Third Annual RSVP

As we do each year, I gave the students a writing prompt today to get a baseline of their writing skills. Their pieces will be scored holistically by the whole staff using the state rubric. We'll give them another prompt in early June to measure their progress for the year.

The topic today was the same as the last two years:

Your principal wants to invite a celebrity speaker to your school. Think about the celebrity you would choose to speak; then write a letter to persuade your principal to invite this person. Be sure to include convincing reasons and details to support your choice.

It's always fascinating to see who the kids want to invite. This year it was a runaway three-way tie for most wanted:

President Obama
Michelle Obama
Selena Gomez

A couple of other folks had more than one or two votes, also:

Lionel Messi
Taylor Swift
Nikki Minaj
JK Rowling

And here are the rest, in no particular order:

Rupert Grint
Lady Gaga
Bridget Mendler
Neil Armstrong
A member of Seal Team Six
Michael Jordan
Barbara Park
Suzanne Collins
Wendy Mass
Jeff Kinney
Lisa Leslie
Ali Zafar
Demi Lovato
Adele
Troy Aikman
John Cena
Victoria Justice
Oprah
Stephen Strasburg
DJ Pauly D
Wiz Khalifa
Justin Bieber
Jeff Dunham
Ringo Starr
A dolphin trainer for the movies
Diego Forlan
Bruno Mars
Morgan Freeman
Stephen Curry
The Washington Nationals
Barcelona Soccer
The cast of The Vampire Diaries
Kobe Bryant
Philip Pullman
Jane Goodall
Ziggy Marley
Johnny Depp
Tim Hightower
Santana Moss
Chase Utley
Kevin Durant
Janet Jackson
The KoolAid Guy
Rick Riordan
Matthew Gray Gubler
AC/DC
Big Time Rush

Larceny, Petty and Grand

I had my writing group tonight, such an agreeable island in the roiling weeks that have marked the beginning of the school year. In order to prepare for our meeting, though, I had to find time to plan and cook a meal, not to mention, to write. I needed something fast and good for both tasks, so here is what I did:

I started by using one of my sister-in-law's recipes, (CORRECTION: one of my sister's recipes), roasting chicken thighs, shredding the meat, and tossing it with pasta and pine nuts. I also lifted some lovely imagery and a pretty intense and emotional relationship from the first stanza of the poem Like Riding a Bicycle by George Bilgere and worked it into a couple of paragraphs of fiction.

Original? No. Successful? I think so, and it was a fun evening.

Building Relationships Through Mayhem

When I prepare to present a common text to my sixth graders, I always look for that one little thread that if pulled gently might unravel just enough so I can wrap it around the kids and then tug them in closer, closer, until they are making all sorts of personal connections to the writing we're looking at.

Today we read the poem Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon, which is an annual event, but what I've finally realized is that there is one image in that poem that unlocks the students' lives more than any other:

I am... From the finger my grandfather lost/ to the auger

We begin our analysis of the poem with words that are unfamiliar to them, and someone in every class always brings up "auger". As they start to understand what a gruesome event she is describing, the kids often physically cringe, but when I explain that this is an example of one of those stories of misfortune that every family has, suddenly we are all wrapped in a web of mishap and almost everyone wants a chance to share their tales of injury and near miss. At the end of the discussion, not only do they like the poem, but we all feel much closer, too.

Held After Class

Tonight was Back-to-School-Night which I'm pretty sure is dreaded by all educators. For myself, I have to give the same overview five times in a row, and try as I might, I cannot come up with a way to make it anything more than ten minutes of rushed talking. I think I sound competent, though, after all these years, but sometimes I wish it were more of a conversation than a presentation.

But I must be careful what I wish for. Long after the last class was dismissed for the night, I found myself in conversation with a very enthusiastic parent. Clearly impressed by some part of my talk, he chatted on about his own reading and his own writing in what might have been a pleasant enough exchange were it not for the hour and the purpose of the event.

Gotta Get Down on Monday

5am, waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my coffee, gotta pack my lunch.
Hearin’ NPR, the time is goin’
Tickin’ on and on, time rushin’
Gotta walk the dog,
Gotta get out to my car, Gotta drive to school,

Yawnin’ in the front seat
books are in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which way should I go today?

It’s Monday, Monday
Who isn't down on Monday?
Everybody’s dreading the new week, the new week
Monday, Monday
Gettin’ down on Monday
Everybody’s dreading the new week.

Plannin class’, Plannin’ class (Yeah)
Gradin' work’, Gradin' work’ (Yeah)
Work, work, work, work
Dreadin' the week

(YouTube Video sensation to follow)

Instant Grat

I must have written before about how I like to read the NY Times (or any other) Book Review with lap top or iPad at the ready, able to put any book of interest on instant hold at the public library. Well, such convenience has reached new heights with my Kindle App. Now I'm able to instantly download a preview of almost any book. (I know, right?)

The problem? It takes a little self-discipline not to go ahead and just buy the good ones, instead of doing what I should, and putting them on my library list. In fact, I don't think I've resisted once.

Check out We the Animals by Justin Torres. Beautiful and disturbing, I read it in one sitting.

Greetings, Earthlings

We have a lot of family birthdays coming up, and so we spent a good chunk of time card-shopping today. Overall, it was a little frustrating: that perfect card seemed elusive for all four, although in the end, I liked what we chose.

The notion of greeting cards is an odd one, though. What are we looking for when we set out to purchase what is essentially an over-priced piece of printed cardboard? Is it simply a concrete symbol, proof of the fact that we value the person and the occasion? Or is there more to it, perhaps some outside validation of our thoughts and feelings?

If anything, the internet will be the death of the greeting card. Never mind the thousands of e-cards available at the click of a mouse, but the world wide web can "validate" almost any experience you might have. Just google your problem, your symptoms, or even a phrase describing what you did today, and you will find hundreds, if not thousands of fellow humans who describe something eerily similar.

We are definitely not alone, but we're not very special either, are we?