On Teaching and Learning: June 2026 Journal and Blog Review

Saturday, October 24, 2026

Things to remember

Basement: prime and paint doors and trim, install trim, install closet door; caulk and paint
fill driveway cracks

HG graduation party; Balke sleeps over
end of month JG 68.8 K
CCL has foot surgery (mom calls to say on 6/5); CCL asks for$75 again - I repeat my offer
HDL responds to a text saying he's worn out from a job hunt

begin 20 min workout every day inspired on instagram "get ripped doing jump squats" guy

begin journal page to list inputs (music, podcasts) and AM "work"
begin (?) journal pages to list all books read -- monthly -- by genre categories
p. 48 - for each "grateful" I begin to write a short note/ a "so what?" or "why is this important"... after "teaching ideas/Aleks Z" I write - cross departmental sharing is good; after "walk, get rained on" I write "exciting to be in elements; after "walsh tells me he can't afford to truly retire" I write - inspiration?
begin while on vacation, a list of "praise for..." 10x per day.
make a list of ALL poems I like (57)
"make a music album - 1 per year till death!"
begin new daily poetry - 14 lines per day
do a weekly Thursday (?) library trip

teaching game - in class - what verbs can describe how someone walks? glide, lumber, stroll, bounce... which are cliche? which are fresh? evocative?
create a list of 5 Qs for each work of literature how does the past influence us? how can I decide what to do? (what are the problems for the characters in literature?) what are they trying to solve?
role call questions
"the poetry machine" - a slide deck with number 1-16 in a table. Each one takes kids to a memorable line of poetry, representing the WIDEST resposes to the world
Someone in the story reminds me of someone in IRL
poetry - kids collect 10 poems - 1-5 can be from class; list them in order
essay cover sheet - all essays, self-record how they're doing
sonnet writing - begin with sentences +/-/resolution.... about something that you love... then colors on a page. (primary, secondary)... maybe a google form?

Blog:

Nonshazamable (25)
4 hours in the park (24)
Who am I table (15), 20x (6), Who am I with job description (8) who am I (learner) (2)
You told me about that (3)

On Teaching and Learning