Borrowed Words

As the 2011 SOLSC draws to an end, I'm going to share what one of my students wrote today:

Well it's March 31 which means this is the last Slice of Life Post. This was a really fun thing to do. I wish we could do this again. I really enjoyed it and I am going to miss it because now I won't know how [much] fun everybody had during their day. I always loved coming on here and telling everyone about my day, it can get all the problems I am having now and make them go away. This was the only place where I could let all my problems GO! I hope everyone also liked this activity. This is one thing I will never forget about my 6th grade year. 

Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for sponsoring such an inspiring activity.

Spoiler Alert

The other day my students were talking about their independent reading books in small groups. It's a weekly assignment, but right now, it seems like there are a lot of kids reading The Hunger Games and its sequels, and all of them are in different places, which makes it a little challenging for them to have these discussions without spoiling the plot for someone else. In one of my classes I looked up to find a student pacing back and forth next to his table with his fingers in his ears. At first, I was alarmed, but when I went over there, the group explained that he just didn't want to hear anything about what was coming next in the book.

Later in the day, someone asked me about the narrative voice of the series. "It's written in first person," I said. "The main character, Katniss Everdeen, is telling the story in all three books."

"Thanks a lot!" a little girl snapped, "Now I know she doesn't die!"

I laughed and to throw her off I said, "Oh no-- she tells the third one from beyond the grave." And then I made spooky ghost noises.

"Thanks a lot," she said again. "Now you've really ruined it!"

Since it was clear I couldn't win, and I kind of wanted to mess with her and keep her guessing, too, I continued. "But that's not all! She's a zombie in the second one!"

"Oh she is not!" the student insisted. "I saw the last line of the book. She takes Peeta's hand."

"Yeah, his cold, dead, severed hand!" I said triumphantly.

"Oh, now I don't even know what to think! I'm just going to finish the book," she scoffed.

"You do that," I told her. "You do that."

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.)

Program Evaluation

My teaching was observed for the second time in as many weeks today. Our district is conducting a program evaluation and the results are submitted and compiled without identifying the teacher, so I will never receive any formal feedback on my lesson, my instruction, or my interaction with my students today.

The observations are carried out by independent contractors who are trained to use a rubric, and when they are through, consultants will use their data to construct a report on the overall quality of teaching in our school system. As it happens, many of the assessors are retired teachers and administrators, and I know the person who observed me today rather well. She used to be a language arts specialist at one of the other middle schools in the county.

My philosophy on any kind of evaluation is to do what I would do otherwise, thus giving an accurate picture of my practice and then to accept any feedback as constructive, and that is what I did today, even though there would be no feedback. My students continued working on final drafts of their fiction as well as composing and commenting on slice of life stories. I edited, conferred, and advised as they worked.

As she was leaving the room my observer paused. "It's great to see the students writing," she told me. "I can't say I've seen too much of that lately."

I was shocked. "Really?"

"Well," she shrugged, "I'm only there for one class, but..." she trailed off. "Thanks for doing what you're doing," she finished.

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.)

New Toy

I'm composing this on my brand new iPad. The other day I mentioned to my students that I had this gadget on order, and I was surprised by their enthusiasm. "Will you bring it to school?" somebody wondered.

"Can I touch it?" another girl asked.

My answers were yes and yes. The oldest of three, I'm a really good sharer; plus, what fun is a new toy if you keep it all to yourself? The students seemed beside themselves in delight, and one even posted about our conversation on her slice that evening--

Just in case we really needed reminding that technology is supremely engaging to kids.

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.) 

Preparing for the Future

Today, I finally found the time to deal with all the greens from my vegetable share. The CSA farmer who provides our locally grown produce plants a wide variety of greens every winter. Just this week alone we had English cress, new star mustard, tender leaf mustard, and Chinese thick-stemmed mustard. Left from last week, I had napini, two kinds of kale, and a bunch of spicy arugula.

Sometimes, I cook to showcase the individuality of a particular green, but today I did what I always do when I'm inundated: I got out the ten quart stock pot, boiled some lightly-salted water, and dumped them all in. Four minutes later the leaves floated to the top like tiny emerald dishrags. The window by the sink clouded with steam as I drained them and then shocked them in ice water. Once they were cool, I lifted them from their icy bath and back into the colander, leaving behind the last of the gritty sand that had given them life.

The most labor intensive step came next. Working in batches small enough to fit my hands, I squeezed the water from them and tossed around 10 compact green balls to my cutting board. After that it was a rough chop chop with the chef's knife and into a zipper bag-- one pound and fifteen ounces of green goodness bound for the freezer and some future meal. 

As I worked, I was reminded of a wonderful poem by Todd Boss: (Be sure to check out his very cool project, Motion Poems.)

Were I to Wring a Rag

--no matter how much
muscle I might have   

mustered—my mother   

was like to come along   

behind, reach around   

me to take it up again   

from where I’d left it,   

lift it back into my line   

of vision and in one   

practiced motion from   

that strangle in her bare   

hands and thin air work   

a second miraculous   

stream of silver dishwash   

into the day’s last gleam . . .

~Todd Boss

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.)  

Censored

Running a Slice of Life Story Challenge for a bunch of sixth graders on the verge of full-blown adolescence has had its moments, both rewarding and challenging. Many days, I feel like I've been walking a tightrope between encouraging the kids to write authentically about what's going on in their lives and their minds and keeping their posts appropriate for a school activity.

For example, here's a slice from today (the bolding is mine):

Today we were supposed to be hosting a party for no reason with some of my dad's college friends. Apparently they didn't check their calendar and now they can't come. Now my dad is really grumpy because he was looking forward to drinking a lot of beer and other adult beverages. I like parties but luckily we have invited other friends of ours that also like to "have a ball". They have a kid in 3rd grade that is very aggresive. The last time he was here we were jumping on the trampoline and he gave me like five nut shots. I'm very scared of him. Today I will wear pads. Just in case. WISH ME LUCK!

What to do? Well, my Saturday night solution was to excise the bold passages (it actually works out just fine without them) and reply to him as follows:

This post is really testing the limits of what is appropriate for school, C. You may notice that I deleted a couple of things.

I will also take up the conversation with him in person on Monday. Before my intervention, another student had already read his post. Here's her reply:

Wow Ms. S. you edited A LOT! And I thought the first one was rather hilarious. OH WELL we are on the school grounds of the internet.

I posted once more to the thread. My point exactly.

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.)  

What's a Motto?

Today I asked my students to come up with working mottos for themselves. Here's the list:

"We Are ONE!!!!"
be wild and have fun
A friend's eye is a good mirror
Speak the Truth or die without!!!
Live your life.
Better Late Than Never & Never Late Is Better!
Loving My Life:)
up down up down up down side to side
Stand Stong or Crawl Weak.
The Present:Live in the present never the past
Stand out, don't blend in!
WHEN IN DOUBT, GET HYPER!
The pen is mighter than the sword
life is good life is unfair
work hard unless you dont want to
Anti-Madrid
Anti-Madrid continuation
"If you want something done right do it yourself ! "
No pain no gain
When You Use It Believe It
we're the kids of the future
Life is Unfair
Follow the yellow brick road!!!
The Impossible is Possible
work hard feel great
It makes sense if you don't think about it.
aim high shoot low
new shoes cause for new rules
" why so serious?"
Be Who You Are, And You Are Who You Be.
Save the Best For LAST
I'm All In!
Drop it or be dropped!
A clever person solves the problem, a wise person avoids it.
Love to skate on ice, October
Don't listen Don't talk!
Sparkle As Bright As A Star, But Shine As The Person You Are
To Be Yourself, Never Anyone Else
Will it matter 20 years from now.
"Do it once, possibly do it again"
Work hard, live easy
"Anything is possible, the impossible just takes longer" (o_0)
be nice or back off
From the moment we are born, we begin to die.
No Blood, No Foul
Live Free Or Die Hard
Free living
Possibilities are Endless, Just Find Them.
The old is better than the new.
If You Embrace You Ace It, If You Bail It You Fail It
A shining star is what you are!!!!!
TALK, ANNOY, EAT, PLAY, ANNOY, PLAY GAMES, AND SLEEP
Joga bonito, Red Devils
IF GUYS CAN DO IT GIRLS CAN DO IT WAY BETTER

(Click here for today's sample of my 6th grade students' response to the SOLSC challenge.)