L is for It's a Little Late

When I was in graduate school, my Shakespeare professor told us a story the week before our first exam.

A young woman who was failing a class made an appointment to speak to her instructor. "I really need to pass this course," she said, "and I'll do anything to make it happen."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Anything?" he asked.

"Anything," she repeated.

"Then STUDY, damn it!" he told her.

In sixth grade the more common inquiry at report card time is "Why is my grade so low?" and when you tell the student it's because a few things are missing, the next question is always, "Can I do extra credit to bring it up?"

Extra credit!

How about regular credit?!

Just do the work, kids, and we'll go from there.

Life Lesson: “Forever is composed of nows.” ~Emily Dickinson

M is for Man I'm Tired!

It was a whirlwind weekend! We busted out of school at 2:30 on Thursday headed for the airport and a flight to Atlanta to surprise my little sister for her big birthday. Fate was not on our side, however, and after several gate changes and an hour of sitting on the plane at the gate, our flight was canceled and we were scrambling.

There was no way we would make it there that night, but I was happy that my mom and my brother were both able to deliver their surprises, and when my sister jokingly texted me "Are you on the front porch?" she had no idea how true my answer was.

"I wish!"

We did make it early the next afternoon, and it was a fun surprise. Two of her oldest friends were flying in as well, and so the eleven of us celebrated my sister and made merry late into the night all weekend long. It seemed much too soon when the alarm rang this morning and we packed and piled into the rental car at 9 AM, happy to have been there, but sad to be leaving.

In an earlier post this month, I mentioned a rule we have around here, which is that you're never allowed to say I am sick. There's another one kind of like it: No naps! In general, I just think that when you are tired in the middle of the day, it's better to get moving and try to make it to an early bedtime.

I tried to follow my own rule today; we went grocery shopping and came home to walk the dog before dinner, but that couch just looked so inviting! I had to lie down for a quick minute. An hour later? I finally forced myself up and into the kitchen to put the groceries away, but you know what?

I felt much better! Maybe naps aren't all bad after all!

Life Lesson: "It is better to be only sometimes right, than at all times wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them.” ~Abraham Lincoln

N is for Noticing

We spent part of our morning geocaching. For those who are unfamiliar, Wikipedia defines Geocaching as follows:

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook (with a pen or pencil). The geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, such as toys or trinkets.

So basically it's a world-wide treasure hunt, and you might be surprised to discover that there are probably several geocaches within easy traveling distance of your present location. Just go to the website and look. Finding the troves can be challenging; they are usually hidden very cleverly and the rules of the game call for you to be stealthy in your hunt.

My older nephews and I have spent many a fun afternoon chasing down a cache or two or five, and they were always very good at ferreting them out, although we have been stumped on several occasions. Today it was my niece Annabelle who was our lead searcher, and she turned out to be the best spotter yet-- she located both of our quarries in under a minute. That's impressive, but when I told her mom, my sister said, "I'm not surprised. She notices everything!"

Life Lesson: "Between those who notice such things and those who don't, I prefer those who do.” ~Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

O is for One Hundred Twenty Water Balloons

While shopping for writing challenge prizes the other day I came across an ingenious product. Forty balloons banded to plastic straws which are in turn attached to a hose connector. The whole shebang screws right onto the spigot, and, with three to a package, in no time flat you have yourself over 100 water bombs.

How could I resist such a purchase, especially knowing that I would be spending the weekend with my niece and nephew in Atlanta? It was nearly 80 degrees and sunny here this afternoon when we decided to give the battle balloons a whirl, and they did not disappoint. Richard, Annabelle, my brother Bill, and I had all the ammunition we needed to thoroughly drench each other in an awesom water war.  

"You can't imagine what a luxury it was to have so many water balloons!" I told a friend tonight at dinner.

She laughed. "You're right, I can't!" 

Life Lesson: “It's never too late to have a happy childhood.” ~Tom Robbins

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