act is especially moving when the English soldiers are gathering their dead from the battlefield at Agincourt. Henry orders that Non Nobis Dominie be sung, and a soloist begins the piece, but is soon joined by a whole chorus of soldiers. It's quite beautiful. My students, who love music anyway, and who are used to music being played in the classroom during tests and quiet reading and writing periods, begged to hear the soundtrack to Henry V this morning while they took their vocabulary test. Happily, I was able to oblige them. They were so excited! So, there they were taking their test, singing their hearts out as the wrote their answers. It was really beautiful...

Here's that penultimate scene of the play, along with the Non Nobis Dominie. See if you don't agree with my students and me about Henry's character, and about the music they all sang.

Mass Routes

One of my friends (a former student, actually) is conducting an interesting project. He's literally driving all the numbered routes of Massachusetts and blogging about it here at Mass Routes. I've known him since he was a very young boy and I was in college (we were neighbors for awhile). Several years later, I taught him (all four years of high school). He went on to college and is now married and has an adorable little boy the same age as when I first met him!

We have stayed in touch all this time (going on 25 years since I knew him as a student), although now mostly through blogging. Anyway, I've just been taking a journey through Massachusetts via his Mass Routes blog. It's actually quite cool! I remember him writing in high school how he wanted to travel all the "blue highways" and how he once took a cross country trip mostly off the main highways. This project of blogging all the numbered highways in the state is ambitious, but very interesting. Knowing him the way I do, I'm sure he's having a blast.

Alma mater plays into memory making

It was alumni weekend at my college alma mater this weekend. 125 years! My class of 1977 was one of the honored classes (30...). My first boss (head of the library) was celebrating his 70th! That's a lot of years at one place!

I only attended church and the play on Saturday night (King Lear), but I enjoyed everything about the festivities. So many people to reconnect with! So many layers of age to peer through to find the young people we once were...

The two alumni of the year were people I have connections with. The oldest, class of 1951, was a very good friend of my fathers from high school on. While they were citing all his achievements, I was remembering the stories of pranks and other good times I'd heard from my dad.

The other honoree was a member of my own class and had been the RA on our hall the year my sister and I lived in the dorm. Her litany of achievements was lengthy and impressive. She's accomplished many things in the 30 years since she graduated. Made me start thinking about what I've done with my own life in those same 30 years. The list wouldn't be as long, and the achievements wouldn't be as startling (there were a lot of "first women," "first African American," and "first African American woman" accolades in it), but it seems to me that the public-ness of what one does shouldn't be the only criteria for determining the worth of one's accomplishments. Seems as if the depth and breadth of one's influence should matter, too.

Not that I'm clamoring to be an Alumna of the Year. That's not my point. But I do wish that once in awhile they would honor someone for doing their job well, no matter how quietly and obscurely they are doing it.

Speaking of public accomplishments, the play of the evening was King Lear and it was directed by one of my students of some 24 years ago. He not only directed and produced the play, but starred as Lear, doing a fantastic job. Playing the role of Edgar was another student, also doing an outstanding job. I'd even go so far as to say "amazing." Both these young men were avid readers and thoughtful students when I first knew them. It was a privilege to teach them and nurture their interest in literature, composition, and drama. I am delighted to say that I gave each of them the opportunity and encouragement to begin the journey that took each of them to their PhDs in literature.

The director is a professor of English and married to a very fine cellist and professor of music, both at my alma mater (and his). The actor is a writer and actor married to the morning anchor of one of the Boston TV stations. They have each made their own way since I taught them, of course, but I am not a little proud of the part I had in shaping their interests and abilities when they were much younger...