Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam, and admit that the waters around you have grown, posted at 9:31 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Oh my gosh. I can't believe I'm just getting home. It's been a long-ass day. And I didn't even teach.On day 2 of a two-day between-semester respite from students, I spent much of the morning getting a bulletin board together and rearranging my classroom with the music blasting. There is something very freeing about having your music blasting in a school. I loved it.
Then, the meetings started, and the afternoon slipped away from me. I've done all the fun stuff in getting ready for the new semester, but not enough of the nitty gritty.
I still don't have a syllabus written for my freshmen seminar class. It's going to be a long night.
But I'm extremely excited about the new semester.
***
"After Jan. 29, (name of school) will never be the same."
That was the anonymous note mailed to my school this morning. Everyone is freaking out, there is going to be tons of security, and we have emergency protocol in place. I'm trying not to be concerned - telling myself this probably happens all the time - but the meeting divulging the information was very serious and everyone is on edge. I probably shouldn't put it in this journal, but I wanted to let you all know that if something happens tomorrow in Baltimore, that I heroically went into work tomorrow despite the threat. :)
Someone had a good point, though... the "nothing will be the same" comment could actually be a good thing. Like, maybe we'll get a huge grant tomorrow and teachers won't have to buy their own paper. Who knows?
***
Tonight was the rehearsal for my big poetry performance project with students. The performance is Thursday, and it's going to be a blast. The kids have worked hard and many of their poems are amazing. I'm excited for it, even if I do have to give opening remarks (I'm a bit nervous about that).
I gave five kids a ride home afterwards. At one point, I had a black girl, a white girl, and a Latino boy - driven by me, their white teacher - deep in a Baltimore ghetto, listening to the Beatles and then a Tracy Chapman cover of Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing" with the windows down. I'm not putting an editorial comment in there; I just remember thinking to myself, wow, this probably doesn't happen every day.
**
This entry has been pretty crummy. Better you go read my cousin's, a 14-year old who writes amazingly. I know about her diary, and she knows I know and that I read, but she doesn't know about this one. Weird, eh?