#day sixty three

[daily-vikingpilot]

For day 63 of Daily Vikingpilot, we have a cozy little minipilot :D its been cold where I live, so ive given him a hot drink!! <3

[timelymeishodoto]

꒰ᣟ𓏵ᣟ﹒ᣟᣟ𝒹a𝓎 ꒰꒰ 63 ୨ᣟᣟᵎᵎᣟᣟᘏᘏᣟᣟ 04.15.26 ᣟᣟ﹒♡﹒୧ᣟ Ichiban Kuji Tapestry ꒱  ㆍ  ⏔⏔

 

𝗂l𝓎      ɦy𝒹rᥲ𝓉ℯ     ૮⸝⸝´ ٣ `⸝⸝ა       ᥱa𝓉      𝓇ℯst 

˙˚ ᕱ⑅ᕱ ɞ˚˙  ㆍ  ꒰  𝓃otℯ𝗌 ﹒ი⑅𐑼﹒  ᵎᵎ  ୧.               i want a quesadilla

[daily-pearl-doodles]

she is eepy yet again

(day sixty three)

[187days]

Day Sixty-Three

So we came back from break today, and it was roooough. It was cold and rainy all day long. I forgot both my water bottle and my inhaler at home (so I’m amazed I still have my voice right now), and I had a lot of students who were similarly discombobulated. And, of course, the Covid situation is on their minds. Cases are still lower here than they are in other parts of the state (and they’re lower in the state than they are in other parts of the country), but they’re going up, and one ninth grader’s mom has it, so... it’s looming, you know? They were asking if we’ll have to close school, and who makes that call, and when there will be a vaccine, and how much longer will things be the way they are... 

I let them get it all out, and did my best to answer their questions- some things, I just don’t have answers for- before starting class. I’m teaching the same lessons I taught in World during the last rotation, so I started by giving some vocab terms related to government and economics. Then we looked at some maps with different info: the fragile states index, the human freedom index, GDP per capita, income inequality, that kind of thing. That generated some good conversations in my second block class, in particular, which was good. 

After that, I switched gears because it’s time for students to write book papers. The students I don’t have in class right now are actually doing this, too, because they need to practice working independently. The students I have in class during this rotation, though, need to learn how to use class time more efficiently, so we’re doing the paper step by step with specific goals each day (today it was outlines and intros). It’s a bit of a slow and painful process. This kind of long writing assignment (and by “long” I mean anything more than a paragraph... roughly 2-3 pages, typed and double spaced, in this case) really reveals the impact that last year’s truncated school year had on their writing skills. They didn’t get as much practice with essay structure, or incorporating evidence, or citation, or, really, anything as they would have in a normal year, 

Mrs. T agrees with me on this, and she and I spent some time this afternoon trading thoughts and suggestions for how to build students’ skills up. We’re not thinking that we have to get them to the level previous years’ students were at- that’s not necessarily realistic, and folks who are still worried about typical benchmarks and whatnot ought to stop- but we do need to help them improve as much as we can. Being able to collaborate and reinforce what each other’s doing helps. 

[primasveraas-writing]

Finnpoe Quarantine Series: Day Sixty-Three

Day Sixty-Two l Day Sixty-Four

The universe hums.

It's a sound Finn has always known, and has always assumed was known by those around them. In the First Order, life's song was a quiet chant, ebbing and building. 

On Jakku, the music swelled around him, even in the barren desert. It was the same song that carried his feet into the detention block on the Finalizer and eventually directed him to Rey.

Finn's smart. He's experienced too many fortunate moments of intuition to call his survival and successes coincidence.

D'Qar is deafening. Finn could count the number of flowers dotting the hills outside base without ever glancing outside. He knows every tree, every bird, every animal in their area.

Finn knows the other beings too. Their fear, their desperation, their hope.

The song calls him to Poe. The song leads him to Rey and pulls towards Leia.

It's as if Finn is being torn apart, two paths clear in opposite directions.

Both songs, one steady and slow, the other racing and soaring, lure him in.

Finn closes his eyes, focusing on the presence of the grass beneath him. The tenderness of the buds ready to burst into blossom.

Two wars lie in wait. He could fight them both. He very may well do so.

I need to stay, Finn tries to sway the song, not for the first time. But on this occasion, he understands enough to influence the voice.

A coldness nips at him, before clouds part and the sun begins to warm Finn's skin.

My place is here, Finn says, and something in the universe listens.

[kharicature]

Strength (self-deception) comes like a drug; cunning and a secret.

Lost in Meaning

[im-here-for-everything]

Today’s reminder!

[delightfulyscrewy]

3.4.17