To God's Ears

The local weather folk have been making noises about an extra-snowy winter this year. Something about the combination of El Nino and some polar situation has made it likely that our snow draught may soon end. As for myself, I usually only pay attention when wintery weather is imminent, otherwise, wishful thinking can just break your heart.

Even so, my two new students who have only recently moved to the US from Nigeria and Kenya were very excited this morning in first period. The slushy dusting of wet snow that coated our cars and yards overnight was the first these girls had ever seen, and they were not disappointed.

"Hopefully you'll get to see even more this winter," my co-teacher told them.

"Yeah," said another student at their table, "A LOT more."

Last Minute Contributions

We met some neighbors down at a new pub last evening, enjoying good company, Buffalo cauliflower bites, and giant arcade games. Noon today found us on our way to a Hannukah party, with more great food, dreidle games, and menorah lighting. A little while later we were on our way for chili and football at yet another get-together with friends.

I'm pretty sure we practically doubled our social life for the year in the last 24 hours!

One Tree

We were a little dismayed yesterday afternoon when we stopped after school at a local nursery to pick out our Christmas tree. Every single medium tree was sold out, leaving enormous Douglas firs, which ran between two and five hundred dollars, and a variety of small trees. "What about that one?" Heidi pointed at a white pine. "It would be different."

"It looks like Cousin It to me," I scoffed and a few minutes later we left with a plan to try again today. 

Once at home, I thought it might be fun to go for a bit of a drive and maybe even cut down a tree at a farm, but my research revealed that we had missed that opportunity. Despite the fact that it was not even a double-digit December date, every website I checked said that they were closed for the season. They did wish me a happy holiday, though.

This morning we decided to start with the relatively bargain-priced trees at a nearby big box store. Trolling their nursery, we were once again disappointed to see that the trees in our size range were slim pickings. I was about to give up, when I spotted a few trees leaning on a wall apart from the rest. A sign identified them as $180 Douglas firs, but the one on the end looked a bit out of place. Sure enough, when we tilted it toward us to take a look, it was a 50-buck Frasier fir of just the right size.

God bless us, every one.

Morality Tale

So we were talking about leadership as it relates to the short folk tale "The Empty Pot" in class today. 

The story revolves around an aging emperor who sends out seeds to every child in the kingdom announcing that whoever grows the best plant will be his successor. A young boy named Ping is known for his green thumb, but try as he might, he can't get any of the seeds to sprout. 

Over the next few months Ping frets and cries, and on the day of the judging he is tempted to stay home, but his father advises him to go anyway, confident in the fact that he did his best. At the palace, Ping is embarrassed to see all the beautiful plants the other young folk have brought, but the emperor is drawn to his empty pot. It turns out all the seeds were sterile, and Ping becomes the successor because he was the only one honest and brave enough to bring his best effort.

Any claim for an argument essay must be debatable, and so I usually play devil's advocate and make the case that Ping really isn't suited for the throne. Many students gasp when they first hear my thesis, but they warm up to it when I point out that he is a crybaby and generally too timid to be an emperor. "Plus," I always say, "who thinks a leader should always be honest? The emperor himself deceives everyone when he sends those seeds out. Can there be such a thing as being too honest?" I shrug

Today that little cheater from my homeroom was in my class. "Yes!" he nodded his head vigorously in agreement. "Look at Trump! He definitely knows a good leader doesn't have to be honest."

When Did That Happen?

"Are you the oldest teacher in the school?" one of my students asked the other day when we were talking about how long I had been teaching here.

"No!" I scoffed.

"Then who is?" asked the cheeky kid.

"That's not my news to share," I informed him, but then I started thinking. Exactly how many of my colleagues are older than I am? 

Turns out, not many. There are just four out of a staff of nearly 100: three who are a couple years older and one who is a month older. I'm not sure why I was so surprised, but I was. I know a lot of people have come and gone in the 30 years I have been here, and it only makes sense that I would be one of the senior staff members both in years of service and age, but somehow that last data point got past me.

Like I've said before, when all the kids stay the same age, it's hard to imagine that you're not a little bit ageless as well.

Chutzpah

We had a modified schedule today for early release and the winter concert, so I had a little time to play some games with my homeroom students. 

Although I've been playing games with kids for practically my entire life, I was still a little appalled at the blatant attempts to cheat by the student on my left. I caught him several times taking advantage of the fact that everyone at the table besides me was learning the game and slipping extra cards into his hand or onto the discard pile. Every time I called him out, he just shrugged and laughed and waited until my attention was elsewhere so that he could try again. Nothing would make him stop, short of kicking him out of the game.

But that's okay-- because now I know I must keep a closer eye on that one.

My Little Carnival

"Can I shoot some baskets?"

"Can I roll the dice?"

"Can I throw some darts?"

"Can I guess a card?"

A dozen voices whirled around me as a group of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders stopped by after the dismissal bell to try their luck and win a Jolly Rancher.

"Sure!" was my answer to one and all, "but the limit is 2 pieces of candy."

In less than five minutes they were gone. "That was fun," I said to myself.

"Thank you, Ms. S!" answered a voice from the hall as I returned to my work.