Stumbling Blocks

I gave an assignment to my classes today that I thought would be a quick review of something they learned in 5th grade, but a few minutes into it with the first group made me reconsider. They did not seem to grasp the directions and when they did, the task took them much longer than I planned for.

One of the benefits of teaching four sections of the same thing is the opportunity to tweak a lesson that needs it right away. The next class went a little better, but it was still not as smooth as I hoped. The third time I started with a little confession about how the day was not going the way I imagined it. "Maybe this is just a hard activity," I warned the class in a tone that was more challenge than admission of defeat. I made the directions very explicit and gave examples.

"That doesn't seem too hard," a student commented.

"I know, right?" I said. "Now show me how it's done!" I ended my pep talk with a little fist pump and then noticed a student raising his hand.

"I think I know what might take so long," he said. I looked at him expectantly. "You forgot to give us the worksheet."

Oops.

I Have Seen the Future

When I heard that the smallish movie theater I used to go to all the time had been renovated and switched over to reserve seating only, I made little note of the fact. Later someone mentioned that not only were the seats by reservation, they were luxury recliners, too. That piqued my interest, but it wasn't until this morning, when we met a friend there to see Zero Dark Thirty, that I fully realized the implications.

Oh. My. Gosh. Wide, roomy, adjustable auto-recline, and foot rests? The movies may never be the same.

21st Century Pioneer Woman

With a dramatic bang and a tiny wisp of smoke, my electric range quit working last night. Fortunately, dinner was ready.

This is actually the third stove we've owned in the 14 years we've lived here. When the elements kept burning out on the original 1985 model, we replaced it with a cool black ceramic top number. It was awesome until that day when the oven shorted out, blowing the entire circuitry on it. The repairman assured me that although the part was on back order, it would be there in a couple of weeks.

Two weeks without a stove seemed crazy. The first thing we bought was an electric kettle to boil water for coffee. We already had a crock pot and a combination deep-fryer and general electric pot. Our microwave is also a convection oven, and so we did nicely. When they called to tell us that it might be another week or so, I got an induction burner.

By now it was early November, and Thanksgiving was on the way. During one of my pointed calls, someone finally broke the news to me that my range was going to be out of commission for the entire holiday season. I reeled for a moment and then went into catering on site mode, channeling the mindset I had given up a decade ago.

For Thanksgiving, I farmed out the turkey and made all my other sides with the versatile little appliances I had. (I don't think I've roasted a turkey since.) At Christmas I did all my baking in the convection. It took a little longer, but it was fine. We ate normal meals and had guests over. Stove? Pffffft.

Thinking back on that time now, five years later, I have to say that being stoveless really wasn't too much more than an inconvenience, in fact I kind of enjoyed the challenge of it all. At last, though, in March, I broke down and bought a newer, better range. A few months later, they delivered the errant part. That kind of made me mad, but I was enjoying the new stove too much to let it bother me for long.

Until last night. Oh, I've put a call in to my new, reliable repair guy, and I have high hopes that he will be able to make a quick and simple fix, but he's so old-fashioned that he doesn't work on weekends, which is okay with me.

We'll make do.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

The Tolerance Club sponsored our monthly movie today. Last time we showed The Miracle Worker and the library was pretty packed, so we asked for permission to branch out into the theater. The movie was The Hammer, rated PG-13, and so we required our middle schoolers to get a permission slip signed by a parent.

As usual, the TC kids made posters and we ran a trailer on the morning announcements promising a snack and a couple hours of community and service to any student interested in watching this true story of Matt Hamill, born deaf, who against all odds becomes a national NCAA wrestling champ.

This afternoon, the assistant principal and I waited in the lobby as the bell rang, ready to collect permission slip "tickets" and usher the students into the theatre. At first it was a trickle, a few kids came right after their last class, eager to see the movie. Soon, the lobby was full, and when we started letting them in, it was literally only a matter of minutes before we ran out of snacks. As I dashed back to our team room to scrounge up some spare treats, I passed a line of students that ran past the main office and well down the hallway.

Later, when the lights were back up and the late buses had pulled off into a rainy Friday afternoon, we counted up how many permission slips there were and then added in the last minute phone calls home that we had approved. Our house was over 200, meaning that close to 30% of our student body had come to the movie.

Wow.

Golden Statue Playbook

The announcement this morning of the Oscar nominees for the year added a little zest to our day. I was particularly pleased that the acting in Silver Linings Playbook was so recognized; it was easily my favorite film of the year I've seen so far.

I also felt quite vindicated that I pushed for all of us to see Beasts of the Southern Wild back in July. I'm quite sure I remember insisting that it would be nominated come Oscar time... the fried alligator on the floating brothel scene was magical.

A few summers ago we took all the boys to see A Winter's Bone.  (Same story: I had read a few things about it and guessed that it might be recognized by the academy, and it was, and so I am boasting about my remarkable prescience.) Back then, Jennifer Lawrence was nominated, as was the movie. Neither was victorious, but this time around? My money's on Katniss.

Scrooge

We still have our Christmas tree up. I was going to pack it all away last Sunday, the actual twelfth day of Christmas, but with all our holiday travels it still seemed a little too soon to say good-bye to the bright lights and ornaments. The tree itself still looks pretty fresh-- ten days in a cool house without the lights on must be quite preservative.

I always listen with interest to those who explain how glad they are to put everything away and get back to a more normal routine after all the hubbub of the hectic holidays. I understand their point, but that view is not mine. I'm more of a romantic along the lines of Charles Dickens, via his changed-hearted villain:

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

But don't worry, the tree is coming down.

The Point

We've had a student who has been out since before Thanksgiving with a nasty infection. Thankfully, she returned today ready and willing to jump right in and try to pick up where she left off. Always a brash kind of a personality, she took me a bit by surprise when, after watching one of the class's favorite StoryCorps animations, she raised her hand. "What was the point of that?" she sniffed dismissively.

Fortunately, her classmates were able to explain the meaning of the SC motto:  

Every voice matters.