q: why is washington dc important?

a: because that's where the first president sleeps.
q: why is it significant to protest in washington dc?
a: because it reminds us of how the first president died.
(as reported by Gabriella during a comprehension check of a bio of Martin Luther King, Jr.)

This week began assessments for my tutoring program (it's kind of like mine, in that I do all the setting up and tearing down and answering of questions in between tutoring my own tutees) and I have never been so glad to not have majored in education in any form. Mostly just for the copies and explaining of procedure. Every time I had to explain the process of assessments to a tutor who graduated elementary school before JFK was assassinated (which is a lot of them) I am met with a pretty priceless expression mixing shock and just a little bit of offense. Clearly I had underestimated how (at least one area) of education has changed over time because I distinctly remember taking reading level assessments in school. Besides the insanity of trying to test the grade level of students who sometimes have only the most tenuous grasp on the English language at all, tutoring is going pretty well. I think it will take a little bit longer to really get to know the kids since I should probably know ALL the kids, their moms, and the tutors in addition to specifics about the kids I'm tutoring like what subjects their better and worse at and more or less interested in, or the topics and difficulty level of the books I should be pulling for all the kids. This would be a really good time to be good at names. I'm also having a little bit of difficulty figuring out how to help the kids who don't focus well (for example, have diagnosed but untreated AD[H]D). Hopefully I'll get to know them better soon and that will magically reveal each tutee's distraction silver bullet.

On the outside of work front, I have learned that I am not a retreat person, I'm pretty sure. We had our first (of hopefully few) retreat this past weekend in Walden, NY, and I think it was the longest weekend on record. Check it; some extra hours got slipped in somewhere, and I'm the only one who felt it. I can't specifically remember ever going on anything called a 'retreat' before, but, based on my experience at this one, their point is to listen to classical or Christian music while watching slide shows of candles or the Milky Way. Or something. I think I'd rather go to a conference or watch a documentary. Or just spend the whole time on the 'nature hike in state park' portion of the program. I did enjoy having the free time to get to know the other volunteers in my program. In addition to my house, the 120th St East Harlem house was there, as well as the Dorchester (Boston) house. And the food was fabulous.

Next weekend, I'll be walking with my roommate Brittany in the Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park (her mom had breast cancer just a year after mine was diagnosed). If you'd like to make a donation, just let me know (meghansandrasmith@gmail.com). I'll add the amount to my pledge and you can send me a check. If the notice is too short (I know, I should have mentioned it in a previous post, but we don't plan ahead well), I'm planning to take part in a Homelessness Awareness event in DC that also welcomes financial support (that will be in late November). Sorry for such a long time without any pictures (and all the parenthesis); my camera hasn't been working well for at least a couple weeks.

Successful innovators recognize that discovery of great ideas come from looking at the same thing as everyone else and observing something different. - Reed Markham

meghan