The Singing Duet is Back in Town (They Have Alanis Morisette Down Pat) ... Currently Booking Ironic at a Venue Near You

Actually, you might want to think twice about booking them. Seriously. Although their music renditions are unforgettable, especially as they make up words and have no idea what they're singing. It's nothing but joy from wake-up until bedtime....the forever 15 squad doing their thing as alway.

Cornhole, diners, beach time, campus hike, Stratford walk, dinner, more beach time, and family feud. Karal is in her glory and so are the walls of Mt. Pleasant. The laughter and happiness is contagious.

16 years of storying, silliness, adventure, memories, conversations, road trips, mentoring, learning, history, dreaming, trusting, and joy. As Delaney says, "No one stands a chance when the two of them are together." I like to think that with Delaney, there's a fighting chance.

Also ran into teachers from yesteryear hiking the beach and now I'm ready to gather all the CWP teachers and begin a war agains the nation on redirecting respect for the work we do. The National Writing Project attracts the strongest educators in the nation and it is our bond that keeps us going in the profession. Ah, but the times are dark and they can only get darker. There needs to be a unified front to fight the ugly growing across the nation. Those who fill their hearts with hatred and fear have no clue about the beautiful diversity, and excellence of this nation. They are fighting to protect a narrative that was never true, but beneficial to them...and they will do everything in their power to protect the stories upholding the lies. 

It is what it is, and I don't like to get to involved...just to help kids and teachers to have a better world. I prefer a world of laughter, global history, truth-seeking, and humanity. I am attracted to intellect, light, humor, creativity and hope. 

This is what it will be until I die. Let it be my religion.

Hope. Possibility. Happiness.

And with Arrival of Lossine & Delaney, There's Only One Dish I'm Allowed to Make - The Crandall Special (a spicy variation of chile over rice)

What a day. Dropped Karal of at Pam's by 7:15, picked up Pam at the car dealership, worked from 8 a.m. until 4, came home to cook dinner (and run to the grocery)(plus pick up Karal), then cooked until 6:30 so we could feast and welcome Delaney onto Mt. Pleasant. I'm not sure I am ready to handle Abu and Lossine together, but now I'm wondering how she'll handle all of us! Actually, I think I have a team-player in Delaney to fight them both off. 

The food was delicious. Usually it needs to sit overnight to soak in all the flavors, but it was spot on during night one. I love the happiness it makes for others: beans, steak, shrimp, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and many spices. Abu make corn and the garlic bread to soak it all up is superb.

It was a fantastic last day of Week 3 of the Literacy Labs and I'm not sure if I kept up to the programs standards, but teaching this week was a good reminder of all the energy it takes to run a day with kids. the planning for each day is just as long as each day. I will alway admire teachers for all they do. Yes, academics work, but it is nowhere near the labor of K-12 faculty. It's a much more brain-heavy, spastic, and time-oriented act...emptying the ocean with a spoon. 

Today, though, we hope to get a beach day, even if it is supposed to cloud over for most of it. I haven't had a single day on the Sound and it is usually and summer ritual. We'll kayak, paddle board, and probably swim, even if it is an overcast day. I'll let them call the shots in the morning.

I'm so thankful for Allison and John Fallon for their hard work with the two-week novel-writing program, as well as Emily Diggs. They are superb educators who had zero incidences with over 72 kids. It is remarkable to see them do what they do. 

I am also thankful to Abu, Jalen, and Max who seriously stepped up this week to assist the Little Labs (after Stefania's mentorship). I'm not sure 4 male, literacy minded teachers were what parents expected. It was hard, whacky work, but we managed....our incidences were many (the energy is insane), but nothing that cause too much stress. Just many naps.

 Okay, I'm off to plan the day with the boys and new lady partner....so many dynamics to figure out with Delaney in the mix (and being able to team-up with)

And Just Like That, I'm Thankful Once Again to the Many Years at the Louisville Nature Center and All the Team Building from Jefferson Memorial

It's definitely Friday. If we complete all the task on the agenda as we have planned we'll be lucky. We accomplished so much yesterday, but when I got home and started editing their work, I realized pieces were missing for the final video. Phew. Back at it tomorrow, but first having to drop of Karal so she does drive the cleaners nuts, and then the last 7:30 to 3:30 shift of the week. Tonight, Lossine and Delaney arrive from Syracuse.

There is a Zen Garden, nature pond on campus and I'm hoping to do a few nature writing activities with the kids. Actually, I'm hoping Abu, Max, and Jalen will do the nature writing and I can finish editing the work by staying behind. Jessica and Stefania raised the bar with what they could accomplish in a week and filling in for them both, I'm trying to maintain the same quality.

It's been a fun week subbing for the Little Lab for Big Imaginations, but also a reminder why working with the Youngers is absolutely exhausting. I look at this photo and think, phew, I've been doing such work since I was 22 years old...30 years, indeed. 

Had I stayed in Kentucky, I'd more than likely have retired from teaching by now (do a doctorate, he told himself...do a doctorate).

Ah, but the happiness still comes from working with K-12 kids and teachers. It's such a shame that our institutions keep them from doing the great work that is possible. The older I get, the more I see the uselessness of bureaucrats, administration, and all those that put more work on educators, without ever asking them what they already know and can do. 

It's funny to think that the kids I did these same very activities with all those decades ago now have children this age....and here I am living it over, and over, and over again.

Then, of course, I have to do the academic/collegiate stuff on the side to keep my place in the world.

In the end, it's always for the kids...always for the future...always for making the next generation a little better than my own.

Let's Call It a 5:30 p.m. Microburst...Not a Tornado, But It Wouldn't Surprised Me If it Confirmed as One. That Was a Wednesday.

Abu and I got our hair cuts at 4 with Jerry, but we're home by 5. He needed to shower to get the hairs off of him, and I sat down to plan Little Labs for Thinking and Thoughtful Thursday. We knew a storm was coming, and looked forward to the relief from humidity. It got dark and we beat the rain home. I watched the clouds move in fast, but then they seemed to stop over our house. Like, literally stop and try to move in all directions....it was still and then the lightening hit. Flashes were everywhere and it was quite the show...the thunder matches the bright streaks and then it started to pour. 

Yet, for four or five minutes, the winds picked up and you couldn't see across the street. It was sideways rain that reminded me of the Laborl Day storms in Syracuse. At one point, I thought I should probably move off the porch in case it was to blow away, but I sat their chiseling away at the presentation, and yellowing, "Whoa," every time a clap of thunder and lightening seemed to hit next to me. 

Karal climbed onto my shoulders and shook. She normally is unfazed by the weather.

Then the winds stopped and the rain lessened. Up and down the street all you could see were down tree limbs. Cars could not get through because it was a maze of fallen trees. One guy drove up on my lawn trying to get around the debris and failed. So, we got on shoes and went outside to pull what we could to the side of the road. It seemed like all the neighbors on my street were doing the same. 

Everyone was like, "WTF was that as we went to work?" 

Apparently we did a good job because cars from Nichols Avenue were rerouted down our street, making it like I-95. We later learned (and saw) that there were too many trees on Nichols Avenue blocking the roads. We went outside with saws and machete and began hacking away to fit the tree by the road, and then went over to the 94 year old woman's home next door and did the same with her street. We could not get far, however, because the trees that fell there were much too big (again, later, we would see all of this). 

Obviously the electricity went out. It was restored around 10:45 p.m. which surprised us. Abu and I went to Big Y to get a few things (as an excuse to drive around). It was hard to find a path to the main roads, and we were curious how much damage it cost. Interestingly, the north side of Stratford was untouched as was the Southside. It was as if whatever it was started before Wooster Middle School and moved its way towards our street. The damage is 1/2 a mile wide and 1/2 a mile long. It's very contained to the streets in our neighborhood, and some of them had lots of damage with trees fallen on cars and houses. 

It was something and I was a wee bit paralyzed without my laptop or ability to get CWP-Fairfield work done. But I rode with the evening and was very thankful to bro-in-law Mike who bought me a head lamp headband years ago that I've always wanted to use. It came in very handy and made me feel like a celebrity in my house as I could light up every room.

And that is the tale of July 16, 2024. 

Teaching in a Time of You-Tube Offers All the Needed Breaks a Kid (Well, Teacher) Needs. Little Labs for Big Imaginations Week II

I've learned from the expert elementary teachers over the years the importance of having every second overplanned, and the necessity of pivoting quickly when the student writers let you know what is and isn't working. One of the things I've stolen is the power of the exercise break and I love the numerous fun ways you can get kids moving to get the wiggles out and the frustration from sitting all day. We've booked up time, too, with book readings, funny cartoons that are on point with out themes, and doing crafts just when it is necessary...all of this with the right hand assistantship of YouTube.

Um, did I say that I fell asleep again after work yesterday. That's 4 times in two weeks...and I know it is because I'm 100% on with the Little Labs, whereas in the past I had others cover the younger ages. It is the same as when I was a substitute taught in elementary in my earlier years. Yup. I get tired out because there is so much minute detail that goes into keeping control. If you lose a mili-second, the whole things gets wonky....I need to be on at all moments.

Today, we continue with the Olympic theme, but also work with a lil' Kwame Alexander brilliance (working with rule poems and life skills). Looking forward to that. We're also hosting a mini-Olympic events and doing a tour of the library to see what we can learn about getting information for our Thursday writing. Friday, of course, we need to pull it all together for the big video filming.

Yesterday, too, we workshopped with the Bellarmine college students and it was a blast. It was so much fun working with the kids and freshman together and I'm impressed by how the younger ones hold their own. Ah, but this coffee needs to kick in so we can hit the road. Another day, another dollar (or something like that...if you know the Fairfield story, well, then you know). 

Hump Day...here we come. 

Let the sweat begin.

It Was Monster Marshmallow Monday Yesterday and the Little Labbers Excelled with Imaginations and Storytelling

Week three, the 2nd week of Little Labs, arrived with a new crew of kids and a cancellation of a lead teacher. Who arrived to save the day? Frog! The pond always at his side. For a week, Abu, Max, Jalen, and I will tag team good lessons to get the kids towards publication in POW! It's fun, accept when I'm summoned to the other literacy labs and teacher institutes. Being in multiple locations at once is maddening (and quite truthfully, impossible). 

It's probably why I needed the 8 pm nightly walk to sweat out some of the anxiety. The storms went north of here and I was drenched with sweat. This humidity is unbearable. And we have two more days of it.

Today, we're joining forces with an undergraduate Bellarmine theater class who is sharing the space with us in DSB. I look forward to doing this because I've come to love seeing the diversity on campus. It makes everything so much better. 

Ah, and to make Marshmallow Monsters on Monday, it's best to use fruit for parts and spaghetti strands as the stick to poke into the monster, holding all the goods together.

Okay, Time to take off for another round of lessons. I'll be working with almost 90 K-13 students today and several teachers. Hope they all plan to stay indoors more this time around. Yesterday's monster mash was a little too warm. Phew.

@AbuBility Likes the Hulk-Mobile So Much, He Done Found a Pair of Green Pants to Match (and Hoodie...not seen here). Chameleons of CWP-Fairfield

2nd week of literacy labs. Great day of Euro and COPA soccer. Thankful to Bev & Leo for hosting, Papa's for making the pizza, and the pool entertaining Abu, Leo, Ethan, and Stephanie. Did a last-minute run to Big Y to get items for Little Lab, and we're teaching 6 hours each day this week (leadership means you step up when a teacher had to step out). 

Yesterday was a beautiful day for outdoor recreation, although we spent much of it indoors watching t.v. - but Karal did get a walk in before it all started.

And I was smart about crock-potting chicken so we'd have it for pulled sandwiches this week, when we don't feel like cooking after work.

Four more weeks of summer programs to go...three more with kids and one more with teachers. I'm most definitely feeling Monday more than usual this morning.

Ah, but now to hit I-95 to see how it will ebb and flow this week.