Relative Temperature

"What's the weather going to be like in Minnesota?" my friend Mary asked yesterday.

"I don't even know," I answered and pulled out my phone to check. "Some cold, some not so cold," I reported. "Tomorrow it's going to be 35."

"I think it's supposed to be cold everywhere," she told me.

"But that's the warm weather!" I said.

Not Feeling It

I always say there are three days I kind of hate to be a middle school teacher: Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, and April Fool's Day. On those silly, minor holidays, the tweens that I teach just

lose.
their.
minds.

I understand their enthusiasm: the festivities of those days are social and peer-centered, and they give the kids a chance to start celebrating independently of their families. It's almost a rite of passage.

And yet...

Because it is so novel an experience, the kids are not good at regulating their excitement and they do ridiculous things.

For example this Valentine's Day morning a student in my homeroom asked me to hold her bag of chocolate bars, treats she had brought for her friends and teachers, while she went to her locker. I took the bag without hesitation, happy to help. "Don't let anything happen to them!" she told me handing the candy over. "Don't let anybody take them, and do not eat them!"

I gave her my best as if look.

She tapped my nose. "Or you'll be fired!" she warned me, and literally spun on her heel to make way to her locker.

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!