I just got back from the woods that line the property of my school. A student eloped today and headed into the thicket of trees. We got him back inside, safe and sound. I found out he had someone else’s shoes with him and had chucked them up into an evergreen tree. I was told they were at least 40 feet off the ground. Back to the trees I trudged. Through the calf-deep snow I stomped. This time I had a telescoping pole with me. After about 7 minutes of searching, I found them both. Knocked some branches and got the shoes.

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I show up every day and teach what I know to be true. Be kind. Use nice words. Ask others what you can do to help. It is easy to sustain this message and continue this path when all the people around you are joining in the optimistic chorus. I have become dispirited lately. I am weary and unsure of my impact, if any, upon the lives of the children I am charged with teaching. To water a sapling that produces new shoots, leaves, and flowers is indeed satisfying. But I seem to keep getting snared by thorns anytime I go in close to administer care. On Tuesday sat down with my administrator to review her observation of my teaching the previous day. "Your classroom is filled with care and comfort. I can see it in how calmly the students regard you and each other." It was a very affirming meeting. I confided to her that, for the first time in the 2+ years that I had worked as a SpEd teacher, I was finally gaining traction. Gone were the daily, chaotic, scream-filled, drama plays where one student's trauma activated another's dysfunction or disability. Hurt people end up hurting other people. Rather than look at their actions as being malevolent, motivated by malice, I struggle to discern their true motivation through a lens of compassion. After being ignored for the fifth time when asking a child to stop using the "N" word, and then he tells me to, "Shut the fuck up." I try to get them to come down from the cortisol hijacking their brain has suffered. They are masters at "rage baiting" others. Winding them up just to seem them spin out of control. It's preferrable to be seen as misbehaving than to allow others to focus on their low literacy level or damaged capacity for emotional intelligence. My heart is broken. When a child runs out the doors of a school and heads down a literal path towards the unknown, I have to go after them. I am trained in Crisis Prevention and Intervention strategies. Convincing them to turn around and come back is a tricky job. They may scream "Get your hands off me!" but if we let them go, they will certainly run towards the four lane highway with cars travelling in excess of 50 miles per hour. "Then come back with us. Or sit here until your mom comes. We can't let you go that way." We are the people telling them "no" and setting up barriers. But instead we call them boundaries and logical consequences. Because I repeatedly tell them what I expect them to do and it is counter to their idea of a good time, I become the reason for their misery. All of their momentary woe is my fault. It is exhausting. I've been teaching preK-8th for 8 years now. Not a single child has come back to me and told me, "thank you" like I've heard in the stories from my colleagues who've been at this four times as long as I have. I don't do this job for the accolades. Still it would be nice. Just once. To receive some validation. I want to know, deep in my heart, that I am doing a good, right, and helpful thing. But I don't. And yet, I can't allow them to continue down the path headed toward untold trouble, pain, and ruin.

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New wearable at Pink Oasis in DCL and another live set from DJ LosCat!! https://decentraland.org/jump?position=65,-140

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My student is an exceptional LEGO builder.

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TIL it’s a bad thing to airdrop your creator coin to ppl who bought in early. It tanks the price and then people sell to get out before they’re left holding the bag.

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I binged "Chernobyl" this weekend. The song from the epilogue, "Vichnaya Pamyat" (Eternal Memory) is chilling. The cost of lies eventually becomes too much and the debt to the truth it incurs eventually must be paid. [composed by Hildur Gudnadottir and sung by the Homin Lviv Municipal Choir] https://open.spotify.com/track/5NU8pIT0Yp8wgaUiHZM90w?si=0fdad8a3305c4b1e

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Classroom improvements: ° Slots to organize Chromebooks ° $100 at Cub Foods to stock up on rewards for my students

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First full, five-day week this year. I can do this. I am building up my stamina!

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First day back teaching. Just the 6th grade today to ease them into the big new building. Tomorrow will be the true test. I have 7 students this year. Nearly half of what I had last year. I will be able to focus on them all with one on one time. Things are looking up.

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Farcaster Takes Decentraland at 6p ET on Fri 15 Aug—u coming? 🍒 https://events.xyz/events/eb6f22ce

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First walk in two months. Skylar tore her (canine equivalent) ACL back in May. It’s been hard to limit the mobility of this energetic pup. I think our efforts have paid off!

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Checking for hail damage. Good times.

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Here's my super simple frame/mini-app for my origami NFT ordering thingie!

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Feels good to run and workout first thing in the morning. A welcome improvement from dashing off to work. 15 stone 96 kg 213 pounds I’d like to get some other measurements like O2 capacity, % body fat - but the real measurement of that & not the calipers. I’ve been more dense most of my life and I hope that’s the case in my autumn years.

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Have you been “noiced” by me? Get “noiced”, get $AJ, redeem for 👚🕶️wearables,🕺💃emotes, 🪷🦩origami, and 🎨🖌️hand painted artwork

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