We started a quick road trip early this morning. I was surprised that the directions had us driving right through downtown Chicago, but I guess 6:45 am on a Saturday isn’t quite peak travel time.
Just after 7:00 we rounded the bend to see the skyline of the city, which got this ole brain musing. Thought I’d diagram my thoughts today, since they refuse to walk through the hallways in an orderly fashion. Enjoy my musings, and feel free to share your own ideas about skylines as well.
It wasn’t expressly planned, but it was a very happy coincidence that the days before spring break turned out to be the days my fourth graders and I constructed the artwork for our Leo Leonni anthology. We’re still a work in progress (I mean, aren’t we all?) but I thought I’d share the latest.
A brief sampling:
A lion and a turtle at the race track:
A ladybug and a caterpillar, communing on a leaf:
The inner workings of mouse tunnels:
And my contribution to the mix: the squirrel family:
Next week is spring break, so these projects are on hold. We’ll finish up during the first week of April, which coincides right with the start of standardized test season. It strikes me as a soft landing for us all, which this world could use more of.
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Yesterday, I wrote about how I was stuck on a story I’m working on.
Bad news: I’m still stuck.
Good news: I’ve got advice and direction, thanks to some wise fifth-graders. A sampling of their thoughtful feedback:
Ask me how lucky I am to have them…
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Writing is like ice skating: As soon as you think you look cool, that’s when you fall on your keyster.
I was on such a high a couple of weeks ago, too. I had just written the first real short story I had finished in several years. Boy, was I proud of myself! I couldn’t wait to share it with the fourth-graders I wrote along with.
Fast forward to today. There I sat, crafting allegorical stories with my fifth graders. We were gathered around a central table, lights down and lamps on. There was an energetic hum to the quiet as everyone toted along with their work.
Everyone, that is, except for me.
I’m stuck.
Don’t get me wrong, I did write things today. I actually wrote several paragraphs’ worth of stuff. But I didn’t really like anything that much.
No, maybe that’s not accurate. It’s better to say…I wrote some things, and I kind of liked them, but I don’t know how they’ll serve my story. I don’t know what order to put them in to best build the plot. And I know where I want my story to go, but I’m not sure yet how I’ll get there.
This is the part where I’m most likely to abandon a story. It’s the part of writing where I recognize there’s a difference between the movie that plays in my head and the words that appear before me. Things are getting difficult, and the realization whomps me.
I’m not dropping the ball this time, though. I owe it to myself to do hard things, and I owe it to my students to show them I can get through tough stuff. Because I believe they can get through tough stuff, and I’d like to think they believe the same in me, too.
So tomorrow during my fifth grade session, I’ll be back and typing away at my laptop. I might crowdsource some ideas, I might dive into my own thinking. Either way, I’ll be pushing through.
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
In searching for a post today, I decided to be inspired by Cathy and Erika, and I crafted my own twist on a 5-4-3-2-1 daily review.
A letter – a real live letter! – from a former student.
An email from a kid I took under my wing about three years ago.
Korean food for dinner.
Feet in a foot massager.
Getting Wordle in two guesses.
Having to do dishes over and over and over and over and…
A dog who brings back her ball, but refuses it to drop it within reach.
The world on fire all about me.
Not getting enough time in sunshine.
Seeing my sister-in-law and nephew this weekend.
Bedtime. Always, bedtime.
The three separate anthologies I have students collaborating on.
Getting right out of bed.
Eating my breakfast when it’s actually breakfast time.
Being a good human whenever possible.
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Ever have one of those days? One of those days where you want to say something smart, pithy, or clever, but nothing’s coming?
#AllTheTime
Today, I think, is one of those days. I’ve tried three or four different starts to a post #TryAgainSilly, but nothing seems to be catching on for me. #SurpriseSurprise
It makes sense to me, though. This is usually the time in the Challenge where I have to #DigDeep and work a lot harder to find something worth saying, and then say it in a way that makes sense. #EasierSaidThanDone
All of which is to say, sometimes a Slice comes easy, and sometimes it’s #HardFought. As for me, my time today might be well spent prowling around for ideas to use in the coming days. #SureImNotAlone
Thanks to Erika and Darin, who inspired me to incorporate #Hashtags into my post!
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Imagine the scene: 1987, sophomore year of high school, pre-calc class day one. Which means I’m unbelievably young to some of you, and unbelievably old to the rest of you.
Mr. Kaufman, the math teacher, gives a fun day-one quiz to the class: “Finite or Infinite?” It all goes quite smoothly until he asks about grains of sand on earth.
To me, the answer is that the number of grains of sand on earth are finite. Yes, the number is a LOT. Yes, that number is perhaps uncountable. Yes, it’s possible that more and more rocks will erode into sand, making more grains. But there is a limit.
Mr. Kaufman does not agree.
And I, in my highly pedantic*, adolescent brain, cannot let that go. In fact, I proceed to hijack his lesson to argue with the poor unsuspecting man for what seems an eternity (one could even say an infinite amount of time!). Back and forth we go until he tells me, in that I’m-the-teacher-and-you-need-to-knock-it-off-NOW voice we should agree to disagree.
I end my arguing, but am not (nor have I ever been) fully satisfied.
Cut to this morning. I’m puttering around the house, listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson (admittedly my nerd crush) answer listener questions on the latest Star Talk podcast episode. And what’s the very last question he answers?
“Are there any instances of infinity in the observable universe?”
His answer? Maybe the multiverse? Maybe even our universe? And even infinity can be cut into something that’s finite. Notice please, dear reader, that he did NOT say grains of sand.
So. Is this my sweet, sweet vindication after almost forty years of holding a mathematical and philosophical grudge? I’ll take what I can get. Ha!
*Pedantry, n. the quality of being too interested in formal rules and small details that are not important
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
One of my favorite things about the Slice of Life writing challenge is reading and taking inspiration from others.
As I was browsing posts yesterday, I came across Ona’s post toying with different kinds of poems, many of which I hadn’t seen before. Of course I followed this link to a site about lesser-known poetic forms, and that got my creative juices flowing! Unlike Ona, who wrote of soaking up the last moments of Spring Break, I have another week of school to go. So I’ll write my poems on the theme of the Slice of Life Challenge.
Here’s some of my ragged verse:
The March Challenge: A than-bauk
Each March I write
All my bright thoughts.
It’s quite the task.
On Writing: An elfchen
Writing
is easy
when it’s someone
else who’s doing the
work
Why I Write: A Fibonacci poem
I
write
because
it makes me
clearer to myself,
closer to the rest of the world
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
It’s Pi day! It’s Pi day! And how did I celebrate?
By getting Pi-d in the face.
Not literally. Although that was literally what happened to the assistant principal at my school this morning. It was either him or the principal, whoever drew the least accurate circle by hand. I was even supposed to be the one measuring. I had my tape measure and lab coat at the ready for my scientific observations.
But alas, I missed it because I was busy getting Pi-d in the face, figuratively.
Lucky me, the first part of my day was spent with the IRS, trying to handle taxes from the last few years on behalf of my mom’s estate. After six months, a mountain of not-so-great guidance, and more phone calls than I can shake a stick at, I *think* I’ve cleared the hurdle. There may be more coming at me later (see: not-so-great guidance), but I’ll take what I can get for now.
But my day is not entirely Pi-less. A dear friend and colleague brought me a chocolate-cappucino whoopie pie. And if you don’t think I’m about to tuck into it heartily, you are sadly mistaken.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a delicious baked good…
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
I didn’t think my body would remember how to get up for an early-morning workout, but it leapt into action like it had done it for all the yesterdays.
I didn’t think I’d get a chance to do a quick baked goods drop-off for a dear friend, but I did – and I got a hug and some dog butt scritches as a bonus.
I didn’t think it was much to share the poem a former student wrote with the music teacher, but it got turned into a song that gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes.
I didn’t think I’d get much in the way of breakfast, but there was that box of frittatas way back in the mini-fridge at school.
I didn’t think I’d get to see my fifth-graders today, but I was able to sweet-talk their teachers into working with them for a half an hour today.
I didn’t think I could be prouder of the third and fourth graders, but they knocked their school show out of the park.
I didn’t think I’d get much rest today, but here I am, shutting my laptop down and leaving it at school (egads!) until the morning.
And on that note, I shall leave you, my friends. As for you, what didn’t you do today?
Thanks, as always, for the Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Check ’em out!
Soapbox: The Way I see Things