Making Progress

A former student stopped by my room right after school today. "Can I have a lollipop?" the now 7th grader asked.

"What have you done to earn it?" I asked him in return.

"Uh," he paused. "I haven't been sent to the office all year. That's good for me."

I agreed that it was. "How about English?" I said. "How are you doing in there?"

"Fine, I think," he shrugged.

"What are you learning?" I continued.

"Conjunctions? And poetry?" He sounded uncertain. "What are you guys doing?" He smiled, deftly shifting the focus of our conversation.

"We're doing the commercials," I told him, and he smiled even wider, because that is a popular project and students universally love and remember it. "What was your commercial about?" I asked, because I honestly could not recall.

He launched into a long description of what it was, and what the team wanted to do, and why it wasn't as good as they hoped, and how he was absent for a day during the production, and they never really got back on track.

"Let's watch it right now," I said, and pulled it up. It was 20 seconds of shenanigans, loosely addressing the uses of their imaginary product, but to him? It was a time capsule, and he told me in detail what they had been trying to achieve and why they had fallen short. It was quite an insightful analysis and reflection.

"I loved that project!" he said. "Even though we could do a way better job now."

"I'm so glad," I replied. "Would you like a lollipop?"

Modal Students

We were in a workshop targeting strategies for teaching English Language Learners when the instructor brought up the term modal verbs.

"Do you know what they are?" she asked.

Given that the words would, might, and could had been highlighted on the previous slide, I guessed that they were some kind of auxiliary verb, and indeed they were. A modal verb is an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might.

"Your students might not know those words and how they affect the meaning of a sentence," the presenter continued. "For example, they may not know the difference between I might do my homework and I will do my homework."

"Oh," I whispered to my colleague. "Several of them definitely don't know that!"

We laughed.

"But it's not really a language issue, is it?" she said.

Made for Walkin'

"I like your boots!" the salesman at the upscale kitchen place told me when I walked in the door. "I just," he paused, "like the way they look."

"Thank you!" I answered, flattered. "They are super comfortable, too."

"Well, there you go," he winked and shook his head appreciatively. "I'm Riley, if you need anything," he added.

"That guy liked my boots!" I told Heidi later.

"I heard that," she said. "It's a good strategy for a salesperson to give you a compliment."

"Or maybe he really like my boots?" I said, somewhat deflated.

"Maybe," she replied, but she didn't sound convinced.

That's Not Funny, Alexa

In an effort to add novelty to our class routine, the commercial of the day today was not an advertisement at all, but rather a Saturday Night Live parody commercial. The choice offered the opportunity to talk a little about "parody" an upper level language arts term. The faux product was Amazon Echo Silver, an edition of the smart speaker with Alexa made especially for seniors. The Echo Silver had such features as answering to any name even remotely close to Alexa, being able to find misplaced objects, and a special uh-huh mode to respond to long-winded stories.

I thought the piece was funny, and I enjoyed it all five times I watched it, but the kids were not quite as amused as I. Perhaps it was a combination of don't get it and get it but don't care that accounted for their lukewarm reception, but there were few giggles and grins from anyone under 25.

The response in my last class of the day was the same as the other four, except that after the parody discussion, as I was giving directions for the remainder of our time, there was a distinct uh-huh every time I paused.

At least they were paying attention!

Dogtopia

Someone in the family got to go to the park with her friends, then take a 3 mile run-walk, then go to her favorite class, and then spend the evening with her cousin.

I'd say it's a good day to be Lucy!

Planning Ahead

It was a cheerless crew of three that blinked the movie theater darkness away in the bright early afternoon light. It had been Emily's preference to go to the movies early and have the rest of the day free, and so she, Heidi, and I had arrived a little before ten a.m. to catch the first show of the day of the Oscar-nominated documentary shorts, and the tales of children in war zones (Kabul and East St. Louis), children refugees in Sweden who are victims of Resignation Syndrome, children trapped by their obedience and drowned on a capsizing ferry in South Korea, and former young refugees finding new refuge in ballroom dancing, had left we three teachers somber and a bit doleful.

"Good thinking to come early, Emily," Heidi said. "Because now?" she continued. "We have the rest day of the to recover!

Back-up Plan

I hadn't been to the gym in a week or so when I headed down there after school yesterday. A little chest congestion at the beginning of the week made me consider it a good idea to give myself a rest, but I was feeling pretty good as I pushed through the glass doors and scanned my membership key tag.

Back in the locker room I quickly shed my rain coat and boots and unzipped my gym bag. Pulling on my tights and t-shirt, I reached first for my socks and then my sneakers, but standing there in my stocking feet, it quickly became evident to me that I had not packed my shoes. Extra socks and my orthotics? Yes. But shoes, nope. I cursed my distracted, aging brain, sat down on the bench, and sighed.

It seemed like such a waste to literally be all ready to run and then turn around and go home. The last time I had been to the gym, my earbuds had died, and so I quietly sang to myself as I ran. It wasn't ideal, but I made it work. I reached in and found a pair of compression socks in my bag. Could I? Should I? Why not? I changed into the slightly more supportive socks, snapped the padlock on the locker closed, and padded out into the gym.

The treadmill was not as soft and bouncy as I imagined it, but it was fine, and I promised myself I would stop if it seemed harmful or somehow dangerous to run in my socks. Tucking my earbuds in, I hit play on my phone and punched go on the treadmill. Maybe it was the rest, but I had a great run! My big toes did chafe a bit at the end, and there are blisters there today, but I might have to look into some of those barefoot running shoes, at least just to keep in my gym bag!