Sour and Sweet

I thought I was in big trouble a couple of weeks ago when the school secretary called me into her office. Teachers know who wields the authority in the building, and I was racking my mind trying to think of what I could have possibly overlooked or left undone. My wide eyes grew wider and my eyebrows shot up in alarm when she asked me to close the door behind me.

"Yes?" I said.

She lowered her voice and looked at me in conspiracy. "We're having a shower for Jessica," she named a colleague who was expecting and also right outside the door, "and I was wondering if you'd make your famous lemon squares."

I exhaled in relief. "Of course," I replied. I use my mom's recipe which calls for butter and plenty of lemon zest, and the results are always pretty tasty.

A few days later I saw the principal in the hallway at passing time. I smiled, and she waved me over.

"Yes?" I asked, with curiosity.

"I heard you were making lemon squares for the shower!" 

Y2K + 17

For a loooooong time I resisted the use of slide show presentations in my class. Because personally? Although I recognize the advantages of organizing your remarks with a visual aid, I have sat through too many boring power points where the presenter reads from slide after uninspired or otherwise flawed slide.

My opinion began to flex when I saw how engaged my students were when the intern teacher structured his 10 minute mini-lessons with a slide show, punctuated with interesting images and a video or two. Then, when I taught the persuasive techniques unit and used TV commercials to illustrate the concepts, that medium turned out to be the most efficient way to present the information. So much so, that I invested in a wireless remote so that I could roam the room as I clicked from slide to slide.

And now, I'm hooked. Just this morning I threw together a Google slideshow on plot structure, complete with Disney and Pixar movie clips to illustrate the key points. Another upside is that I can also post the presentation in our Google classroom so that students can return to it as they need to, or any absent student who is so motivated can work through the material from home.

There is danger in the approach, to be sure: I know if I'm not judicious, I could end up with too much talking time for the teacher and too much seat time for the kids, but so far, my little digital natives seem to dig the big screen.

Buckle Up!

Since I was out of school today (#familyoscarholiday), one of the activities I left for my students was a little survey to gauge their interest in our up-coming writing challenge. With three options, required, reward, and full-on commitment, 48% are in it to win it. 22% are minimalists, and the other 30% are hedging their bets.

The data is interesting, but the comments explaining their choices are way better!

Definitely will:

I love to write so doing this is going to boost my writing. I also love challenges.
I want to go for 100 days because I want to push my self to my fullest potential.
Because I want the shirt.
I feel like this can improve my writing techniques to help me be a better writer
I might still thinking
I don't know exactly what it is but I will try to go all out.
I love writing and want it become a better author!
I think it will be a valuable experience and will help make my writing better.
I want a challenge
I will do it so my mom does not yell at me
I'm gonna try to write 100 days so my grade in english can go up.
I want extra credt
I might
I want to challenge my self
I want a t-shirts
I really want to challenge myself and I want to get fun prizes and a T SHIRT-!!!!!!!!!
I want to do the challenge because i want to grow as a writer and I don't think I will be able to do it so I want to prove myself wrong
I will try hard
Because I don't want to get a shirt but my mom she wants one so I'm going to do it for her.
I will try by best to do the 100 day challenge to the best of my ability
Because I want to
I do need a little writing help
I'm wanting to get the shirt and I already got a few designs in my mind.
I feel that it will boost my writing skills
I really want the funny t-shirts
I want to challenge myself in writing
I'm pumped and wanna get a shirt.
I want to get the cool shirts and get good at writing.
I want to do the 100 days but I'll probably not be able to do it
I'M SO PUMPED FOR THIS, I WOULDNT MISS IT FOR LIFE
I want to see if I can REALLY become a better writer and see if I can write everyday.
I am going to try my best complete the 100 day writing challenge
I think It will be a grI will do atleast 20 times and if I like it , I will do more.
It's hard for me sometimes to figure out what to write and I might miss a lot of days
I want to try it, and 100 days seems like after a I wouldn't want to do it.
I don't think I'll be able to do 100 but I guess then I can do 20.
I want to become a better writer, but I have already committed to other activities and I know I won't have enough time some days
Because I feel like it'll be a fun challenge and if I'm into it I'll go for the 100 day writing challenge!!

In the middle:

I will do at least 20 times and if I like it , I will do more.
It's hard for me sometimes to figure out what to write and I might miss a lot of days
I want to try it, and 100 days seems like after a I wouldn't want to do it.
I don't think I'll be able to do 100 but I guess then I can do 20.
I want to become a better writer, but I have already committed to other activities and I know I won't have enough time some days
Because I feel like it'll be a fun challenge and if I'm into it I'll go for the 100 day writing challenge!!
I want to do more than the required amount but at the same time I don't want to do more than the limit. Just in the middle,
I have so many activities after school so I don't have enough time to write 100 days.
I'm happy whith 20 days and a prize
I don't have the time to do 💯 days but I don't just want to do the bare minimum of 10 days
cause you get a prize
I don't know if I'll be able to do it every day
So it's a bit easier
I will do 20 days.
Because I don't want to but it might be fun
because i dont have 100 things exiting about my life so i will do te 20 day challenge
I have never really enjoyed writing but if I do the 10 days that won't challenge me enough.
I am trying to write 20 days or more t improve my writing
I'm gonna try hard to get 100 but I might be busy
I definitely will do the 20 days, but I will try to do the 100 days because I want to improve my writing.
Because I am not that good and this will be a good goal for me

Just the minimum:

i think its best for my mental health
I will do this because I write a lot anyway
I don't like writing
I can't really because I'm going to have baseball games and practices in Spring
I going to do 10 days because if I do 100 days I can't think any ideas or i might give up
Because I want to
Because I don't like writing.
I don't want to put to much pressure on myself
10 days are required so I will do 10 days
Because I don't know if I want to right for a long time
I'm not sure what I'm doing yet
I'm not big on writing but I know I have to improve in writing
I'm going to start with the ten days and then if I like it I will continue to write.
Because I can go buy those prizes from 7 11

Head v. Heart

Every year we face the same dilemma: enter the Oscar pool using strategy and conventional wisdom, or vote for the films and performances you have loved. Oh, there is certainly money and bragging rights at stake, but after seeing so many movies in a relatively short time, it's hard not to support the ones that made you laugh, or cry, or think, and hope that they touched the members of the academy in the same way, too.

This year Bill finally pulled the trigger on what we have been considering for a long time-- he filled out two ballots-- one for his head and one for his heart. As for me, as I looked over my ballot this evening I realized how fond I really was of so many of the nominees, and for this year, at least, my head and my heart were not the conflict.

And in the end? It was a riveting race until the final award was announced. Bill's heart was never a contender, but his head edged us all out.

But it was close!

Congrats on the two-fer, Bill!

UPDATE 12:10 AM: After that stunning reversal of the best picture award, there was a change in our results as well! Victor ended up tied with Bill, because his heart made him pick Moonlight.

Where in the World

I often torture myself trying to guess where in the world all those gorgeous, screen-saving landscapes on my Amazon Fire might possibly be located.Vietnam? New Zealand? Switzerland? Alaska? And I was doing that exact thing this evening as we all relaxed in the great room of our Oscar-weekend beach rental. A rare February thunderstorm boomed overhead and rain swished hard down the roof while Josh and I threw out place names to match the scenes gliding across the TV screen.

"I wish they would just tell us where they are so we could know if we were right!" I complained. "I'm going to write Amazon and ask them to do that! Wouldn't that be a fun game?"

"Well," interjected Victor, "there is a game that is similar to that. It's called GeoGuessr and it uses Google maps to basically drop you down in the middle of somewhere and make you guess your location."

Well, it wasn't long before we had that app up on the big screen collectively scrubbing every detail of the image to try to figure out just where in the world it might be. Look at the lines on the road! What does that sign say? What sort of plants are those? What color is the soil? What kind of car is that? What about the architecture?

Oh, the pictures weren't nearly as pretty, but the game was a lot of fun. Our results varied from as far off as we could possibly be (for the record that is only half-way around the world!) to within 33 yards.

AND? We always knew where it was in the end!

Start Your Engines

Hard to believe, but it was 2,917 days ago that I started posting this daily blog. The milestone was on my mind today as I introduced my latest group of sixth graders to the 100 Day Writing Challenge.

Over the years I have learned that, while daily diligence is mandatory for me, when the rules are completely unforgiving, a single misstep will almost certainly lead to quitting for my students. And so I have built in safety nets on either end of the challenge, such as the next five days before the official March 1 kick-off. Any kids who post practice pieces will be able to count them toward the ones they miss. There are also some extra days at the end for those writers who are oh-so-close.

As result, this Friday evening finds me reading through a collection of hundred-word self-portraits of my students' lives, and as ever, I am exceedingly moved by the small details they choose to share and the honesty with which they examine them. They are thoughtful, inventive, wise, and quirky.

Here are just a few of their observations:

Yesterday, I woke up to the stramatic yelling of my mother.

I want to be happy, but the thought of my electives haunts me.

Onstage I am the worst at jump roping, so I figured that if I practiced and practiced, I would get so good that I would be able to jump better than the king of jump roping.

Today in English while our teacher was talking I completely zoned out for like five minutes.

Her team has only won once, but they have been trying really hard. That is why I love my sister's basketball game.

I felt like a monster was crawling up my throat and trying to belt out the national anthem.

Now, if you really love birds or just any animal then stop reading now. 
(This particular writer waved me over as he was working. He had a very serious look on his face. "I'm writing about a dead bird I saw on the way to school," he told me, "but I'm afraid it is way too intense for some kids, so I'm going to add a warning.")

Peace out! Stay Alive and ask yourself what does the fox say? Serious. I really don't know? Tell me soon!

It's going to be an exceptional 100 days.

Connecting the Dots

A friend and colleague stopped by my classroom this afternoon with her dad. I was grading reading assignments and more than happy to take a break to meet a man I had been hearing about for over twenty years. When he found out that I was an English teacher, he gamely turned the conversation to correct usage and grammar (or the lack there of) these days. In a minute or two we had covered text-speak and spelling and dialects and the power structure.

"I'll tell you who does value exact grammar," he said. "Lawyers! One comma in the wrong place can mean the difference between damages and no damages for their clients."

I nodded. "It's like that old joke: Let's eat, Grandma versus Let's eat Grandma. Commas can save lives!"

We laughed, and then he asked, "How did we get to cannibalism from grammar?"

"Well," I answered, "I was just grading some work on a book about the Donner Party. It might have something to do with that!"

And we were off again.