Little Labbin' with Big Imaginations! How Cool Is It To Get Homework from 8 - 11 Year Olds? I Got This! Ribbit Ribbit!

I am loving the online literacy labs and am so proud of my teaching network for making the summer camps extra special, humorous, fun, engaging, interactive, and inspiring. I was with the older kids on Day One of developing a character then swiped over to see what the 2nd week of Little Labs for Big Imaginations were doing. They were laughing hysterically when I entered and I asked, "What's so funny?"

Of course they replied, "Your face."

Actually, I am too new to them for such humor, so I arrived with my frog-friend and listened as Jessica Baldizon was challenging them to create a super-duper list about something they love and are passionate about.

50 THINGS! Wow. I wish my elementary school teachers challenged me to 50 things! Then a boy put the challenge out to me. I bet you can't come up with 50 things to do with a rubber frog!

Challenge taken, buckaroo. There's much to be done with a rubber frog.

50 Things to Do with a Rubber Frog (aka meeting the little lab challenge)

1. Chase your sister, of course.
2. Torment the dog.
3. Do rubber dissections.
4. Walk the streets in search of a rubber Miss Piggy.
5. Scare the neighborhood flies away.
6. Juggle him with your rubber chicken and rubber ducky.
7. Play a rubber chef and make rubber frog legs (they say they chase like chicken).
8. Challenge him to a game of hopscotch.
9. Attract herons to the yard.
10. Also attract snakes.
11. Leave in toilet somewhere.
12. Make frog noises with it.
13. Name at least 10 other green things with him.
14. Upload videos to Tik Tok, of course. 
15. Put it in a wig and tell everyone it's your grandma.
16. Take it for a bike ride on your shoulder.
17. Teach it to skateboard.
18. Teach him how to dance the floss.
19. Have him use his tongue to get the crumbs off you from the cookie you just ate.
20. Use him to spellcheck.
21. Have him stuffed when on a cruise and gifted to a friend like Jessica did.
22. Put him in a top hat and give him a cane to see if he can sing.
23. Play Frogger with him and his friends.
24. Ask him to tell you what it was like when he was just a tadpole.
25. Duh. Play Leap Frog.
26. Put him in lipstick and wait for all the women to flock to him looking for a prince.
27. Teach him to sing Baby Shark.
28. Debate with him what is better? Pizza, Hamburgers, Hotdogs, or Dragonflies.
29. Have him teach his friends to stay out of your mother's pool.
30. Put him in the freezer and take him out when you need a friend.
31. Brush their teeth. They do have teeth. 
32. Read Frog and Toad stories.
33. Stretch him around your head like he's a headband.
34. Leave him in the mailbox so the mail person gets a surprise.
35. Pretend to eat him like you're an alien creature.
36. Bring him to school and only talk to him so everyone thinks you're super crazy.
37. Shake him frantically as if he's Kermit at the end of the Muppet Show.
38. See if he floats in the bathtub.
39. Have him watch you fill up your writer's notebook
40. Take him to see Hamilton.
41. Have him go eat Vietnamese food with Miss Mindy.
42. Get him stuck in Ms. Stefania's hair. 
43. Assign him to get all the indoor spiders.
44. Teach him sign language.
45. Share your best frog noise impersonations.
46. Write him letters and send them to the Lily Pad (true story that).
47. Buy him wind-up toys to play with.
48. Write him a frog-poem that leaps across the page.
49. Introduce him to your invisible friends, and
50. Obviously, sing the Rainbow Connection.

Ta-da! The 50-list. Thanks for the writing prompt. Absolutely love the big imaginations!

Don't Anybody Diss My Work Space on Campus Until You've Seen Me Clean My Home Space

I am blaming John Tesh for this one, because I heard him say something about a cluttered desk makes for an inner sense of chaos, which causes binge drinking, eating, shopping, and whoring it up around town. Well, he didn't say anything about being a whore, but that was the impression he tried to leave his listeners.

I thought, "Holy shit. If he saw my bedroom right now he would think I have tremendous issues with maintaining control."

Admittedly, when I moved to Fairfield University I brought all my books and toys and Brown School shenanigans and mementos and gadgets and memories to that space so I could declutter my home life and live in serenity upon the return. This has been my motto, for the most part, until Covid-19 hit, where slowly my bedroom began to look more and more like Pee-Wee's playhouse and my books are starting to creep up in piles everywhere. When one ZOOMs 12-hours a day, one needs to be ready. I like to play. I prefer shenanigans. It has taken over the make-shift office space in my home.

Well, last night, before bed, I folded Chitunga's laundry (part of me pretending to take control) and cleaned the bedroom so that it will have a fresh start. Viewers never see the dust, garbage piles, dog hair, scrap paper, or lunch dishes because I keep them off screen. I know I'm a bit of a pack-rack like my Grannie Annie and my mother, but if anyone's ever seen my dad's man cave (especially his sixteen bowls of tweezers, thread, clippers, scissors, lighters, razors, pens, etc. that he sits by, one would probably yell, "Son of a Butch," with ease). I get it from him, too.

This morning, however, welcoming another 50 kids to our summer programs, I will welcome them at a clean desk - psoriasis cream stashed away, forks taken to the sink, dog bones brought to the basket downstairs. They'll get the simulacra of professional Bryan, Dr. C., who doesn't want John Tesh getting into his head.

I don't impulse shop because my desk is a mess. I might impulse work, however...but that's okay

Monday. We're at it again.

Success. Kayaked to Charles Island and Back, Only to Be the Tug Boat for the Party Raft Later On

I successfully took the day off; was out of my house by 9 a.m. and on the water by 9:55. I immediately set out on the kayak to make it to Charles Island, because it's been a goal of mine for three years. I did it - there and back, although coming back was not as easy because the current was beginning to pull towards low tide.

The hard work was pulling Leo, Bev, Pam, and Kaitlyn....the task that came when I returned. It's all good. I wanted the exercise, and the sun felt great. They got to chill and I got upper body exercise.

I'd say I'm a lobster, but I tan really easy, so I just got really dark. The skin absorbed a lot of sun in one day, which is what I wanted....a day at the beach and I turned red, only to turn brown.

I have to say that Milford is doing a phenomenal job keeping the crowds down, the out-of-towners off-cite, and the beach for the locals only. While I was kayaking, I couldn't believe how skimpy the crowds were (which they should be). It still feels weird to be out and about, but we sat away, and even with one another we kept out distance.

And there it is, people. All summer in a day for Crandall, because I need to get back to work. And it was wonderful on the 4th that the ocean temperatures were so cold. Loved every second of it.

But time to grind again.

Channeling All Powers That Be To Give Me a Saturday, a 4th of July, with Rest. Please.

I seriously could post a Covid-Hair photo every day, because I continuously am humored by my morning head. This morning, however, I'm giving in and, to the best of my abilities, plan to take the entire day off.

Chitunga drove up to Syracuse for the weekend, simply because he needed a semblance of normalcy. He's gone to stay with his college roommate, and I was thrilled to learn they were socially distancing with my parents, including a beer with Butch.

Yesterday, we finished week one of Young Adult Literacy Labs: the teaching, the zooming, the writing, the workshopping, the conferencing, the editing, and the reflecting. Of course, every second of it is also data collecting, especially with the online reality for summer programs.

The teachers and I concluded, although it is less face-to-face time with kids (two hours instead of six hours), the planning offline to have a smooth-online experience takes the other 4 hours). I can say that this was appreciated by week one attendees, who unanimously loved their experience - except one kid. He said he hated it. But when I asked him why he put that on the exit survey he replied, "I hate that it was only one week, and I can have you teachers all the time."

Thanks, kid. Now I have to justify the one outlier, who wasn't an outlier, but a shrewd young man.

Next week, we quadruple our programs, so I will be more frenzied. This week, though, I've been working to get time so I can edit the two revisions needing the most attention. Scholarship is the other job, beyond teaching, service, and directing the writing project at Fairfield.

Tanya Baker and I also recorded another epic THE WRITE TIME - phew. It was fantastic, and I can't wait for that to debut in a couple of weeks. They keep getting better and better.

But that photo...this photo...it captures me well. I plan on celebrating my independence on a kayak on the Long Island Sound. I keep saying I won't work, but know I will this morning, before I head off for the day.

In the meantime, I hope everyone and all stays distant and safe. I ran to the local convenient store to get ice this afternoon and there wasn't a single person with a mask on, besides me and the workers. That's the first of this kind I've seen since March....but it was pouring rain, and by the looks of it (and the purchases of cigarettes, beer, and spliffs)....that crowd wasn't conscious about anything other than having a selfishly grande ol' time....all power to them...in their own spaces, and away from others.

I'm sort of short-circuiting knowing I don't have a single ZOOM obligation today.

A Crandall First - Competitive e-Gamer Presentation to the Sports & Gaming Literacy Lab

Robby Mitchell, retired career e-gamer and current game software developer stopped into the Game On! Sports literacy lab yesterday to discuss the athleticism of competitive gaming, the characteristics for the best games, and current design projects he is working on.

Watching the faces of 5th-8th grade students light up when they learned he was coming was absolutely golden. This is not anywhere near my generation; for me, Pac Man was too advanced. It is amazing to see where the digital worlds have gone, especially as he shared with us professional gamers, their moves, the calories they burn, the strategies they take, and the arenas from where they play. It was pretty interesting, especially because Robby shared his screen and offer such cool graphics to teach the middle school students. I was hooked.

It also helped that he had a natural presence with the kids, kept the conversation engaging, and had so many visuals. I already know what Words with Friends does to me...I can imagine the other addictions that could come soon after.

Asked, what makes a good game, Robby Mitchell responded: 1. level of mastery, 2. art/graphics, 3. audio, 4. twists in plot/use, and 5. passion. I am channeling the Super Nintendo Days of the late 80s and early 90s - so much gaming history...no wonder it became a sport.

I see the parallels to writing.

Even so, I'm exhausted. TGIF.

Gaming Sports & Writing Games - A Fusion of Student Words (& a Found Poem of Sorts)

(Each kid offered me 5 words they associate with writing and 5 words they associate with sports and from there...a word list...a poem was born)

...is a flow, y’know,

a metaphor for rivers

& an algorithm for agonizing alliteration

where

   breathing 

      composing

         & story-telling

arrive to the keyboard and the laptop of our soul.

We just need letters

to compose a biography

a life of emotions

from memory,

connections

descriptions
depictions

pen

pencil 

paper

imagination

drafting

   editing 

simple exploration

with creative vocabulary

and exponential hyperboles (Holy Cow, Batman!)

because every poetic essay

is a thesis

  with no conclusion -

just the passion

without the complex sentence

compounded

in a celebration of literacy

    history, 

       and the symphony 

of writing blogs,

  reading books

                               and taking action.

If this was math, it’d be a fraction

   but this is life, so I’m writing the whole thing…

       sports writers, & wondering what you’ll bring. 

Gaming is…

running,

jumping,

tackling,

writing

Sporting is sweating

cheering, adhering (@#$@#$ - sometimes swearing) 

Knowing we will persevere.

in victory, 

no need to referee

these summer lab Olympics

The Umpire always strikes back

& words will always be the Defense,

the attack,

the stamina from notebooks,

no Injury of the mind

        cuz this is durability...

We are human kind...

  a homerun

a touchdown

the way we pass

shoot & Square-up

The dodge

 & the fight

(sometimes even the throw up)

We have might as we write

   doing flip turns in the pool

our offense

is the perfect defense

(cuz the way we ball is cool)

the swoosh,

the guard, all the ways we block

success cradled in our arms

an inventory, this stock

We are passing

running

pointing

winning

knowing

non-writer always lose...

the writer travels without traveling

    they coast on the intellectual cruise

Just watch our replay. 

& the free-play of our words.

     we soar towards the magic

     & the height of the birds.

Game On! Sports writers

     keep dreaming for the win…

    plant a seed in your notebooks,

       that’s where you’ll begin.

    

Hump-Day For Sports Writing - We Are Online and Making Magic Happen. Feeling Thankful

So I taught Steve Johnston when he was a freshman at Fairfield University and the one thing always on his mind was basketball. He had a great career as a high school student, but nothing came through for collegiate ball, so he came to Fairfield University. The semester with me, he wrote (and researched) often on issues of basketball, but also began volunteering with the team. His grudge-work began building relationships, and his perseverance soon caught the coach's attention. By his senior year he was a co-captain, driven player for the Fairfield Stags.

Yesterday, Steve was a guest for the middle school sports writers, sharing his story of not giving up on a dream and drawing parallels between being a player who wants to win and a writer who wants to achieve. I've been following his social media activity, where he is now mentoring, coaching, serving, and dreaming with young athletes all over Connecticut.

Four years on a campus flies by. Teaching on a campus flies by even faster. It's fascinating to see the man he is becoming.

With that noted, hump day is hump day, and I'm fried. Finishing numerous ZOOM activities during the day, I realized I also had to train the next batch of teachers who will be coming for next week's literacy labs. I've been co-teaching with William King this week simply to get the ebb and flow of working in digital spaces with K-12 youth. So far, so good. Everyone seems to be having a blast.

I am thankful, however, to have special guests visiting with their own narratives. It mades teaching that much easier.

Phew. But now it's time for another day.