Counter-Intuituve

Last quarter I had two of my students, whose behavior can be rather challenging, three times a day-- for intervention, reading class, and English class. Instead of wearing my patience ever thinner, I found that the more time I spent with those guys, the better-behaved they were. Go figure.

Now I only see them once a day, during the last class period that I teach, and I find myself  aggravated with them much more frequently. Today I gave one of them a warning look and asked him to step over to my desk.

Before I could say a word, he shook his head and looked at me. "Don't you miss seeing me all the time?" he asked.

"Yes!" I told him, "I really do! Now, about throwing that paper..."

Future Mad Men

My students are working on a popular little mini-unit centered on media literacy and persuasive techniques. As the culminating project, they form teams to plan, write and produce a commercial for an imaginary product (which is in reality either a kitchen gadget or a combination of kitchen gadgets). In general, they love the activity because it lets them collaborate, and be creative and funny.

Before they start shooting, they must first come up with a concept, including catchy name and slogan, and submit it to me for approval. It's rare that I veto any idea, but the group that wanted to use "Grab your balls and start bouncing today!" was an exception. I did let "For 10 bucks and a nickel we'll give you a tickle!" slide, though.

No Credit to Me

I've had a lot of great homerooms over the years, and a few rather challenging groups, too, but never have I had a TA like the one I do this year. They are amazing! At the end of the first grading period, 11 out of 12 were on the honor roll and the other student missed by 2 percentage points. In addition to being responsible students, they are conscientious as well, completing their community service activities and always arriving on time.

It is for this last strength that they were rewarded this morning, being chosen from all the other 6th grade homerooms as the on-time champs for the month. Along with the recognition comes temporary custody of a shiny trophy and the choice of either a pizza party or squish balls for everyone. The group was nearly unanimous in their selection of the fidgets. "Pizza's good," one of them said to the class, " but squishy balls will last long after pizza is gone."

I was telling a colleague about it later in the day. "That's incredible!" she said.

"I know, right?" I agreed. "They would knock the marshmallow test right out of the park!" I thought about it, and then shrugged. "I guess it's really not that surprising. That's why they are so good."

Not My Shoe Size

I was at the UPS store sending off some packages, and the young man helping me couldn't have been nicer. When at last it came time to pay the bill, he announced the total and asked, "Do you have an AARP account?"

Perhaps I raised an eyebrow, because he quickly added, "or triple A? We give discounts for either!"

Mistaken Identity

We went to the opening reception for my sister-in-law's art show this afternoon. It was a wonderful exhibit, full of prints and collages that really showcased her amazing talent. At one point, I was standing in the gallery talking to a few friends from school when a woman tapped me on the shoulder. "Excuse me," she said, "are you Emily?"

"No," I answered and pointed. "That's her over there, the one talking so animatedly about that print."

"Thank you," she said.

"No, thank you," I told her. "I'm flattered to be mistaken for the artist!" Then I turned to my colleagues and shrugged. "It must be the turtleneck!"

Next Generation

Years ago I used to have my students do a word ladder every Monday. It was a fun way for them to exercise vocabulary, spelling, and logical thinking skills while I was conferring with them one by one about their independent reading. As the curriculum changed, eventually I phased that activity out in favor of other tasks that allowed them to connect their reading to their writing, and I hadn't thought about those puzzles in years when the other day one of the students in my intervention class asked me if I had any word ladders for the Greek and Latin word parts we were studying.

"I don't," I answered, "but I'm not sure how that would work."

"I love word ladders!" she told me. "My fifth grade teacher used to give them to us all the time.

"Funny!" I said. "Who was your teacher?"

"Ms. D." she replied.

"Ms. Katie D?" I clarified.

"Yes!" she confirmed.

"Well," I laughed, "she used to love doing them, too, when she was in sixth grade. In fact, I think she used to sit right where you are sitting now."

"Wait. What?" Her jaw dropped. "Ms. D. was in your class?"

"I know, right?" I agreed. "I can hardly believe it myself!" 

Fahrvergnügen

As hard as I try, I often fall victim to the rush, Rush, RUSH energy that seems so prevalent everywhere, but especially here, in my hometown. On the many occasions when I find that I have tried to squeeze a little too much into the minutes before my departure time and as a result I am running late, you can find me cussing, switching lanes, and running yellow lights along with my fellow DMVers. Oh sure, once in a while I take a deep breath and remind myself that time is a human construction, and although those times are still much rarer than I'd like, I really do think I am improving in managing both my time and my stress.

I have a friend whose son just got his learner's permit. "He wants to drive everywhere!" she told me. "And I'm happy to let him."

"I hear you!" I answered. "The traffic around here almost makes me wish for self-driving cars."

That was last week, but this week?

Enter our brand new 2018 Subaru Outback Touring-- Man! I am looking for excuses to drive that car! Red light? Yay! How long do I have to play with the radio? Yellow light? I better slow down... after all, that would be the most prudent course of action. AND as always, I can not wait for my next

Road trip!