This whole mess with Brenda... it has hurt... it hurts me. It hurts my kids... It hurts her.
But life goes on.
My psoriasis has kicked up. When I grip a doorknob, or microphone, or camera, I leave little specks of blood. A faux stigmata in my palm when I spread my fingers to pick up something.
Whatever.
I gave Jeremiah a haircut tonight... he really doesn’t wash his hair properly. I shampooed him to show him once again how he needs to get his scalp clean. He did OK on shaving tonight.
Brenda was with the boys today. I took my Lego Robotics team to the regional tournament today.
Lego provides a system that includes a small processor in a Lego “brick” allowing students to write programs so the brightly colored machines scamper about a challenge board completing various missions around some theme... This year it’s about climate change.
I have been working with a group of students for three months... coaching them to work as a team... problem solve... engineering, programming...
I had to cut a couple of kids from the team. They were domineering, self-centered...
But without those two the team was cohesive... a group... friends... listening and helping each other.
Today was the regional tournament.
It’s a new team. All but one are sixth graders. They are cute. Not that mature... unable to do much in the way of sophisticated programming. But they are friends. They listen to each other. I insist on it.
They were so cute. All day... so cute. Helping each other... being twelve.
There was a strange incident at the beginning of the day. There are four tasks the team “Dark Moon” had to do today, a teamwork challenge, a presentation on climate change, an examination of their engineering and programming, and the robot missions... three tries at the mission challenge board... watching their robot scamper about, solving problems under the guidance of programs they wrote.
Their first time up at the challenge table I brought a video camera to record the event. We will go over the video next week. The video will help us analyze what worked, what didn’t.
Picking a spot to video tape is tricky. I have to be out of the way of the judges, the two teams, the referees, and the video camera projecting the competition onto a large screen.
I asked a judge if it would be alright if I stood in a particular spot to video tape my team.
“Sure that would be fine. Go ahead.”
I went and stood in the spot. There was a sign on the floor about not blocking the tables. I was unsure if it meant that I shouldn’t stand between the signs and the table, or shouldn’t stand on that side of the tables at all.
There were two referees on the other side of the gym. I asked them. They said that it was fine to tape from there.
The competition began. My students nervously stood by their base at the board... The large clock clicked on the seconds. Two minutes and thirty seconds.
“Hey, get out of the way!!!”
An elderly gentleman was shouting at me. He was right behind me, sitting on the bleachers. I winced. His angry shout would be heard on the tape I wanted to review again and again with my roboticists.
He never stopped. Throughout the two and a half minutes he continued to shout at me... he was joined by others who felt I didn’t have permission to stand beside my team and video tape them.
The time was up... I moved away... or tried to. I was suddenly surrounded by angry adults. One grabbed me by the elbow, spun me around. A surprisingly large man.
He was shouting profanities, yelling about how I blocked the view of his father... a problem that could have been solved had the man slid two feet on the bench.
"Please keep your voice down," I said. "I don't want my students to hear you."
A woman slapped me a couple of times on my arm...
“You should be ashamed of yourself!” she shouted. “You had no right to stand in front of us!”
Someone shoved me from behind. I was surrounded by four angry adults... shouting.
It was unnerving.
They stormed off.
The wife of the large man slid up to me.
"I'm sorry," she said. "My husband should not have talked to you that way."
The angry adults, unable to take their anger to a more physical level, went in search of tournament officials. Officials who found me later to reassure me, apologize to me for my embarrassment.
The rest of the day went well.
The students weren’t perfect. Each of their presentations, examinations, and challenges were OK, even great, but certainly not perfect.
Still, I was proud of my students.
They may not have been perfect, but they were excited and having fun. They cared for each other. They were friends, and their friendliness spread around them... they helped everyone they met.
It was just a regional tournament. And these kids are a team for the first time. Their programming is clumsy, their engineering basic. But they did not dominate each other. They worked together at everything. It may not have been perfect, but it was together.
It almost wasn’t that way. Two students... two students who I told could not make the team. They were too domineering... not caring about others enough. I pointed out each time they had dominated the team, hurting others, and asked them to move to another activity.
So today they were a team without a domineering member.
The award ceremony was fun. The kids were called down with all the other kids, given their token ribbons. My kids had a great time.
We applauded all the other awards. Politely, even a little enthusiastically.
The first five awards were for recognition of top teams in engineering, teamwork, all sorts of categories. We didn’t get any.
That’s OK. We didn’t expect an award. We just went to have fun.
The ceremony went on to the higher level awards. Ones that would lead to invitations to go to the state tournament.
Imagine our surprise when we received the award for the runner up to the top prize, the tournament champion award.
WE RECEIVED SECOND PLACE OUT OF THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT!!! WE ARE GOING TO STATE!!!!
My team marched across the stage, got their trophy... I was nearby... taking pictures. I was so proud of those kids!
After snapping their pictures I rushed the stage and threw out my arms.
“I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!” I shouted.
All those great kids lept into my arms. I hugged them all. It was so very cool.
I came home. Brenda arrived with the boys a few minutes later.
She is feeling deep regret over her actions. I can read her moods... she is falling into a deep pit of sorrow. I teared up when I gave her hug. A gesture of love, forgiveness, and a statement that it is simply too late.
Never before in the history of mankind could a journal be so public. I love jotting down my thoughts... and it helps knowing someone hears, following my journey.
I gave Jeremiah a haircut...
My kids and I just finished watching It’s a Wonderful Life... a Christmas classic.
They didn’t think they would like it. But... they did.
Tomorrow we go to church early. Jeremiah is drumming during the service. Isaac is ushering. My boss, a non-christian, said he might be there with his family
Another digital chapter.
6 comments:
Congradulations on going to State! This could be a life changer for some of those kids....It could encourage them in ways you could never know, how wonderful.
My daughter won a scholarship to go to a special event at NASA last spring where they did something very much like this. The team she was on came in third place and she was so excited about the experience.
I hope that you and the boys have a great Christmas....
Wonderful!
Congrats on moving on to the state finals!
I love It's a Wonderful Life. My Christmas isn't complete unless I watch it at least three times.
Congratulations, Will! Not just for coaching the team so well... but for having the integrity to teach them things far more important than the contest was designed to judge.
Btw... you look great. Your hand though... not so much (ouch!)
you're amazing!!!!!
Have to say I'm very glad you're not dealing with the hourly drama of having B in your home. I feel for her but again her choice.
thanks amigo! great post!.
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