Back in the Saddle
I returned today after the most unusual January in my time as Headmaster.
First there was my father's passing and all that entailed--thank you, Trinity Community, for the many expressions of care and concern and for your prayers. Then I had the better part of a week at the annual conference of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools. (Truth be told, I probably would have skipped this year, except that I am serving a two-year stint as President and really needed to be there. I'm glad I went, as it was a great conference.) I came back to Trinity for one afternoon of interviews and then headed to Florida for Study Leave. While there, I worked on a book of essays for Trinity's upcoming twentieth, tried to rest a good bit, rode my bike, and had some great time with my wife. We came back from Florida by way of Knoxville (not the shortest route), avoiding Atlanta the day after the snow debacle (definitely not the shortest route) to be with my mother and brother for a few days.
It's always a challenge to come back; usually the things that are waiting are not the Ataboys and the Celebrations. But I came in today expecting that (and I will say that I wasn't disappointed). We started out with a power outage!
Actually, I started with something much better: With US Cornerstone, with carpool and with the First Grade Fairy Tale in Mrs. Wright's room. Every year I think this project gets better and better. It is excellent teaching and learning: students writing, students handwriting, students reading their own work, students interpreting their own work, creative writing appropriate for first graders, collaborative work among the class to write one story, imitation of the genre of fairy tales, appropriation of the genre for the students' own purposes, embodying characters through costume and performance, and translating their work into a medium that can be shared with many. Here is classical education for the twenty-first century. Here is excellent appropriation of technology and the new experiences of learning it affords. And when the parents and grandparents show up each year, it is a great celebration.
Here are a couple of pictures from today's cast of heroes and heroines:
And to top it all off, I got to be part of the pep rally for Spirit Week in the gym. Not a bad day for a first day back.
First there was my father's passing and all that entailed--thank you, Trinity Community, for the many expressions of care and concern and for your prayers. Then I had the better part of a week at the annual conference of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools. (Truth be told, I probably would have skipped this year, except that I am serving a two-year stint as President and really needed to be there. I'm glad I went, as it was a great conference.) I came back to Trinity for one afternoon of interviews and then headed to Florida for Study Leave. While there, I worked on a book of essays for Trinity's upcoming twentieth, tried to rest a good bit, rode my bike, and had some great time with my wife. We came back from Florida by way of Knoxville (not the shortest route), avoiding Atlanta the day after the snow debacle (definitely not the shortest route) to be with my mother and brother for a few days.
It's always a challenge to come back; usually the things that are waiting are not the Ataboys and the Celebrations. But I came in today expecting that (and I will say that I wasn't disappointed). We started out with a power outage!
Actually, I started with something much better: With US Cornerstone, with carpool and with the First Grade Fairy Tale in Mrs. Wright's room. Every year I think this project gets better and better. It is excellent teaching and learning: students writing, students handwriting, students reading their own work, students interpreting their own work, creative writing appropriate for first graders, collaborative work among the class to write one story, imitation of the genre of fairy tales, appropriation of the genre for the students' own purposes, embodying characters through costume and performance, and translating their work into a medium that can be shared with many. Here is classical education for the twenty-first century. Here is excellent appropriation of technology and the new experiences of learning it affords. And when the parents and grandparents show up each year, it is a great celebration.
Here are a couple of pictures from today's cast of heroes and heroines:
And to top it all off, I got to be part of the pep rally for Spirit Week in the gym. Not a bad day for a first day back.
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