Writing Friends for Undergrad Philosophers for #WHYIWRITE & NDOW

In the tradition of Crandall playfulness, I handed out finger puppets to my undergraduates to be intellectual partners while they crafted their educational autobiographies, and reflected on their learning experiences from him, K-12 schooling, extracurriculars, and college experiences. I admitted to them that when I write and craft, I need a little silliness around me, including the fact that when I need to be most serious, I often tie a scarf or tie to my head so my thoughts and ideas don't jump out as quickly as they usually do.

It's been quite a couple of weeks and today is no exception: a faculty meeting, a radio show, and a keynote presentation in Stamford for the National Day on Writing.

Yesterday, one of my students workshopped his crafted narrative to the help of all his peers and, with the help of Dewey, Rizga, Nicholson and Greene, we looked closely at imagination, creativity and community (and how the 3 interchange and/or combat in the arena of K-12 education given the administrative construct of most educational buildings.

I am in my 2nd meeting as the GSEAP Faculty Meeting Chair and, because I found the time, I baked a cake to bring chocolate love to my colleagues and friends in celebration of the hard work we do. We had a slight scare yesterday as one of our favorite colleagues got sick and we quickly moved into worry land. I am happy to report that everything turned out okay and that was a huge relief to many of us.

I'm looking forward to presenting tonight to teenagers and their parents who are part of the Beyond Limits program in Stamford, an organization that works with middle and high school athletes to keep their academics on the up and up, and who are very interested in the development of successful writing. The timing is perfect for the celebration of the The National Day on Writing on October 20th. I am looking forward to meeting new youth from a different part of the state.

Then there's tomorrow. I need to hibernate for many reasons, the first being grading, grading, and well, more grading. I also see that NCTE is around the corner and that, well, is an undertaking and then some.

Oh, if you could see the mess that is my house right now. Scratch that. I would never let you in, but after I do pick up, I will gladly allow you inside.

Happy Thursday.