Semana de Agradecimiento al Maestro

Was that really a tiny maraca in my teacher appreciation gift bag this morning? Oh my! And the hot Takis in the Cinco-de-Mayo-themed present from the PTA? Just another zesty thank you that perked up my day. And although I literally spit out the tamarind-flavored hard candy (can't think of the last time I had to do that!) and was momentarily disappointed to hear that someone received a piñata (it was just a 2D cardboard image) in place of my flat sombrero, I genuinely both appreciated and felt appreciated by this fun little gesture. 

Olé!

The Least of His Worries

"I'm so nervous about the SOLs!" one of my homeroom students said today about our state assessments next week.

"Why?" I asked him. 

"Because they're soooo important! Colleges will look at them!" he explained.

I paused. Since they are unavoidable, I want our students to take standardized tests seriously so that the data we get might be useful. 

Even so, I couldn't help myself. "No college is going to look at your sixth grade SOL!" I told him. "Especially in a pandemic year!"

He knit his brow and cocked his head.

"Do you feel better?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I do. I really do."

Spot the Kitty

Lucy loves to play Spot the Kitty on every walk, and truth be told, her exceptional sniffer makes her very competitive. She's also a smartie pants and a tad bit obsessive, so once she's seen a cat in a particular location, she's sure it will be there again. 

It can make for a frustrating walk, but often she's right, and there are a certain pair of black cats that seem to be in on the game. Every time we pass their house, they are lounging in a new place. One day it was the planters by the stoop, another day on the chairs against the fence, and today it was on top of the rolling trash cans at the top of the driveway. 

They are so ninja, that I doubt we would have ever see them if it weren't for Lucy: she raises her nose and strains at the leash until we spot them. "Good girl!" we tell her. "You found the kitties!" 

And then she's perfectly happy to continue on our way.

Fruits of My Labor

How long have we had that garden? I asked myself as I wearily trod home this afternoon after spending a couple hours clearing the winter weeds away. After 2 days, the task is probably only 70 percent done, and then there will be soil conditioning and mulching before planting. 

I've been trying to enjoy
All the fruits of my labor

My strategy is to devote an hour or so each day until it is ready, but a deadline looms. Just this morning we got a little nastygram via email reminding us that if gardens are not prepared by May 15, they could be reassigned to one of the 400 people on the waiting list. Jeepers! 

I've been crying for you boy
But truth is my savior

This is the 12th season we have been working on that corner plot. It is the one we got when someone else abandoned it in 2010, probably because it's too shady on the north side and full of wire grass and mugwort roots that come back with a vengeance year after year no matter how much digging and pulling we do. Or maybe they quit because keeping the fence line clear is another time consuming requirement that only gardens on the perimeter have to contend with. 

Baby, sweet baby
If it's all the same

Oh, I would miss my garden sorely were we to give it up, because truth be told, once it's planted for the season, the upkeep and harvesting are a joy. I just got to get it in.

Take the glory any day over the fame
Baby, sweet baby
~Lucinda Williams

Like It's 2020

A year ago I was walking everywhere, painting rocks, solving murder boxes, baking sourdough bread, and working in my garden. Times were fraught, and these things brought me comfort and joy.

Just as they did today.

Not Who You Think

A parent asked me to call and talk him through his son’s missing assignments this afternoon, and I was happy to do so. The archaic phone system at school does not allow long distance calls, and his cell number had an area code that was not local, so I used the Google Voice account I set up for contacting families when we were virtual. I tapped the speaker icon and set my phone on the desk next to me, listening to it ring and composing a voice mail message in my mind. After 5 or 6 rings, I heard someone pick up and say, “It’s probably someone calling to tell me that my car warranty has expired!” And then after a pause there was a cheery “Hello?”

When I identified myself, he laughed. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t recognize the number!”

At least he picked up!

Probably Maybe

In this brave new hybrid world we found it necessary to combine Poem-in-your-Pocket Day with the poetry unit test. And so the usual assignment to select a poem to share, post it on our LMS discussion, and explain why you picked it, became an assessment, too, just by adding the direction to identify at least 2 poet's tools in the poem.

Despite our yearlong focus on providing evidence from the text to support whatever one is saying, most of our young poets left that out. Not only were they unable or willing to cite a part of the poem to explain why they liked it, they didn't even pull out the poet's tools from the text, preferring instead to just add a couple of terms at the bottom and hope they were right.

Many of them didn't even pretend to be certain. Um, simile? someone literally wrote, hyperbole?

Then there was the writer who chose a poem she had written herself: I think I used simile and a little bit of rhyming.

But my favorite was this one: Now I'm no expert, but I think it has a bit of metaphors.