Notes from Friday
It’s been a hell of a day and a hell of a week and a hell of a last six months.
Six months ago, today, I did not report to work. The risk was not worth the PD. Fast forward to last week and the week before, and our PD was teacher led, topics were chosen by polling teachers, and some was mandatory, but the sessions that were voluntary were still full. I wish the people in charge of PD at the Department of Education could come to a school that is doing bottom-up PD, and learn what the good stuff looks like.
Today Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. There will be mourning and a nomination fight and a vicious 46 days until the election.
Today I read that Jose Vilson resigned. Where is he going? I don’t know. But I wish him adventures and success and the opportunity to break some stuff. Some stuff needs to get broken.
Met me classes. Yesterday, actually. Yes I like being in class. And no, I don’t like doing it on the computer. And yes, I wish it were in person, but not until conditions are ready. This feels like a ritualistic repetition, a prayer without meaning, a politicians “of course I ….” recited at some point in each speech. It’s true, all of it, but why do we all feel the need suddenly to say we like teaching? This is our chosen career. Maybe we should be.a little less defensive about it, all of us.
But we practiced break out rooms and using virtual whiteboards, which, by the way, virtually suck. But kids like making hearts and arrows and writing “POG” and “POGGERS” frequently enough that the Old felt compelled to look it up to make sure it wasn’t evil or dirty.
After work today my feet took me to Fordham, where I found an alum at a small rally (maybe 100) for CONTINUE READING: Notes from Friday | JD2718
