While the journey of discovery from the Salt Mines of Syracuse to the Port of Danvers has included several hiccups, detours, and rabbit trails- some productive, some not so much, one thing has been as crystal clear as that old glass rooster on the window sill of your grandmother’s sun kissed porch. In fact, that clarity and single mindedness of purpose is the foundation for our amazing academy. The quest to connect people to their potential requires much positive energy. And you have to consistently give people what they need to succeed. And in our academy, that means I go with the proven go to skill pack of teaching and leading strategies and tap into the spirit of my UDL mentor- thanks Katie- to find the ingredients for our student success.

Universal Design for Learning- and Living in the Academy means lots of things. So where to begin? Kids gotta eat healthy to grow strong and fast and hopefully smarter than their old man. And. They gotta be clean every day. Every day. You can’t leave the home smelling like our dear Wally who likes to eat the cats’ tootsie rolls and rollick in the nasty fibers and fumes of the low tide’s reeds and rocks. Hell no.

So the objective- if you catch my driftwood, is to have kids be fed and bathed daily. But, according to the thousands of hours of professional development that I have survived, they will be best served to have as much autonomy as one can safely give to still forming brains – no matter how devious their smiles can be. And yes- that means that meal times are fluid, wardrobes are creative, and the water bill is nearly unpayable. I guess I should exert more control over the water – but hey we all have our areas for improvement, right?

If my math is correct, then 3 square meals a day times 4 people should equal less than 394,178 dirty dishes in the sink. But I guess the fact that we have UDL-ed our lives to the point where student choice and voice means that at any given point someone is probably eating dinner, or breakfast or popcorn…

It is good practice to engage the students with meaningful, relevant, lessons. And what better motivation to get going every day than to take a shower or bath. I don’t care when you do it. Just do it. At least once a day. Right? Common sense? However- when you run the water for the tub, remember to plug the drain. And always remember to save some hot water for the poor principal who needs to clean himself at he end of a long day of writing blogs that go on too long.

So, as we apply UDL to our academy life, we will see that students are growing up confident, motivated, and filled with memories of Dad calling the Danvers Water Department to see if there is any water left for the rest of the town to use. Which just reminded me of how my grandfather once answered our family phone when we were teenagers and honest to God said, “Donadoni WaterWorks…which drip would you like?”

That’s all I got for today. I really need a shower. Hope there is some hot water left…Thanks for Coming!