Three Ring Lesson

On the last Friday in March, with an assembly scheduled and still one more week until spring break, I pulled out some serious bells and whistles for my lesson plan today.

Using the work they have done this week in their writing notebooks, my students competed in a figurative language tournament. We had an online bracket powered by Challonge that set the pairings, a "Wheel of Figurative Language" courtesy of Wheel Decide, and they were able to vote for their favorite simile, metaphor, hyperbole, etc., using Kahoot on their iPads, so that real-time results popped up on the big classroom screen.

If that sounds like a lot going on, it was!

Fortunately, I have been practicing with my wireless mouse.

Differentiation Is not always Different

March is nearly done,
and April brings us respite~
welcome poetry!

As my students jog into the homestretch of their first month of daily writing, I feel their fatigue. More and more of their posts are about having nothing to say. As much as I try to encourage them, explaining that writing through the block by finding the meaning of small moments everyday is part of the reward, I know they want a break.

That's why the writing challenge in April is always poetry. I try my best to find daily activities that not only address the standards, but also provide a balance between structured support and opportunity for creativity.

"I hate poetry!" some student will inevitably groan.

"Then this is the challenge for you!" I answer brightly.

"I love poetry!" someone else will add.

"Then this is the challenge for you, too!" I clap my hands. "How about a haiku?"

Putting the Home in Homeroom

When, just a few seconds before the bell, my two chronically late (or absent) homeroom students rushed in, eager to be on time for the first time in weeks, I...

cheered!

And my applause was infectious-- ten other kids celebrated right along with me, showering the boys with praise and commendations for doing what they themselves do every single day.

What else was there to do, then?

Well, of course, it was cookies for everyone! I happily raided my snack cache and bags of chocolate chippers flew through the room, all of us appreciating the sweetness of the moment, I with fingers crossed that my prodigal students will find their way to school on time again tomorrow.

Balanced Act

Planned: a gray and muggy morning, an estimate on the damage from my unfortunate fender bender, car inspections and emissions tests, tax forms filled and submitted, prescriptions refilled.

Unplanned: the afternoon sun shining in a blue sky dotted with puffy clouds, a walk beneath the cherry blossoms lining the Tidal Basin, some double-time clapping and a standing ovation for six wee flamenco dancers on the festival stage, a bike share spin around Hains Point.

All in all? An excellent day!

Moment o'Mori

It's been a weird week.

I read/listened to Lincoln in the Bardo, the trippy new novel by George Saunders. Well acclaimed by, well, everyone, it tells the story of one night in the very real Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown where Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son Willie was temporarily interred following his death in 1862. Legend has it that Lincoln visited on several occasions and unlocked the crypt to hold his son again. Saunders' book takes up that tale from the perspective of the ghosts who haunt the place, confined by their own unresolved concerns to the Bardo, a Tibetan "intermediate state" of the dead. In some ways, the novel is kind of Spoon River Anthology meets Mad Magazine, But I found it ultimately to be a very moving meditation on life, and yes, of course, death.

(Oh? And did I mention? The audiobook has a cast of 120, with Saunders himself, David Sedaris, and Nick Offerman as the main ghosts, but also Susan Sarandon, Julianne Moore, Megan Mullally, Bradley Whitmore, Ben Stiller, and Don Cheadle to name a very few.)

Fresh off of that cheerful literary experience, we watched the movie Collateral Beauty where Will Smith portrays a dad not coping well at all with the loss of his young daughter. In that one, Helen Mirren, Kiera Knightly, and Jacob Latimore play Death, Love, and Time, respectively. With nice performances by Kate Winslet, Edward Norton, Michael Pena, and the amazing Naomi Harris that keep the schmaltz level low, this film exceeded my expectations and pushed me to mull [again?!] about life, and of course, death.

(The other movie we saw this weekend? Logan! Spoiler alert: The X-men are finished and Dr. X PLUS the 'immortal' Wolverine both die! Fans of the series-- you see the connection, right?)

And then today, in a lesson I have taught many times, where I give my students the chance to consider how, among the many Arlingtons there may be in the nation, our Arlington is special, one child raised his hand and said, "It's the only one where the dead outnumber the living!"

I had never thought of our most famous landmark in quite that respect, but I checked his calculation, and it's true: Arlington Cemetery has over 400,000 burials to our 207,000 citizens.

That is special, indeed.

Wish I Hadn't

I could have let it go.

When I got home from the grocery store this morning I found that one of the cans in the six pack I bought was leaking through the seal, and rather than toss that one and put the other five away, I put the whole carton in a bag with my receipt. And so, in a spare half-hour this afternoon, I headed back to the store for a replacement, where pulling into a parking space, I cut it a little wide and creamed the back-left bumper of the empty car next to me.

What was there to do but take pictures, leave a note, and report the incident to customer service at the store? Nothing, except file a claim for the damage to my own front bumper with as much information as I had about the other car. And that is what I did. Since I was clearly at fault, I will pay the deductible to have the repairs made.

And that, was one expensive can of beer.

You Should Go

Just a couple of months ago I wrote about enjoying the view across the Potomac from the rear portico of Mount Vernon. Today I found myself on the other shore looking up at the mansion on the hill. 

Founded in 1957 to protect the view from Mount Vernon across the Potomac River, the Accokeek Foundation, an educational nonprofit, became one of the nation's first land trusts. Today, the Foundation stewards 200 hundred acres of Piscataway National Park in Accokeek, MD, where visitors can hike a network of trails winding through wetlands, visit a native tree arboretum, and observe an award-winning forest restoration project. The newly reconstructed boat dock offers stunning views of Mount Vernon and allows visitors to arrive by passenger boat and kayakers to access the Potomac via newly installed kayak launches. The Foundation also runs the National Colonial Farm, a living history museum that depicts a Maryland middle-class family farm on the eve of the American Revolution. Through our heritage breed livestock and seed saving programs, nearly extinct heirloom crops and animals are preserved for future generations. The Foundation's organic Ecosystem Farm emphasizes the future of agriculture as farmers learn the tools of a new trade and practice sustainable use of natural resources. "Shares" of the farm's organic produce are sold to area households. The park's beautiful grounds, trails, and programs are open to the public year 'round  

(https://www.nps.gov/pisc/planyourvisit/ncf.htm)

I've been to Piscataway NP before, and it's just as cool as it sounds. Not many people know about the place, though. In fact, we practically had to ourselves this afternoon, unless you count the chickens, pigs, cattle, rabbits, geese, squirrels, and turkey vultures.

And unlike Mount Vernon, which I do love, PNP is free!