On the eve of Spirit Day...

Today I left work, as an educator.

I drove home.

I then went to my daughter's school, as a parent, for Family Night.

I left Family Night feeling disheartened, angry, and sad. But I also left hopeful.

Tomorrow I go to work, as an educator, on Spirit Day. And it makes me thankful and hopeful...

Gearing up for Day 1

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2016-2017 school year.

My 14th first day of school as a teacher.

I'm excited. These last few years I've been re-energized about the profession and my place in it.

My students and colleagues have pushed me a lot these past two years. I hope I've pushed them too.

I've been thinking a lot about the why and how of what I do lately. I want my students to think about their why too. To not just do. But to understand the purpose, the why of what they do.

I think I'm going to make this a poster in my lab this year...

We survived the first day of Kindergarten

Yesterday was my toughest day as a teacher, but we all got through it. And by "we" I mean what I like to call the "over 6 set." Mother, father, grandparents... more butterflies for us if I had to count.

It was my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. A half day, but a first is a first.

There were tears, a few from my girl and a few from my wife. Apparently Nana, my mother-in-law, got a bit weepy looking into the classroom at pickup and seeing my girl with a giant smile on her face. But who wouldn't. End of the first day and she's got a giant smile. Good stuff.

My son just wanted to play. Because he had a donut as a treat. On my daughter's first day of school. Do the math on that one. Apparently being the little brother has it's privileges.

My daughter was a champ. She love it. My wife was a champ. Apparently there were no meltdowns or major hysterics from the over 6 set. Proud of everyone.

Another first today

Today is the first full day. The first time my daughter is eating lunch at school. Another day of nerves. More the over 6 set, I think my daughter's fine with it. She practiced eating lunch with her lunchbox when she got home yesterday.

Should be some awesome stories when I get home tonight. School cafeterias always evoke interesting emotions. More on that in a minute...

Mrs. V and Mrs. Liz

Mrs. V is my daughter's teacher. Mrs. Liz is the class para professional. Apparently they are both rock stars. My daughter had a few tears at drop off. Mrs. Liz came right over, comforted her, took her in and it was all good from there. I heard a lot about Mrs. Liz when I got home from work. Good things.

Mrs. V is now an icon. In the words of my daughter

"Mrs. V. is so beautiful and kind..."

Post dinner we had to go sit in our playroom and act like students so my daughter could draw on her easel and teach us. Just like Mrs. V.

The bad with the good

It was a great morning. Everyone did great. Everyone was, and still are, excited. Minimal tears all around. But as with anything there's always a flip side, a bit of a bummer for every win. The bummer for the day was the second half of the quote from my daughter:

"... but the cafeteria smelled like yuck"

Welcome to elementary school!

It's going to be an awesome year.  My daughter is a rock star and is embracing school like a champ.

Now I just have to get Mrs. V to tweet...

My toughest day as a teacher

My toughest day as a teacher is today.

It's not my first day of school, we started last week.

It's not a new school, that was last year.

It's not a new content area.

It's my daughter's first day of Kindergarten.

As the sun sets on summer

I'm down to the last few days of summer vacation.

That means I'm cramming in the summer projects I always postpone to the last minute: Costco trips, cleaning out the basement, and starting the 15 blog posts drafts I told myself I'd be writing and publishing all summer long.

I don't lament the end of summer. I'm looking forward to the start of the school year.

When done isn't done & here isn't here

Cryptic title? Sort of.

A story of my June? Mostly.

Here's what I mean...

Today was a good day. The City gave teachers the floor...

New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is large. A behemoth, to put it mildly. Over 1,000,000 students, almost 2,000 school sites. Countless related support personal; system engineers, system architects, human resources, payroll, accounting, and on and on and on.

And teachers. Lots and lots of teachers.

And with any large bureaucracy, what usual happens? Usual, decisions get made in an office somewhere, and by the time they reach the teacher in the school the decision seems mindless. Often, the decision makes no sense at a school level.

Today got off to an interesting start.

Have I made it sustainable?

This time of year always makes me wax nostalgic. We still have over a month of school, we go until the end of June, but around now is when the year becomes more about wrapping up than it is about starting new things.

I always look back on what we've done in the lab. This year was particularly busy....

Bammy Awards: A Reflection

Last night was the Bammy Awards and today was the hangover, so to speak.

I must start by saying I had a lot of fun being involved in the process. I think it's great the Academy of Education Arts & Sciences has taken it upon themselves to bring together an event like this. There are varying degrees of opinions for and against giving educators awards in a setting like this, but that's not where my head is at. I don't see a problem with giving the opportunity to stand out from time to time. Plus, politics are not really my thing...