Rewards

Today was prize day for the Poetry Challenge segment of the 100 Day Writing Challenge that I offer for my students. Truth be told, I struggle with the prizes, because I don't believe in relying on extrinsic motivation.

When I break it down, though, my rationale is that the challenge will become intrinsic, even if it isn't from the start: The students want prizes, and anyone who fulfills the parameters will get one. My gambit is that they will also discover writing fluency and writing skills they never knew they had. Also, if they consider themselves writers, they will be much more open to writing instruction. The challenge isn't meant to change what I teach, it is designed to change those who I teach.

That's the theory, anyway, and it's always nice to have a little independent confirmation that I might be on the right track, so it was with gratitude that I read this post (for the May challenge) today:

O is for One Hundred Day Challenge

On February 28, 2014, the sixth grade Dolphin team started the 100 day writing challenge. Ms. S. said it will help us learn and write better. If you write 20 or more times per month you get a prize at the end of each month during the challenge. When I started this challenge I thought it would be boring. The first month of the challenge was easy. It was just writing a part of your life and sharing it.  So when I wrote more than 20 days I thought, wait this is pretty easy after all-- writing is actually fun. Ms. S. is making me a good writer. 

When that month ended, I got my prize, but the challenge for April was hard! "Poetry!" But when Ms. S. explained each type of poem, it turned out to be an easy challenge. 

Thank you Ms. S. for making me a poet. You are a poet and you know it.

Lesson: The more you write the better you get!!!

DIY: Dream it Yourself

Once when we were very young our dryer was not working. Money was tight, and my mom did not want to call a repairman. In those days, long before a quick google search would help you troubleshoot your appliances, she tried to figure out the problem on her own, but without success. That night, Mom went to bed with that broken dryer on her mind. The next morning, she awoke with the answer; she had dreamed that a fuse was blown. It cost her less than a dollar to discover that she was right.

Like my mother, I prefer to fix what I can myself, so Saturday I picked up a replacement cable box for the upstairs TV. What was supposed to be an easy plug and play installation somehow went wrong, and a blank screen was all I could conjure. Reluctantly, I called the help line and was directed to wait 40 minutes and see if it would start then.

Having MANY other things to do (and a few other TVs as well) I let it go until I could find the time to focus on resolving the issue, but last night I dreamed about the cable box. In the dream, I hadn't connected the cable to it, so it couldn't download the data it needed. I woke up with the hazy idea that I could fix it just like that.

In the shower, though, my mind cleared, and I knew that I had attached the cable. Mentally, I put the problem back on the to-do list. My thoughts kept wandering back to the issue all day, and so when I got home I went upstairs to look at it again. It turns out that I connected the wrong cable to the box, and in less than 10 minutes? It was up and running.

Let it Go

On Saturday we had our handyman come over to do some drywall repair after yet another leak upstairs. Once he was all set up, we went out to run a few errands. The day was fine, sunny and warm, and when we returned, he had the front door open. Music floated from within our house. It was a familiar song, but I giggled when I realized that I heard Marcos singing along.

"You like Frozen?" I asked him. 

He laughed sheepishly and shrugged. "My grandchildren! They love it!"

This is Not a Drill

When the fire alarm went off a couple minutes before the end of first period, I assumed it was a drill, but the cold and steady drizzle that greeted us as we evacuated the building made me suspect otherwise. 800 of us shivered in what turned into an icy downpour, waiting first for the firetrucks to arrive, and then for them to clear the building for re-entry. Half of second period was gone by the time we slogged back in, everyone drenched.

What followed was an exercise in necessity. Teachers supervised their soaking students as one by one team groups were called to report to the locker room to change into dry gym clothes. We were all back on track by the bell for third period. All of us except the kid who pulled the fire alarm. His day did not improve at all.

Rule of Three

My students wrote Praise Poems yesterday. This was the second year for the assignment, and like last time, I explained that Praise Poems come from Western Africa and celebrate an individual's identity. They are often call and response, with the audience chanting a chorus between lines.

The formula I gave my students was to write six lines and a chorus. The first line is your name, the second about your place of birth or ethnicity, the third about your family, the fourth and fifth compare you to natural elements or entities, and the last chooses a positive, defining quality about you and repeats it three times. The chorus is an expression of what they hope might be said of them by their community, and so it is written in third person.

There is something about the writing that kids do for this assignment that is just so moving to me, especially the last lines of their poems. So often the defining quality they choose is stunning-- surprising but perfect.

Here are some of their words:

I am the force of a tornado
but I am steady, steady, steady

I change like the seasons
I am energetic, energetic, energetic

As silent as a hurricane,
but I am loving, loving, loving

I have the speed of a snail,
but I am happy, happy, happy

I am the crashing of a storm,
but I am wise, wise, wise

Determined as the cheetah,
I am daunting, daunting, daunting

I have the strength of a rhino,
but I am kind, kind, kind

I keep peace as the dove does--
I am cooperative, cooperative, cooperative

Totem Poll

My day was filled with animals that I don't regularly see. On a lark (haha) I decided to find the spirit meaning for each of the critters I encountered today. Here's my survey:

RABBIT: Reminds us to examine and utilize the tools we have within ourselves. Although our instincts are innate, they also need nurturing and development. Rabbit meanings deal primarily with abundance, comfort, and vulnerability. Traditionally, rabbits are associated with fertility, sentiment, desire, and procreation.

HORSE: You are being reminded that change is good for you. Only through constant re-evaluation of where you are in life can we continue to grow spiritually. It is not about getting there – but simply about the journey itself. Trust and have faith in your own personal goals, realize that when one door closes many more are open. You can always get there from here.

DEER: It is often a sign not to be too hard on yourself. Still the voice of the self critic and treat yourself with gentleness and understanding, be yourself and continue along your path. Seek out your inner treasures and use them generously to help those around you. Trust that kindness and graciousness will be well received.

DRAGONFLY: They are asking that you pay attention to your deeper desires and be mindful of the outcome we wish to have. There are lessons to be learned and you are reminded that “what you think” is directly proportionate to what you “see on the surface”. In other words your thoughts are responsible for your physical surroundings.

VULTURE: You are being asked to be patient with yourself and think things through. Take your time before making decisions and choose paths that support your higher consciousness and your heart. Use all of your resources combined with your past experience to approach the problem from a different angle. Know that you are always free to choose your own path but be flexible while moving forward. 

Hmmm. That's a lot to think about on a walk through the woods.

Writer's Cramp

A little while ago I was congratulating myself on having a pretty productive Saturday-- the heat pump was repaired, the dining room ceiling was patched and repainted, the grocery shopping was done, the cable box was replaced, and we even went out to lunch!

And I?

I paid for it all.

(I also read the New Yorker and deleted a lot of pictures from my phone, so, you know, I was busy.)