Sanity Week

There is this spot on route 9 coming up on Croton where the tree line thins to give way to a wide angle view of the river, now half frozen, and the mountains, now scattered with snow but ready to spring back to life.  Today the weather was bleak.  While driving, dark gray clouds monopolized the sky and fat raindrops plummeted onto my windshield in an uneven and obnoxious rhythm.  But among this apparent and broad gloom, I had the same thought I always have on this spot of road as I drove home from home (to Brooklyn, from Garrison) this afternoon.  I am beyond lucky.  I am so fortunate that I feel as though I'm going to have to spend my lifetime trying to pay the universe back for all the good favor present in my life.  Even that will not be enough, but I'll try anyway.

My Valentine's Day Presents from Mom. 

Can you tell that I am feeling well and rested?  It's the product of February break - a welcome week off to rejuvenate the spirits and thus reinvest in the work of the school year.  For this blessed week, I did not travel off to a warm climate or a cultural epicenter.  Instead I spent the week relaxing at home with family and running necessary errands.  I feel like balance has been restored to my being and my surroundings and by Monday I will be all but zen-like. 

Some of the best dogs ever. 

Leek and pancetta salad

Tonight, Mike and I are making dinner for my grandparents.  It has to be good because they are both world-class cooks who feed us mountains of gloriousness every time we come home.  Mike is making chicken parmesan over spaghetti and I'm making the salad.  This recipe is exceedingly good and is entirely mine, inspired by an Italian salad I once ordered.

Makes 3 servings to stand alone as lunch, or about 5 servings as a side.  

1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces
Bag of mixed greens/spring mix
4 oz. pancetta, chopped (I like 1/2 inch or so cubes)
1 trimmed leek, chopped at about the same size as the pancetta
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
few pinches of pepper

For the dressing, combine:

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

juice from 1/2 a lemon

1/2 tbsp honey

salt and pepper

Toast the walnuts in a 350 degree oven until fragrant, 5-10 minutes (keep an eye out).  In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients well.  Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees until pancetta is beginning to crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes to crisp up some more.  Toss pancetta and leeks with the greens, walnuts, and vinaigrette (store bought is fine, and you can even just use oil and vinegar alone, but I like the sweet and citrusy combination above).  Serve immediately.

Frustration

I have profound and fundamental issues with skating by.  You know, the process by which a person follows just enough of the rules, does just enough of the work, and acts like just enough of a decent human being to pass as whatever they are supposed to be or at whatever they are supposed to do.  Maybe it's because I was guilty of this lazy tendency for my first 17 or so years of life, or maybe it's because I now spend mountains of energy and time trying to drill the propensity out of students.  With the kids it can get tiring, but it doesn't really bother me much.  They are children, and they are growing.  Like me and many, many Americans out there, they will learn and they'll get it together.  With adults, however, it truly grates on my nerves - the idea that it is anywhere near acceptable or forgivable to do the bare minimum.  I would think that at least some of the time a grown person would want to exert a bit more effort than would be required in order to just graze the bottom of the bar.  Maybe try exceeding the expectations once in a while rather than perpetually falling an inch and a half short (far enough to get super irritating, yet not far enough to warrant the time it would take someone to address).  This kind of behavior is maddening and a slap in the face to the rest of us, but what's even more insolent is the fact that people who skate by actually think they are slick about it.  They think they have gotten one over on those around them.  Meanwhile, it's glaringly obvious from a mile and a half away.  Grow up and step up, or for God's sake stop putting on a show.  If you plan to skate by, at least have the nerve to do it with some dignity and stop pretending that you are anything more than just (barley) enough.

5 great happenings

This weekend, some very cool things happened. Needless to say, Monday morning was rough.  Here are the highlights...

1. I booked our flights to Koh Samui and found a fabulous resort to spend our final days in Thailand this summer. 
2. Jan retrieved from the attic two items of serious interest: the hundred and something year old veil I'll wear at my wedding, and her own wedding dress which I have stolen and will wear to our rehearsal dinner.  It's knee-length, ivory, comes with a swanky coat, and is so very Jackie.
3. Pop turned 80!  Actually, Pop turned 80 today, but we had his party yesterday afternoon.  Big family brunch at the Hotel Thayer in a gorgeous room overlooking the river.  Mimosas, the whole crew (minus William who had to work, BOO) and as much food as you could possibly eat.  Since we were a day early in our celebrations, I called Pop this evening to sing to him again.  He said he had a great day and he couldn't have imagined anything better.  In particular he loved the read-aloud that us grandkids did (top 25 things we love about Pop - Kathy's very cute idea). He really is a softy; don't let him fool you.
4. Danielle and Susan came over to watch football and eat wings and guacamole.  And my guacamole came out really good.
5. Ben Roethlisberger lost the Superbowl and I didn't have to listen to that stupid "Black and Yellow" song at all on the morning after.  

Good weekend?  Most certainly. 

Teachers

There are way too many teachers out there who need to find a new line of work.  Not because they are still developing their skills or still learning how to be good instructional leaders, but because their desire for a paycheck, an airtight union contract, and a 3pm end of day outweighs their concern for the individuals sitting in front of them day in and day out.  These teachers (you know, the ones who care more about themselves than the future of our country) are a great departure from the ones that I remember growing up.  In the hopes that more of the good ones would join the profession, I'm going to throw out into the blogosphere/universe the names of some of MY most amazing teachers.  


Dodge, Gale, Solan, Reynolds, Levy.  If you've had them, you likely remember them and are grateful for their brief presence in your childhood.  Someone get more of them to come teach.  Now.  


A note to clarify: these individuals did not impact my life because they were excellent pedagogues.  They were excellent pedagogues, of course, but that's not why I remember them 5, 10, and 15 years later.  I don't remember how Mrs. Dodge taught me to be a better reader, but I remember listening to her read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe while sitting on the carpet, enthralled, and how Dodge city (our class token economy) was like the coolest thing ever.  I can't recall the structure of Ms. Solan's lessons, or the notes she gave us, but I definitely remember enjoying math more than I ever had before, and I remember getting a 98 on the regents after getting a 72 the year before (no secret that the teacher is the key).  There probably wasn't anything terribly remarkable about the textbook we used in Ms. Levy's class, or the way she assigned our homework, but the short time out of class that she sometimes took to do trivia or incite my impersonations of other, less admired staff members (SHAPIRO) - those were the remarkable things about school; the moments we laughed together as a class and sat on the edge of our seats and believed we could be really really smart.  These moments may not fall under the act of teaching, but they are a big part of what it means to be a good teacher.  It's a hard thing to remember in the current climate of high-stakes standardized testing, tenure debates, and drastic budget cuts that threaten our livelihood, but that's what it comes down to.  


And so, the bottom line comes from a David Brooks early January New Yorker article: "We’ve spent a generation trying to reorganize schools to make them better, but the truth is that people learn from the people they love."


End. of. story.