Good Job: Praise Practices

March 19, 2026Celebrate, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Lifeonathought

This slice is part of the March Slice of Life Challenge on Two Writing Teachers! #sol26. I’m slicing every day in March. Thanks for stopping by!

My student teacher, Miss T, was playing a math game with the class in a round of teacher vs. students. One of our second-graders was really flexing her enthusiastic encouragement muscles.

Every time someone went up to place a pattern block into the shape, she had something wonderful to say! So, I’d like to offer you some compliments as inspiration for your own praise practices. Usually she added the classmate’s name to the praise, which made it even better.

“Wow! You’re great at this game.”
“That’s a great move! I would have never thought of it!”
“Wow! I think you’ll know right where to place it.”
“Amazing!”
“Good job!”
“You’re good at many things, I know you’ll be able to do this.”
“You are very artistic so I can see why you put that there.”

My student teacher started having the students take her turn too so that more kids would get a turn and our little encourager said, “Nobody can do your turn, Miss T! You are the only one that is you!”

When Miss T told her that she was doing such a great job with her encouragement, and was a good example for our Sunshine Committee, she said, “I know. I think I should be kid president!” Then, she went back to her praising.

Some of her praise was general game encouragement like “Great move! Great move!”

Other times, she was so specific.

“You are amazing at art work and I think you’ll know right where to put that!

When someone put the wrong kind of shape down and Miss T had to gently course correct, our sunshine president got a little serious.
“It’s not really kind to underestimate somebody’s move,” she reminded her friends, and added, “Good try! Great try!” To the person who was going to need to try again.
“I’m sure you’ll get it this time!”
“Wow! I would have never thought of that if it weren’t for you!”
“I can see why she chose you (to go next). You are great at sports!”
“You are amazing and talented. I know you’ll be able to find the spot.”
“You are great at laser tag and stuff, and I know you’ll know how to do this!

When it was her turn to go up to place a shape she said, “Thank you for choosing me!” And then, “We’re just here to enjoy the game!”

Of course the rest of the class applauded for her. I think they wanted to give her the same encouragement, but they weren’t quite ready to try it at her level yet.

When the class lost to Miss T, she didn’t lose her encouragement. She said, “Even though we didn’t win, we can still appreciate your win because you are such a great teacher.”

Then she looked over at me and added, “You too, Ms. Gabriel.”

March Madness

March 18, 2026Basketball, Family, Slice of Lifeonathought

Sometimes people tell me they are a little surprised that my instagram stories sometimes include basketball scores and celebrations.

But, I mean when your amazing daughter’s awesome boyfriend plays, you might start watching college basketball.

When he moves to Japan to play for the Fukushima Firebonds, you might get excited about how great the team is doing!

When you and your daughter have to be awake in the middle of the night to take care of the dog anyway, she might finally figure out how to stream the games on her iPad.

When the Firebonds have a Wednesday night game, your daughter might put it on Wednesday morning…

And that’s how this morning, as I was drinking my coffee, I ended up watching a little bit of morning basketball.

“Wouldn’t it be funny,” I said to my daughter, “if this is the way people had to learn Japanese? Just by listening to the game?”

See, it seems my kids are all learning Japanese. My daughter travels there and learns from her boyfriend and his family. One of my sons is taking Japanese in college, and my other son just seems to learn languages randomly whenever he is interested in them.

But my brain isn’t great at learning languages right now. So I am glad I already (kind of) learned the language of basketball from watching a few years of Oberlin games. Otherwise, I’m not sure I could learn it when everything is in Japanese.

I did pick up “danku” after a slam dunk, and my daughter pointed out when the anouncer said a player was getting a “sekandochansu” at a foul shot.

Perhaps I will learn some Japanese at some point. After all, I used to think I’d never understand (or care about) basketball… and tonight I am going to make my first ever March Madness bracket for the school challenge.

After I pick a bracket name, of course. I mean the names that other people have are amazing…

I have a few ideas, but when I tried to tell my ideas to my youngest son tonight he was annoyed. He said, “Maybe you should start watching basketball then?”

I said, “I do watch basketball! I just watched it this morning!”

“What basketball are you watching?” He said this, already knowing.

“The Fukushima Firebonds.”

Duh.

But just you wait. My bracket might surprise you… But first I have to pick my bracket name…I’ve got some great choices… not sharing yet… but let me know if you have one I should consider.

March on.

March 17, 2026Pets, poetry, Slice of Lifeonathought

March on.

March, the month spring break is always in,
doesn’t really feel like spring.
March on.

It’s snowing here, icy and cool,
a delay quickly turned to no school.
March on.

My dog is healing with medicine and rest
we are all exhausted, trying our best.
March on.

No hot water this morning, I tried not to cry
as I watched my water heater leak and die.*
March on.

March on.

*Well, I guess you could call it lucky
That I am home today,
and the plumber was available to come right away
but lucky is not exactly the word I’d like to say.

Corn Chip

March 16, 2026Pets, Slice of Life, Uncategorizedonathought

Now that Finn is back home, and “out of the woods,” according to his regular vet today, I want to tell you about Corn Chip.

To set the scene, imagine yourself suddenly needing to pick up your dog at 10:30 at night. First you quickly had to cover all your couches, roll up all your rugs, and put a gate at the steps. (Because of gross dog butt things that I won’t make you read about. You’re welcome.)

Just so you know, those things were not prepped ahead of time because we didn’t know for sure he was coming home that night. Also, maybe most importantly, I didn’t want to jinx his chances.

So it’s late, you’re tired. You race to the vet hospital, where you immediately have to wait because it’s pretty crowded.

A crowded vet hospital is a sad place. But, you are looking forward to picking up your boy…

So, that’s where we were, the sad waiting room, trying not to look at other people’s emotions, trying not to listen to all the animal noises from inside the treatment room, for what seemed like a long time. Until they called us up to settle our bill.

I was ready. I had taken a lot of deep breaths. Every time we had been to the hospital to visit Finn we had had to pay thousands of dollars to settle up, and pre-pay for the next day or two. So, you can imagine the deep breaths I needed.

“Actually we owe you a refund,” the receptionist said. “You overpaid some yesterday.”

I leaned in close, over the counter.

“Can you say that again?” I smiled.

After refunding me a few hundred dollars, they were ready to send us back to get “discharge directions.”

We went to a new room and I was a bit taken aback. Were we about to get interrogated? Was that a two-way mirror?

“Wait, is it called a two-way mirror?” I asked my daughter, “because wouldn’t a two-way mirror mean that it was a mirror on both sides? And what would be the problem with that? Also, why do I hear voices from behind the mirror? Are we being punked?“

Much later, Google told me that it can be called a two-way mirror or a one-way mirror, which frankly, I think is ridiculous.

We waited some more, and then a lovely vet tech came in to explain all the medicines, procedures and diet restrictions that we needed to understand.

It was late, mind you, but at one point I was maybe crazy-laughing a littlebit.

I tried to get some help, asking, “Is this a logic puzzle? I mean, if he has to have this with food before this one without food, and this can be an hour before or after food or medicine but not 2 hours before or after food or medicine, and this has to happen at 11:00 2 hours before or after other medicine but this other one also has to happen at 11:00, I honestly don’t know how to figure this out.”

Shouldn’t they give you these directions in some sort of table with times clearly labeled?

Finally, we were ready to go back out front, where they would bring us Finn, and also where I would pay for another medicine they didn’t originally give me.

As I was once again handing over my credit card, the receptionist told the vet tech, “When you are ready, Corn Chip is here, ready to be triaged.”

Corn Chip!

We turned around to see a mom and her daughter holding a tiny little pink and white carrying case. Corn Chip was moving around in there, probably wondering why he was being transported far away from his home.

“What is that?” I whispered to my daughter.

She was pretty sure it was a gerbil. I can’t tell you if it was that or a hamster. What can I say? I am not great at rodent identification.

I can, however, tell you that I loved him. I mean, Corn Chip?

Later that same night when I had to run back to the vet to get some food they forgot to give me and replacement medicine that Finn spit out, I saw that mom and daughter waiting on their same chairs. No tiny little pink and white carrying case though. Corn Chip must have been back in a treatment room. They didn’t seem upset, so I had hope.

It took every ounce of my exhausted self-control not to stop by their seats and tell them that that not only did I hope Corn Chip would be okay, but also could they please contact me to let me know when he was all better?

The next day I wondered what would happen if I called the vet hospital and confidently conned my way through a conversation.

“I’m calling to check in on Corn Chip,” I might say.
Or, perhaps, “I should be on the list for visiting.”

What are the veterinarian HIPPA rules?

Maybe this is why they have the interrogation room. . .

Exhaustion: A Complaint Slice

March 15, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Lifeonathought

My son said that maybe taking care of the dog all night would be sweet for me — remind me of taking care of my kids when they were babies.

I said, “Yea. But I was not 48 then…”

To his credit he called after me, “You’re young!”

My daughter who was team sleep on the couch with mom and dog all night and help with medicine and waking up to take him out asked, “Is this what it’s like to have a newborn?”

I said, “Well… Having a newborn is harder.”

From my corner of the couch, a different couch from the one I slept on, I see Finn, snuggled up against me with his cone embarrassing him and pissing him off.

My couch is covered with blankets and pee pads, and I’ve been sitting here for maybe 100 years writing sub plans for tomorrow morning.

That’s the thing about teaching, isn’t it? I’m so tired from being up for a million hours, my cough is back, and I’m about to do it again tonight… so I need to take the morning time. But, doing that meant I had to spend hours not resting, but writing plans (In between following the schedule for all the pills and liquids and meals…)

From my corner of the couch I hear the soft music we are playing for this healing puppy. Google told us to make his environment as cave like as possible. We asked Google after a scary elevated respiratory rate situation. At first we put on cave sounds, but those were just weird. I don’t know if Finn appreciated the hollow dripping noises. I think whatever soft jazzy instrumental playlist someone put on now is, that’s the best bet. I hope.

From my corner of the couch I feel Finn’s breathing, and it seems regular now. We almost rushed him back to the vet, and I’m hoping we don’t have to do that. They said, “Follow your instincts. You know your dog best,” when I called earlier to say his breathing was much faster than what they said meant to call.

And yea, I do know him. But thankfully I’ve never known him after 5 days in the hospital. I’ve never known him on these medications I have to give him every 3 hours, every 8 hours, every 12 hours, every 24 hours, 1 hour before eating, 2 hours before eating, 2 hours after eating, 1 hour after eating. I’ve never known him after he ate almost 300 times the amount of medication he’s supposed to have.

And this is shocking, I know, but I’m not actually a trained vet. So, I guess what I’m saying is, this is a lot.

But at least I have muscle memory for sleep deprivation and taking care of babies. Now those babies are so old, that I actually have someone to help me with all the tasks!

From my corner of the couch, I’m tired. I’m grateful of course, for so many things – but also… I guess I just wanted to complain.

My dog is home.

March 14, 2026Pets, Slice of Lifeonathought

My dog is home. And I have a lot to say.

About waiting.

About paying.

About kind people.

And condescending people.

More about waiting.

And especially about a gerbil named Corn chip.

But, they forgot to give me his GI food, and it’s almost midnight. So I’m headed back to the vet before I start my shift as a dog nurse tonight.

What Time Is It?

March 13, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

I am not what you would call
great
at what I call
calendar math.
I mean, I can teach it well.
Don’t worry about that.

But ask me how many days or hours until something and I’ll do some,
what some people have called,
crazy math.

“Well, 1:15 to 2:15, 2:15 to 3:15, 3:15 to 4:15…” I’ll say as I hold up my fingers. Knowing full well that I could also do 4-1.
I just really want to feel the cycle of that hour, I guess. It needs the X to X verbal cue and a little circle gesture.

It has taken me months to remember that when my daughter talks to her boyfriend in Japan, he’s saying good morning and she’s saying goodnight. We wake up on Saturday but I can find out if his team won their Saturday night game. What!?!

One time I made a joke asking if he could time a flight to Japan so that he could celebrate his birthday twice. My kids rolled their eyes at me, but he said, “Actually that happened once when I was a kid…”

I think it’s like magic, to be honest.

So when it’s time to change the clocks?
Not my favorite.
Not because I have to change many actual clocks anymore… but it’s just so mind bending to me.
For days I’ll say things like “Well, it would really be 8, but it’s 9, but it feels the 8, right?”

So imagine how I felt when I realized that our road trip to Florida was going to have us cross time zones just hours before the clocks changed.

As we drove closer and closer to our destination, I kept watching the clock on my phone, waiting for it to jump.
Finally it did. But it was so confusing.

What was 4:00 became 3:00, but in just a few hours that 3:00 would become 4:00 again, which would feel regular, but back home it would be … 5:00? Wait. Is there a diagram for this?

And what about those calls to Japan? It had been a 14 hour time difference, but then it became a 15 hour time difference for just a bit, then it went back to 14 hours. But back home, after the time change, I think it’s 13 hours?

“15 hours!” My daughter said it was the longest time difference they had had so far.

My son said, Well once you go past a 12 hour time difference, it sounds like it’s a bigger difference but it’s really a smaller difference because it’s getting closer to 24 hours which is no big deal because then you are just like a day different, but the time is pretty close. Like who cares if it’s Monday here and Tuesday there if it’s 8:00 am in one place, and 7:00 am in the other?

I tried to understand, I did. But I decided that if I am going to understand that, it won’t be after 10 hours in the car.

Once we unpacked, as we were trying to decide on timings and schedules, someone asked about the time change again.

“You gotta spring back!” I said, and my kids looked at me disappointedly. As they should have.

They yelled at me.

“Mom! You spring FORWARD! Maybe you shouldn’t be in charge of our schedule.”

And that’s what long road trips do to my already calendar-confused brain.

This Is The Dog That We Love

March 12, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

This the dog that we love.

This is the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the birthday bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

These are some of the people we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

This is my prayer
That I’m sending the dog
That loves these people that we love
That helped my family
That listened to me talk about the book
That I read while I sat at the beach
That we were on getting the picture of the dog
That wore the bandana
That sits by the bottle
That was chewed by the dog that we love.

I’m Driving.

March 11, 2026Family, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

I am driving. And I am writing in my head because what else can you do when it is dark and all the kids are sleeping?

So I am writing.

And skipping from song to song on my shuffled playlist, wondering why there are no good songs.

And I am lying to myself at every exit sign… telling myself I’ll just wait for a good place to stop and make a hotel reservation, and maybe write this for real.

Finally after an hour and a half I think to myself, “The next exit with a few choices that I can see, I will stop there!”

And a minute later, I see the Sheetz sign.

And even though we are still like 8 hours from home, I feel like we are close.

The kids wake up, and we buy weird late night sandwiches. Then we go between groggy silence and ridiculous conversation as I make a hotel reservation, and write this.

“Are you okay?” My daughter asks me?

“Yea. I’m just writing my slice,” I say, because in March… in March I have my priorities.

I mean, hours ago I made my daughter take a picture of the truck in front of us because it said TWT and I felt it was a reminder to write and post…on Two Writing Teachers!

We Are At the Beach.

March 10, 2026Family, Pets, Slice of Life, Travelonathought

We are at the beach.
We are busying ourselves here at the beach.
Trying hard to think only positive thoughts about our Finn.
Watched a funny movie all snuggled in my bed last night.
Worked out this morning, then the pool.
In between we sat in the sun of the rental’s backyard.
I told the kids to pretend for a minute that they believe in intention setting and energy.
We sat and just thought about Finn.
We imagined ourselves next to him in his doggy hospital bed.
We imagined seeing him healthy in a few days, wagging his tail like nothing had happened.
I can’t speak for the kids, but I imagined petting his soft soft ears.
And I told him very lovingly but sternly that the people he is with are taking care of him. He might not be having fun but he needs to do everything they tell him to do, and then we will see him soon.
After he gets better, he can run around and play with his best friend.
His best friend’s person visited him today.
He wagged his tail so hard his bandage flung across the room.
She snuggled him and pet his soft, soft ears.
She told him that the people he is with are taking care of him. She told him he can come play as soon as he’s all better.
We spent the last few hours on the sand.
The kids took a walk.
I read.
I gazed at the turquoise water.
I told the little birds that landed next to me to please send some prayers to Finn.
We are at the beach.
I kept repeating it to myself.
We are at the beach.
We are at the beach.