Category Archives: TILS

Thoughts on the Re-Do

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Earlier this month I sent an email with both an egregious spelling error and a punctuation error in the subject line.  I noticed the error about one minute after sending, but still too late to retrieve.  Here it is. 
So I had to decide what to do.  Should I resend and correct my spelling error, or let it go and hear my own bells of shame? 

I
choose to let that spelling/typo error just go without a re-do.  I felt like I would be clogging your email, and that you probably figured out sesmster meant semester.  I really wanted to resend, but it didn’t feel right. I hoped my reputation wouldn’t suffer that much.

Earlier that week I
also sent out an email with the wrong attachment, and because of a special schedule, the wrong times.  Again the decision- should I resend and correct times and attachment, or let it go and hear my own bells of shame?  I did re-do this one.  It was a MAP test email and had information
I did not want to be lost in the errors.  I couldn’t risk it. 
 

That same week, I was re-grading a bunch of student work done in a collaboration with Gaeby and Miranda on the Little Big History Project. I try my hardest to give students the opportunity to re-do without grade consequences, and I am always surprised more students don’t take me up on the re-do. Plenty do but by no means all.  This has puzzled me, because do you remember I said I really wanted to send a correction out right away.  All things being equal, I will re-do.  The juxtaposition of my experience with re-doing choices and students’ choices made me wonder if they do a cost/benefit analysis, too.  And what do they see as cost vs benefit?

The grade matters, even in a nontraditional graded course like TMS. If the grade will change, the benefit of the grade outweighs the costs in time and study for some students. I  wonder if one of the costs – facing the embarrassment of the error – is too great for some.  I really hope they don’t hear the bells of shame because I emphasize making mistakes as part of learning,  but I am afraid some do.   I wonder if some students just hope that their equivalent of my sesmster error will somehow suddenly make sense to me.  So are they hoping for a no-cost solution?  That hope is not very realistic,
because once I grade, I don’t look back without the redo.  It is a shame grades cant be conversations, but I guess conversations have a time cost, too. I can state a lot of reasons for my errors.  Multitasking, sugar overload, terrible typing skills, a get-‘er-done stance, over-reliance on spellcheck…
but I don’t claim carelessness.  I have felt some students are careless, but I also recognize everyone has limited time, and just have to put somethings on low priority.

Sometimes I feel they re-do because they know they can do better work. That is the cost/benefit analysis I want my redo offer to validate.  I feel so happy they are recognizing a chance to either learn or demonstrate learning. I
want students to be able to present their best work, but I also want them to have agency in their learning.  Teaching is complicated.

She Kills Monsters (Drama 101)

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Monster Time!!!

Students work on numerous Costume and/or Monster building activities on a Wednesday afternoon at Company.
So whether you know what it means to LARP (Live Action Role Play) or maybe you remember D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) or maybe you just felt like the odd kid out, this play’s for you.
The fall production of She Kills Monsters is in full swing and Wednesday afternoons are Monster building time.
We have goblins, demons, kobalds, succubi, and so much more.

We also need to build the armor that will protect our heroine and her crew as they fight these monsters.

On any given Wednesday the Costume room at the theatre could have as many as 10 students working on building the monster costumes. While it can be hectic, I find it is quite fun to be moving around the room helping students troubleshoot their costume construction hurdles or suggest other methods for getting a similar result.

Emily Walsh as a “BugBear”.
Emily, a sophomore, serves as Costumes Crew Head and is designing and building 6 BugBear costumes for the play.

(While I was in the process of writing this blog, I was asked to write a blurb for the Alumnae Newsletter and I think it does a great job of expressing my feelings about working with Company).

When I graduated in 1998, I never thought I would one day be back and teaching at Carondelet. But after working as an elementary School Librarian in San Francisco for four years, and getting tired of using all my money on rent, I felt the need to return to the East Bay.

As I was looking to see what was available for someone with a Masters in Library & Information Science (San Jose State ’05) and a love of Theatre Arts, I found a posting for a Library Assistant position at Carondelet. While I knew I was over qualified, I was also drawn to opportunity to work at my Alma Mater, to give back to the school that had helped shape me. 


Now as I start my 13th year on campus as a Faculty member and I can’t help but look back at all the students I have worked with and the opportunities that have come my way since I returned in the fall of 2007 to Carondelet. 

I am told that I wear a lot of hats on campus: I am the Librarian & Textbook Manager, the Yearbook Advisor, teach in the Visual & Performing Arts Department, and help moderate Company, our amazing theater program with De La Salle. As a student, it was through Company that I found my place and explored my passion for sewing and costume design which led me to major in Theatre Arts in college with an emphasis in Costume Design & Arts Management (BA Theatre Arts, Notre Dame de Namur University ’02). Now it is my pleasure to help guide and mentor students interested in Costume, MakeUp or Hair design. Three days a week after school, you can find me at the DLS Theater in the old band room working with students on the current show.

This year’s fall production of She Kill Monsters really takes me back to high school. It is set in 1995 in a small midwest high school and focuses on a pair of sisters, Agnes and Tilly. She Kill Monsters is a comedic and action-packed story about a high school girl who discovers her dead little sister had a life she knew nothing about. Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Role-Playing Game was Tilly’s refuge and a place of freedom.  By the end of the story, the audience can decide who the real monsters are. Helping my students recreate the look and feel of 1995 (grunge, preppy, etc) as well as creating the fantasy characters in D&D has been so much fun. I hope you can join us!

Good Good Father, affirmation, and Happy Easter

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At St Charles’ Lenten Retreat we sang  the song “Good  Good Father”.

 I enjoy this song; it makes me smile at saying to God “You’re a Good, Good Father.  It’s Who You are, It’s Who You are.”   It seems a bit bold, that “It’s Who You are”  as if I am so important that I can define the relationship.  But that is why I like the song.

After singing this song, I changed the words to give myself an affirmation, “You’re a good good mother,  it’s who you are, it’s who you are” and I felt right.  I guess I see myself as a good mother (haha, my daughters might say they are good, good daughters!).  It is nice to say, “Yes, it’s who I am.”

Then I changed it to, “You’re a good, good librarian, it’s who you are, it’s who you are” and that affirmation rang true.  I could list my doubts, but since this is about affirmation, I am going to allow it. “You’re a good, good librarian. It’s who you are”.  I am not perfect in all of my ways, I am not only a librarian, but yes it’s who I am.

I won’t tell you all my affirmations.  And I tried out a number of, “You’re a good, good _______”, and didn’t get to the “it’s who I am”.  Some  I could get to good, but not good good.  Some I could get to good good, but not to the “it’s who you are”.  In my affirmation space I can say that’s okay.  Some I may get there, some will never define me.

I probably should have a *personal* warning on this post.  I enjoyed my affirmation exercise. You might like to try it.  And I have one for you. “You’re a good, good colleague.  It’s who you are, it’s who you are”.  I hope you all have a Happy Easter.

Praise to Schoology’s Google assignments

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I just love using Schoology’s Google assignments.

Here’s why. 
  • All Google sharing between teacher and student is done in background by Schoology, so no one forgets to share. 
  • I stay organized with students’ work and never lose a paper. They are always in Schoology and on my Google Drive. 
  • Grading also stays organized because I can grade and it goes into Schoology grade book. I also like the little pat on the relaxing back Schoology gives me when I am finished grading (shown in image above). 
  • More importantly for me, I feel I am giving USABLE FEEDBACK.  I do this by offering  do-overs after feedback.  I comment right on the Google doc, and if I feel the student did not understand or adequately complete the assignment I give a few course corrections and then unsubmit the work before I grade.  My students know they should check their document if they did not yet receive grade in Schoology. . 

On Guilt, Community, and Challenges

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So I have been having a series of senior moments this week:
  • forgetting to pull info for the recommendation of student placement for courses;

  • saddened when I arrived yesterday to school realizing I left my smoothie lonely in the fridge at home; 
  • getting a clear picture in my brain this morning as I left the gym of the milk in the frother and the brewed coffee still in the machine… 
This forgetfulness and spaciness immediately triggers anxiety and catastrophizing about what is wrong…



….  Turn page…



After a lovely chat with Jen, Janine, and Carrie who believe I do NOT have Alzheimer’s and that there could be other causes, which include the possibility that there is a lot of people’s plate and I am no exception.   In all this I have been left pondering over a Peet’s bought Almond milk latte about:
  • the contagion of guilt, 
  • the value of community, 
  • and the reality that what does not kill us makes us stronger.



On Guilt
I was not raised Catholic but, obviously have heard the expression of Catholic guilt… and now feel the inescapable contagion of the rich energy that faith and the spirit of the sisters which infuses this school is progressively converting me — one of these expressions come through the process of guilt.  I currently suffer from the accumulation of books on nightstand and needing to blog guilt… To take one thing OFF my plate, I have decided to STOP and actually blog and free my brain temporarily of this one pesky thought. Mea Culpa that you, dear reader, are the recipient of my unload… which of course leads me to my second thought, community.



On Community
The holidays are a time to sit back and reflect a little and, although this week has been a little “extra” as the younguns like to say, it has really left me feeling very grateful for the community that I feel privileged to be a part of at Carondelet.  Four days of roller coaster post break have been filled with images of:
  • being saved by Katie by her Powerschool magic powers on Tuesday

  • huge anticipation as I wait for text messages updates for the birth of little Cameron Mix; 
  • the privilege of being welcomed to participate in Frosh MBS planning meetings an engaging in amazing discussion on what we can do to develop genuine faith and health-based wellness in our frosh world that will contribute to empowering the whole child; 
  • Ginger talking me off a ledge related to last-minute scheduling set-up reassuringly stating that I just need to “take a lap,”  
  • feeling the adrenaline rush at the packed Carondelet SOS basketball game watching the girls win against of the top-ranked schools the country; 
  • Janine sharing that Yoga was challenging this morning because a pesky visual of me at a CHS game screaming “you are the light” at our players as a form of empowering encouragement
  • Karina walking into my office and in 30 seconds committing to embarking on a whole food plant based lifestyle with me and commenting I need sweet potatoes in my lentil salad concoction
  • So many more…

I think that the sense of community is actually in part a result of the legacy of the sisters and the origins of our school.  We may not have the kitchen here at Carondelet, but we do see its spirit alive in so many ways. My ultimate takeaway on that is again Carrie’s mission activity about what we want for the future…


On Life Challenges
Patient reader following my meandering stream of consciousness, you may rest assured, I will circle back to my initial angst and what it all means, Sarah tells me my brain farts or senior moments of the week are actually a sign that, despite the hours of website/form scheduling system building while binge-watching reruns of SVU, I did, in fact, shut my brain off a little and move to vacation mode. She declared that what I am experiencing is a transition back to the fast lane which is causing the brain to backfire… It is true-engines take a little time to pick up speed…



I shared this morning that I think one of my greatest professional gifts was to be blessed with two amazing boys who absolutely HATED school.  I really think it made me a better teacher back in the day. Because I loved them so much, it forced me to try and understand the experience from their eyes.  It forced me to check my personal assumptions and understanding and try to think about it a different way… my point with this is that it was love that pushed me to be a better educator… and this also brings me back to the sisters and their what their legacy will carry forward in the years to come.  You follow their history and their lead and it is one guided by love in the spirit of social justice.



It is that love, energy, and spirit that must guide our innovation and our school to saving the future…



And remember (spoken in a loud stadium cheer) “You are the light!”


Reading and Connections or What YOU do!

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I recently read an interesting book, The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson.  It is the story of the theft of bird skins from a Natural History Museum. The birds were stolen because of the value of the feathers in salmon fish fly tying. The skins themselves have a fascinating history, connecting Alfred Russel Wallace with Darwin  and the deep interest in scientific inquiry in the 1800s. The author weaves together many stories, characters, environments, and historical eras. 

As I was reading it I was thinking about how much I was learning and also how this learning was affecting my understanding of what I had read before.  I made this mind map on Inspiration Maps for my amusement, connecting books I had read previously and listing how my perception of what I had learned from those books shifted slightly from the knowledge I gained from this book. Those deepened understandings are visually represented on this map by those ivory rectangles. I like to imagine my brain with these fired synapses.

What is super delightful is how this mind map can extend on and on. Books I read so long ago some of you weren’t alive get resurrected in my mind by new bits of information from this book. I ponder how learning happens, and I think it might be  like this. Information retrieval and deepening thought. You, dear readers, you are as skilled in this as is this author.  You shift and deepen understanding for our students.

Too Much

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Well! I just had a lesson fail. And it is such an important topic! And I really worked hard on it! And I find the subject so interesting! I am discouraged and feel I will never have the time (and guts) to approach that concept again. The concept is QFT. You can read about it here:

http://hepg.org/hel-home/issues/27_5/helarticle/teaching-students-to-ask-their-own-questions_507

What went wrong?

  • There were 100 students in the class, in 20 groups of 4.
  • I found 20 interesting things to spark questions.

That is went wrong.  Too much!   Looking at this list now, I can see so clearly it is just too confusing!  Too tempting.  I dislike going to The Cheesecake Factory restaurant because of the voluminous menu.  I get overwhelmed! If I am honest, I’ll say I got overwhelmed by this list, too, on that day. Even though each group was only supposed to engage with just one item,  the list itself buries the idea in a mass of stuff.  The students had to negotiate that list. And Amy, Christina and Andrew. 20 groups of sound and video is a lot to manage! 
Ugh!  I am reminded of a wonderful professor I had in Library School at the UW, Mae Benne.  (She was great for a lot of reasons, AND she had been a librarian with Beverly Cleary, so…). She would tell me again and again, ” It is better to have the 3 best resources on a reading list than all the possible good resources.”  She must have recognized that part of me that says, “And this! And this!”  I also have a tendency to doubt what IS best and want to add more just in case.  In my defense, all of these links are the best.  And how does one choose between Hogwarts and Machu Picchu?
Back to the drawing board.  This lesson needed a good editor.

Every x has a story

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Recently I attended training on a platform our Math Department has chosen as a tool in their Algebra curriculum next year.  Part of the training involved, unsurprisingly, doing some math problems. I would choose x and y as my variables as I wrote equations, but I noticed none of the math teachers did. They would choose s, b, or h.   “Don’t you guys use x anymore?”, I asked. “No”, I was told, “math can and should tell a story”. The choice of the variable can help tell the story, and so, when asked to determine how many books a certain number of student read in so many hours, s as the variable for student continues the story, as does h for hours and b for books. I was delighted because there is nothing I like more than storytelling. And I agree, the story and the problem make more sense when the variable name has some kinship to reality.

Then I learned the x and y axis can be called the independent and dependent variables.  Oh, my! What stories one can tell when you consider things that way.  Now, I know music and math are intertwined, and I had a breakthrough when I was listening to Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast Revisionist History on country music http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/16-the-king-of-tears.  Country music songwriters tell some of the best stories. These songs have a dependent and independent variable! The amount of bad luck and heartbreak are variables dependent on the actions of the independent singers and their choices.
bl+hb =(s*c)/2.  Thank you Math Department. Every x does have a story.

In Praise of Nonfiction Books

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Our colleague Tiz won a prize at our Christmas party. She could pick any book in our library as her own. This week Tiz chose a book I love – Meta Maus by Art Spiegelman. I cannot explain better than the New York Times Book Review why this is such a good book , “Richly rewarding…The book also serves as a master class on the making and reading of comics”. I was so happy when Tiz choose this and pondered a bit why I was so happy. Part of the reason is I love nonfiction books. I have learned more from nonfiction books than anything else in my life. For me, and I believe for many, they are the best choice as a learning tool. And they offer me learning on my own time, schedule, interests, needs and wants.

Synthesizing information takes a lot of time, and a well-written book allows me to grasp a lot of information quickly and succinctly. I learned much about memory from MoonWalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, without having to do all that research myself! Really, it is amazing when you think about what a well-written book pulls together for you. I learned about memory, the brain, visualization, storytelling, memorizing, and about something I didn’t even know existed,  the U.S. Memory Championship.

A good book can ignite a passion to search for more. The Shakespeare Wars by Ron Rosenbaum did that for me with Shakespeare. Before I read this book, I just could not agree with the crowning of Shakespeare as the literary king of English. “C’mon!” I would think, “it has been 400 years!” The Shakespeare Wars is about people with a passion for Shakespeare and a willingness to go into excruciating detail with and battle for his works.  By reading their debates, and experiencing their passion, I became more and more convinced of the top spot for Shakespeare.  The variations of O in the folios of Hamlet and the difference they make just astonishes me.  I had never paid any attention to the folio differences and was mesmerized by this knowledge.   This book opened up Shakespeare for me.


Books let you explore at your own pace, and in the context of your own needs.  I recently visited Boston and my daughter took me to a wonderful breakfast sandwich place, Mike and Patty’s.  This is located a block away from a Knox Street, and I asked my daughter if Knox Street was named after Henry Knox, a hero of the American Revolution, who organized a difficult transfer of cannon from upstate New York Fort Ticonderoga to Boston.  This extra artillery was key to the end of the Siege of Boston, and I would not be at all surprised if Knox was celebrated by Boston. I knew all this from having read 1776 by David McCullough and was able to pull down the appropriate chapter from my Audible account to confirm this information.  I don’t know if Boston’s Knox street is named after him, but Fort Knox is.

Michelle is working on creating a Joy of Reading in every section of the library.  Books are so important and have everything the educational buzz is all about- putting the path of learning in the reader’s hand. 

Art and Literature in Real Life

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Art and Literature in Real Life

Kate and I collaborated on English I outside reading during the Fall Semester–Book Folder Reports.
As part of the assignment students created a marketing tool for each book they read–this was a colored folder that was decorated with cover art and included information on the book characters, plot and read-alikes.
For the cover art, students could print out or reproduce the cover on the book they read or they could create their own unique cover.
One student, Eunice Casa, was really attracted to this aspect of the assignment and came up with a unique cover for the book: Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zapia.
Original Bookcover
Even better than that, after the assignment was completed, Eunice continued to work on her art and eventually came up with a new version which she posted to Instagram (tagging the author).
Eunice with her Book Folder Project and the revised artwork post on Instagram.
Last week, Eunice came bouncing into the library with Kate to tell us that the author had seen her post and commented how much she “loved it”. This week Eunice came bouncing in again to tell us that the author had even re-posted Eunice’s artwork on her own account.
This intersection of art, literature and real life really made this student come alive this is why we do what we do. To have our students come alive–to further their studies on their own after being sparked by something in our classrooms.