Ideally

As a writing teacher, I've found that for most writing assignments, there are three types of student products. There are the kids that totally get the task and usually write something super-creative and often outside the box. Their work is fun to read and easy to assess.

Then, there are kids who, for a variety of reasons, choose to meet the specified requirements as best they can, nothing more, and sometimes quite a bit less. Those often formulaic pieces can make you seriously question the rubric, if not your career choice.

And then there are some kids who approach the assignment earnestly and so end up composing something that expresses a heartfelt truth for them. No matter the initial technical quality, that writing is a delight to read and a pleasure to help revise, because the student authors care so much about it.

Is it unrealistic to work toward a class where drudgery is banned and the middle group is null? I hope not.

Attitude of Gratitude

One of the teachers on my team is retiring as of April 1, so today was her appreciation party. As the English teacher, I had all of the students write notes of thanks which we placed in a nice little album. The kids did a really nice job-- their cards were genuinely sweet and poignant.

The activity made me remember an interview I'd heard on the radio several years ago. It was with John Kralik, a man who, in his early fifties was overworked and overweight and facing his second divorce and a faltering law practice. Unsure as to how he could even move forward, he took a solitary hike on New Years Day, and after getting lost in the mountains heard a voice tell him that until he appreciated what he had, he would never get what he wanted.

He also remembered his grandfather who gave his grandchildren silver dollars with the promise that if they wrote a thank-you note, he would give them another. His grandfather's lesson was that expressing thanks will pay off, sometimes literally. Considering all the obsolete stationery he had back at his soon-to-be-closed office, Kralik  decided to use it to write 365 thank-you notes, one a day for the next year. His book, 365 Thank Yous, chronicles how that year of appreciation changed his life.

At this point in the year, my students complete a series of writing challenges designed to encourage them to write and post their writing every day, or at least twice a week. As our first task, The Alphabiography Challenge, draws to a close, I plan to do a poetry challenge in April, for National Poetry month. But before then, we have Spring Break, and just enough time to do a mini-project.

And so, our Gratitude Challenge kicks off on March 27: it will consist of ten days of thank-you notes, at least 2 of which will be handwritten and mailed off. Today the students made lists of possible recipients, and it was gratifying to see how little trouble they had.

Prefix Conundrum

I was feeling pretty good about the prefix mini-unit we just completed until I received an email this evening from the parent of one of my students.

So M. was flummoxed by a word problem on a math test that apparently asked him which answer "depicted" something. He had just learned that the prefix "de-" meant "take away" so he didn't understand what depict meant. He said he asked [his math teacher], but I think he was really confused. He thought somehow it meant "did not show."

And I replied:

Oh dear!

I sympathize with M's confusion, but I also commend him for trying to, as the SOL states, "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to determine meanings of common English words."

Thanks so much for letting me know; I'll talk to him tomorrow to see if I can help.

I'll embrace it as the teachable moment about a complex subject that it is.

Indisposed

There's a commercial that I've seen a couple of times. It's for a bank that promises it has dialed back on the automatic, non-human services that can be so frustrating. In this particular ad, the bank is closing and a dis-embodied voice tells the harried customer to "come back during business hours."

"I run a business during business hours," he complains as the lights go out.

Most teachers can certainly relate to his dilemma. We run a classroom during business hours. When we're in class, we cannot make or receive phone calls concerning anything. We can't leave for an hour to go to an appointment or let a repairman into our homes. If we need to take care of personal business, we take leave and get a sub.

Come to think of it, I guess most people are working during business hours, which makes sense if your business is business, but what about everybody else?

Street Talk

I have a boy in my class this year who stands out partially because of his commitment to projecting a tough, street-wise image. He wears flashy clothes and liberally references rappers who are known more for their criminal charges than their music. Oh, he definitely has his sweet side, but I was still a little startled to hear him ask one of his peers for help today in class.

"Will you be a dear and check this for me?"

The other student consented with a nod; he didn't even find the request unusual, so I rolled with it, too.

Hurry in! Limited Time Only

Most people who know me know that I love the movies. Those who know me a bit better, may even know that I have a growing passion for short films. When Oscar time rolls around, I am gleeful because it means that there will be three showcases of the short nominees, an opportunity to see at least 15 movies in the theater that I may not have otherwise.

You can imagine my delight today, then, when a friend on facebook liked the PBS Online Film Festival. As much of a public broadcasting nut as I am, I had totally missed this event. In the words of the sponsors, the Festival, featuring award-winning films with a wide array of styles, perspectives and subject matter, will run from March 4 to March 22 and can be accessed via the PBS website and the PBS YouTube channel. From fact to fiction, the films in PBS Online Film Festival feature surprising stories that only we can tell. 

I watched a couple today (of course I went for the cat-cam first-- that doesn't make me shallow... well, maybe it does), and I was not disappointed. I am, however, a little concerned that there are only five days left!

Brave New World

We've been talking about re-doing the bathroom for sometime, but since it's never at the top of the list, any ideas we might have are very vague. Through a series of events, that project was fast-tracked today, and if all goes as expected, work will begin on Tuesday and be completed on Wednesday.

In the olden days, five or six years ago, when faced with such choices, one might consult magazines or books for inspiration, but this morning, as I began to wrap my head around the decisions I needed to make in the next few days, I turned to... Pinterest. A casual user of the site, what I love most is the pictures, and it was definitely visuals I needed to formulate a vision.

My fellow pinners did not disappoint; I found what I sought: the basis of an idea, cobbled from the many that were posted. And it was then that I more fully understood the value of this site. I considered all the stacks of dog-eared magazines and file folders stuffed with clippings that I have collected over the years and added all the periodicals I've purchased because of a single article; here it could all be stored and accessed at the click of a mouse.

Whoa.