Day Two

Rode to school in the darkness. Delivered "the biggest skinny latte I could find" to my mentor teacher and actually felt like an intern. Her students were amazed that she could order a latte without a phone, without a text, and it would arrive for her. The latte that I brought made her students think she is more powerful than she really is. Because, I mean, she can manifest lattes. I would be scared too.

The discussion on censorship and banned books went well with 4th hour. But 80 minutes, really? That's almost as long as some feature-length films! I can't fill 80 minutes. Somehow, I did. I need to plan more things... or maybe give more think time, or ask more specific questions. When I tell my students to share in small groups, they can't do it. They say one sentence. Maybe I need to direct them, give them something focused to think about. I am learning more and more about the importance of specificity and modeling and clear, clear, crystal, expectations. Maybe we should read the articles as a class, and then they get into small groups to discuss?

I like how B. finally realized, "what do banned books matter? If a school or a church bans them, who cares? You can always get it somewhere else." Yes. To a point - oh! it was the big picture I was searching for - that people in the world get upset about books! about language! She also talked about China's censorship, saying, "they probably think we are weird. Maybe they've figured out that life is better without MTV. They obviously want to live like that because that's what they voted for." My students are wise sages, they have glittering minds, they are sensitive, they are balanced. They see through everything I try to tell them - they question and they make me think.

Then, 5th hour, I led my 9th graders on a guided visualization. They, all 30 of them, closed their eyes, and were impeccably silent. And then they wrote about what they saw in their mind, and then they drew it. It was phenomenal. I had to stop for a minute and smile. I got a room full of crazy hyper freshman to quiet down, and essentially, meditate. Then they shared their visions - T. "I didn't like my cube" A. "My horse ate the flower and then it died." O. "My horse was inside my cube." D. "My cube had a padlock on it." WOW. How can all of these minds, led by the same words, see such different things? Phenomenal.

I learned a lot today. To plan throughly. To communicate your choices with your mentor teacher even if you have been given "free reign". And as my mom always says, to not "beat myself up" - I did some beautiful things today. Just keep saying it.