I'm Proud of This

As the end of the year culminating activity, the science teacher on my team has asked our students to design a clean water action project, so several of the kids proposed starting a blog to inform people about the issues and to build support and involvement.

Nice.

The Spirit is Willing, but the Flesh is Weak

I've written a lot about one of our cats, Bingo, but I rarely mention the other. Her name is Penelope, and it is the name she came with when we adopted her from a rescue organization. For the first couple of years of her life, she was a feral cat-- born wild and living as nobody's pet. The vet said she has had at least one litter of kittens, too. Her first three months in our home were spent in the guest room, under the bed. She was terrified of everything and everyone. We were okay with giving her as much space and time as she needed, though, because really? What's the rush?

Over the last seven years, she has come a long way-- much further than simply out from under the bed. Oh, she's still very skittish; in fact she still runs away from me any time we meet on the stairs, but she warms to visitors much more quickly, and there is something about her manner which clearly communicates her desire to please us.

Desire and willingness are not always the same, however, and so she occasionally bites and flees, not to mention puts up a hell of a fight whenever the cat carrier makes an appearance. Still, I admire her spirit, though her flesh may be a bit weak. It all reminds me of one of Aesop's fables:


A scorpion and a frog met on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asked the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asked, "How do I know you won't sting me?" 

The scorpion said, "Because if I do, I will die too." The frog was satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stung the frog. 

As they both began to sink, the frog had just enough time to ask "Why?" 

And the scorpion replied: "Because it is my nature."

70-30: Penelope would have made it across.

I.O.Us

As the daily blogging challenge has continued, I've noticed that my students often post an empty message with nothing but a subject line in the morning and then go back and edit it throughout the day. This practice makes me curious, and I have asked different kids about it, but so far, they can't really explain why they do it.

Call me a writing romantic, but I kind of like to think of it as a promise to themselves and their readers that they will find time in the day to write something meaningful.

Caught Pink-Pawed

I've written before about our geriatric cat, Bingo. Pushing 18, (isn't that like 300 in cat years?), he continues to astonish us. As I've probably mentioned, the most notable thing about his dotage has been his weight loss and subsequent voracious appetite, particularly his extreme fondness for vegetables-- green beans, butternut squash, avocado, and so forth.

Today, he added to his bony bad-ass reputation:

Roasted beets cooling on the stove? Shouldn't be a concern, right?

Wrong.

Missing: One whole roasted beet.

Exhibit one: Torn aluminum foil and a trail of beet bits accross the stove.
Exhibit two: Bright pink paws and muzzle on a certain Maine Coon cat.

Gee. I wonder what happened to the beet.

Think Twice, Click Once

There was news today of the press descending upon Sarah Palin's FOIA-released email messages, not the ones she sent from her official account, but rather the ones she sent from her yahoo account to alaska.gov addresses and also the ones she received from the state servers. Reporters were lined up to receive the 24,000+ pages, and news organizations are enlisting the help of their readers, viewers, and listeners to wade through the material in search of something newsworthy.

Who knows what they'll find, but it certainly sends home that rider that is automatically attached to our school email messages:

Please be advised that email is not a secure form of communication. There should be no expectation of right to privacy in anything sent via electronic mail.

Summer Bloggers

That's the name of the kidsblog.org blog that I set up for any interested students. A purely optional activity that I put in place to encourage summer writing, so far over 60% of my kids have signed up for their first "real" blog. They seem pretty enthusiastic, and who can argue with that?

Here are a few excerpts that show the kind of writing they are doing all on their own:

Well hello, I see you are reading my blog. Are you this interested in what I have to say? Well then go ahead, keep reading because, I HAVE A LOT TO SAY (most of the time). Let me just start out with me and my interview with myself. ~Lili


I can’t believe I have a blog! I feel so special! I have also come up with some ideas to make the blog(s) better! I think we should hold competitions, just like the SOLSC and Alphabiographies. ~Chris


Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and possibly Thursday have been and will be the best days of American Studies for this whole year. We have been watching the movie Glory! ~Jay


Just wanted to know who is ready to get on with summer!!! To take a nice long break from school, and kick around doing nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am!!!! Right now, I’m having a mental breakdown, and I NEED a break. ~Bridget


This is sooooooo cool! I just love this! I have always wanted to be part of a blog, but I haven’t until now! Is that just like everyone else? I just can’t wait to really get started. ~Maeve


Being stuck like glue onto a song isn’t a very good thing. Are you stuck like glue onto a song? Well, I am. And coincidentally, the song title is stuck like glue!  ~Joann


Take 5s are one of my favorite chocolate bar, if you’ve never tried one it’s like chocolate covered pretzels in a bar. Anyways when I was six my family went Hershey park and they sometimes give out free samples so I got to try a take 5 before it was even out yet. So when I go to Hershey park tomorrow I’ll try to get a take 5. What’s your favorite candy bar? ~Helen

It should be an interesting summer!

The Century Club

Today marks the 100th day since my students started their Slice of Life challenge back on March 1. I have five kids who have never missed a day since then, including one boy who called his mom from a soccer tournament in Philadelphia and dictated his post.

Here's what one student had to say about her accomplishment:

WOOHOO!!! It has been now 100 days of posting CONSTANTLY on SOL!!!
I feel proud now.......
Has it really been 100 days of posting on SOL?
Time does go quickly..
Anyways, I wonder if anyone else have posted for 100 days....
I would like to thank MS. S for making the SOL challenge, and I HOPE THAT YOU KEEP DOING IT TO THE FUTURE 6th GRADERS!!!
YOU ROCK!!!

Thank you, Silvia. (I'm sure she meant "for" the future 6th graders...)