Day 136
Date Taken: 7/6/12
Setting: Summerbridge
Thoughts: Jake was doing an egg drop with his classes. I was brought back to 6th grade. I have a vivid image of some of the male teachers standing on the roof, hucking everyone's project off of it while we all stood around hoping our designs would keep out eggs protected.
The kids got a kick out of it. They were sprinting from the drop room to the landing pad, excited to see if their design had preserved their eggs. They unwrapped them as quickly as they could (although quickly takes a while when you use an entire roll of masking tape to attach two cups), and held up their eggs triumphantly if it survived. It was pretty awesome.
Day 137
Date Taken: 7/7/12
Setting: Somewhere in Swarthmore
Thoughts: Earlier in the day, Court, Matt, Brian and I went to to breakfast at a glorious little cafe in Bethlehem. Next to us was a young couple with a small baby. Honestly, probably one of the ugliest babies I've seen. It was just its facial expression, it was all bug eyed and seemed to indicate that poop was coming in the near future. I shiftily took some pictures...but, I felt it was probably wrong to post them. So, instead, here is the only other picture I took that day. Not really sure why...but, here it is.
Day 138
Date Taken: 7/8/12
Setting: On the road
Thoughts: Thanks anonymous car drivers, for sharing violent creepy imagery with the rest of us...that really serves to brighten everyone's day. (Sarcastic clap)
I just started my workout today when a group of high schoolers who are (I assume) attending Governer's school at Lehigh came up to me and asked if I i knew of a building with a half number on it. They were doing a scavenger hunt. I had no idea what they were talking about. I said no. The guy who asked responded "actually?" in a tone that I found less than polite.
I continued on my way toward the first set of stairs where the hardcore workout begins and a group walked down the stairs, completely in my way, and one girl said something to the effect of "she's the one who wouldn't help us right?" Um, hello, I can hear you, and what is this King's Cross Station? How the hell am I supposed to know where the building with fractions for an address is? I responded "I didn't help you, because I didn't know what the hell you were talking about."
They went on there way, and I continued my workout. As I ran, I could feel my anger getting the better of me. I just hate when people are rude like that. Plus, all day I was being interrupted by people at work who had questions they could have answered for themselves. As I ran, I prayed and I wondered if perhaps I was being too critical of others and not critical enough of myself. Perhaps what I needed to be today, was patient.
I was reminded of the clip in Evan Almighty, where Morgan Freeman, playing God, tells Lauren Graham, Evan's wife, that when a person prays for courage...you know what, I won't do it justice...here's the clip.
The bottom line is, life is all about opportunities. Here I am, praying for the ability to be more patient, and at the same time, I am ignoring the opportunities to exercise patience. I let the actions of others dictate my mood, and worse than that, I allowed my actions and reactions to be filled with anger and with annoyance instead of with compassion and kindness.
Am I preaching? I like to think not. I think sometimes I find it difficult to know where the line between patient and annoyed should be. When does it stop becoming patience and start becoming self deprecating? When do I stop giving others unlimited chances and start recognizing the value of my own time and standards and start standing up for those values? These questions plagued me as I ran up stairs, walked hills, and just generally took in the coolness of the evening.
I guess my gut tells me that kindness is always the better way, I just don't always know how to exercise kindness, particularly in the face of ignorance, disrespect, and incompetence.
As I walked and thought of these things, I hoped I would run into some more students so I could practice the patience I lacked previously. A group did find me. They came up to the top of the stairs and a girl and I stared at each other from afar for a bit. Turns out, she was mesmerized by some dear that were close at hand, and I thought she might be someone I knew. She flagged me down and politely asked for help finding a building with a half number on it. I gave her group the best advice I could and moved on.
Later, Court, Britt and I walked down to the cup, where apparently all the governer's school kids who think they are cool go to hang out. I saw the people who were rude to me, and although at first we stared at each other awkwardly as we passed through the doorway, I stopped the first guy and asked if they found what they were looking for. He said they didn't but the person behind him did. That guy stepped forward and I asked where it was. He explained it and then said he took a picture, took out his phone, and showed us. It was actually a pleasant interaction.
I felt like, perhaps for the first time all day, I had finally seized an opportunity to be more patient and to put good out into the world instead of staining it with my lack of compassion.
In Courtney, Shannon's and my elective - Challenge Accepted - we have been teaching the students about leadership and how to be a good follower. We have designed all kinds of challenges for them to tackle, and have encouraged them to think up creative solutions that are within the rules but bend them. Two week's ago, we asked students to create their own challenges, specifically by taking elements of the challenges we have already done, and making something new and improved.
This past week, we di three of the students' challenges. There were three group leaders, each with their own small group to lead. These groups had to design the challenge, troubleshoot, envision how it would run, and help us set it up before elective.
The first challenge went great and turned out to be probably the most successful day we have had in that elective all summer. The leader did a great job of conceptualizing something challenging but simple and easy to understand and execute. Students were put in pairs. One student was blindfolded, the other could not talk. They had to walk to the center of the gym, go around the center circle, and return to the start in under a minute. By the third attempt, the students were crossing the line with some of their fastest times.
The second challenge was pretty much a disaster...at least in practice. The leader actually did a great job of planning, running his group, explaining the challenge, and just generally being enthusiastic about it. However, the challenge he envisioned was so complicated that no one really understood it and we had to stop it halfway through to debrief. It was basically chaos, but we learned an important take home message - sometimes, no matter how thoroughly we plan, things might not go how we hoped they would.
The third challenge...well, I was scared. It was sure to be the most complicated of the three, and after the challenge 2 disaster, I was a little leery. Although the students were a little confused, they dove right in and gave it a whirl. I think it helped that there were dodge balls involved. By the third run through, things were going pretty smooth, and although they did not successfully complete the mission, they seemed to have a lot of fun doing it.
There was one moment during this third challenge - which was to carry two "wounded" soldiers to safety - when one of the students (blue shorts) and one of the volunteers and former Summerbridge students (green shorts) pick up the wounded soldier and straight up sprint her to the other side. I lost it. My loud, booming voice and laugh burst across the audio, which makes me laugh even more when I watch it. I just thought that was the funniest thing. Then, the student gets nailed with a dodge ball when he tries to go back and get the other wounded soldier. Classic.
I just love these kinds of moments. We get to take kids into a gym, give them some dodge balls, some space to run, and some objectives, and they just go to town. Even though this activity might appear silly to an outsider, I really believe that the students learned some important lessons about life. They created the challenge, planned it, set it up, implemented it, and analyzed what worked and didn't work. They shared their ideas about the roles they played, what was frustrating, and what they did well. I don't think there is a substitute for throwing the students into an activity, telling them to use their brains and deal with what they are given, and letting them get their hands dirty. They don't get nearly enough of this kind of learning in their regular schools, which makes me all the more thankful to be a part of a program that sees this activity as a valuable learning experience.
Date Taken: 7/5/12
Setting: Summerbridge
Thoughts:
1. I love when the kids doodle on their papers. It just makes me laugh.
2. I love looking at the center of flowers. The center always has the most interesting texture and color. The patterns are delicate and precise, saturated and random. I just like to see the variety.
Date Taken: 7/4/12
Setting: Lehigh
Thoughts: Well, I made everyone drive up to Sayre because I thought it would be a great place to view the fireworks. We sat up there for a bit but got nervous that we wouldn't be able to see the fireworks, so we headed to the lookout. Turns out, that was a horrible idea because everyone else in the surrounding community was there. We walked down from our parking spot and immediately turned back...as the fireworks were starting. Apparently, we could have just stayed at the Trem, because that's where we ended up. We stood on the top of the parking garage and had a good view. What is really amazing about the fourth of July in Bethlehem is that from Lehigh, we could see fireworks shows cropping up in the distance all across the surrounding valley. It was pretty magical...although not magical enough for us to stay for the entirety of the show we were actually close enough to see in full.
We were hot and kind of bored and also slightly horrified by a neglectful mother ignoring her child as well as some teens in bathing suits. Also, some random college student was dressed as the mad hatter. We saw him with a group of people when we were at Sayre and he kept appearing wherever we were. It was unsettling, so we left the show and went into the sterile lighting but refreshingly cool apartment and called it a night.
Date Taken: 7/3/12
Setting: Summerbridge
Thoughts: One of our students made this to hang in her core team's classroom. I love it. it is so fun and it just makes me want to smile. We had Olympics yesterday (more to come on this day) and I was reminded that these students, while dealing with so many real life adult problems, are still kids. They love to run around and act silly. They still want to paint funny pictures and bring them in to hang in class. They still want to bake cupcakes on their birthday and knight each other with a spirit stick made out of a plastic bat, cray paper ribbons and Christmas bells when someone gets student of the week.
What I love most about working with middle school students is that, for the most part, they are still so unfiltered. They will blurt out exactly what they are thinking exactly when they think it. There is a simpleness to that childlike state, an honesty that gets taken from them as they get older. What amazes me is that these kids can still smile and laugh and be their silly selves after what so many of them have been through. All the things that I never had to deal with as a suburban white kid living with hard working blue collar but financially stable and loving parents in a community with an excellent public school system...these kids deal with. Even on the tough days...especially on the tough days, the days when I am the most exhausted and stretched to my limits, they can make me laugh.
I was walking to my car one afternoon from the Trem and noticed these flowers. I have passed them on many occasions, but really noticed them for the first time today. At first glance, it appears these flowers are dying, lilting in the humid summer air. But, as I look closer now, it almost seems like they are pushing off from the ground, reaching out toward the light of the sun. Their petals remind me of an octopus or squid, its jellylike tentacles thrusting downward as it propels itself forward. I also just love the contrast of these soft and supple flowers against the sharp points of the Trem.
Date Taken: 7/2/12
Setting: Summerbridge
Thoughts: There is something so satisfying about tampering with a fake crime scene in order to make myself look less suspicious while simultaneously incriminating others. Basically every time I see another teacher do anything remotely related to a cactus or the color green or any thing at all that seems even slightly shifty, I point out to the children how suspicious that person looks and continue to deftly weave a web of lies that makes me appear completely innocent. I also convinced one student that I think the kidnapper is working with other criminals and probably sold the cactus parts on the black market.
Date Taken: 7/1/12
Setting: Ridley Park
Thoughts: I was wandering around the town our new apartment is in and came across this oddity on a small bridge that has seemingly no purpose. I don't really even know what to say about it except I couldn't walk by it without stopping.
Also, I just love that real adult lady and fella is catching on...
Date Taken: 6/30/12
Setting: South Philly
Thoughts: Brian and I had just spent a long night in his sweat box of a room in his (now) old apartment. Neither of us got much sleep, and I ended up waking around 5 am. I climbed out on to the flat roof outside the third floor window into the mercifully cool morning. I sat for a few moments, looking at the city skyline, breathing in the day, and allowing myself to feel the full weight of my excitement about moving into our new apartment and first home together.
I went back into the room and woke Brian to come sit with me on the roof. We spent those precious moments together in the morning air - just us and sleepy city. When we headed back inside we kept packing and then headed out for an early breakfast at a delightful little bakery around the corner. We had some of these delicious treats, then later, found ourselves behind Decepticon...
We spent the whole day sweating and moving and moving and sweating. It was satisfying to do almost the entire move ourselves. My dad helped us move the bed, but other than that, we were able to move our lives into our new apartment by ourselves. There was something so real adult lady and fella about packing up our worlds and carrying them into our new shared space. I felt a sense of shared ownership over that space and over the move itself.
The move also made me ultra aware of all of the crap I own. I have way to many belongings. I am still attached to so many of my possessions...for no real reason. I left so much at my dad's house, which I know I will have to sort through and deal with later, but even still, I have way too much. I suspect it will be quite fulfilling to purge some of those belongings when I return from Summerbridge and have some quality time in the apartment.
Date Taken: 6/29/12
Setting: Classroom
Thoughts: Apparently my natural squirrelliness is going to pay off...
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