Bookish (and not so Bookish) Thoughts

{Note: I started this post before the chaos of today, and finished it after]

 

1. Happy New Year! Day 6 and I can say it's off to an excellent start, really. The Georgia run-off is going well, my first week back at work has gone smoothly (kids ALL showing up to our Google Meets, participating, turning stuff in, actually making facial expressions to show they're engaged, etc...), some much-needed personal boundaries have happened recently, I've made sleep more of a priority, and I've already done yoga twice (in addition to my normal cardio). It's helped so much that Sawyer doesn't go back until next week, so I've had a week to get adjusted on my own first. I honestly feel better this week than I have this entire school year, so I'll take it! 

2. Speaking of Sawyer, he was supposed to go back to a hybrid schedule next Tuesday, but after 72352395 board meetings in the last month his district decided to delay the start after some last-minute direction came from the governor's office that provides stronger parameters and, you guessed it, funding for those who participate. I am sad that he is still at home and doesn't get to be around kids or his wonderful teacher, but the COVID19 numbers are out of control in our county, region, and state. ICUs are full to nearly 100% capacity and more people have died in the last weekend than in the entire month of October (in our county). Sure, kids are statistically less likely to be severely infected, but they still can carry it home. Many of our lower-income communities have families that live in multi-generational dwellings, meaning if healthy little second-grade Joe gets it and has the sniffles he can still give it to Grandma who lives with them, who could get severely sick or worse. Nearly every day I have another student who tells me their family members are sick and I worry so much for them. There is no good solution, but I will say that state and federal governments need to speed up vaccinations. 

3. I'm starting poetry with my students this week, since we have to do a unit on Sylvia Plath. I am super upfront with them about my general dislike of poetry, but how it generally grows on me as we start getting into things. I compare it to a salad- I'm never really jazzed to sit down and eat one, but once I get going I appreciate the nutrients and like parts of it (like the cheese and croutons). I think it's good for the kids to know that I don't enjoy everything we read, but can still find ways to appreciate what the writers are doing. Because of my dislike, I've developed strategies and approaches from the perspective of a reluctant reader that helps the kids too, I think. 

4. I'm reading Derick Lugo's The Unlikely Thru-Hiker right now and while it's written a little too conversationally for me, I love the escape it offers as he treks through the Appalachian Trail. 

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5. I am so disappointed, angry, and disgusted by the events that unfolded at the Capital today. Surprised? Not at all. I'm not going to repeat what's been said a million times by others, as most of them will have done it more eloquently than I, but the fact that there have been so little repercussions for these [white] people, is unacceptable. I mean they were in Nancy Pelosi's office. They were flying a confederate flag. They made an absolute mockery out of what little democratic integrity we have left.