Even Selena Gomez

Before I came to Bartlett, I taught 8th grade math and science in Framingham for two years. That school was known in the town as “the weird school.” And there was truth to that, in fact we embraced being known as “the weird school.”

Instead of homeroom, we had something else called Crew. In a typical week, we probably spent a couple hours with our crew. It was a small group, maybe 10 to 12 students. We all sat in a circle and talked and did fun activities. We challenged the other crews in sports, trivia and other games. We got to know each other really well, and most importantly learned to trust each other. What was said in crew stayed in crew. 

This was a really big part of the culture of that school. Tight relationships with people you could actually open up to without fear that your business would end up all over the 8th grade. It’s probably hard to imagine, but it worked. 

We did things - Every year the 6th grade went did an overnight white water rafting trip each fall. The 8th grade went camping in the spring. We went to Woods Hole on Cape Cod and investigated life on the sea floor from a boat, and another year we went to the far western part of Massachusetts and camped along the Application Trail. (I don’t recall what the 7th grade did).

It was a cool way to do school. 

One of my favorite stories from those years:

I was teaching systems of the human body and we had arrived at the last system - digestive.  One of my students was absolutely obsessed with Selena Gomez. He could not utter a single sentence without referring to her in some way. 

Selena this, Selena that.  Did you know Selena…I bet Selena..Did you see Selena at…

You get what I mean, right?

Well, we got to the end of the digestive system, so to speak, and during my lecture I said “Everything poops. Everyone poops,” Then, looking directly in his eyes, I said “Even Selena Gomez poops.” 

You should have seen his face! 

It was like he thought she was a goddess beyond normal bodily functions. His look was of a dawning realization mixed with a hint of gross disgust. And everyone in the class, knowing of his obsession, turned to see that look on his face. 

It was hilarious!

Well, That Was Unexpected…

The week before February break I was not feeling well. At the urging of my wife, I saw my doctor who directed me to go to the Emergency Room at the hospital. The docs at the ER decided to admit me to the hospital, where I spent 7 days. 

That was a long week of blood draws, testing, blood draws, testing, sitting around doing nothing, blood draws and more testing On the plus side, I was a able to watch a lot of the movies nominated for Academy Awards.

The end result of all this was a diagnosis. I have liver cancer.

I am too weak to work - walking up a flight of stairs leaves me panting for breath like I just ran a mile. 

My cancer is treatable and I expect I will be going to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston for that treatment in the coming weeks. Dana Farber is a world-class facility and they did a wonderful job when my son, David, had cancer. 

I don’t know what happens after that. 

In all likelihood, I will not be back to teach this year and I’m really sorry about that. I really enjoy working with you all and helping you learn science.

One point my 8th graders might appreciate: When they biopsied (took a small sample) of my liver they sent some of it out for genetic testing. The hope here is that my cancer has some mutation that the doctors can use against it.  

You have my email so feel free to say hello, but I will not be able to help you find your science notebook.

Almost Halfway...

Thursday, January 2nd is our 77th day of school so far this year. We’re almost half way through the school year. The actual halfway mark is January 22nd.

How’s this year going for you?

Are you happy with your work so far?

Are you learning?

Sometimes its helpful to stop for a moment and look back to see how far you’ve come. Progress often gets lost in the day-to-day grind of school. 

What new skills have you acquired? What can you do now that you could not do in August? What do you know now that you did not know in August?

Are you a better writer now?  Can you find the main idea of a book or story better than before?

Can you handle new concepts in math that would have looked like gibberish before?

Do you have a better idea of how our government runs, or how the solar system formed or how a symphony of fifty individual musicians somehow work together to create something beautiful?

Believe it or not, you are growing in all the ways - intellectually, emotionally and socially. It’s not easy and it’s not linear but, even despite setbacks, you are are moving forward. 

Now is the time to recommit yourself to doing your best; to being the best student, friend and community member you can be.

I'm Baaaaaaaaaak

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post. 

The last one  - see below - was just before the October progress reports were scheduled to come out and, lo and behold, the December progress reports are about to come out.

As I grade the work you did while I was out on medical leave, I have several thoughts about what I have seen:

• First, for all of you who took the work seriously and did your best each and every day - Thank You!  I know it can be difficult to stay focused but my hat is off for those of you who did! Your grades reflect your learning, your focus and your hard work.

• Second, some of you fell into some bad habits in doing your work. I see a lot of copy/paste in your work and, as you well know, that is not allowed. It’s pretty obvious when someone has not used the resources I included - readings, videos, slideshows, etc. Your grades reflect the shortcuts you took in doing your work. 

• Third, some of you missed a LOT of work. When I grade your work, I excuse work you were not here for. So my questions is; If you were here and did not do the work, what were you doing instead? Having been a middle school teacher for a long time, I can only imagine what was happening instead. Your grades reflect your unwillingness to attempt or engage in the work.

I am really happy to be back. I missed working with you and helping you grow as science students and humans. 

The Price of Youth and Inexperience

 “Oh to be young again 

Oh to be free again 

To be setting out 

To have the whole of the road before one 

To know it an adventure 

One cannot know the end of -"

Youth is a wonderful thing…but not a perfect thing.

I remember the days when I had hair, when everything did not ache, when I could bend over to pick something up with out my back and knees making horrifying cracking sounds. 

I also remember making mistakes because I could not clearly see the future that was right in front of my eyes.

That’s where being, lets just say "experienced," is a huge advantage. I can clearly see what’s coming next based on what I do today. Maybe this is because I’ve already made so many mistakes at least once or maybe it’s just what happens when you get older, err more experienced. But this is one area where your youth betrays you. 

Progress reports come out October 9th. I’ve mentioned this in each of my classes hoping that the knowledge of the impending report home to your parents and guardians will motivate some of my students. 

But I know, youth means living for today because the future seems so very far away. Even two weeks can seem like almost forever for middle school students. 

Trust me on this - two weeks will go bye in a blink. You’ll be getting your progress report and it will feel like school just started. 

If you’re working hard and doing your work, it will probably be a report filled with good news. If you have been spending your time chatting with friends, and not doing your work, well….I think you know what that progress report will look like.

There is still time to avoid that awkward conversation at home about why your ELA , math or science grade “Needs Improvement,” or worse. Check your grade on Google Classroom, talk to your teachers, get late work in….there is still time to avoid disaster…if you can see that far into the future.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

If you are new to my homeroom, there’s something you gotta know: I play music. A lot of music. Walk past my room during my prep period and you’ll hear me playing music. Sometimes I play it so loud, my neighboring teachers have to send a kid over to ask me to turn it down - sorry!

In the early morning, before you guys show up, everyone knows I’m in the building because I’m BLASTING my music. The best part of room 23 is the sound system and I make use of it - trust me. For me, music makes school a more joyful place. 

In my homeroom, we do a thing called Song of the Day. 

Every day, I play a song. Over the course of the week my homeroom students have to figure out how all five songs are related. There is a theme to my selections. 

Some recent themes were: 

• Songs by artists known primarily by one name - Cher, Adele, Rhianna & Elvis,
• Songs by artists from Massachusetts - Aerosmith, James Taylor, etc.
• Songs about vehicles - cars, boats, planes, etc.
• Songs in Spanish - this was suggested by a student and she came up with great songs!

I have a good time coming up with the themes and songs and, yes, they do reflect my taste in music. If you were to stick your head in Ms. Macinnis’ room, you would notice she also plays music during homeroom. It’s nice, soft, jazzy music. I assume that’s what she likes. In my room you are going to hear a hard driving beat and screaming guitars. I just love me some screaming guitars!

I am open to suggestions for a theme and only have few guidelines. 

• There must be five songs,
• It has to be school appropriate,
• There must be a theme - something that links all five of the songs together,
• It can’t be obvious - You have to keep people guessing until day four or five.

If you have a suggestion for a theme, even if you need help coming up with the actual songs, let me know. Let’s all have fun with the music!

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not at the old Bartlett anymore

This year marks my 12th year as a teacher and the 9th year I have been at the Bartlett. 

I taught in room 23 for my first five years, then, for reasons I still fail to comprehend, the administration moved me to room 22, around the corner for two years.

This is also my 12th year writing this blog. If you scroll down far enough, you will discover I was writing this at two other schools I taught at before coming to the Bartlett. One of those schools was also in Lowell. 

I write this blog for and to you, my students. 

This is my forum to write about my life as a teacher, a student and a person. Sometimes, I write to amuse. Sometimes, I write to inform. And, sometimes, I write to help my students put things into perspective. Sometimes, when I’m really on my game and the words flow, I think I can inspire some kids a little, too.

I will try to post something each week - but, honestly, when things get busy, sometimes I run out of time and miss a week here and there. I will post a link on google classroom, so you’ll get an email notification when there’s something new to read.

I hope you will find them interesting but you’ll all be the judge of that. Please read, share, comment, and talk to me about what I write.  

Post script: I’ll give you a prize if you can name the movie that is referenced (but not quoted) in the title of this post.

"OMG, They're Beautiful!"

It happened. I really never 100% believed it would, but it really happened.

Our too-narrow, old, bent, fall-out-of-the-wall, graffitied lockers are gone.

They have been replaced by brand new, never-been-touched, blue beauties. They will even fit a backpack.

It’s been a long time since we had new lockers - I’d guess 25 or 30 years. And the purplish/red ones were just plain worn out.

A few years ago we had a long-term substitute who had attended the Bartlett. At the end of the year she taught here I was cleaning out some lockers, and I noticed her name written inside what had been her 8th grade locker.

Before that, and on two separate occasions, banks of lockers had somehow become detached from whatever holds them into the walls, and had come crashing down into the hallways. They were propped back into place and secured to the wall again, but I was always nervous having kids in the hallways near those two spots. 

The Bartlett Community Partnership School has been neglected for so long it just feels amazing to have a few of the basics that most other schools have. 

Your teachers have been asked not to slap stickers or labels on the lockers - we want to keep them looking new for a long, long time. You can help with that too. 

• Let’s work together to keep these lockers clean and fresh. 

• Let’s not use them as trash receptacles, let’s not store milk or unwanted fruit in them. 

• Let’s not slam them so loud the kids at the Stok can hear it.

Between the lockers, the new water fountains, the new entryway (not including dumpsters), a lot of fresh paint and some other things happening, our school is improving.

The Bartlett is comin’ back, baby, and you get to be part of it!

Speech Therapy

President Biden is a stutterer. He has worked hard to overcome his stuttering and sometimes when you watch him speaking in public, you can see him actively battling this disorder. He’s using his training right in front of us. 

Astronaut John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. He went back to space again in his late seventies. He was an authentic American hero, but even heroes look up to others. John Glenn looked up to his wife, Annie. She was a stutterer and worked hard to overcome her speech issues to become a powerful pubic speaker. 

I too had speech therapy. When I entered school, my “R’s” sounded like “L’s.”  So, if I said “Let’s ride bikes,” it came out as “Let’s lide bikes.”

At school, I was embarrassed about how I spoke, so I rarely raised my hand or spoke in class. 

Reading in front of others was highly anxiety provoking - it was torture. During reading instruction, the whole class would sit in a circle and everyone would read one sentence. I remember counting the kids before me and trying to figure out what sentence I would have to read, so I could practice before it was my turn.

For the first few years of school, I was pulled out of class to do speech therapy. I hated it. I clearly remember the training my therapists gave me and also remember having to slow down my talking so I could put those techniques into practice. 

Eventually that training became second nature. 

It was all worth it. I got over my speech issues, became less shy, and participated in class regularly. It just took time and hard work. 

Our Stool Problem - A Brief History

As you may have noticed, we have a seating problem in the 7/8 science lab. 

Look down. What color is the stool are you sitting on?

If it’s a grey, metal stool, it was here when I arrived at Bartlett eight years ago. At that point, we had 24 grey, metal stools  - exactly the right number. 

Unfortunately, many of them were broken. 

In the Fall of 2016, I worked out a deal with the welding shop at the Voke and they repaired about eight of them.

Since then, I have been repairing them myself. Look down at the grey stools - you may notice nuts and bolts holding the legs on. That’s my work. I continue to repair the ones that break…but there is a limit to what I can do.

Unfortunately, about six years ago, an ambitious custodian threw away about four of these stools that I had not yet had a chance to repair.  Also, one of the teachers that taught in this room while I was assigned to room 22 threw even more of them away.

If you are sitting on a white stool, you can thank my neighbor. She found four white stools on the side of the road in a pile of household items that were being discarded. She grabbed them and then gave them to me for the lab.

If you are sitting on a black stool, you can thank DonorsChoose and the people who support teachers. DonorsChoose is a non-profit organization that connects teachers who need supplies with people who want to support them. All the black stools were donated to us. We did lose one of those this year when it fell over and cracked. My repair was a failure and I had to discard it. 

If you're sitting at a lab bench in a standard desk chair, you are experiencing our problem: We don’t have enough stools any more. Some students who want to sit at the lab benches end up sitting in a standard desk chair and those are way too low to be used at the lab benches. 

This is a ridiculous problem to have.  

At a minimum, you ALL deserve a chance to sit at the lab benches on an appropriately sized chair or stool.  <sigh>