Kernels of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving traditions new and old
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Growing up we always spent Thanksgiving with Mom's side of the family. Early on Thanksgiving morning, we would pack the car and make the trek from Connecticut across to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania where my grandparents lived. You knew you were getting close when the pungent odors of farmland would begin to waft through the car, despite your best attempts to keep the A/C on recirculation mode. It really hit you in the face once you braved the outdoors for the obligatory Sheetz or Wawa stop. If you know, you know.
Once we arrived in Lancaster we would join the rest of the extended family, most of whom would have already arrived. In the later years of my grandparents' lives, we'd make the trek up to the third floor of their building at their Willow Valley retirement center, to their corner apartment with windows that opened to a view of the nearby fields, clearly visible through the trees which had by this point already dropped most of their leaves.
The atmosphere was warm and their apartment was full of life. I can only imagine the way they must have looked forward to that day each year. Grandma would be in the kitchen putting the final touches on the meal while Grandpa would be in his favorite recliner in the living room, the football game on the TV—muted of course, as was his tradition. After hugs and hellos, last-minute preparations, and heating and re-heating of dishes, we would sit down at the table and begin to eat together.
After the meal ended and the tryptophan-fueled malaise began to set in, we would pause for a few moments before digging into cookies and pie. In this pre-pecan pie liminal space, we would do two uniquely Danielson-family things: sing hymns a capella (with parts, of course) and share popcorn kernels of thankfulness.
For the singing, we would go around choosing songs. As we got older (and more mischievous) my brother and I would try to find the most obscure and odd songs in the book. I think Nate won at finding the most interesting ones. Some were annual classics like "For the Beauty of the Earth" and "We Gather Together". I can hear my grandfather's bellowing, vibrato-filled bass line in my mind's ear even now.
After a silently-negotiated end to the singing—orchestrated mostly via looks of knowing eye contact amongst those of us growing increasingly reckless and hungry for pie—we would move to the final pre-dessert activity: kernels of thankfulness.
My grandmother would take a small dish of her china and fill it with unpopped kernels of popcorn. As it traveled around the table, each family member would take three kernels, waiting to return them one by one in turn back into the bowl. After everyone had their kernels in hand, the dish would make its way back around the table, this time collecting the kernels as each person shared something they were thankful for.
It's been many years since I've been back to the East Coast for Thanksgiving with the rest of my mom's side of the family. My grandparents have both since passed away, but the memories of those Thanksgiving traditions will be part of my story forever. As I think about my own young family, it's these sorts of family traditions that I want my children to remember—seasonal rhythms that bring us together and remind us to take stock of all the blessings we have to be thankful for.
This Thursday, like Thanksgiving day every year, I'll pull down my box of unpopped popcorn kernels from the shelf in our kitchen. I'll get a small dish, just like Grandma did, and fill it. Then, I'll pass it around the table, reminding my kids, who met but won't remember their great-grandmother, to be thankful for her and for the legacy she and my grandfather passed down to us. A legacy to be thankful and to thank God for the many blessings we have.
A Zine of Gratitude
One of my favorite new Thanksgiving traditions is making a gratitude zine (h/t
). You can find instructions on how to print and make your own over on Austin’s Substack.
This year, I thought I would start a new tradition of sharing my zine with you. I've found it to be a fun activity to help me reflect on the year and to take note of the things that I'm thankful for.
If you want to re-live one of my childhood a cappella Thanksgiving staples, this recording of “We Gather Together” by Glad always brings me back.
Reading Recommendations
I’m working on a piece exploring some of the ethical contours and implications of generative AI that we need to be engaging with and alongside our students. Three of the biggest topics are energy, labor, and intellectual property concerns in the data used to train these models. In my digging, I’ve found a few resources that have helped me get a handle on some of the energy considerations.
This piece from
is one of the best I’ve seen at taking a sober look at the energy numbers and putting them into context. She frames the energy use of data centers in a way that I’ve seen few other resources do. While you’re at it, I highly recommend this podcast conversation she had recently with . You should also check out this primer on the environmental impacts of AI from Sasha and some of her colleagues at Hugging Face. had a great piece this week over on his Substack where he explored the use of AI as an amanuensis. An amanuensis, for the uninitiated—of which I was one until this last Sunday after reading Andrew’s piece—is a scribe, someone employed to capture another’s ideas in writing. Andrew’s exploration covers some thought-provoking territory and was a worthwhile provocation to help me think more deeply about the interaction of our AI tools and our human agency.
After spending some time with her during her visit to Harvey Mudd a few weeks ago, I was interested to read this piece from Dr. Emily Bender where she argues that ChatGPT has no place in the classroom.
Listen, I’m not about to defend the new ChatGPT for K-12 Educators course commercial that OpenAI released alongside Common Sense Education. I agree that there is much to take issue with in the guide. And yet, I do approach generative AI in the classroom with a more curious stance. I’m not looking to use generative AI as a substitute for my work in the classroom. But to think that there are no new creative applications to help us improve our existing pedagogy also seems unlikely.
The Book Nook
Gift-giving season is quickly approaching. If you’re looking for some good books for the children in your life, I’ve got suggestions.
One that we’ve been enjoying lately is Thank You, Omu (pronounced AHH-moo) by Oge Mora. It’s a delightful story about a generous grandmother and the way that she blesses her neighbors and then they turn around and bless her. We’re going on almost a week now of #2 requesting this as her book before bed each night. After a few nights in a row, I’m normally growing tired of the repetition, but there is something about this one that I look forward to each night.
The Professor Is In
We’re expecting big numbers in the Engineering department again next semester with nearly 100 majors again this year. Keep ‘em coming, I say.
I’m excited to help welcome these students to the major along with my colleagues teaching our experimental engineering class, E80. Last Friday in our department meeting we did some brainstorming to explore ideas to help us think through how we can creatively tackle larger-than-usual class sizes.
I for one have one solution that rises above the rest: hire more student TAs. As someone whose life was forever changed by the opportunity to teach in undergrad, it’s a no-brainer to extend this opportunity to as many of our students as we can.
Leisure Line
Lots of baking this weekend and lots more to come. Pizza, chocolate chip cookies, and the traditional turkey cookies.
Still Life
Beautiful skies at dusk last night as I left campus.
The time of year where we are reminded that the tools we use in education—and education itself—do not carry meaning. People, relationships, shared food and experiences. That’s where it’s at. Thanks for sharing.
A fine ritual around the table, Josh. Have a good and restful Thanksgiving with your family.