The Penelope Project: The Setup for the Setup

Believe it or not, the first thing you do to set up a warp-weighted loom is to weave the border of the cloth. The border anchors the warp threads (the vertical structure of the cloth), and the ancient Romans used tablet (or card) weaving to achieve this border. If you've never heard of tablet weaving, I highly recommend this weaver's explanatory video, "the Mechanics of Tablet Weaving." She uses popsicle sticks to demonstrate how to determine the pattern! (Bonus points for the name of her YouTube channel: Impending Looms. Seriously, watch this video before you read on.)

Years ago when I started teaching Roman Technology, I had seen tablet weaving done by a friend of mine who wove tiny belts for a costume she researched and created for her historical character in the Society for Creative Anachronism. She demonstrated the process on an inkle, a small loom used specifically for tablet weaving. I'll be honest - it looked complicated, and I was worried. I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I really needed to weave a border, but I promised that I would try the WHOLE process. And once again, I turned to my heritage education queen, Sally Pointer, for a simple tutorial on tablet weaving. I used cardboard tablets bought for cheap on Amazon, and they worked fine. However, after I got them going, I was sorry I didn't buy the pretty wooden ones because tablet weaving was actually pretty simple and something I want to do more of.

I wanted to be true to the Romans so I went searching for more info on Roman tablet weaving. Strong and Brown's marvelous book, Roman Crafts, has a whole chapter on Roman textiles that mentions tablets weaving with pictures of bone tablets (below). Amazing to me how some tools never change even after thousands of years. Above are some triangular tablets made of bone from the Roman occupation in the British Museum. 

The square tablet in this picture looks almost exactly like the ones I used on our classroom loom.

Here are the tablets I set up to weave our border and anchor our warp yarns (ignore the paper bags of hand-held looms for my students in the background):

Here's a closeup:

Just a simple quarter turn on the tablets and a pass-through with the dark thread wound around that white bobbin to the left, and the pattern begins to emerge. 

I chose a simple herringbone pattern that I learned from Sally Pointer's video.

Ignore that big white thread that I'm moving out of the way to show the pattern. That's where I messed up! Not bad for the first time, right?

Now that I had an anchor for my warp threads, I started adding them in as I tablet-wove the border.

In this picture, you can see the tablet-woven border attached to the top of the loom and the warp threads wrapped around the bottom of the loom.

Side note: Around this time in the blog, you might be asking yourself, "Why does Nathalie have a small swimming pool and a cat litter container in her classroom?" And I would say...mind ya business. (We need them for cardboard Argo races and storage for catapult baskets. You should know this. LOL)

When I showed my progress and process to my students, they were aghast at the complexity of the tablet method. "How did the Romans figure this out?" they asked. But as with anything craft related, generations of weavers surely passed down their knowledge to their apprentices and children. The knowledge was embedded in the computers of the time - craftpeople's brains. This type of knowledge transfer didn't need books; thus, we have little to no ancient sources explaining how weaving happened.

I was surprised how long all of this process took. Factoring in watching Sally's videos (numerous times) and actually doing the weaving, I would say this setup took about 4 hours. I'm a newbie to this process so I'm sure it took longer than it would have for an experienced weaver. Ok, so I'm now ready to weave, right? Wrong. Miles to go before I weave...stay tuned.

The Penelope Project: The Loom

How many times have I said this, teacher friends? Ask, and you shall receive. On my school's open house night in August last year, I asked for help with our #RomanRoadProject, and the DOTD research director came calling! This past year, I asked for help with workworking so that my students could work on an ancient Roman/Greek warp-weighted loom. A parent reached out to me the very next day volunteering her retired father, Clark, who spent days in his wood shop making all kinds of things.

Before I could even say yes, Clark was emailing me also, asking what I needed and not to worry about cost. He wanted his grandson and all my other students to have a wonderful experience. He just needed some direction on how to make the loom we needed. Ancient vase painters depicted looms like the one we needed, but these images were not exactly a blue-print for building a loom.

Lucky for me, I knew exactly where to send Clark for help. Sally Pointer is a British heritage educator with a helpful YouTube channel on everything from ancient Roman cosmetics to Iron Age textiles. She has a whole series of tutorial videos on making, setting up, warping, and weaving on a warp-weighted loom. I used her design with a slight variation - I wanted a wider-than-normal loom so that multiple students could work on the same loom at the same time. One of the reasons I teach weaving on small, hand-held looms is that I want EVERY child to design and weave on their own - just watching is never an option in my classroom.

Over multiple phone calls and emails, Clark finally had a design that met my specifications, and he started building. I didn't hear from him for a while and got worried, but then out of the blue, he let me know the loom was done and wanted me to come pick it up at his workshop in Covington, LA. Did I find it a marvelous stroke of synchronicity that he lived nearly a mile from a Girl Scout camp that my troop frequented every fall and spring? Nope. Just a sign from Athena, goddess of household skills like weaving.

In November, I traveled out to Clark's workshop to pick up our classroom loom. Our woodworking voluteer had it set up for me when I arrived to picked it up. I almost cried when I saw it. Not only was it super wide and a little shorter (for my middle school students), but it had adjustable heddle rods. AND...it could be taken apart for easy transport and storage. I thanked him profusely and promised to send pictures of our weaving process and product...but that would not happen as soon as I thought it would.

Thanks a million to our woodworking expert, Clark Gristina. His patience, research, and expertise were unmatched - our Myth Makers appreciate his volunteering so greatly!

The Roman Road Project - A Happy Update on an Unhappy Anniversary

Tonight is the anniversary of our Roman road getting ruined by a Mardi Gras reveler.

The Southdowns neighborhood Mardi Gras parade is set to roll this evening, and as I sit here in my classroom working on a professional development day, I look out my window to our beautiful little project and reminisce.

Over two months last school year, my Roman Technology students built a 160-foot-long sidewalk in the building style of a Roman road. The space needed an upgrade, nearly unusable due to flooding during rainy seasons. During January and February of last year, we learned how ancient Roman engineers and soldiers measured, surveyed, and constructed roads. We worked our hearts out with the help of our local Department of Transportation and Development and their stellar research director, Dr. Tyson Rupnow. We put the finishing touches on the concrete and walked away for Mardi Gras break.

When we returned the next week, someone had ridden a bike through the wet concrete leaving deep and unfixable ruts, and everyone was angry. I wrote about it on this blog post which got almost 400 views. We fixed the ruts using bronze-colored resin and moved on.

And now a year later, I look back on this project with great affection. Our little road is used daily by many students traversing our long campus, just getting from the front of the school to the back. But far more than its pedestrian use, our little road has become an event location on campus. During our school's Diwali celebration in November, the activities happened along the Roman Road - face painting, calligraphy, Indian food, and dancing! The art teacher asked if her students might decorate the stepping stones that line the road with colorful mandalas. Absolutely!! Our little road has achieved its purpose...and at least one of the purposes of an ancient Roman road: to bring people together. 

The Penelope Project: The Healing Aspects of Weaving

I look forward to this day every year! The day I get to teach my students how to weave!! We start by hearing the stories of Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. Most students don't know that she was also the patron goddess of craftspeople, especially weavers and potters. They almost all know that she and Arachne compete in a weaving contest, but most forget that Arachne wins and gets punished for her hubris. They all know that spiders are called ARACHNIDS, but few know that ticks and scorpions are too. Beyond this famous story, we also explore the Parthenon and the hotly debated controversy surrounding its marbles. They love hearing about the Parcae (or Moirai), the three fates who spun, measured, and cut the thread of life for each person. Perhaps their favorite story though is about Penelope, the long-suffering wife of Odysseus...how, in her husband's 20-year absence, she fended off the suitors with a weaving trick.

For many years, I used to cut to size cardboard for my students to make their own looms. It was a fun process, but VERY hard on my hands. This year, with a sizeable grant, I purchased small, notched wooden looms that can be reused from year to year. But I'm already debating the wisdom of that decision. When the students made their own looms, they took them home when the lessons were done, and some of them, amazingly, continued to weave on their own.

A couple of years ago, I had a student who had experienced significant trauma throughout his young life. He was in a homeroom class that I taught, or mentored really, of students who needed extra support due to various traumatic experiences. Some had incarcerated parents, others had witnessed gun violence against their parents. Some just needed extra love and support - I painted nails, helped with edges, washed clothes, handed out snacks, and did a lot of listening. M also took my Myth Makers class that year and really excelled. He took to weaving, making his own cardboard loom at home in addition to the one he had made in class. Other teachers reached out to me to ask if it was ok for him to weave in their classes; it calmed him and focused him, they said. The worst day of that year was having to watch M being loaded into an ambulance at school. For the second time during that year, he was institutionalized. I thought I would never see him again. Months later, I cried tears of joy when he showed up to my homeroom one morning to return to school.

Fast forward to this past fall when I got a request from another teacher to share my phone number with M. He had news to share. Having moved on to high school, he wanted to tell me THANK YOU for teaching him to weave. He still makes his own looms and brings them with him to school and work. He is interning at a local hospital.

His experience with weaving is not unusual. Many students speak to the calming aspects of the weaving process. Since it's repetitive and relatively easy once you get going, the students chat with each other while they work. They weave small pieces of cloth from donated yarn, using large plastic needles as shuttles. Do some get frustrated and want to quit? Absolutely. Do they weave masterpieces of art? Of course not. But they certainly learn patience and have fun doing it.

When we finish the unit, I try to get the students to reflect on the experience of Penelope. Did she use weaving to escape the dark thoughts of her husband not returning? Did she use weaving to escape the notice of the evil suitors who wanted her wealth and power? Penelope used a job often (not always) relegated to ancient women to retain her power. The students love this aspect of the story.

Want to teach your students to weave? Use my lessons (linked here) with instructional videos by ME!

We'll soon be taking this project to the next level with a full-size warp-weighted loom so stay tuned...

Happy Saturnalia: Curse like a Roman But Be Kind to Strangers on the Internet!

Amid the Covid pandemic shutdowns of 2020, a Twitter (X) friend of mine posted an article on her blog about an ancient Roman bread recipe she had recreated. A brilliant experimental archaeologist, Dr. Farrell Monaco recreates ancient Roman food recipes from Cato the Elder and Apicius, and to the benefit of everyone, writes extensively about her work and shares it freely.

In the article, she misused a Latin phrase or two. She's not a linguist, and I could tell what she meant. When a mutual friend posted her article in a Facebook group for classical reenactors, a Latin teacher commented on the article, "I couldn't get past the horrible Latin." That was it. That was the comment. Never mind the amazing work that had gone into the experiment, the beautiful photos in the article, or on-point references to ancient texts. The comment incensed me. A generous and knowledgeable professional was being chewed up and spit out by a person who should have been thankful for her sharing. Instead, haters were nitpicking for no good reason.

Feeling bad for her, I decided to reach out to my friend and offer help with her Latin. She was so grateful. The task she asked me to complete was fascinating - a Latin curse! I enjoyed researching it and helping my fellow classics enthusiast. I thought nothing else of it. I got to help someone whose work I admired.

But a month later, I was surprised to find a mysterious delivery at my front door. The curse I translated was turned into a rolling pin for gingerbread!! With it, I could now make my own curse tablet gingerbread - how cool is that!!!

Can we all just be a bit kinder in our interactions with strangers? The internet brings out the worst in us all sometimes, but it doesn't have to be that way. OK, I'm done with my kindness rant. I find it ironic that I'm advocating for kindness to strangers in the context of writing a curse tablet script. But hey, the internet is a strange place.

And by the way, you can buy this amazing thing here. And you should read her blog too! She explains curse tablets (or DEFIXIONES) really well right here.

A "Renewed" Issue: Why doesn't the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certify teachers of Latin (and other languages)?

On Saturday morning, bleary-eyed, after waiting for 8 months, I woke up to check my scores. When I was able to finally log in to my slow and outdated Chromebook, fireworks announced the good news:

My national teaching certification was renewed for another 5 years. I was excited but also sad. Here's the story.

Managed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, this certification is considered the gold standard in the educational world. Teachers go through a rigorous assessment process that involves filming themselves teaching, writing complicated, reflective essays about their practice, and gathering evidence of their growth and leadership in their respective educational communities. It's hard work and EXPENSIVE. My renewal certification cost $565, but initial certification is more expensive - my initial certification cost $1500. (The current price tag is $1900.) I would like to thank APEL, a professional organization for teachers in Louisiana, that granted me a scholarship to offset this expense. In addition to expense, it's also a lengthy process. Teachers submit their "portfolios" online to NBPTS in April or May, and they don't receive results until November (for first-timers) or December (for renewals, like me). 

You might be wondering why teachers do it. While I would like to say that it's prestige and respect, and that is PART of it, there's a more important reason. (Make no mistake - I am very proud to be a "National Board Certified Teacher" or NBCT. That little tag behind my name on social media or email means I've worked hard to prove that I understand how to be a good teacher.) But for many teachers, it's also about extra pay. Many school districts offer large salary stipends for National Board certification holders, mine included. In Louisiana where teachers are some of the lowest-paid professionals in the country, that extra money every year is a life-saver. And I'm sure it's no different in many other states.

I had forgotten about the date when I woke up on Saturday morning, despite my calendar reminder. It was a post I saw in a social media group that drew my attention and reminded me to check my scores. And despite today's good news, I could not help but think about my original certification process and the disappointment it caused me. 

In 2003, I began working on my initial National Board certification in which I showcased my Latin classes as part of the World Languages - Early Adolescence through Young Adulthood certification category. I worked diligently throughout the year to complete all four components and get them turned in on time. Back in the day, every candidate received "the box" in the mail that contained all the necessary documents and materials for the certification process. Teachers would then use that same box to submit their materials which included (believe it or not) VHS tape recordings. I remember the feeling of accomplishment in April to finally be done and mail that box back. Then, the waiting began. 

And then, it abruptly stopped when I received a letter in the mail from the NBPTS about how I was one of 27 teachers whose portfolios would not be graded due to a low enrollment number in that subject area. If memory serves, I believe I got the letter in the summer. The letter stated that because of the low number of candidates, the NBPTS could not accurately score our portfolios. They told us that we could withdraw and get a refund of our money OR we could recruit other Latin teachers to sign up and go through the process in the following year. If the NB had enough candidates to accurately score our portfolios, all candidates would receive their scores in the fall of 2004. I was upset, as you can imagine. The biggest worry I had was that I might never get my scores. I had worked SO hard. I was angry.

Eventually, our small cohort of Latin teachers solved the problem by promoting the certification to others like us. We wanted our scores! In addition, we were allowed to renew our certifications even though there was no longer a Latin certification category because the renewal process is more broadly assessed. I was so lucky to have that opportunity.

Shortly after we finally received our first scores in November of 2004 (after almost two years of waiting), NBPTS told us that they would no longer offer the certification for Latin teachers. Through the years, as word of national board certification grew, many Latin teachers asked why they could not get certified. The American Classical League (the premier professional organization for K-12 classics teachers in the US) has advocated to the NBPTS many times over the years about this issue to no avail. Latin teachers number in the 2000s in the US. Why does NBPTS offer no certification for us? And we aren't alone. There are other language teachers for whom the NBPTS offers no opportunity for certification. In 2015, teachers of Japanese (a slightly more commonly taught language than Latin in the US) petitioned the NBPTS with the same complaint I'm making here.

So, until my fellow language teachers around the US can have the same opportunities as I do, every November, I'm going to have the same twinge of sadness when I see the announcements congratulating new NBCTs or renewing teachers. It's simply not fair that not all teachers have this opportunity, and I hope the NBPTS can be more inclusive of these teachers someday soon.

If you are a Latin teacher seeking information on how to advocate for change, you can submit a question on the NBPTS's website here, and here is the page listing all of NBPTS's board members - I suggest you reach out to them individually and make your case. (Although their email addresses are not listed on the Website, you can Google them and easily find this information.) Many of them are current classroom teachers who can hopefully understand our plight.

Booked, or How I Nearly Lost My Mind Writing an Academic Book Review

As much as I love to read about and teach Roman Technology, I don't always love to write about it. Writing is hard. When I got asked to write a book review of Dr. Liba Taub's Ancient Greek and Roman Science from Oxford's Very Short Introductions series, I was flattered yet, a little fearful. I had never written a book review for a professional journal and certainly didn't think I could condense the wealth of information in this clever and brilliant book by such a distinguished author. (Dr. Taub is the director and curator at the University of Cambridge's Whipple Museum of the History of Science.)

But since I became a state teacher of the year, I've challenged myself to do things that make me uncomfortable, like share about my teaching on a blog and give a TedEd talk. I've tried to do things that I've never done before and not shy away from scary tasks, especially those that involve writing.

I used to love writing. In fact, I wrote short stories for my high school's literary magazine. I remember writing one about a painter inspired by Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray that I got a lot of compliments on. In college, as an English and classics major, I wrote dozens of academic papers about the works of Vergil, Catullus, Ovid, and Raymond Carver, one of my favorite American short story authors. And then, as I got older and out of practice, the words started to fail me.

In the past five years though, I've written a lot of stuff, articles for magazines, blog posts, both professional and personal. I still love to tell stories, but there was no way I was making a story out of this book review. Well, maybe I could have. The story would have been about me reading, taking notes, and then sitting at my keyboard with sweaty palms trying to condense the fascinating and complicated information I had just learned. I also wanted to make sure that I honored the author's achievement without being flattering but also without being too critical. Turns out, according to this book, ancient Greek and Roman science was mostly philosophy, and Dr. Taub did not discuss technology in this book so...writing about philosophy. Yeah, not fun. But I worked diligently, followed the journal's directions on what exactly they wanted to see, and finished it. It got published today. One more scary thing done!