P is for Police Week

I learned recently that anytime you see police activity in our community, a simple tweet to the police department will get you an explanation, via Twitter, in less than an hour. I like that. It seems like an excellent customer service attitude, because frankly, a lot of cop cars in your neighborhood can be rather alarming.

That said, I've only used the service twice, and both times were for police escorts. It was clear to me that something pretty fancy was going down, and I wanted to know what it was. The first time, it was for a luncheon for medal of honor recipients at a hotel near my house. That's kind of cool.

Today traffic was stopped on the on-ramp to a busy interstate right around rush hour while at least 30 motorcycle cops rode by in two-by-two formation, lights flashing, but sirens off. "What was the motorcade on 395 North just now?" I tweeted to @ArlingtonVaPD.

A few minutes later I got a reply. "It was for National Police Week."

Interesting! And good to know. "Happy National Police Week!" I tweeted back. "Thank you for your service."

Life Lesson: "The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge." ~Thomas Berger

Q is for Quizizz

This year I have created a bunch of review materials for our state standardized tests and put them in the form of "Quizizz" a Google-friendly app that allows students to compete against each other in a game-like environment. The teacher gets data as well, both at the question and the student level. Besides being high-interest, another benefit is that kids can access it independently, and so it fits in with a workshop approach where everyone is working at individual speeds and levels.

As a result, reviewing for the test is integrated into our class, but it is not the focus, and we can move on with other projects. Which we have. But when I told students today that they would be conducting the first interviews for their personal profile pieces on Tuesday, a very conscientious student raised her hand. "But wait! Isn't the SOL on Wednesday?" 

And when I nodded, she continued, "Shouldn't we be reviewing?!?"

I get what she's saying, but I shook my head and laughed. "If you don't know it by then," I told her, "one more class period of review won't help."

"I better do those Quizizz!" she said.

That's what they're there for!

Life Lesson: “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today." ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

R is for Record Breaker

I heard today that we are in record setting territory when it comes to measurable rain. As of this morning, in our area there have been 13 straight days of .01 inches or more of rain, which shatters the old record of ten, set in 1938.

I don't know about that, but I do know it has been a gray stretch of days going back at least a couple of weeks. Usually the weather doesn't bother me; a little hot, a little cold, some snow, rain, humidity, whatever-- it is what it is and will probably change soon. But that's the key, right? I like the contrast.

Think about it-- whatever your perfect weather might be, it is only perfect because you don't have it all the time. Like yin and yang, darkness and light, good weather and bad are necessarily defined by each other.

Life Lesson: “Too much of anything could destroy you, Simon thought. Too much darkness could kill, but too much light could blind.” ~Cassandra Clare, City of Lost Souls

S is for Same Book as Last Time

In my reading class we play a little game on Fridays where students have time to read the book of their choice and then write three clues about it. Afterwards hey have five minutes to interview as many other students about the books they are reading. Then we have a contest where the clues are read and a student's name is drawn at random. Will he or she be able to identify the book, or will he or she be forced to confess, as one student did so frequently last year that it has become a trademark of the game, "My mind is a blank!"

Winners get candy; there is also incentive to pay close attention because, time-permitting, we go through the clues again, and anyone who doesn't get called will get a chance in the second round. It's a fun way to have the students identify three important traits of their books and to do book talks.

I always throw a card with my current book as well, but the last couple of months have been a little predictable in that respect. I have come up with a slew of clues about Alexander Hamilton, and used my new found knowledge as a springboard for several short conversations, but this afternoon I reached the part in the many hundred paged text where Hamilton accepted Aaron Burr's challenge to a duel of honor, was mortally wounded, and died.

At Burr's shot, I clapped my forehead in sorrow and a little self-contempt. Why did I spend so much time with this guy when I knew what he was going to do? I wondered. And what am I going to listen to next? Because even though I didn't like the ending? I would definitely do it all again.

Life Lesson: "A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous." ~Alexander Hamilton

T is for There are Two Ways to Look at Anything

Even though the torrential rain and unseasonably chilly temperatures over the last couple of weeks kept me from working in my garden, today when I finally got out there in those seventy perfectly sunny degrees, because the ground was still so damp, the weeds slipped free like children from their jackets on a warm day.

In less than two hours, 6 bags were filled, the plot was cleared, and we were heading home with the sunroof open and the radio blasting, and all because of the rain!

Life Lesson:  “Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.” ~Helen Keller

U is for Under the Weather

In my house, there are three words that you are never allowed to say, and they are:

I

Am

Sick.

Why? Well, it's because I believe in the power of words, and I don't think anyone should use the verb "to be" for anything other than the best part of themselves. I am a teacher? Yes! I am a wife, daughter, sister, aunt? You betcha. But even if I lose, I'm not a loser, and if I feel tired or bored, there's more to me than just being tired or bored. 

And so when we have a little scratch in our throats, or a stomach ache, or anything else, around here we don't define ourselves by that, we simply describe our symptoms, say something like, I don't feel good, and look forward to a better day tomorrow.

Life Lesson: “You gwyne to have considerable trouble in yo' life, en considerable joy. Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you's gwyne to git well agin.”~Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

V is for Vth Grade

One of the poetry challenges last month was to write six stanzas in the style of Wallace Stevens' poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird. Every student who tried it did a terrific job-- it was some of the most imaginative and descriptive poetry of the month. One part of the directions was a little confusing to some, however. "Excuse me, Ms. S." one student said quietly. "I don't really get Roman numerals." He was referring to the way Stevens numbers his stanzas of course.

I learned Roman numerals a long time ago in 5th grade. The basics seemed easy enough. I equaled 1, and then it was hash marks until four. The word 'five' has a 'V' in it, four is one before five, and six is one after five, and so on. Ten and X? There was no trick to help with that, but once you knew it, you were fine.

I would have been totally lost when it came to the bigger numbers if my teacher hadn't taught us a phrase to remember them by: Little Cats Drink Milk. 'L' is 50, 'C' 100, 'D' 500, and 'M' is 1000. With that knowledge, I could write or decipher any Roman numeral you gave me. (It also helped that they always showed the copyright date at the end of movies and TV shows in Roman numerals.)

Once I showed that student the pattern, he too, was able to do it without any problem, and he was free to write a great poem.

Life Lesson: "I do not know which to prefer,/ The beauty of inflections/ Or the beauty of innuendoes" ~Wallace Stevens