Pupil Free Day

PFD: Pupil Free Day (A Day without Pupils)

Today is our first PFD of the 2020-2021 school year. It's the first official day teachers report to work after the summer break. Only this year, it really hasn't been a break for many of us. 

We have been working countless hours training, zooming, researching, learning, sharing, and practicing each and every online tool we could find to make learning more engaging and accessible for our students. 
Not a normal summer to refresh and reflect, but that's just what we do. We are teachers.

Pupil Free Day makes me think of my pupils.

My first class of students 34 years ago.

Every time I see or hear from one of my pupils, 

I can't help but beam with joy and an enormous sense of pride.

That first year of teaching was intense, emotional, and challenging.

I was ready to quit after the first week,

But didn't.

These faces made me glad I stayed the course...

Maybe my next bucket list item should be to get my doctorate and graduate with Humberto? He can't seem to stop going to school and adding to his diploma case. He also likes to surprise his 3rd-grade teacher by crashing pancake breakfasts and makes beautiful sunflower bouquets. 

Every time I see Nancy in her scrubs it makes me cry (but in a good way). She has come such a long way from being a role model in my very first reading group to playing on her high school boys football team to becoming a frontline health care provider. I am so proud of the amazing woman she has become and is always inspired by her spirit and resilience. 

Seven years ago Sandra found me on Facebook. Kids can change a lot after 27 years, but her smile and warmth did not. I still smile thinking about my 3rd-grade darlings that year. I would hang out with my girls at recess and they provided my 23-year-old self with a nice balance to the challenging 10-year-old boys in Room 19. She also confirmed to me that the postcards I sent to students during vacations meant something to the children that received them. I cried when I saw that she kept the one I sent her.

The day before the first day of my 34th year, I received a donation to my Donorschoose Project from an unlikely source. I had been wondering what happened to my sweet Edwin and just like that, there he was. He's going to be a doctor someday... and a writer. I told him doctors can write too. 

When you get random texts during the summer from a recent college graduate on his way to graduate school and he makes you cry with his kind and thoughtful words... you know you are just where you need to be. 

So on this Pupil Free Day, I celebrate all my pupils. From the ones in that class 34 years ago to the ones I am going to meet Wednesday and teach online. You fill my heart with joy. Keep shining and know that someone here believes in you.

*Just for fun, match the pupil from 1986 to present?

The Night Before 34...

I love the shiny floors of my 100+ year old school at the beginning of the year. 

It was the first thing I noticed when I moved into my first classroom there 5 years ago. 

It may have been a new location, but at least I knew what to expect. This year we are entering a new world. We may have had a taste of it last spring, but I can tell you, that this first day of school will be like none of the 33 I have had previously.

The empty playground will stay empty at least through fall... and maybe beyond.

The sounds of screaming four-year-olds chasing each other will be replaced by silence. 

My beloved milkweed garden, once home to dozens of monarch larvas, is no more.

We were not here to witness the amazing lifecycle of the butterfly or dig for earthworms this spring.

Entering a freshly cleaned classroom at the end of summer is always so exciting.

All the possibilities of the new school year waiting to happen.

This year may be different, but the possibilities are still there.

Happy 2020 - 2021 School Year!

And That's a Wrap! Year 33: The Year We Were Quarantined

It's been 3 insane, interesting, and incredible months since I last wrote.
Yesterday was the last day of the school year,
our last Zoom meeting,
and annual slideshow.

It was Year #33 for me.
How did I celebrate?
I took a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day.
It was needed.

It was unlike any year I have experienced.

I didn't get to take my class to the California Science Center, Huntington Library, Shane's Inspiration, Tanaka Farms, Cabrillo Beach, The Getty Center, or Obregon Park for our annual last day.

But I did get to take them to the Skirball Museum, Petersen Automobile Museum, Natural History Museum, Music Center, Olvera Street, La Plaza de Cultural y Artes, City Hall, OUE Skyspace, Central Library, Union Station, and visited our neighborhood businesses.

I didn't get to teach science in spring.

But I did discover the lifecycle in my backyard. I found ladybug eggs, watched them hatch, shared mulberries with grasshoppers, and found out that if you transplant a milkweed, monarch caterpillars will come.

I didn't get to plant seeds and watch them sprout in a baggie taped to the window.

But I did sprout avocado seeds for the first time! Two of them!

I didn't get to help students created their self portraits and paint on canvas during our ART study.

But I did learn how to hold a Zoom Meeting and do art together virtually and 

I did create art on poster boards, cardboard, and canvas!

I didn't get a week off for spring break so I could complete my National Board Renewal writing.

But I did complete it, a month later than I had planned.

I didn't get to sit in the stands at USC, SDSU, CSUF, and high school campuses around Los Angeles to cheer on people I love, as they graduated with high school diplomas, Bachelors and Masters degrees.

But we did celebrate their accomplishments in different ways, 

whether virtually, drive by, or stop by, I'm extremely proud of them all!

I didn't get to teach face to face for 58 days.

But I did learn to teach from a distance. 

I did get a $1000 grant and projects funded from Donorschoose. 

I did get to bring surprises, smiles, and supplies. 

(I know where each of my students live now.)

I did get to connect more with families. 

I did get to learn how to teach in different ways.

I did complete year 33 of teaching in LAUSD.

I don't know what year 34 will look like.

But I do know it will be okay, different, but we will make it through.

Just like we did this year.

The year we were quarantined.

Teaching from Faraway Places: Day 2

In ETK we learn through play. 

Online learning is not the same,

But for now it will have to do.

Hoping to give some guidance to my families during this time.

On a positive note: I learned how to insert my voice over photos of student work for my writing video today! It's not too professional, but it will do for a first try! #learnasyougo

Teaching From Faraway Places

ETK is different.
You really can't send home a packet of worksheets and expect them to learn from them.
We sent home a packet of worksheets.
You can't expect them to sit in front of a computer and get all they need.
We are bombarding parents with online websites.
You can't say staying home for two weeks won't affect them.
They are four and five.
Everything affects them.

So today I ventured into the only world I know they will have access to...
YouTube.

This seems kinda perfect in a way.
I am doing my second NBCT renewal this year.
Guess what is a required area of focus?
Technology baby!
I'm not a techie.
But I am a learner.

Just like my ETK students...
I learn by doing.
I am hoping that by Day 10...
I'll be better than Day 1.

Day One: Lets Make Playdough with Miss Fung.
(Don't judge me on this one, most of it was filmed with one hand.)

Unexpected...

So there's this virus going around.

It's been going around the world since December.

Now it's here.

And schools are now closed for the time being.

Homeschooling, Distant Learning, Online Resources....

New Territory for me.

I'm home for at least two weeks.

Bryce is home for at least three.

Daniel is home too.

Sunday night I was still planning.

Not for my classroom lessons.

But for my sanity at home with the both of them.

I created different schedules.

I needed to have something for them to "do."

The alternative would be video games and eating.

Wish me luck!

I still think there will be a lot of video games and eating...

Susan's Mom

My mom always said that when it's our birthday we should take her out to dinner. 

And we did...when we could.

It made sense to me. 

It was a way of acknowledging the person that gave us life and/or raised us.  

Thanking her or him,

for life, sacrifices, support, love, lessons taught...

Today is my oldest and dearest friend's birthday.

I am not sure when we actually met, but I do know it's been 6 decades now.

So today, I want to honor the woman that gave her life,

her mom.

Her actual name is Judy, but I would never feel comfortable calling her that.

I have been taught to address someone older than you formally

and never by first name, especially someone you have known nearly all your life.

I'll just call her what I always referred to her as,

Susan's Mom.

Susan's mom was Irish.

She was born in New Jersey.

She moved to San Diego to be a teacher.

She met Susan's Dad there.

They got married, had two children, and moved to Fresno.

 

Susan's parents were progressive thinkers.

The school district had a voluntary integration busing program.

They sent Susan to school on a bus across town to Lincoln Elementary.

When I was 3, my family immigrated to the United States.

We settled in Fresno.

I went to Lincoln Elementary.

Susan and I became friends.

I am not sure how it happened, but despite living across town from each other,

and my parents not speaking English and not owning a car or driving,

Susan and I managed to remain friends and see each other even after she moved to middle school.

I didn't go over her house often,

but when I did,

I remember her mom there.

She was always in the kitchen.

She always made me feel comfortable there and whenever we met.

Both of Susan's parents did.

Today is Susan's birthday.

Today I would like to share what I remember most about Susan's Mom.

Susan's Mom had the best skin!

-She told me she only used Oil of Olay. I still use Oil of Olay today.

Susan's Mom had the longest hair I have ever seen.

-She always wore it in a bun, but on a few occasions I got to see it down.

Susan's Mom was a "baby nurse."

-I always thought it was so cool that she worked at Children's Hospital.

Susan's Mom collected Irish China 

-I'm not sure if she did, but Susan taught me what Belleek was in college.

Susan's Mom was a life-long learner.

-I have memories of her always with a book in hand. I learned that she learned to speak Spanish and Hmong so she could communicate with her patients.

Susan's Mom was resourceful and determined.

-She became a seamstress when Susan wanted a handmade culmination dress. She had never sewn a dress before. We both wore a dress our mother had made.

Susan's Mom was loyal.

-When my parents opened their own restaurant, her Mom and Dad would drive across town just to support them. She and Susan's Dad were there for us when Mom passed away four years ago.

Susan's Mom was a fighter.

-Even the West Nile virus couldn't keep her down. So many times she could have given up, but she always came back strong. (Our parents' generation was tough like that).

Susan's Mom had a life-partner.

-She and Susan's Dad were partners. I use to admire the way they interacted with each other lovingly when I sat in the backseat of their car on road trips up the coast. I witness the way they stood by each other at Rose Shows, hospital waiting rooms, and during transitions in life.

Susan's Mom was always gracious, kind, and caring.

She never lost that, even as her memory started challenging her,

she always remembered the important things in her life, her family, friends, and the people around her.

Susan's Mom passed away on October 21, 2019.

I am so glad that my boys got to spend some time with her.

I want them to know the special adults that have influenced my life.

She was one of them.

I remember the last time I went to see her at the Memory Care Home.

She was watching a movie in the dining hall.

As I handed her a bouquet of sunflowers and touched her shoulders to say hello, 

she looked up and smiled. 

I wasn't sure if she'd remember who I was so I said,

"Hi Mrs. Shaw! It's Jane."

She replied and introduced me to her nurse, 

"Oh Jane! You're like my third child."

And she'd be right.

We are family.

So Happy Birthday to my friend Susan.

And thank you Susan's Mom for giving her life and raising my life-long friend.

This is a rose that Susan's Dad created named after Susan's Mom.

The Judy A. Shaw Rose.