Back to schools!

So far, 53rd grade is going better than 52nd. Schools are open anyway. This ol’ dog (me, I) was anti-virtual visits at first, but Andrew Green’s Potato Hill Writers‘ Camps (where I guest-teach) the summer of ’19 showed me the light AND the kids’ spaces. I loved seeing the posters, pets, hanging chairs, sibling and parent-bombs. I had to admit, those windows told me a lot more about the person I was working with than an auditorium chair or classroom. Plus, some kids who never would have raised their hands felt comfortable “chatting” with me. And, I get to show kids my studio, the semi-cleaned up version, with the pens, wrinkled tubes of goauche, and desk toys.

That said, I hope I get to go back in the buildings soon, like before I’m 150. There’s no substitute for over-the-shoulder coaching, reading the room, or the smell of fresh cafeteria food mixed with a moist dishline…