"I Knew I Was in the Right Place on the 1st Day of Class When We Were Greeted with Tangerines and a Bottle of Bubbles."

Yesterday was interesting location to stop, pause, reflect, and move on, as the day began with an interview on New Haven Radio by the Readman, Dr. Jesse Turner. He approached me a while back, and I was excited to get the official invite over the weekend. "Sure. I love talking bout what I do as a National Writing Project Director."

I jotted down a few notes but then thought, "Just with the flow, Crandall. Be informal." Listening back, I'm always somewhat shocked that the storytelling and argumentation being made comes across like I actually have something to say. I'm so afraid the Clown-dall will take over the Crandall, and I'll regret something out of my mouth. 

I will say, I much prefer listening than watching (I linked the radio version and will share the video one at the end). We Crandalls fidget a lot and do things with our eyes and hands and lips when we're thinking ahead of what we might want to say, which is a little weird. I do love the song Dr. Turner uses to open his show, though. I've known of him for some time because of his passionate advocacy for K-12 teachers throughout the state.

In the afternoon, I met with seniors for advising, and one young woman, Ciara, surprised me when she showed up. She was with me in her freshman year and I didn't have her down as a potential English major. I knew she was in the Honors program, but as a quiet, intimidated new student, she never expressed her goal to be an English teacher. Surprise. That's her goal and she told me, "I knew I was in the right place on the 1st day of class when you arrived with tangerines and bubbles." I have no memory of this, but it seems 100% plausible and likely because I'm always bringing in snacks and gadgets to keep the class going.

It's also back-to-back volleyball games as we head towards Senior Day tomorrow. Looking forward to the final home match of the regular season and will deliver the team my Kentucky cake, which has become a ritual in my celebrations of others.

Okay, Saturday. We have such to accomplish. Let's go. 

There Is Something Wonderful About College Students Writing 3rd-Grade Informative Essays (As If They're 3rd Graders).

I made it to campus by 7:15. The I-95 Gods looked out for me, so there was plenty of time to print materials for class. We will be hosting the 3rd-grade Franklin writers in a week and yesterday's class was a workshop on informative writing.

I shared my own writing about Wiffleball on Duncowing, and informed the class of my childhood memories. I tried to keep in age-appropriate and drew what I intended to be a Wiffleball and players. The students then informed me about their 'something' they know about. They developed their sentences to teach me about their something. 

We also looked at the calendar, with T-Day and a conference blooming more class time, and headed towards the pace they'll need to keep in order to complete their mini-projects.

When I drove to work in the morning, it was 60 degrees, but upon my return home, the winds were pushing 40 degrees on your neck and face. It got cold.

And finally, FINALLY, I made it to the grocery store to stock on items so I'm not eating crackers and cheese every night. 

Today, a sprint to get on top of many items. I need as much computer time as I can. 

Unfortunately, CT's Super Moon was Super Cloud-Covered, But I Felt Her Energy Nonetheless (I Am Mr. Moonbeam, After All)

Karal sat at my side grading all day. Well, and planning. Oh, and interviewing. I did have one on-campus student conference...a math major looking for help on her teaching statement as she applies back to schools in Philly (she was in my Philosophy course)(part of the hidden service educators do behind the scenes). I did get a walk in...thankfully...and I'm prepped for this morning's turbo, although I hate the a.m. traffic. What else is new?

I'm excited to read from my students that most high schools have special arrangements for seniors to work in elementary classrooms, so they get experience on guiding the learning of young people. It's a practice that most schools should take advantage of and it reminds me of the All-Stars/Moonbeams collaboration of Kentucky. I'm not sure all my students loved those gatherings, but it's wonderful to see as an adult who makes the arrangements. Phew. My last kindergarten crew must be around 24 now. Their Moonbeams, the class of 2007, about 38 (pushing 40). It's unbelievable to do the math. I wonder if they ever think about those times, but I cherish knowing that the tradition continues. 

I'll never forget the face of the little kid who wanted to know what I called my students if they were All-Stars. I said they were seniors and he said, No. They're the Moonbeams and you are Mr. Moonbeam. The rest was history. Wonder to carry forward the Gay Rapley and Sue McV Brown School traditions with Bonnie and Maria. Time is such a fickle creature.

I'm honestly looking forward to ending class today so I can get back to writing projects that really need my attention. Would be nice to have time to get groceries, too, and to have food to cook (I'm even desperate for breakfast this early morning...not even a slice of bread to toast). 

Okay, November 6th. Let's me keep the productivity going (and soon....soon...catch up on some rest wherever you can find it)

Reflecting on an Old Tale That I Never Thought I'd Ever Reflect Upon. I Blame It on Age & Having a Two Year Old in the House This Summer

I've been thinking about my teaching days in Kentucky, experiences in all my own learning, and work where I am now in relation to a movie that Courtney and lil' Malia had me watch this summer. It was the remake of Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, and I was looking forward to the dwarves the most. They were just creepy. I think Courtney and I resorted to an opinion, "What a horrible remake." Snow White had the same haircut as Lord Farad in Shrek. Who made this decision?

Gal Gadot, who plays the evil Queen with her mirror and need to be the fairest of them all is the character that frustrated me the most. Perhaps, because academia is based on intellectual competition, it is common to see navel-gazing and self-glorification as a mantra for survival. What's sad is the way positioning of expertise should be democratic and collective (the teachers teaching teachers model of mutual respect). Nope. Not always the case (and I'm having flashbacks to Kentucky, too, when new leadership went up and beyond the call of duty to destroy my accomplishments and helped me to make the decision to leave. 

I am receiving stories similar to my own from educators across the country right now. A failure to listen to those who know best, a belittling of expertise and professionalism, and a rule of authority because of position over those who actually know what is going on. Even Principals in several districts, who have been super stars, have suddenly found themselves ostracized at the district level and attack to the point that they just choose to leave.

I was thinking about all of this while taking a mental break yesterday (You can see how that goes, because I am visual and always trying to make sense of the world around me). A vulture flew above as I watched swans in the pond by me. I thought about Snow White and a phrase instantly entered my head about leadership and what is, unfortunately true for so many of us.

I'm also thinking of John Dewey and Jane Addams and their formation of public education in Chicago at a time of heightened immigration and industrialization. They named that there would always be a battle between the progressives (teachers trying to meet the needs of an ever-changing society and the administrative class who operated to control and contain it to make a profit for themselves.).

Perhaps this is what is taught in Schools of Business...management to keep the workers down and defeated. I've never been one to go totally active for union politics or economic disparity in a capitalist society, but after 31 years, I see it clearly now. There is a total disconnect between those who do the work and do it well, and those who like to oversee the work as they claim it for themselves. 

So, I'm thinking about how the Evil Queen hated Snow White for being the real thing. I'm just surprised that metaphor is rampant across educational settings today. 

Throwing Back to 2009. The First Publication (While in Doctoral Classes) When I Started Thinking about Dis/ability Representation in YA Texts

This evening, after around 6 hours of meetings, I also bring together my graduate English course on Young Adult Literature, where the evening's reading revolve are characters where dis/abilities are represented. Although I had many students with dis/abilities it wasn't until I was at Syracuse University that I had the language of advocacy which challenged medical models of children needing to be fixed to institutions needing to be rethought so the child has the best result. I took a class with Dr. Beth Ferry and soon after, I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. My brain began to explode with ideas for adding the perspective I learned to the book by Sherman Alexie, but also to all texts.

In truth, dis/abilities are so common in normal narratives and every day life, that it's hard to get through a day where it doesn't have an influence on us. Reading dis/ability into texts is an art of figuring out how children with dis/abilities are positioned within the larger context of what it means to be normal (knowing full well that normal is subjective and always changing). 

I love Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper and the movie adaptation is as good as the book. It's a great example for making the case. How sure are we that kids written off as incapable and not able, when they are actually misunderstood and miseducated? What can our institutions do to be more accommodating for all children in our care and how can we alter the mindset we have about being dis/abled.

I split the word because in our life we all have able days, but also days where we can't function like "normal" people. Ever broke a toe...forgotten your glasses...been impaired by a migraine. These are inhibitors to what a typical person usually accomplishes. Of course, when we age, too, the dis/abilities are more regular (he writers knowing he'll get out of this chair soon, needing a little more care standing up than he used). 

My grad students self-select the texts they want to read each week, but tonight's focus will be on representation of dis/abilities in young adult literature. I always love this class, because it helps students to come to their own revelation about the many ways we inhibit others around us, not because they should be, but because our systems cause us to do so (including the education we provide ourselves about what an individual with a dis/ability is)

Knowing I'm teaching the class is the carrot dangling to get through the meetings. It's always one of my favorites each year. 

Well, We're Back to Daylight Savings Time, Which Means Brighter Mornings and Much Earlier Nights. It Remains Something.

I was reading last week that it will be a while before we have a 6 p.m. sunset, which opposes the 10 p.m. sunsets of summer. Although I don't mind the earlier darkness, because it settles me indoors, I do embrace longer days to be out of the house and productive. I just have to alter my universe to indoor locations. I'm looking forward to setting up holiday lights post-Thanksgiving to bring joy throughout December and January. I didn't set my clocks back on Sunday, so I woke up yesterday excited I slept until 8 a.m. (of course, it was really 7 a.m. when I started working downstairs. My body doesn't change just because the clocks do. I would say, though, I slept an extra hour.

Yesterday was spent grading and in the evening celebrating a colleague's birthday over dinner (although her birthday is actually today). Ah, the 40s. I remember those years fondly, knowing it was 45 that my body first started to tell me, "You ain't young no more. Here's another hernia for you."

At least the clock matches the fallen tree branch on my Subaru yesterday, and I did have a great pasta dish with freshly sliced parmesan and mushrooms. Weird they didn't serve bread, too. I'll have to get over that, as I kind of came home hungry. 

The grading must continue today as well as the planning and organizing for writing projects and national presentations coming later this month. 

I also got on a comedian kick and watched a Lesley Jones (SNL) stand-up special as well as a return to Jo Koy...the first time after he bombed hosting that award program. Such a funny guy, just not so much the evening he was giving awards to the stars where joke after joke fell flat. 

I suppose last night is the better sleep of Daylight Savings Time because my body shut down at 9 pm instead of 10 pm. Maybe the extra hour comes the day after, and that's a good thing.

Like the Leaves on a Fallen Branch, So Our The Days of Our Lives (& Look At How They Match the Hulk)

I admit it. I am the fallen branch. The Vicki Soto 5K did the bones I own in: ooh, my ankles. Ouch, my hips. Is that the Sciatica acting up? How is it I'm not as solid as I used to be? Is middle age part of breaking away from the tree? Way to feel old, Crandall.

But look at that...the colors of the leaves blend in with the Subaru. It doesn't get more Autumn than that.

I actually came home from the race and walked Karal an equal distance. I knew after I had to get to work and finalized the NWP Report a few weeks late. The electric shocks in all my joints will keep me moving...not napping with those pains.

Yesterday, I was craving steak fries for dinner, but settled for pierogis, instead. 

Today I'm grading and looking to what I committed myself in the week ahead. Oh, but I just remember it is Daylight Savings Time so we gain an hour for sleep (not that I'm good for an extra hour like the younger years). This, of course, was written at it's normal time and not with the extra hour added.

A million and one cheers for all that ran yesterday (and those who should have known better, like me). Ouch. And I mean ouch in ways I never imagined possible. 

Stay rested this Sunday. Roll with it what it will. Look to the blue sky and get back at it. 

I've Been in My Current Location for Over 11 Years and I Attest the Halloween Game Has Only Grown for Residents on My Street.

250 books. 275 Halloween bubbles. 400 pieces of candy. 150 glow-in-the-dark ghost figurines. My house was tapped and me? I am wiped out. 

What was different this year is entourage trick or treating, where posses of 30 kids came at once while parents stayed on the sidewalk. Note to parents: teach kids to open their bags to make the process easier. These sugar-brained creatures are five steps to the next house before they get the goods at the one they're at.

Once again, the enthusiasm from middle school boys saying, "Yes, books. Can I have more than one?" was a common theme. I love when they run down to their parental units with excitement. "I can't wait to go home tonight to read." I love the paternal and maternal waves with, "Thank You."

This morning, I'm running (well, walking most likely) the Vicki Soto 5K, in memory of the Sandy Hood teacher who lost her life protecting her little readers and writers. She was a resident of Stratford and it is one of my favorite events of the year.

I shut the lights down at 8 p.m., but still at 9:30 kids were walking up the driveway in desperation for goodies. I apologize with "Sorry, tapped out." I'm just glad I went to BJs to stock up on boxes of extra snacks so I didn't have to disappoint too many. 

Time to run/walk, then return to do reports that are a month old. I try to keep up...really I do. As for the grading...well, I need to get on top of that. I'm two weeks behind. 

Happy Saturday. Hello, November. You're back again.