Journal Entry 5 (11/8 LHS visit)

Sometimes factors outside our control intrude with undeniable force and must be reckoned with. Such was the case with Hurricane Sandy, which shortly after my last visit to LHS, knocked out power to millions, cost the Atlantic seaboard billions in damages, ruined homes, destroyed vital infrastructure, and--worst of all--resulted in more than a hundred deaths. On top of all this, a nor'easter blew through last night, cruelly dumping about 6" of snow on a beleaguered populace.

Life goes on, and to prove it, I rallied myself from my nest of blankets in front of my fireplace to my fifth observation. Because of the nor'easter, LHS had a delayed opening. The practical effect of this was far less instructional time. Not only was there a time crunch throughout the day, but the school's computer system was on the blink. All day long my coop teacher had to find creative workarounds to no Internet access and no way to get to his documents.

Other than these hardships, there were a few moments that stood out:

• I got to see Mr. T. call on a child with (what I think is) Asperger's. It was heartening to see him engage this child in the grammar lesson and allow the student the time to wrestle with the question he posed. Mr. T. showed excellent patience and was warmly encouraging as the student thought his way to the right answer.
• I involved myself in class discussions a number of times today. During the grammar discussion, I told students that in my day job at an insurance services company people made subject/verb blunders all the time, particularly when indefinite pronouns were used. I tried to motivate them by showing them that grammar was important outside the classroom and that mastering it would give them a competitive advantage in the workplace. In the journalism class, I suggested students doing survey research for articles should try doing them through Google docs because it would let them effortlessly gather the opinions of a much broader sample of respondents.
• In general, I laughed more and interacted less awkwardly with students than ever before. It is becoming easier and easier to do this as they become accustomed to me and me to them.

I will close with a fervent prayer that my power gets restored soon and that I won't need to resort to posting from the town library...