May I Take a Message, Please?

Our state has introduced a new twist into high-stakes testing this year. "Expedited retakes" for students in grades 3-8 are meant to relieve the stress of testing by letting kids and families know that any student who scores just a bit below the proficiency level can be quickly remediated and given a second crack at passing, with parent permission, of course.

Since this is the first year of the practice, the logistics of implementing it are necessarily trial and error. For example, today was the first test; students took a reading assessment from 9-12 this morning. In this day and age of online testing, the results were available right after lunch, and it fell to the counselor to inform the students who hadn't passed and get permission as soon as possible from their parents for remediation and a retake.

She used her phone to call and ask for kids to come to her office from their last period class so she could speak to each privately, but after the second student returned to class, everyone knew what the calls were for, and so each time the phone rang they held their collective breath, waiting to see who the teacher would send to the office next.

Test Prep

"Thursday!!" he exclaimed when I reminded the class today that their state reading test was coming up.

I nodded.

"Well!" he continued in dismay. "Middle school sure is a lot different than elementary school."

"How?" I asked.

"Where are all the pep talks?!?"

I looked at the zip lock baggie of bright red latex bracelets on my desk. They had appeared in my mailbox over the weekend with no directions. Dream it, Believe it, Reach it, they said in bold white letters, followed by a little tiny pencil that read, On the test.

"Oh, they're coming," I told him. "They're coming."

Spidey Sense

"Do you have any dirt?" a student asked me the other morning.

"As it happens, I do," I answered him. "Why do you ask?"

"That plant over there on the window has crazy roots," he told me. "Can we pleeeeease plant it?"

I knew what he was talking about. Last spring my friend Mary gave me a little vase full of spider plant babies. "Just put it on your window sill," she said, "and transplant it later." I followed her directions and in June, I took my little fledgling plant home and put out on the deck. What an awesome summer it had! The lush, flourishing spider plant I brought back in August was amazing, and it wasn't long before it was flowering and producing tiny offspring of its own. I rooted and planted the first brood (hence the potting soil in my cabinet), and it was the second round of descendants that were basking in the sunlight in a tall glass of water as we spoke.

"Sure," I said, "but I don't have a pot right now. How about if I get one over the weekend, and you help me plant it on Monday?"

He smiled and literally clapped his hands.

"Do you want take it home when we're through?" I asked.

"Can I?" he said.

"I don't see why not," I said. "Ask your parents if it's okay."

He walked away quite pleased, but a few minutes later he was back. "There's just one more thing," he said quite gravely. "You're going to have to teach me how to take care of it. I've never had a plant before."

"I will," I told him. "I will."

Pour Timing

Wouldn't ya know that the minute I was ready to start the grill for dinner this evening we were hit with a heavy rain. Not to worry, though, I just moved the barbecue to the breezeway and continued from there, ducking in and out of the storm to check the coals.

A little while later, veggies and steak sizzled, rain drops slapped the pavement, and a cool wet breeze tempered the warm moist air; the world smelled like dirt and everything growing was so green, green, green.

Hello, Summer. It's good to see you again.

Throwback Thursday

It's hard to believe that it's been eight years since the Nintendo Wii was all the rage. Back then, people were camping out overnight in parking lots based on the rumor that a shipment might arrive the next day, and consoles were selling on eBay for double the retail price. We felt lucky to get ours when we did, and our older nephews got quite a bit of playing time on it.

We invested in a bunch of games and accessories, too, including the balance board for "Wii Fit." That nifty little platform could sense your motion and give you a little fitness check as well. For a while we were skiing and hula hooping, bowling and playing tennis all the time. It wasn't quite the virtual gym it promised, but it was fun.

Our Wii hadn't been powered on for almost two years yesterday when I decided that maybe a little rhythm boxing would be better than slumping tiredly in the chair. The batteries on the balance board were corroded, though, and it became quite the little maintenance and repair project to get the system up and running. But I did it, and it was nice to see my old Mii after so long. She looked like she was having a good time, too, as we boxed and bowled 30 minutes away.

And it was indeed waaay better than sitting in the chair.

Clueless

Today, for Spirit Week, was Throwback Thursday. Students were invited to dress as any past persona of themselves or from some earlier decade. 7:30 a.m. found three sixth graders at my classroom door.

"Can you guess what I am?" one of them asked.

I looked at her Rapunzel t-shirt and denim skirt, and scratched my head. "Um, the 90s?" I guessed.

"No!" I'm my kindergarten self! I loved Rapunzel then!"

"Oh," I said. "Well, then, that's a great outfit!"

"How about me?" one of her friends asked. She was wearing a hair band tied in a bow, leggings, and a long cardigan.

"Easy!" I answered. "You're the 80s."

Her face fell. Her friend tried to help me out. "Look at her hair... she's the 60s," she shrugged, "or 50s."

Not so much, I thought to myself, but who am I to judge?

"What about me?" the third girl inquired, sweeping her arm dramatically down her buttoned wool jacket, pleated skirt, black stockings, and sensible shoes, then giving me a sharp little salute from the brim of her fedora.

"The... 30s or 40s?" I said.

"Perhaps this will help," she said briskly and pulled out a black umbrella and opened it over her head.

"Mmmm," I stalled.

"I'm Mary Poppins!" she cried officiously, and now that she said so, I could totally see it.

"So you're the..."

"60s!" she told me.

"But," I said, "Mary Poppins–"

"Came out in the 60s," she finished. "I should know. It's one of my favorite movies."

"But the story takes place in the early 1900s, I think," I said.

She waved her hand. It was clear to everyone that I was not good at this. Fortunately, the bell rang right then.

"You all look great!" I said, shooing them out the door. "Have a fun day!"

That's the Spirit

It's spirit week at school, and so each day has a theme that students are encouraged to dress for. Monday was Pajama Day, Tuesday Twin Day, and today was Character Day, when kids could come dressed as their favorite person from a book, movie, TV, etc. Participation, especially in sixth grade, is always a bit spotty– mostly because people forget, as I confess I do often. Like today, when one of the girls in my homeroom came in dressed in pink, wearing a small knapsack and carrying a chicken hand puppet.

"Put your backpack in your locker before the bell," I advised her.

"I need it," she told me. "I'm Dora the Explorer."

I took a closer look. I couldn't see it, but who am I to criticize someone's creative vision? "What's with the chicken?" I asked, for clarification.

"It's Perrito," she answered. "I don't have a dog puppet."

"If you say so," I replied, "but remember, Dora is very well-behaved and always respectful. Right?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Noooo," she said, with a hint of a sneer.

"I think she's Ghetto Dora!" another student explained.

E-I-E-I-O!

We read an article in class today that happened to cite a guy named MacDonald. That's all it took for one of the kids to become completely obsessed– he sang and hummed Old MacDonald Had a Farm for the rest of the class period. Despite many requests from me and the other students for him to Stop! Please stop! he just couldn't get rid of the ear bug.

Towards the end of class, he did quiet down a little, although his fingers were drumming at quite a pace on the table as he read.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking meaningfully at his busy little digits.

"Oh yeah," he shrugged, "that's just Old MacDonald, the Remix."

Glows and Grows

Oh how satisfying it is when former students return from high school to tell you how much they appreciated your class!

And then write cuss words on your whiteboard because they think it's so hilariously naughty.

Surely they will have better things to do soon.

Stymied

When the handle broke off the top of my grill last fall, I worked around it on the few occasions that I cooked out once the weather turned cold. But it soon became clear that the big, fire-proof gloves I have were simply too clumsy to use indefinitely.

Upon that realization, the first thing I did was search for a new top on eBay. I thought I was being clever, although the thought of that domed piece of steel heading for a landfill did give me pause. Not to worry, though, because it was impossible to find what I wanted out there in the internets... Maybe other folks have less of a compunction than I, or maybe those are just some long-lasting grills.

Next I researched some local welders, convinced that they might reattach that errant handle with a wee drop of soldering, but the job seemed to small for me to bother them with once I got a sense of their mighty pricing.

I'm not sure when it occurred to me that a drill, a couple of screws and some wing nuts would solve my problem, but when it did? I made that repair myself in under 15 minutes for a dollar.

Empty Nest

Could it be that an entire year of college has passed and Josh has returned to Hershey for the summer?

It seems so.

A Thousand Words

"Ugh!" I said when I saw the screen saver one of my students had chosen for his iPad. "What is that?"

"It's cool!" He told me as we looked at a super close-up of a sneering, very pierced and very, very tatooed individual.

I shrugged. It's not my business what the kids put on their devices as long as it's not inappropriate for school. I know my taste and their taste may be quite different, and that's okay, so I try not to judge. This time, I slipped.

"You don't like it?" he asked rhetorically, for it was pretty clear to both of us that I did not.

"I'd just like to see something a little more wholesome for you," I told him honestly. He's a kid that's had some trouble this year– super smart, but tough home life, and he doesn't always make good choices, and he has been defiant and oppositional at times.

He frowned. "What does that mean?" But before I could say, his face brightened. "Wholesome? W-H-O-L-E-S-O-M-E?" he asked. I nodded. "I've seen that word! I know it's good, but I'm not sure how."

"Look it up," I suggested. "You have your iPad."

He did so eagerly, and then scanned the Google definition: good, ethical, moral, clean, virtuous, pure, innocent... Then he clicked on Images at the top of the same search screen and quickly scrolled through, selecting one, screen-shotting it, and replacing the wallpaper on his iPad in under 30 seconds with a picture of the penguins from Happy Feet.

"How's this?" he asked.

I gave him a thumbs up. "I like it."

Times Have Changed

I was talking with a colleague at lunch today about her daughter who is a 4th grader at a nearby elementary school. Some boys have been picking on the little girl, one of them since kindergarten. My friend has the ears of the teacher, the counselor, and the principal, which is a perk of being a longtime resident, a well-thought-of teacher, and an extrovert.

There are a few other social issues with her daughter as well, these involving a mean girl and a best friend who has never been in the same class. "I told them that I want some changes for next year," she said today, and I know she does; certainly every parent wants their children to be happy, especially at school, but as an educator my thoughts turned to the practical considerations of parent requests and parent demands.

In trying to reconcile the personal and the professional, our conversation made me think back to when I was in elementary student. In those days in our town we found out who our teachers were on a day in late August when the classes were published in the local newspaper. I remember that my mom was always glad when my best friends were not in my classes.

I wondered if it was the times or the situation that was different, and I asked my friend. "I get the bullying thing, but did your mom ever ask the school to change any of your classes so you would be with your friends?"

She was silent. 

Good to Know

There's a teacher on our team this year who moved from 6th grade to 7th five years ago, and after a one year stint in 6th again, next year she's going back to 7th. She brings a fresh perspective to our team meetings, for she has worked elsewhere in the building with other colleagues and older kids.

For example, today we spent a big chunk of time grappling with the case of a boy who tells his parents he is desperately unhappy at school, which is why he is not doing his homework, yet at school, he appears to be fine.

Fine with the exception of tearing up any time he is confronted about being ill-prepared for class. That is unusual for most of our students. "Oh," our colleague shrugged, "he's probably just advanced. Seventh grade boys cry way more than most sixth graders. But by the time they get to eighth grade?" She shrugged again. "They never shed a tear."

Good Betty Beth

April 15 happens to be the birthday of one of Heidi's closest friends. These days, Beth lives with her husband and two daughters on the campus of a private boarding school not far from Princeton, and we see them when we can. Years ago, Heidi started calling her "Betty," and the nickname lives on, but only for Heidi and those of us who know Beth through her.

Beth has a thing about giraffes, and so when we saw a birthday card with a giant, goofy one on the front along with the caption Do I wish you a happy birthday? the purchase was a no brainer, especially when we opened it up to read You bet giraffe I do! So a few days before tax day, Heidi signed the card for both of us, addressed it, and dropped it in the mail.

I was teaching my class about a week later when the secretary knocked on the door. "I just received a strange message for you," she reported. "A woman named Betty at some school in New Jersey received a birthday card from you, but she says it's not for her." I frowned in confusion. "She says it was addressed 'To my friend Betty' but she doesn't know you, and it's not her birthday. She said it was a cute card, though!" I thanked her and went back to the lesson, and was in the middle of giving instructions when it occurred to me what had happened. I mentioned the mix-up to Heidi a little later and after a laugh, we both promptly forgot it.

Until today, that is, when we got this email:

Good morning,Tracey and Heidi,

A few weeks ago a birthday card arrived at our school, signed by you and addressed to "My Friend Betty" followed by the school address. The woman in our Tech Department, also named Betty, received the card, but didn't know either of you so she sent it my way....

I am not sure I know you either and there is no other Betty at our school, so here I am contacting you....

Did you intend for this to go to someone else, perhaps...??? Just trying to solve the mystery....I loved the card by the way, but my birthday was in January....

And so I replied to her message with the true identity of the intended recipient, and a request that she pass the card along, which she promised she would. I can't wait to hear from our Betty when she finally gets it!

Today

So my fitness app has me thinking... what if every day really were like today?

This day, the weather was nearly perfect, but I was busy at school and barely got to enjoy it. My phone tells me I broke even, but I don't think so. If I had a do-over, I'd definitely make some adjustments.

When I was in high school we read Zorba the Greek, and for some reason Kazantzakis struck a chord with our group of 17-year-old girls. More than one of my friends chose a quotation from the book as their yearbook caption. His words have stayed with me, too.

While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.

Generally Speaking

Today was easily the busiest day of the year, so far: It started with a walk to the farmers market and then on to the garden center. Once home, we ate a quick lunch and were off to the garden to remove a winter's growth of weeds. Fortunately we had Josh with us, because 2 1/2 hours later we had 14 contracter bags full, and that guy wheeled them all to the curb. Back home again, we put winter things in the attic, I repaired the lid to my grill, we potted 36 tomato seedlings and planted a few pots of marigolds and sunflowers, just in time to cook dinner.

I recently started using a fitness app that tracks activity and logs food and exercise. There are definitely good days and meh days, and one of the features I like best is a little note at the end of each one that tells you how it would be "if every day were like this one."

Today I don't need it, because if every day were like today?

I'd be exhausted!

Lesson Not Learned?

Over-eager?

Perhaps that was me, rushing out to see the first big summer movie on its opening weekend. It turns out, vacation is still a little too far away for me to sit back, relax, suspend my disbelief, and enjoy the show, because "over-eager" pretty much describes the movie also. The Avengers opens with a battle and ratchets up from there. It all seemed a little forced to me.

Fortunately? If the previews are any indication, then it's going to be a good movie summer! Tomorrowland, Terminator, Jurassic Park, Ant-Man, and a reboot of The Fantastic Four will all be playing on the big screen in the next few months.

Can I wait?

Umm...

Yes?

Where They'll Be

When we were talking about President Kennedy's assassination yesterday, I compared his death to the attacks on September 11, 2001. "Everyone in America will remember where they were the day the Twin Towers fell for the rest of their lives," I pointed out to the class.

They seemed to take my word for it; I guess they had to since not one of them was born yet on that day.

Later I wondered what unifying moment awaits their generation, and I hoped that instead of

war,

death,

or destruction,

it might actually be something

awesome!

Where Were You?

It's National Poem-in-your-Pocket Day, and as every year, I asked my students to choose a poem and carry it for the day. We celebrate the occasion in class also, and all students who are willing and able may share their chosen poems (for a lollipop, of course!).

This year someone read Where I Was by Dan Brown.

"Do you know what that's about?" I asked.

"I think it's about a field trip," he answered.

"Yes, but it is also about when President Kennedy was shot."

"What?????" another boy shouted from across the room. "President Kennedy was shot????? Did he die????"

I frowned and looked at the second student, trying to tell if he was serious. The other kids around him shushed him, and explained that yes, the president had died of his wounds.

"Anyway," I continued, "that was such a huge event for the people who were alive then, that many years later they remembered clearly where they were when they heard the news, and that's what the title of the poem means."

Later I was telling my friend Mary about it. "Just think," she laughed, "that kid will always remember that he was in your class, in 2015, when he heard that Kennedy was shot."

For the Bird

Once I was complaining to someone about the general lack of respect that those planning meetings and professional development seemed to have for teachers' time. He shrugged. "They pay you to be there whether you like it or not." That was pretty demoralizing.

I thought of that when we were confronted with another tedious task in our department meeting this afternoon-- I'm not sure what objective those who designed the activity had in mind, but after a full of day of teaching, the consensus was definitely to just get it over with as quickly as possible.

We had to rate ourselves and our school, from bad to good, on a series of descriptors. It had to be a consensus or any outliers had to be detailed in a 2-3 paragraph explanation. I proposed using fingers to get a general sense of where each of us was, and the group agreed. "But watch which finger you use for one," I was warned by our chair. "I know you!"

Visualize

"Can we draw stick people?" is perhaps the most common question sixth graders ask when an assignment calls for them to produce a visual.

"Sure," I answered this morning, "but there is a bear in the story. What is he going to look like?"

Not to worry, my student assured me, and he was right. In fact the whole class was charmed by the character we dubbed "Square Bear."

Internal Clock

We drive by our community garden plot every day on our way to school. I've developed a sharp enough eye that during the growing season I can usually tell if there is a need to stop sooner rather than later to harvest, cut, gather, water, or weed. In the winter, though, I sail by barely noticing even if the lid of the small potting bench has blown open; I've learned that the winds will shift and slam it shut again.

This year it's been a cold spring, and we had not been to the garden even once to check on the persistent covering of weeds when late last week, perhaps from reflex, my head turned and my eyes were filled with a wee purple haze blossoming from the far side of the plot. It wasn't until Sunday that we actually stopped to investigate. As discouraging as the unwanted blanket of vetch, false chrysanthemum, and clover was, the peonies were sprouting strong, the blackberries are spreading faithfully and well, and that lovely cloud of periwinkle? It was some fragrant phlox that I put in last year and promptly forgot.

It's time to get to it.

Ask an Expert

A farmers market recently opened within walking distance of our home, and so the past couple of Sunday mornings we've enjoyed the luxury of heading over there to see what treasures they are vending. True to the season, there was local asparagus and wild ramps today, and I happily bought a bunch of both.

"Have you ever cooked with ramps before?" the young cashier asked me as he weighed my purchase.

I admitted I had not. "What's your advice?" I asked, for I can certainly recognize a kid who is dying to share what he knows.

He shrugged. "Oh, Google is the way to go to find a recipe," he began modestly, "and many will tell you that the greens are good, but I've never tried them."

He paused.

I nodded.

"So if you ask me? I like them sauteed. Add them to eggs and they're very good, but with asparagus?" He lifted my bundle and placed it in the bag. "They're heaven!"

Yes they are.

Every Other Day of the Week is Fine

Personally? I hate acrostic poems. I agree with my friend Mary who just the other day called them, "the lowest form of poetry." To me they should be relegated to the same recycling bin as word searches.

And yet... kids love them! Perhaps it is because for years they have been given the so-called "interdisciplinary" assignment of writing an acrostic poem about some science or social studies concept. Or maybe they like them because they are easy, and often thoughtless. In any regard, equally out of respect for my students' affection and the difficulty of coming up with a month's worth of fresh daily poetry challenges, each year I include some sort of acrostic.

Today it was write about a day of the week, and as I expected, S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y is leading its brethren in this popularity contest. I specifically left the door open for students to write about days they did not care for, though, kind of as a measure of creativity. Fortunately, one student stepped through and posted the following:

Morning seems more tiring than usual.
Onerous is the word to describe getting out of bed.
Nothing seems to matter except sadness.
Death, the sole thing that is sadder.
An adder's bite would be less painful.
You sooooo wish it was Friday.

I am On It, On It, On It

My students wrote Praise Poems today. This was the third year for the assignment, and as always, I explained that Praise Poems come from Western Africa and celebrate an individual's identity. They are often call and response, with the audience chanting a chorus between lines.

The formula I give my students is to write six lines and a chorus. The first line is your name, the second about your place of birth or ethnicity, the third about your family, the fourth and fifth compare you to natural elements or entities, and the last chooses a positive, defining quality about you and repeats it three times. The chorus is an expression of what they hope might be said of them by their community, and so it is written in third person.

When teachers of other disciplines talk about teaching English they often express relief and envy– they are glad that they don't have to read all that student writing, but sorry that they don't get the insight into our students that you get from reading all that writing. I was reminded of that this evening when I read the following:

I am D
Life is so messed up
Police have more power than laws.
Life is so messed up
Dad's on the road my mom is at home.
Life is so messed up
I am the strength of an erupting volcano,
Life is so messed up
The speed of a trash bags in the air,
Life is so messed up
But I'm super super bored

To teach this boy every day, you would never have an inkling of any such turmoil and dismay; he seems soooo steady and studious. But since he went ahead and published his feelings, we have a place to start a conversation.

And we will.

The Food of Love

"Can you really play anything on your ukulele?" a friend asked skeptically a few months ago.

I shrugged. "A few things... mostly chords so you can sing the melody." But she had a point; I really could not yet play any recognizable songs. I got my ukulele for Christmas two years ago, and I wanted it so that I could play Happy Birthday to my homeroom students when we had their cakes. Determined at first to teach myself, even that simple song seemed out of reach to begin with.

But this year Heidi arranged for lessons for me, and I have been plugging away and making some progress for sure. Still, that question of "really playing anything" has been a sort of a mental benchmark for me. In my last few lessons we have been focusing on Christmas songs, at my request. I figure if I start now? By December I may be ready. My teacher is so gracious that he even agreed it was a good idea for him to start sharpening his catalog-- "Every year the holidays sneak up on me, and I'm not quite ready for those gigs," he laughed as we labored away on a duet of Holly Jolly Christmas.

It was late last week when it occurred to me to revisit Happy Birthday. I think it was my brother's birthday party on Saturday that reminded me of my original goal, and so I searched up an easy version. To my surprise? I could play it! And while I was not ready for Bill's celebration, I have been diligently practicing for my public debut.

Today was Shakespeare's birthday, and along with mini-cupcakes and sonnets, we celebrated by singing, too. Yep-- I played my first gig for a combined audience of 75 sixth graders.

I think I rocked it. 

Inspiring Poetry

Today the students shared some of the riddle poems they wrote yesterday so that their classmates might guess the answers.

There were some easy ones,

I look like a lion.
I speak like a human.
You can find me in Egypt.
Speaking in riddles
To those who wish to pass me by.
What am I?

(xnihpS)

some very clever ones,

First think of the sound from an animal with a lot of wool,
That would make a basket very full.
Then think of something you say that scares,
And when you hear it you always glare.
Last think of the start of never,
The middle of Denver,
And is nowhere in lover.

Then string them together and wonder this,
What mammal would you never miss

(noobaB)

some lovely ones,

You can never touch me,
but you can see me.
I am in every classroom.
I am at the head of an arrow.
I am in the crust of pizza.
You could say very little without me.
I come in the afternoon of every day,
in the center of every place.
I am the beginning of all things.
I am on every planet.
I am in space.
What am I?

('A' rettel ehT)

and some confusing ones, too.

I wear glasses
I sound very sweet,
but I think of myself as evil, I dont know why.
You'll find me in one of your classes.
I have short hair,
I am very sweet,
i feel as human skin.

Who am i?

That last one had us stumped, and when we asked the poet for the answer, she gave me an exasperated look.

"It's you!"

What Can I Help You With?

We did riddle poems today in English. To start out with, I have a list of 13 classics that the students work together to solve. One of them is from The Hobbit.

Voiceless it cries,
wingless flutters,
toothless bites,
mouthless mutters.

"Ooh! Ooh! I know what it is!" one student whispered with confident excitement. "It's Siri!"

Chosen Few

In Tolerance Club today we had the students take the literacy test that the state of Louisiana administered to people who could not offer proof of a fifth grade education when they tried to register to vote as late as 1964. It consists of 30 questions and had to be completed in ten minutes with 100% accuracy in order to qualify.

When we were finished, we watched this video of Harvard students who also took the test. Their reactions were pretty close to our own.

Not a single one of us made the cut. Although I was pretty confident of my performance, it turned out that I misread the directions for number 12, and without time to go back and check my work my error stood. Oh well. Who needs democracy, anyway?

Letter of the Law

Today's poetry challenge is to write a Cinquain about an animal. Pronounced sin-cane it is a small formal poem written to the following prescription:

The first line has two syllables.
The second line has four syllables.
The third line has six syllables.
The fourth line has eight syllables.
The last line has two syllables.

Though they are just five lines long, the best cinquains tell a small story. Instead of just having descriptive words, they also have something happening, a reaction, and a conclusion or ending. There were a lot of good ones, but one of the kids wrote

Bacon
Crunchy, Chewy
Eating, Munching Crunching
The very best food in the world
Tasty

To which one of his classmates helpfully commented

She asked for an animal...

And the author replied

Bacon was an animal once!

I Believe in Persistence

We have a word study quiz every Monday in my English class. Students have the week before to make sure they have the words from our word wall to study. They know it's their responsibility, but I usually post a picture of the board on Friday afternoon on our online course. Unfortunately, yesterday was pretty hectic, and I left school not only without posting, but also without even taking a photo of the words.

One inventive student who forgot to get the words herself has used the weekend poetry challenge to problem-solve. Along with her poem yesterday she posted the following message:

MS. S! or other fellow classmates. once again i am lost [when i say lost i mean it since i don't have my ipad] i don't have the word study from the board. i only need that. the rest i have. if any of you have them, may you please reply with the word study from the board. if you do i would like that very much. :)

I immediately responded with my apologies and the promise that I would post it if someone had a picture. As of today there were still no takers when I logged in to look at the credo poems the students composed. Meant to be an expression of deeply-held beliefs, hers was a single line:

I believe that if i don't get the word study from the white board i'm going to fail this quiz!

Unambiguous

At the end of a week spent grappling with some big questions, I came home this evening to relax and enjoy this beautiful spring weather by cooking out for dinner. At 6 PM, a brief downpour drenched Heidi and Isabel who were out for a walk, but in the kitchen I was undeterred as I prepared asparagus, onion, cauliflower, and chicken for the grill: I knew it would pass, and so it did.

A barbecue snob, I had a fresh bag of lump charcoal waiting for me when it was time to start the fire, but here's where things took a momentary turn. I never know which way to pull the strings on those sewn bags.

There are times when I get it just right– a single, gentle tug will unravel the entire closure. Other times I pull and prod, unknot and turn the bag this way and that, looking for the magic thread that will allow me to access the precious fuel within. Fetching scissors seems like an unnecessary detour, especially when I know that a single pull can do the trick.

At last, tonight, after a few minutes of frustration, I came in to get the scissors and then decided to take a modern approach. I googled it. And now I know. There are two sides to the bag, flat and knotted. Yank from the left side of the knots and you will be rewarded. No question about it.

Q and A

As a follow up to yesterday's activity, today we took the raw material of those questions and answers and shaped it into more composed drafts of call and response poems. Students had seven minutes to write 14 lines, and they came up with some pretty cool stuff.

Here's mine, crafted from a few of the many questions and answers I heard:

Why does fire burn, Granny?

Because the stars are bright, Child.

Why are fish so slippery?
Because the world is round.

Why do rabbits run, then?
Because the owl hoots, Child.

Why is the earth so strong, Granny?
Because children can't fly.

Why is the ocean salty, Granny?
Because we all cry, Child.

Why does the sky change colors?
Because hearts break, Child.

Why are days so long?

They aren't, Child.

Like I told my students... it's not bad for seven minutes of writing!

Free Verse

We were doing a couple of fun poetry activities in class today. One of them involved writing a series of random "Why" questions and then pairing them up with some other random "because" answers to create a kind of call and response, Q and A, poem. All was going well, when one group of collaborators started to giggle hysterically.

"You like this activity?" I asked, smiling.

"Yes!" they replied. "It's fun!"

"Listen to this!" one of them called. He cleared his throat theatrically. "Why do people smoke?" he asked with an exaggerated shrug.

The rest of the group laughed. "Because Ms. S. told them to!" they chorused.

The rest of the class was momentarily shocked. Finally the silence was broken by a student who was clearly concerned with my job security. "Don't take that poem home!" 

Concrete Thinker

The counselor was in my classes today to do a lesson on social media. Part of the activity was making students aware that people often read meaning into what others post, whether it is intended or not. That message was timely, given that our third quarter assessment indicated a strong weakness in making inferences for the sixth grade as a group.

As an example of this principle, she showed the students a tweet from Chris Brown:

"What can you infer from this?" she asked. "Read between the lines."

"I can't," one of the students cried. "There's only one line!"

Favorite Colors

Today's poetry challenge was to write a poem about a color. Blue was definitely the most popular, and there was only one about brown, not so shocking.

A little more surprising? There was none about pink, or any other color beyond the Crayola classic eight. There was only a single poem about purple, and I think mine was the only ode to green. There were a couple of poems about black, though, including this awesome one:

Black
By Kimberly

Black is the dark of night,
and smells like burning wood.
It tastes like black licorice
(only liked by the lucky),
And it sounds like eerie music
or crunchy gravel.
Black feels like leather
or snake scales.
Black will be what ever temperature
you want it to be.
It is dark and scary like on Halloween.
It's also free and wild– 
in the dark you don't have people watching and judging.
Black can make you think of a Haunted House,
or a midnight walk on the beach.
Black is anything...
use it to your advantage

Cherry Zen

When engulfed in a huge mass of humanity, at, say, a festival, maybe one celebrating the annual blossoming of certain cherry trees around a particular basin of tidal water, it can be helpful to remind yourself that each person is a human being just like yourself with dreams and hopes and desires.

Yes.

For example, we all want that perfect photo of ourselves with the blossoms, without any of you other people in it!

A Reaction

Heidi got just what she wanted when she posted those pictures of the dogs with a big pink floral costume around their necks. It was only seconds before her text tone sounded:

Treat: oh my god you dressed the dogs as flowers

Heidi: Yes I did– thanks for the immediate feedback. Also, I'd like to point out that Sonic seems way happier about it than Isabel.

Treat: Haha yeah he looks thrilled

Truth be told? Sonic did look pretty pleased about the whole thing.

Excused Absence

It wasn't hard at all to drag my butt out of bed at 5:30 this morning and into school for one last day this week, especially after a work day Monday and a little two-day vacay midweek.

"Where were you?" was definitely the question of the day, as student after student inquired about my unusual absence. I was pleased that the follow-up was usually, "Did you read my poem?!!" That's a lot of ownership for a four-day-old writing challenge.

"I was in Philadelphia," I answered, "and, yes, I did read your poem! It was awesome!"

And when a few asked why I had traveled to Philly, I told them. "I went to hear an author read his writing."

They totally got it; it was like I took a field trip, or something, and I didn't feel bad at all about missing a couple days of school.

Run and Eat

It's always nice to to be home again, but we didn"t leave the City of Brotherly Love empty-handed. No indeed. We rolled south this afternoon with a pound of coffee from Elixr, half a dozen Federal Donuts, a vegan pizza, and two cheese steaks from Geno's, all packed to travel. 

Just tryin to make the most of a quick trip!

Like-minded

On our trip up to Philly today we spent some time listening to Invisibilia, a new NPR series on psychology and quirky brain science. Each show has a theme and one of those we heard today was on categories and why they are so crucial to helping us know and understand the world. One of the segments featured a native of India who, after thirty years in the U.S. longed to retire to His native land, but logistically found such a move impossible, so he founded a retirement community in Florida that targets other Indian ex-pats by recreating India. Everyone they interviewed loved the place, and they all spoke of how good it felt to be in place where they fully fit in, especially as they grew older. Sort of like an Exotic Marigold Hotel in reverse, I guess.

Once we made it to town, our first stop was a place Heidi's been anxious to try since we heard of it back in the fall. Blackbird Pizzeria is an all-vegan establishment, but their pizza is pretty good. With the exception of the fake cheese, it's actually awesome-- the crust is light and crispy outside with a few blisters from the oven and nice and chewy inside. The sauce is delicious and the toppings were, too. I had a kale salad with croutons, grape tomatoes, olives, and roasted mushrooms that was also yummy. The place is in an old building in a funky, upcoming neighborhood, and the smell of the blazing oven perfumes the air. 80s music played as we ate, and I looked across the table at one happy Heidi. "This place is awesome!" she confirmed between bites. "Let's move here!"

"Maybe you could just start a retirement community for vegans who grew up in the 80s," I suggested.

Hello Haiku

We started our annual poetry segment of the 100 Day Writing Challenge today, and as always, I have been totally charmed by my students' writing. So far it's just been haiku, but there is something very fresh and honest in so many of these simple little poems that I am exceedingly optimistic about the rest of the month.

Let me give you a couple examples:


The wind blows all day
The clouds are so dark and gray
and then comes the rain.
                          ~Ryan

Today is awesome,
tomorrow may be better,
yesterday is gone.
                          ~Talha

I wake up sleepy
Too cold to get out of bed
But I have to pee.
                          ~Mina

Early Spring Evening

73 degrees and the screen door is wide open this evening. The warm breeze and gentle twilight is harshly punctuated by the insistent squawking of a squirrel in the crabapple tree just outside. She has our attention, the dog, the cat, and I, so much so that we go out on the tiny deck for a better understanding of her distress. There below? A stripe-ed beauty of a tabby cat, sleek and brown and gray; patiently waiting at the foot of the tree, she looks up at we three with eyes as green as the new grass growing just off to her left. Neither shrieking squirrel nor silent cat seem inclined to end their stand-off, and after a moment, we grow bored of it and drift back inside.

To-ma-ta-da!

In addition to relaxing this spring break week, we also accomplished quite a bit: phone calls, car repairs, paperwork, and so forth, were all check-check-checked off the list, but to me the most exciting chore was potting my little pepper plants and starting the tomatoes. Forty-nine cells with eight varieties are all hopefully germinating as I type, so that in 90 days or so, July 4 or perhaps a little later, the harvest will begin and it will be BLTs all around!

Here's what I planted:

Rutgers
Abraham Lincoln
Cherokee Purple
German Johnson
Box Car Willie
Red Rose
Purple Bumblebee
Bull's Heart

It's hard to say if I picked them for their names or for their descriptions, which were equally appealing, but I'll post an update this summer.

A Hipster Philosopher

I borrowed my nephew's ukulele this week. After ten lessons, I was feeling ready for an upgrade, and it was just sitting in his room while he was away at college. And indeed, it was a little better for me– as much as I love love love my pint-sized pineapple soprano, I found the larger frets on his a tich more forgiving to my still-clumsy fingers.

The strings were a teeny bit buzzy, though, and I knew from my own that they probably needed replacing. The easiest thing to do? Order a set from Amazon and wait to restring it when they arrive Monday. I did that, but since we were out and about today I decided to stop into the Guitar Center and pick some up.

The teenager who helped me was super-nice and then super-apologetic when we found they were out of stock on the strings we needed. "I can call another store for you," he offered.

"No thanks," I told him. "I have some coming Monday, but I kind of wanted them right away," I shrugged.

"Right away?" he repeated. "Good for you! That's like the American dream!"

"Yeah, but I didn't get them," I sighed. "I have to wait."

"Well, that's more like the American reality!" he replied.

Thanks, kid.

Official Portrait

I recognized him the minute we walked in the door of the UPS Store: it was the same guy who helped us with our big shipment in December. This time we were simply there to acquire passport photos for Heidi; the store was empty of other customers, and there were three employees on duty, so I had high hopes of an expedient experience.

As it turned out, although there were three  folks in uniform, it was actually just Dave and the two women he was training. So even something so simple as having a photo taken and printed became an elaborate ordeal, narrated in minute detail by Mr. Neurotic-attention-to-detail, so it was kind of a lengthy process involving finding the digital camera, moving a large rack of mailing tubes, asking Heidi to step forward, backward, forward, not smile, smile a little, look at the shot, reframe and retake and repeat, locate the cable, plug into the printer, choose the proper setting (no not that one) trim the prints and place them in an official blue cardboard cover, then ring the sale, no not that code, no the other one, swipe again, sign, wait for the receipt and...

We had parked in a 15 minutes or less spot in the lot, and by the end of the transaction I was standing by the door scanning for tow trucks or meter maids, but after a comprehensive discussion of just how blue Heidi's eyes are, they finally closed the little folder and handed it to her, and our business was finally complete.

On the upside, I do feel fully qualified to take and print and ring up a passport photo down there.

The Joy in Enjoy

Ah... another day filled with donuts and lavender lattes and cat sitting, sleeping in, running errands in the middle of the day, watching The Sopranos, sitting in the sun, and practicing the ukulele.

Could vacation be any better than this?

Spring Breakers

There was a little more traffic than I expected at 11 AM on a Wednesday, but that couldn't bother me... it was spring break, dammit, and we were on a road trip to the beach. Once we crossed the Bay Bridge, the sky was blue and the sun cast a warm, truly golden hue on bare trees and brown fields as we rolled east across the narrow peninsula separating the Chesapeake and the Atlantic. Chicken barns, random traffic circles, and brand new sub-divisions springing from former farm fields showed the way like so many bread crumbs until at last we arrived in Rehoboth Beach.

Parking spot number 7 was vacant, and I appreciated how impossible it would be to ever get that space in even just a month's time. A stiff, cold wind blew off the water from the north, but we bowed our heads and walked straight into it, knowing it would be worse to have to do so on the way back from our walk.

Isabel? She loves the beach, and she merrily trotted from breakers to dunes, sniffing and exploring. She found herself a nice, twelve inch Blueback herring lying in the sand just above the tide line. "No!" we cried and ran over to the floundering fish. A silvery rainbow of a specimen, its gills still waved weakly so I picked it up and tossed it back into the sea. I swear I saw its tail flip as it disappeared in the surf, but I stood watching, the afternoon sun at my back, the wide beach cast out to either side, and the blue, blue, ocean before me, in case the tide might maroon it again.

Late Show

The day was warm enough, 74 degrees, so we thought we'd take a walk around the Tidal Basin. Because there is barely a bud, much less a blossom, on any tree in the area, I was surprised by all the traffic down there. We circled the entire basin once looking for parking and then settled on Lot B, beyond the 14th Street Bridge and next to the train tracks at the top of Haines Point.

A short hike later we joined the throngs walking beneath the bare branches of the cherry trees. Sure, there were port-a-potties aplenty, and concession tents, and even a lone singer on the festival stage performing to one or two folks dotting the otherwise empty rows of wooden benches. In the white pop-up souvenir shops they had cherry blossom pencils, cherry blossom key chains, cherry blossom tote bags, cherry blossom puzzles and phone cases and scarfs, cherry blossom magnets and ornaments and lapel pins, and they even had cherry trees in tea tins to take and plant on your own, but those were the only cherry blossoms in sight on this day 12 of the three week festival.

As we sat on a bench under what will be a spectacular bough in a week or so, a woman approached us. "Can I ask you a question?" she started. "What's up with the cherry blossoms?"

We laughed, feeling a little apologetic for our home town. "They're late," I shrugged. "It's been kind of a cold spring so far."

Far from being disappointed, she seemed relieved. "I knew it!" she said. "My friend said we had to go to a special place to see them, but we couldn't figure out where."

"It's here," I told her, "it's just not now. It's supposed to be warm this week, though, so they might be out a bit this weekend," I added hopefully.

She waved her hand. "Just in time for us to leave!"