Thriving

Mr. Haste, Me, Ms. Page - my awesome teaching team :) 

When school started this week, I felt like my students' sweet greetings were a longing for connection. For a few, their pent-up feelings for love seemed satisfied with familiar faces and places in our school. After probably spending a good part of summer sidetracked watching various videos and other trivia, they were part ready, part seduced by friendships and community. Let me say I'm pretty psyched to be team-teaching with two really smart, dedicated, and dynamic teachers: Ms. Page and Mr. Haste. I have no doubt the three of us will be helping kids navigate the complexities in their young lives as they experience it while we teach them relevant, important topics and skills in an engaging, hopefully fun way. We are really going to thrive together as a team! 

Speaking of thriving, we did some camping and climbing and Brad and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary by repeating our set-up of Beginner's Demise, an old favorite route of ours at Devils Lake. It was super fun. Looks like the theme for the week will be about thriving, so I hope you all get out there and thrive!

watching camp set up

homework on east bluff

love of my life

on landscape 

obvious car camping

brats, potatoes, smores 

Happy Anniversary to us! 

Storytellers 'n Summertime Loves

One part sand, one part work, one part reading stories, one part writing stories, and all parts family-hood

I am a sucker for stories and storytellers. One goal I had this summer was to write a story a day. And I did. A few were long ones but most were short narratives or poems or raps. I took a stab at flash fiction which super sucked cause my imagination is a funnel. But from that process, I learned that elements of a good story can come from shared experiences - some sprinkled with exaggerations and embellished ideas and thoughts that are grounded in values and lessons, and above all, told with heart and damn good punch lines. I learned that exactness and accuracy in story telling are boring :) - that I learned from these authentic people I know along coastal California, the Wind River range in Wyoming, ridges of Colorado and Arizona, and from the lakeshores in Wisconsin.

This was a summer of stories. From my father's memories of WWII on Guam and re-telling dreams he is having of late, to Brad retracing his paper route and childhood in AZ, to Emma's early memories of Wyoming and Misa's intricate expression of the Pacific Ocean, to everyone's written goodbyes after spreading Nana's ashes, to our most recent emotional time at the 60/80 Skinner Brothers reunion where every single story had context, relevance, and depth - these were just a few of the story highlights.

I think you all got a story or more in this summer - whether telling one or listening to one - it all matters. Cause really, something I have come to realize is that even one story can be a lifeline. Even one story can help connect or make connections, release confusion or prompt a few questions, and this process is waaaay better than a series of videos or TV shows you passively watch on digital download. You know what I mean? You get real characters, a real setting, and a real plot.

So in the spirit of many of us returning to school routines, and to prep you all to respond with substance to "How was your summer?" get going on a story today.

These are my top iphone story pics.

first look first feel ocean love 

playmates good, bad, sad, glad, mad 

forever learning, searching, questioning, thinking, stressing

papa joe's calms strengthens his nerves 

first cousin love near and far 

generational love noticeable in Werntz squint 

sibling laughter transcend distance and time  

riding dirt and gears makes gnarly girl 

rise and shine for this new thing 

Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde at APT together for first family picnic :) 

mighty west coast, west mountains, midwest kids (photo credit: Becca Skinner) 

spreading ashes into the wind at Burnt Lake, dropped off some lines of love 

wyoming desert stop split rock where Brad overnighted a few times

Adding to the running and climbing Birthday Challenge year 52, a little round of pull ups

summing up summer with queen anne's lace, wildflower dedication (photo credit: Maggie!) 

Postcard Poetry

After a three week vacation to see my family in CA and Brad's family in AZ, we've been home for most of July. We'll be leaving in a few days for one last trip to CO and WY.  There's been a lot of urban and trail running, hanging around, and some climbing going on. Every time I think about that one or two domestic chore, I put it off 'til the next time. 

In the meantime, I've read a lot of books including the new literature series our district adopted (I am totally unenthusiastic about the anthologies but I think my students will like the stories ...). I got super amped after the Hip Hop in the Heartland institute. And this month, I am doing a Poetry Postcard challenge where I write a poem a day to a stranger on a list and send it off to them. It's like an exchange - so far, I've received some great poems from strangers in this big amazing world. 

Here is a beautiful poem from someone on my list. It's funny how poetry and writing brings strangers together. 

Hope you all are having a great August! 

 

Post June Short Reflection

Writing can be so easy and so hard especially without a purpose. It's now post end-of-2015-16-school year and I need to reflect at least upon the last month of school.

I finally read in detail all of their evaluations about my English Language Arts class. The overriding theme for literacy is they really liked learning about issues. They gave positive insight about writing themes and there were several students who reported their academic notebooks was something that made them feel proud. Writing back to them was a value, and the notebook check-ins with feedback was valuable too. Most declared reading, writing, and listening to poems as their fave.

Here are parts of their evaluations:

I said this a few hundred times - I had a hard year and I didn't think these words would ever come out of my mouth, but I am already looking forward to teaching these students next year. That's a pretty good feeling.

Beyonce, and Recreation

When Misa and I were talking about a teacher she has and what makes her so "blah," she said, "There's just nothing special about her that makes her a real person ... She's just, uh, someone who tells us what to do." 

In that moment, I was reminded that there are no short cuts to student buy-in. In fact, I'm 100% confident that one sure way to cultivate success comes from the power of stories -- stories we tell ourselves can and do critically shape who we are. If Misa is going to see that teacher as a great leader, that teacher needs to cultivate a GREAT story, especially before helping others cultivate their own.  Which is why the last two weeks have been all about Beyonce -- particularly, "Formation," -- man, she tells a great story in that song. My students were schooled in media influences through critical analysis and interpretation of Formation. Over time, they got it - not all of it, but they are different now than they were two weeks ago. Ask anyone of them if, prior to our analysis of Beyonce as a storyteller, if they knew the meaning of "slay" and the line "okay ladies now let's get in formation" and they would admit that they loved those lines because of its catchy tune and beat, only. The point of all this is that kids need to see beyond their star struck cultural icons. They have a need for context, and according to Misa and John-Pio, they really do respect teachers who not only tell their stories, but who embody stories. 

Sooooo, write down your stories and tell 'em too. 

Hope y'all had a great weekend! Here's  how ours went down -- Brittingham boats is open which means lots of paddleboardiing, kayaking and canoeing - that place is like our summer home. I did as much running in the wee hours as I did climbing, and Misa and I got out for a sweet bike ride today. John-Pio broke his toe but man, that hasn't stopped that boy -- I hope if I ever break anything, I'm as calm and cashz about it as he's been. The weekend vibe was mostly active with a ton of unplanned hours throughout the day. Enjoy the pictures and the week!

Testing and Nature

Five days of standardized testing down, no more to go - at least in my classroom. When a student said, "Ms. Naputi, I actually liked the test. I tried hard and the way you and Ms. Page set it up, it made me want to try, plus it was more serious." Sheesh. He was right though. I was well-prepped with detailed proctoring directions, and I conveyed the seriousness of the test the way I was instructed. Perhaps it was all the practicing, the pre-announcements that we'd be collecting cell phones and taking down virtually all the learning posters on the wall, and it was very important they arrived on time every day -- perhaps those things set the serious tone. Anyway, standardized testing for the 2015-16 school year is done and I'm done examining test items over the shoulders of my students. What I'm not done with though is facing the realities that the abundance of standardized testing interferes with core instruction, not to mention creating robotic-like sentiments that do nothing to support or test out the learning that comes from everyday challenging and relevant curriculum that can be reported to state officials. Well anyway, Misa and John-Pio were unfazed by MAP testing (they took it) and indifferent to the WI Forward exam (they didn't take it), and pretty psyched for the ABC countdown (18 days). Stay tuned for an article about a controversial piece of the WI Forward exam and MMSD's policy, probably coming out and quoting Brad, tomorrow. 

Hope everyone took a nature walk this weekend. Misa and John-Pio brought their good friends up to Devils Lake and 

Parfreys Glen for lots of hiking, rock hounding, and laughing.

Advice for Parents, Climbing, and Feeling the Love

The Woods

Two bad things happened in the past few weeks when two different parents cursed out Ms. Matson and me, and another publicly offended me in-passing while walking down my school hallway.  One parent was reacting to the fact that her kid told a lie and was called on it, and the other parent's reaction was a roundabout emotional outburst of school policy. Anyway, I won't rehash it all (it's not worth it) but it's a good checkpoint to offer some advice to parents:

Believe 50% of what your child says until you check it out with the teacher and then ask yourself: What is a reasonable response? How will my response benefit my kids growth in the long run? What is driving my response?

Sometimes it's their perception ...

Remember: Reflecting before reacting is always an option. Always. I could not imagine responding to even half of the  perceptions made by Misa and John-Pio. I'd be blowing down the school with foolishness, and worse, undermining my own kids ability and skills to problem solve and discern for themselves how to work or push through situations that are part of any dynamic environment. 

So even though the last few weeks cast a lil darkness, I am reminded of my values and that my values always trump rules and it's okay to hang up, pass the mic, or walk right past an unreasonable parent. 

Alright. Out with the bad. Here's what's good -- Ms. Matson's back for the last 24 or so days after coaxing her out of retirement to help save my sanity, theater productions are over, and spring flag football is back. 

Got big love from the fam for Mothers Day

instagram post :)

and Stacey and I went climbing this morning. Here are some pics of the day ...

mandatory cafe

pottery 

always the lake

Stacey did it right her first time on bark biter

snapchat primer

and the pad of course!