L is for Let's Go Already!

I am typing this very quickly, because my dog is whining at my ankles. A few minutes ago we asked her if she wanted to go to a party. She cocked her head in that cutest-dog-ever way she has, and when we elaborated, Do you want to see Sonic? Riley? Treat? Bill? Emily? She began barking and dancing around.

Too bad Heidi still needed to change, and I needed a quick trip to the powder room. Isabel whined and barked outside the door, and she is waiting very impatiently by the front door now. Fortunately, I hear Heidi on the stairs, and we will be on our way in just a second.

Life Lesson: Dogs live in the now, and now means NOW!

K is for Keeping Secrets

I have a colleague who is reading Gone With the Wind for the first time. She brings her kindle to the lunch room every day just to grab a few paragraphs of that tasty southern-fried drama, but the irresistibility of the tale and the fact that she is loving it seems to surprise her.

Not me. My mom gave me a copy of GWTW when I was 12, which coincided with one of the theatrical re-releases of the film, and she promised to take me to see the movie when I finished the book. It was definitely one of the most rewarding literary and cinematic experiences I've known.

So, it's fun to talk about the story, but since she hasn't seen the movie, either (!), it's a challenge not to give anything too important away. We were having one of our veiled conversations when another teacher on the team entered. She listened for a minute and then exclaimed, "Oh! Are you talking about Gone With the Wind?"

We nodded.

She turned to me. "You mean that part when Scarlett kills that guy who comes to their house and Melanie comes down with the sword?"

I shrugged at my friend apologetically. "Yep."

Life Lesson: If you want to keep something a secret, it's best to not speak of it all.

J is for Journalist

We have reached the personal profile portion of our English class. This is an assignment that I have experimented with off and on for the last six or seven years, but it truly came into its own last year, when after three solid months of blogging, my students were ready to turn that introspection out. (Plus, they had created quite a body of work for anyone who might profile them to use as a reference.)

The way it works for us is that each student is randomly assigned a classmate to profile. There are at least two interviews, and the first is a basic get-to-know-you opportunity for which the journalist prepares a list of questions designed to uncover a lot of information. After reviewing the notes and reading some of their subject's writing on our online community for background, journalists must narrow the focus to find an "angle" for the profile piece. Next is a second interview with a much more focused set of questions. Our young journalists must also interview friends, classmates, and teachers about their subjects.

The final product is a 500 word profile with a clear focus and theme. (Think "life lesson" because that's our frame of reference at this point.) It is a non-fiction research piece that exposes students to primary sources and demands analysis, synthesis, and artistry, but those are not its greatest strengths.

Life Lesson: The kids love it!

I is for It's About Time

I was surprised at how emotional I became this afternoon when I read that President Obama had expressed his personal support for gay marriage. My throat tightened and there were tears in my eyes, and for a moment, it didn't matter that it was too long in coming and still a much too political calculation; the pulpit of the presidency made a purely symbolic gesture very real and very important.

Life Lesson: Do not underestimate the power of validation.

H is for Hip Hip

Several months ago I was out with the dog on the big, grassy hill by our house. A neighbor and her dog joined us, and there was a lot of canine joy, enough in fact to literally sweep me off my feet. Oh, I jumped up in that desperate, I-meant-to-do-that way, and brushed off the apologies of my neighbor. I was fine, and nothing hurt, except my pride.

A few weeks later I noticed a definite hitch in my left-side giddyup, especially after sitting for a while or going up hills. Oh, I gamely limped along and, considering age and inactivity my primary nemeses,  increased my impact activities at the gym and focused more on lower body strengthening. After a while, it was still kind of owwie though, and so I made a doctor's appointment, which was canceled and then rescheduled for June.

At last I decided to call a doctor who specializes in acupuncture. Unlike everyone else I contacted yesterday, his office had a same day appointment at 4 PM. Considering it a good sign, off I went, and after a brief consultation and exam was diagnosed with bursitis of the hip.

It went like this: Dr. Tran listened to my story and then pressed a place on my upper leg.

"Ow!" I said.

"You have bursitis," he replied.

Looking it up later, it all made perfect sense-- the trauma, the delay of symptoms, the chronic pain-- it was a classic presentation of the condition. My primary care physician might have prescribed a shot of cortisone, (and she still could when I see her in June) but I opted for six twirling needles and a half-hour of quiet in the dark.

And I get to back on Thursday.

Life Lesson: Keep those alternatives open.

G is for Getting S#*! Done

Why in the world does it take so much time to attend to the details of our lives?

I took today off to catch up on some personal business-- bill paying, phone calls, errands, etc. A chunk of my to-do list involved making various appointments for me and my dog. Can't we say it's a little outrageous when I have to wait until June for a physical, July for a vet appointment, and August for an eye exam?

On the phone, I was on hold for an average of 6 minutes today (times four), except for the call that was busy seven times until I got through. The post office? 15 minutes in line. Goodwill? Ten minutes until an attendant was available to accept our donation. The grocery store was full of Monday shoppers who were trying to avoid the weekend rush.  And when all that was done, I still spent close to two hours answering emails and grading student work.

Some point proudly to our current economy which is producing more with fewer workers. They call it efficiency.

Life Lesson: I call it unsustainable.

F is for Friends Who Do Stuff Together

Our principal is retiring at the end of the year, and so each team has been tasked to come up with some kind of "presentation" for her farewell assembly next month. One of the teachers on our team suggested having the students sing something, but a few others were sure that these particular kids would never be willing.

It seemed to me that this was one of the singingest bunches of sixth graders I have ever known. In addition to the Poem in Your Pocket Day song just last week, I remembered a bus ride not long ago where I was glad we didn't have far to go because of the enthusiastically loud singing.

So the next day I decided to ask them, starting with my homeroom. I explained the whole presentation thing to them, and ended with, "What would you guys think about singing something?"

NO NO NO! It seemed unanimous.

"But I thought you liked to sing," I said. "I hear enough of it around here."

"Oh yeah," one student laughed. "Remember yesterday? When we were thinking of Alphabiography titles? F is for..."

That's all it took. The whole group joined in on that Sponge Bob classic, even the ones that weren't there yesterday. "U is for you and me!" they thundered.

I had to wait until the song was through to be heard above the raucous racket. "See? You love singing! How about it?"

They said they would think about it.

Life Lesson: Sometimes N is not for anywhere and anytime at all.