WOW, it is Day 65 of #summerbreak2024. Time moves quickly during summer. It seems that it was just other day when it was the last day of school, and we were waving good bye to the buses as they left the parking lot.
It also seems that just the other day, I was sitting with a group of new teachers at Gregory Middle School for my first day of teaching in August 1999. This year I begin my twenty-sixth year of teaching and learning. Which also means that I am coming back after an amazing summer break, my twenty-fifth as a teacher.
I hope you have been spending your summer doing things which matter.
I spent my summer traveling and focusing on family and baseball.
I am a baseball fan, and my favorite team is the Houston Astros. I grew up in the Houston area watching baseball in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was the world’s first domed stadium. I’ve watched baseball, football (college and NFL), soccer (the other football) the rodeo, concerts, demolition derbies, and probably more in that stadium.
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to see major league baseball in every stadium in major league baseball. This summer I made it my 29th major league city and 32nd stadium overall. I visited Toronto and took in two games. I have one more city to make it all 30 – Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox.
I had planned to visit Boston this weekend, but I can’t – it’s our daughter-in-law’s baby shower this Sunday and I’ll be there. She is expecting twin boys in November, and they will be our first grand kids. We are very excited.
I am excited about the new school year.
I’ll be teaching sixth grade science and out topics are light, stuff, and energy. But really, I am teaching kids how to think like a scientist and ask questions.
A few summers ago, I was reading a book, and I came across the most amazing passage,
“Oh no no no. Far from it. What I love about science is that as you learn, you don’t really get answers. You just get better questions”
from Turtles All the Way Down – John Green (2017)
I sat up and re-read it. Powerful.
Science isn’t about answers, it’s about questions. It’s about learning and growing.
This year is going to be my twenty-sixth year of a teaching and learning. I hope my students learn as much from me as I do from them.
I am excited about the new year and new opportunities to learn and grow. I am also looking forward to squeezing a little more from #summerbreak2024.
I look forward to sharing more on Semper Sharkus dot org about how sixth grade science is moving forward this year. A shark is curious and full of wonder.
Semper sharkus, once a shark, always a shark.