Day #184 Writing Through COVID-19: A Good Day

Today our district superintendent sent a notice to parents and staff: "We were notified last evening that we had positive COVID test results from individuals in the school district." The notification said that "Individuals affected by these positive cases have been communicated with."

We don't know how many people in our district tested positive, but the plural "results" and "individuals" indicate it's more than one. We don't know which buildings were impacted or if it was teachers or students with positive results. 

But I was glad to see the community was at least told something. Up to this point our district has not released any COVID numbers on staff or students testing positive. I believe the public has a right to know the number of cases, and the buildings affected, to best make decisions for their students and families. 
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My freshman English students shared more of their "Where I'm From" poems with the class today. We are learning how to feed our writers by pointing out the lines and phrases that speak to us, move us, resonate with us. I tell my students that writers need to be heard. When we share with them what we gleaned from their words, we are giving them sustenance and energy to write again.

I feel the same way about readers of my blog. While I come to this page to make sense of the flotsam and jetsam of the day, I need to know I'm talking to someone. That's you.
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We tried a new group microphone during my ZOOM class today, and my Remote Learners said it was a big improvement. They could even hear soft-spoken Kyra--masked--in the back row! 

I can't believe this is only our 18th day of school. In some ways, it feels like 100. 
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I will say today was fun. Room #408 buzzed with learning from 8 a.m. to 3:13 p.m. 

The broadcasting team had heated moments as they taped and edited video for tomorrow's show. Afterward, three students said they were sorry about the conflict in the J-Lab. I'll call that a win because learning to APOLOGIZE is a #Top10 life skill. (As is learning to resolve conflict with colleagues, although I don't see either of these tested on the ACT.)

My yearbook editors came to the conclusion that we will not, in fact, have our 2020 book finished by tomorrow, which was our week's goal. Nevertheless, they were pleased with how much work has been done this week. Shoot for the moon and land in the stars (something like that). 

The Intro to Journalism kids are writing stories for the Senior Magazine. This entails interviewing seniors they may not know. Learning to talk to strangers is one more #Top10 life skills that the powers-that-be fail to value and measure. 

My newspaper kids are a joy of my day. The class is small, meets after lunch, and is peopled with hardworking, funny writers. We work hard. We laugh hard. We share outlandish moments that do not translate well onto this space. Let me just say I'm sorry we only have 45 minutes together.

And that brings me to my freshman English classes. I love journalism. But I have a poet's heart. My two freshman English classes (the ones that shared their "Where I'm From" poems today) are my raison d'etre. Today we read, shared our poetry, then watched, analyzed, and discussed a short film (with a mic that worked)! The bell rang too soon.
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Our county's positivity rating edged up to 3.1% today, but it's still under 5, so I got to wear a dress.

I'll call that a good day.

Enough.
Be well.
Write.

Allison

Handsome Wolf, bald as a bean.