A Wednesday (favorite things and other ridiculous matters).

Tips for teens, tips for students

What a day. The intensity, physical and emotional. I have a person, very upset with me, for making them go, proactively, to a teacher to talk about a self-evaluation. This person is adamant that it would be wasting the teacher’s time. I was adamant it would not be. Spoiler alert: I was right.

Pro tips: Ask your teachers questions. Good questions. Relevant questions. If in doubt, ask. Solicit feedback. Don’t tolerate it. Solicit it.

Human nature

The teacher, as part of exploring nature, read aloud a book of various indigenous legends and myths.

A student found that ridiculous. “They believed that? Ridiculous.”

Ridiculous is applying is what we know now to the past and thinking it should make sense to everyone back then.
Ridiculous is not paying attention to the past and respecting the sacrifices and learnings previous generations have gone through in order for us to enjoy what we have now.
Ridiculous would be re-electing a man to the highest office in our land who scoffs at science, mocks what he doesn’t understand, twists facts and perverts truth, and sets loyalty to himself as the highest character achievement.

Those things are ridiculous.

A class quiz

Partway through Dance, she has them sit around in a big circle and respond to her question of the day. Today, the question was: “What is your favorite thing to do?”

Here are three answers:

Student 1 (random): “My favorite thing is to watch TV with my Dad!”
Student 2 (random): “My favorite thing is doing stuff with my Dad!”
Student 3 (random): “My favorite thing is…my Dad! I love him!”
Student 4 (my son): “My favorite thing is building LEGOs!”

Nature nature

A gaggle of young elementary students with rakes and shovels, planting Jerusalem artichokes outside by the wall. Beautiful.

After we head in, a read-aloud of 13 Moons.

Danish building blocks

As class approaches completion, I can see his 7-year old mind racing, working to come up with a reason to approach the teacher and show his LEGO creations. Eventually, with his ever so-slight smile, he confidently strides up and stands adjacent until there’s a free moment. He holds it up, hoping and wanting affirmation and enthusiasm over his build. There is enough returned for him to return to his seat with a slightly larger smile.

We can dance if we want to

As class approaches completion, I can see his 7-year old mind racing, working to come up with a reason to approach the teacher and share his news. Eventually, with his ever so-slight smile, he confidently strides up and stands adjacent until there’s a free moment. She looks down at him, smiles, and he tells her, his grin growing bigger, about the role he’s going to have, in the upcoming high school production of Shrek. She high fives and gives him the reaction he needed, and he can’t keep the wide grin from splitting his face as he walks over to me.

Run rabbit run (I am seen)

In the Nature class we’re in, we chose names at the beginning of the year. They were to be chosen based on the first letter of our first name, and could be an animal, plant, or mineral. My name is Joseph, so I chose…Jellyfish.

I’m used to walking the halls and smiling at students I’ve seen many, many times, greeting them, and sometimes, sometimes being responded to. But there is a second-grade girl - a classmate of our 7-year old in the above-class, and she regularly greets me in the hallways with a cheerful “Hi Jellyfish!”

It makes me feel good. I appreciate it. Never think that you acknowledging someone else may not be doing the same thing for them at any age…

…AND USE PEOPLE’S NAMES!

Conversations

I spoke with a mom, C———-, about social media use amongst teens and adolescents, and about my stepping back from those platforms several years ago. It was a good conversation, and she gave me her Instagram handle, if I ever open my account again. We also talked about modeling, both in terms of what we do as parents for our children, and actual model-modeling, which she does, and I talked about my brother and his company focusing on micro stock photo and video and their ongoing use of models. I may have sounded very proud of him, and if I did it’s because I am.

Back-home rituals

Play with LEGOs

Watch an episode of Arthur on PBS Kids.

”Schoolwork on computer,” which is their masterful way of “doing schoolwork” on PBS Kids.org; an organization they know we support and appreciate, and therefore they’ll be able to play some fun games on there in the spirit of learning and education. We got schooled.

Wait for Becca to get home at the top of the driveway, as always.