BSN Fantasies

Having just finished my 21st back-to-school night I arrived home with mixed emotions. Relief, certainly, that it was over, and happy, because it was kind of fun seeing former parents, some who have become old friends; I've been at my school long enough to have established a history.

Once again, though, I was mostly disappointed in my presentation. It's very hard to distill a year of English into a ten-minute presentation. I always feel like I have been long-winded and worse, boring. Every year I vow to find the perfect way to convey the essence of my class in a witty and enjoyable nine minutes, leaving just enough time for questions.

Or perhaps, applause?

Maybe next year.

I Don't Know How She Swallowed a Cow

Part of the fun of teaching is seeing the light in someone's eyes when they understand something completely new. I will never grow tired of that moment. In sixth grade there are many such opportunities; one of the reasons I enjoy that age is because in most kids, it is really the transition year between childhood and the next step, and so they are primed for paradigm shift-- something during our time together will totally blow their minds. It might be as simple as opening a combination lock for the first time or having the privilege of walking down the hall not in a single-file line, but it's not an exaggeration to say that these tiny events open their eyes to a new world only before imagined-- you can take the double-takes to the bank.

I have twins in my homeroom this year who are in our school's life skills program. The 20 minutes we spend together each morning is an opportunity for them to interact with kids outside their program, even though they are behind their peers cognitively, socially, and emotionally. Tuesday is a reading day, and I have books of all levels in my classroom. This morning I gave one of the girls a copy of There Was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly.

It was before most of the other kids had arrived and she began to read it out loud. Her decoding skills were very good, and it was soon clear that she was comprehending what she read as well. What was also clear was that this was a totally new story to her and her sister. Their shock and amusement as the story progressed was charming. They had no idea how it would end. She swallowed a spider? She ate a cat?! Imagine that! 

Their enthusiasm and appreciation completely revived what I considered to be kind of a dumb story; I will never again hear about that silly old woman without a little giggle.

Time Marches On

I laughed about our culinary disagreement the other night, but to be honest, I totally got where Heidi was coming from. She was not yet ready to give up our bright summer cuisine, and so it should be no surprise that her menu was the one we went with that night.

Since then we have continued our hang-on to summer approach to eating with eggplant and tomato last night, zucchini tomato and pasta tonight, and gumbo on the menu for tomorrow. I'm doing my best to work in the transition to fall, though; this crisp weather practically demands it. We had a crunchy little roasted butternut squash julienne garnish on our salads the other night, and it's kale and apple salad tonight.

So be it.

Public Display

In general, Heidi and I are an amicable pair; in many ways our strengths compliment each other. I don't mean to imply that we always agree, far from it, but it was a rare occasion yesterday when we walked into our local grocery store bickering about what to have for dinner. As luck would have it, the first person we saw was a friend from work, Renee, waiting at the check out line. She was on the phone, but her eyes widened as we approached. Our moods changed completely when we shifted our focus from ourselves to our friend, and we greeted her with genuine cheer.

"What are y'all doing here?" she asked, and then pointing to the phone she added, "I'm talking to Nik." (Who is her adult daughter and also a friend.)

"We're just fighting about what to have for dinner," Heidi laughed, and I joined her because it was so ridiculous. She continued with excellent imitations of our cranky exchange, and we laughed even harder.

Renee looked relieved. "They're fighting about dinner," she said into her phone. "Tracey wants roasted butternut squash risotto, but Heidi wants grilled bread with heirloom tomatoes and a salad." She paused. "Nik wants to know what time she should be there."

An Irving Berlin Kind of a Day

We decided to take advantage of the PERFECT weather this afternoon and head down to the national mall. At 5 PM there an almost carnival-like atmosphere prevailed beneath the cloudless sky. A street musician played Linus and Lucy on his keyboard while four little children danced on the grass. A young man carefully placed a wine bottle in his shoe and rapped it sharply on the ground next to his picnic blanket while the pretty girl he was with looked on. The cork remained firmly in place as we passed, and the rapping became pounding. I always wondered if that trick really worked. A little further on, another man passed us juggling three tennis balls as he went, and right after we rounded the west steps of the Capitol, we caught up with and passed two guys chattering in Italian and also practicing their operatic la-la-la-la-las as they strolled along the gravelly path. 

Nothin but blue skies.

Hashtag

Is "pie hole" an example of metonymy?

Open yours and discuss.

Coming to You Live

A neighbor stopped by the other night to chat. She was giving us the latest on her 5-year-old niece who recently started kindergarten in another state. It seems they have a behavior plan in her class that involves a 10 point system. Her niece is never quite clear on how many points she has or where they went by the end of the week. The family suspects a bit of truth-stretching here and there; it's hardly surprising-- who wants to report unflattering news, especially when you're five?

That's okay, though, our neighbor told us, because the point system is going to be online in a couple of weeks with live progress reports for every kindergartener.

Of course it is.

(Shakes head and turns off the computer.)