Total Eclipse...A Lasting Memory

For the past 2 weeks I have had Bonnie Tyler's song "Total Eclipse of the Heart" running through my head. If you are too young to know the song, that's a shame. But the reason is clear to me why it's become an ear worm...a total eclipse of the sun will happen Monday within 20 miles of my home. A total solar eclipse is a really big deal and every single day I get another email about it from fellow educators. It's exciting times for the area I live in.

Many schools are out that day and our school has an early dismissal. Thousands of people are suppose to come to the total eclipse path. News agencies have actually suggested that people gas up for that because of potential traffic. At our school, it will only be the third day of school for students but we have already started teaching about it. One of our amazing lower school science teachers created a wonderful display explaining it from a Christian worldview for our students to see and she also created a video to go along with it. Alice Sikkema's passion for science is evident and her desire for students to understand this phenomenon is contagious.

As I reflect and look forward to being able to experience this solar eclipse I am reminded of another time in my life. 1979. I was standing in the hallway by a window in Crestmont Elementary School in Northport, Alabama looking down at a piece of paper and watching the shadows of the eclipse through a pinhole on a piece of card stock. This was way before the days of Amazon Prime, NASA approved glasses, and the internet. I remember being told very strongly "DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN, YOU CAN GO BLIND" but I looked. It was too mysterious not to try to catch a brief peek and honestly, the paper version of it was bizarre for my elementary mind to wrap around.

Just like now, I remember it being a really big deal to my teachers. I remember being told "this doesn't happen very often." Quite honestly I feel like I'm having a Mark Twain moment in my life, He had Halley's comet I've been around long enough and in the right place often enough to witness 2 total solar eclipses.

I'm writing this post to just affirm in you that I still have very vivid memories of this taking place in my life as an elementary student some 38 years ago. I remember discussions in the hallway with fellow students, I remember the disruption of the ordinary this moment brought to our school, I remember the intrigue of taking a risk and glancing up wondering if I truly was going to go blind from it. I remember not believing that was true. I remember wanting to know more about that and how long do you have to look before it does something to these cones and rods I supposedly had in my eyes that I have never heard of. It sparked wonder and a desire to learn more in me. I share this with you to say If you are an educator or parent, don't let this opportunity for learning slip away. If it sparks questions, let your students dig deeper. Sometimes the best teachable moments aren't in the lesson plan for your grade level. Sometimes the pacing guide needs to be put aside. This phenomenon is a great way to open conversations about being a global student as well. For many of us school is just getting started, we are setting expectations but it's ok to deviate. From one little girl from Northport, Alabama that decided a solar eclipse just made her want to learn more... I give you permission to teach the current moment. ;)

Lessons Worth Remembering

What makes a lesson worth remembering? It's been a VERY LONG TIME since I was in a k12 school as a student but I have been spending time trying to remember actual learning lessons. I'll be honest, there are very few "lessons" themselves I remember anymore and what I have come away with is that in order for me to truly remember a lesson one of the following had to happen:

• I had an ongoing relationship with the teacher. I remember lessons and/or teachable moments with teachers that knew me as a person- my biology teacher that I babysat for, my history teacher who was my friend's dad, my psychology teacher that I also was a teacher's aide for and we talked about life during that time, and my business education teacher that I went to church with. 
• The lesson was not the norm. It was kinesthetic, hands-on, not "sit and get." I remember learning how to do a Rubic's cube in 7th grade math class. I remember dissecting a frog in biology. I remember my geography teacher pretending our desks were planes and we would look out different windows to learn where different countries were in relation to each other. 
• It was a non-traditional way of showing my learning. I remember researching/creating my science fair project for 7th and 8th grade that was on the topic of the value of holistic herbal remedies. I remember creating an emergency first aid/wilderness box in 6th grade before a week of outdoor learning at Rock Eagle. I remember being asked to sing something to see if I could reach a certain octave to try out for a solo.
• It caused an emotional response of pride or embarrassment. In 5th grade I remember my art work being chosen as a basis for the mural going down the hallway in my elementary school and I got to be pulled out of class to help paint it. I remember being chosen in 12th grade to take Accounting 2 even though it wasn't a class being offered and it would be me doing it on my own during a typing class that the business ed teacher was teaching. I remember being chosen to be on the 9th grade yearbook team. I remember taking 12th grade dual enrollment english and my professor recognizing an open letter assignment I had written and him reading it to the entire class because it was well written in his eyes, but I also remember that same professor leading a discussion on the wife of Bath in the Canterbury Tales and discussing the importance of her gap-toothed reference and me being mortified because I had a gap between my two front teeth. 
• The class had good whole group dialogue. If a culture of safety in sharing existed, I remember those discussions. I remember the value of hearing the thoughts of my school mates. I remember sharing my own thoughts on subjects and believe it or not, I was shy. It took a LOT for me to add to conversations. 
• If more than one of the above happened in a classroom I am more likely to have even more memories. For instance, I can remember word for word lessons in classes where I felt a connection to the teacher and felt empowered by the way the classroom dynamics were.

So what does this mean? As we are planning forward in creating both scope and sequence and lessons for next year, I find myself thinking on the value of recognizing positive achievements in my students, creating opportunities for learning that allow them to use different modalities of instruction, being intentional in knowing the students I'm working with and their likes/dislikes even if it is just about the lesson at hand, and creating a culture where students feel safe to be transparent in their learning- where failing is a learning opportunity and collaboration is safe. I don't remember ever having the opportunity to participate in project based learning or solving real world problems. I wonder what that would have done to my processing? 

And then I find myself asking...Should all lessons be memorable? Is there value in the mundane? What would students say? Can there be too much engagement sometimes? and finally...How do we define the process of "what makes a good lesson?" What role does technology play in all this today?

When the Tragic Happens

Yesterday afternoon while doing a very normal thing of getting my hair done after school and checking local social media...my heart lurched. I found myself refreshing a local news source's Twitter feed feverishly as reports posted about a horrific bus accident in Chattanooga carrying 35 elementary school students from local Woodmore elementary. I immediately started pleading with God that there would be no tragedies but after seeing the photo of the crash site I realized that probably wouldn't be the case. As of now, there are 5 confirmed fatalities ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade and 6 children still in ICU.

As a teacher, this weighed so heavily on my heart. It would be a lie if I said I don't often imagine worse case scenarios regarding our students. I imagine what I would do if their was an active shooter on campus. I imagine what I would do if a tornado hit our school instead of miraculously bouncing over it like it did a few years ago. It's part of who we are as teachers...we have been entrusted to care for our students. Therefore children aren't just students, they are our babies.

I don't work in that school or that school district but my heart feels wrenched in two as I think of what those teachers, administrators, students and families are going through right now. Chattanooga knows how to come together in the face of tragedy. We did it just a few months ago due to a terrorist attack. But no community wants to be put to the test regarding unity in the midst of tragedy. Our children are having to deal with the idea of mortality too quickly here in Chattanooga. It affects us all, but right now my prayers are that the right words would be said as the Hamilton County Department of Education community strives to meet the needs of their hurt and confused. These educators need wisdom and discernment in double doses today.

I find myself calling on the name of Jesus this morning for both emotional and physical healing for those closest and/or most affected by this tragedy. At our school, today just happens to be Grandparents Day. I can't think of a better day for our students...to be surrounded by extra people that love them unconditionally while we all try to make sense of this. I believe that God's timing is always perfect but it's so hard, in our earthly bodies, to understand this. I find myself being thrown back to December 5, 1997 to the still birth of my sweet baby girl, Grace Morrow Davis. I'm already praying for these families as they face future holidays. It changes life forever.

As I feel so utterly useless in this moment to this community, I believe there is so much I can take away from this to be a better mother and educator. I am struck with just how fragile life is and I am reminded that we all have struggles and demons that we deal with daily. I have my own two girls that both have medical issues that could potentially shorten their life expectancy if they don't make wise choices during their lifetime. Being face to face with the mortality of young people reminds me to treasure each moment as a mom and a teacher more and more. We aren't promised tomorrow but oh how we take it for granted. I am challenged today to bathe others in prayer and lead them to the open arms of Jesus. Five little angels in one horrific accident opens my eyes wide to self-reflection and growth. While it isn't about me, changing habits and culture of ingratitude and lack of caring for others with my whole heart can begin with me. And speeding while driving, I can change that too.