Good Times

The concept was simple-- we were going to celebrate the students' writing by having each one pick a favorite passage to display.

The execution was so much more elaborate than I ever could have imagined. I provided the printed copies, but then the kids used scissors, construction paper, markers, colored pencils, glue, and tape to fashion incredibly creative displays of their excerpts. I did not predict their enthusiasm, and it delighted me.

The room was cheerfully boisterous as the artists set about their work, and when all were done, 130 pieces of writing were hung with pride, turning a simple hallway into a multimedia gallery.

A celebration indeed!

Deep Discount

At the self checkout I methodically emptied my hand basket and scanned first my shoppers card, then my fresh tuna steaks, my green beans, potatoes, arugula, and lemons, and a couple of six packs of beer. I was thinking ahead to the quick salad Nicoise I was making for dinner when it came time to insert my card for payment. The total? Was a little over five bucks! A $45.00 store coupon had been applied to my order via my shoppers card, for no reason I could fathom. But you can certainly imagine the spring in my step as I scooped up my bags and headed home to my salad!

One Word Too Many

This afternoon we had our first parent-teacher meeting with a new member of our teaching team, and about halfway through I made a suggestion to the parent.

"That's a good idea," the new guy interrupted, and if he'd only stopped there, I wouldn't be writing this now.

"actually," he added in mild surprise.

King of his World

The sun was shining in my eyes as I drove home from school this evening around 5:45, but I'm pretty sure that was one of my students riding his bike furiously through the neighborhood. He paused breathlessly on a street corner just as I passed, and I glimpse him: hands on hips, cherry cheeked and chin up, bare chested and helmetless.

I do believe he may have been roaring.

Era error

"Are they going to give us Pilgrim hats here?" asked a student as our field trip bus pulled up to the front gates of George Washington's Mount Vernon.

It's a good thing they take American studies in sixth grade, I thought.

Graphic Graphics

We spent a pleasant afternoon browsing the Crafty Bastards art show down at the Navy Yard. They had 4 big tents full of cool stuff created by interesting artists, but I have to say that what pleased me most was the liberal use of the word *fuck* in many of the graphic artworks.

Still kinda wish I had gone ahead and purchased that Merry Fucking Christmas ornament-- it captures the current zeitgeist so neatly for me-- and I would have hung it on my tree with the best intentions of the season.

Football Minutes

I promised a student that I would try to make it to one of his football games this season, and today's game seemed like a good bet. Unlike other weeks when the games were at 6:30 PM and 30-60 minutes away, this morning the team was kicking off at 10:30 at the high school within walking distance of home.

Unfortunately, the nor'easter that was blowing when I got up was not enough to cancel the game. Since it was also the last game of the season, we found ourselves shivering under an umbrella on the sideline as 22 boys mixed it up on the gridiron. There was no scoreboard, and the referees were not mic'ed, so at times it was anyone's guess what the hell was happening. I did clearly hear the 2 minute warning, though.

"What are they doing?" asked the daughter of another teacher on my team who joined us in the second half. "I thought they said there were only 2 minutes left! It's been like 10 minutes!"

"Oh, football minutes are like dog years," I said, "at least 7 for 1." And sure enough, 4 minutes or so later the final whistle blew.