Border Patrol

Sometimes the best-performing students think that they have earned the right to take liberty with classroom rules and procedures. I get it-- in a perfect world, people who usually understand the task at hand and do what they should would not necessarily have to stay in their seats and listen to directions.

And yet? In sixth grade? They do.

Although I try to keep my instruction brief and to the point so that I can check in with everyone as they work, I guess I wasn't quite succinct enough for a particular student today. She was out of her seat and interrupting me every thirty seconds. Finally, after re-directing her several times, I told her that if she got up one more time I would keep her for lunch detention AND email her parents.

It was this last threat that widened her eyes and closed her mouth. Later, when I stopped by to monitor her progress, my remark was still on her mind.

"You shouldn't threaten people like that," she told me.

"Okay," I shrugged, "next time I'll just give you the detention and send the email."

Her jaw dropped "You wouldn't!"

"I would."

"What would you even say in your email?" she asked in a tone that implied she expected to stump me.

"I would say, I'm writing to tell you that I kept Franny for lunch detention today because she was disruptive. She left her seat several times during instruction and her behavior was a distraction to herself and others," I rattled off a boilerplate message that I've sent a few times before.

"No!" she cried. "My mom would kill me!"

"Then stay. in. your. seat." I told her, "and you'll survive to learn another day!"

Education in Action

The subject of job openings came up in my intervention class this morning. One of the students wondered if the assistant principal who had taken over an unexpected vacancy in his elementary school would be the principal. "She will have to apply for the job," I told him, "but she might get it."

"I'm going to apply!" he said.

"You can apply," I told him, "but if you don't have the requirements you won't get very far."

"What about for teachers?" he asked.

"There are requirements for us, too," I answered.

"Is it a test?" he wanted to know.

"You have to have a license," I said, "and to get it you need to have a college degree AND pass a test."

"I think I could pass the test," he declared. "That should be enough."

"Talk to the state department of education," I laughed.

His tone changed. "How do I contact them?"

"They have a website," I answered helpfully, and gave him the address.

He spent a few minutes looking at it on his iPad. "Can I have some paper?" he asked. "I'm going to write them a letter explaining why I think they should change the rules."

I handed him some loose leaf.

"Do we have envelopes?" he checked, and when I gave him the thumbs up he added, "and stamps?"

"Yep," I confirmed.

"Good," he nodded, "because I have some strong supporting reasons and a lot of evidence. My letter is going to be very persuasive."

To the Mattresses

You might think you're being frugal holding on to that mattress for over ten years, well beyond its practical life. But you would be wrong, because when you buy a new one, looking forward to some restful nights at last, nights without rolling into the valleys your body has abraded into that once very comfortable top-of-the-line pillow top, you will find that none of your bedsheets fit the new mattress, and you will have to go purchase more before you can sleep.

BUT if decluttering your linen closet gives you joy, then there's an unintended benefit of your investment.

Sweet dreams!

Toeing the Line

The line at World Market was all wrong.

There were only a few people ahead of us, but rather than queuing in the spot that was clearly marked with a sign Checkout Line Forms Here, the man on his phone, and the couple with their ginormous stroller, and the lady regarding all who approached suspiciously as she protected her third place status trailed into the cooking and dining section of the store.

Knowing from experience that we should be winding back and forth along the candy and attractive tchotchke display, the cognitive dissonance was almost too much handle and I wanted to put down my peppermint syrup and flee. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and Heidi joined the line as it was.

I, on the other hand stood where the line should be, forcing any shoppers who came behind us to reform it according to expectation. The suspicious lady didn't like it one bit, because it seemed like I might be trying to cut, but when at last it was our turn to be beckoned forward by those magical words, Next customer, please, everyone behind me was where they were supposed to be.

I Get It

The day dawned with some dread-- today was the spring meeting and work day for our community garden. I don't mind the meeting, and I don't mind the working, it's the community I have a problem with. I don't like the awkward social situation of trying to figure out my place in a massive hive of spring gardeners trying to tidy up the common areas. Give me a solitary job and I will be fine, but this nebulous "clean up" involving all sorts of questions and small talk with strangers is excruciating to me.

Still, I like having a garden, and so I sucked up my angst and made my way up the hill this morning, hoping that the predicted snow and sleet would rescue me. Oh, there was no such meteorological knight in shining armor, so I signed up for the crew closest to my garden, the gate, and where I parked the car.

It turned out that I was teamed up with one of my neighbors, the lady from the next garden over who was on her best behavior, and another woman I had nodded to casually over the last few summers. We worked diligently to clear the fence line along the sidewalk of weeds and vines and trash, and the small talk was not even the least bit painful. As the clock neared the hour of freedom from the only slightly onerous bondage, one of our crew looked up. "Oh, here's my daughter now," she said. "She's one of my co-gardeners."

A slender woman in her early thirties approached us. I turned my head, my brain scratching with that tickle of recognition. "Is your name Heather?" I blurted, no longer reticent in the least.

She nodded.

"Heather D---?" I added, unnecessarily, for I knew exactly who she was. "I was your sixth grade English teacher!"

With that reminder, she recognized me too. "Tell her what you're doing now," her mom prompted her. It turns out she is an elementary school counselor working under a principal who was her seventh grade English teacher.

"It will be fun to see you around the garden this year!" she said, and I agreed.

It was like a message from the universe: Hey! Tracey! Community? Is never really bad.

Eagle Eyes

I couldn't believe what I was seeing last summer as I drove up one of the busiest roads in the county. Could it be? It was! A bald eagle soared right over my car and swooped away into a small wooded park. Our hometown is very populated, and despite its proximity to a big river, eagles are not common here at all. Once back at home, I searched the internet for confirmation of my sighting. Surely someone else had seen the raptor and reported it? I could find nothing.

Several months later, I saw it again. This time I was driving on another busy road, and the eagle was right over my school. There's an eagle in the neighborhood! I told anyone who would listen, but try as I might, nobody else seemed to see our national bird.

Then yesterday, I stepped outside the school for a quick walk to clear my head. A couple a crows were making a terrible ruckus, fussing at something. Looking up, I saw a big wingspan heading our way. I froze on the small hill behind our building. The eagle flew right over me, white tail and and head clearly visible as it winged its way northwest of here. Back inside, I shared the sighting with a couple of colleagues, speculating as to where it could be nesting.

And at last today, my long-awaited affirmation. One of the friends I talked to yesterday burst into my room. "You have to go to this website!"  she told me. "Right away!"

There they were! But even better? This resource was also cited. In addition to a current map of all the eagle nests in the state, it also has information on osprey, heron, and nightjars, as well as links to other tracking sites. It will definitely be a go-to for me the next time I glimpse a grand bird.

Penalty for Excessive Celebration

Around about lunchtime a mysterious hole appeared in the wall down the hall from my classroom.  "Do you know what happened?" asked a colleague.

"No," I told her, "I didn't hear a thing." We agreed that some angry kid had probably taken out his frustration on the wall, which is extremely rare in our school, probably because most of the walls are metal.

A couple of periods later, the phone rang. It was the assistant principal looking for a young lady in my class. When she finished her test, I sent her to his office. The bell rang, and she had yet to return, but my co-teacher poked her head in the door. "Did D go to the office?" she asked.

"Yes," I answered. "How did you know?"

"Because I saw her kick the hole in that wall right before lunch!" she reported. "She was shocked when her foot went through, but then she took off running."

A few minutes later, D returned. "I heard what happened!" I said. "Wow!"

She cast her eyes down, embarrassed.

"Did it hurt?" I asked.

"No," she shrugged.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Because I was happy!" she said. "I got a good grade on my test!"

I gave her a double take and widened my eyes. "What did the assistant principal say?"

"He said, If that's you happy, I'd hate to see you mad!"

I laughed.

"And he gave me detention." she finished.