For Now

"What are you going to do when you retire?" a student asked me out of the blue today. "Travel the world? Or stay someplace cozy?'

No!" said the girl next to him. "You should move to Belize," she insisted in her musical accent. "It's beautiful there! I lived by the sea and sometimes I saw dolphins swimming right by."

"But really," repeated the first student. "Do you like to travel? Don't you want to see the world?"

"I do like to travel," I agreed, "and Belize sounds very nice. But are you saying I should retire?"

"Oh no!" said the girl. 

"Not for at least ten years," the first kid added. 

"You still look very young," the girl assured me.

"Thanks!" I said, "Why don't we all keep working, hmmm?"

Too Much Christmas

"I'm not putting up a single Christmas decoration this year!" a friend declared recently. "I'm so busy, the thought of it brings me no joy."

She sighed and then continued. "My fiance thinks I'll change my mind but he's wrong. Because you know what brings me joy?"

We shook our heads. "The thought of not doing it!"

Right Family, Wrong Generation

It seems to be a bit mind-boggling to some students to have three staff members with the same last name in our school. My sister-in-law and I have been colleagues for years, which was confusing enough. "Is she your sister?" they used to ask, and then more recently, "Is she your wife?"

And now my nephew is working there as well. "Wait! They're related how?" some kids were overheard to say when he started. "I'm going to need a family tree or something!"

And just when we thought they were getting it, a student busted into my sister-in-law's art room and announced to any who cared to know that "Mr. S is your son!"

"That's right," she confirmed.

"And the other Ms. S is your mother!" he finished triumphantly.

Starting Early

Was it my imagination or were the sixth graders extra wild these last two days? 

It almost seems like their early release revved them up more than a little. "Thank you!" said the math teacher on my team when I mentioned my observation. "I'm glad to know it wasn't just me."

"Oh it isn't," I assured her. "In fact my worst class today was actually my best, because that's how crazy the others have been."

I'm really hoping they will settle down over the weekend, because otherwise? With just one week left before break, we're in for a long one.

On the Bias

"The rules apply to everyone," I said to my homeroom student who did not want to remove his hood during the assembly. 

"Why are you making such a big deal?" he scoffed. "When literally everyone is wearing a hat."

I looked around and didn't see any hats.

"You know "literally" means something is actually true," I said. "Where are the hats?"

He turned away in a huff.

"I don't make the rules, but it's my job to make sure they are followed," I explained as we headed back to 

"The rules apply to everyone," said Kirsten Dunst as the strict and implicitly biased supervisor, Mrs. Mitchell, in Hidden Figures.

She was talking to Octavia Spencer's character, Dorothy Vaughan, about her request for a promotion. Dorothy Vaughan was visibly displeased.

"I don't make the rules," Mrs. Mitchell said, "but I do have to enforce them."

I looked over at the kid from earlier in the day, feeling a little guilty about the parallels between their interaction and ours. He was rocking in the rocking chair munching on popcorn, and if he noticed any similarities, he didn't show it.

"I am not racist,' Mrs. Mitchell told Mrs. Vaughan a little later in the movie.

"I know," Mrs. Vaughan nodded. "I know you believe that." 

Lost Time

Today was the annual winter concert for students, and as always I reviewed the expectations for appropriate behavior with my homeroom before they called us down to the theater. 

"Why do they call it an assembly?" one kid asked.

"Because we are all assembled together for the event," I answered. "Does that make sense?"

He shrugged.

"Didn't you call them assemblies in elementary school?" I asked.

"Well, yeah," he told me, "but we haven't really had one for the last three years."

Point? Taken.

That Might Make Us Feel better

"We can bring snacks," I told my homeroom when they expressed disappointment at having to watch a 2 hour movie and go to an assembly on the first early release day. "Things are only as good as your attitude."

I knew what I was talking about. I had voted against a movie weeks before when the topic came up, but I was overruled when I was out of town before Thanksgiving. Even so, we could only make the best of it. And that was the way we approached it this morning before we did our current events activity. 

"Remember to bring snacks to share tomorrow, if you want to," I reminded them before clicking over to the NY Times news quiz for kids. When everyone was through, (as a group, they love that sort of challenge), a recipe popped up on the bottom of my screen,  Salted Caramel Peanut Butter.

"Can we have that?" one student joked.

I considered for a minute. "Do we have any peanut or gluten allergies?"

"Wait. Really?" said another kid.

"Sure," I shrugged. "I'll bake them tonight."

And so I did.