All posts by onathought

#sol16 March 15: 30 second slices

Family, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

30 Second Slices 

30 seconds at home before school…

I run down the stairs, find my boots, slip them on. Zip them up. But where’s my phone? Find my phone. Grab the coffee. (Thanks, Mr. thought!) Kisses and hugs. And time to move ’em out!

“Did you pack E’s inhaler? Did they load their backpacks?”

Make everyone drink some grape juice (wards off the stomach bug, knock on wood) and it’s “Van time! Come on! Get in! Strap in! Let’s Go! We’re late!”

(Later I will notice that they all forgot their jackets.)

30 seconds in middle school…

Students wave and call my name. Some ignore me. I walk into a mindfulness class with a few students I know, some I don’t.  We settle in and the visiting mindfulness teacher tells us that mindfulness is about paying attention. “Ask yourself: What do you notice? What do you need?” 

30 seconds in the primary hall…

A girl swings her purple jacket around, she’s dancing a little jig – her jacket hits me, but not hard. I smile, and her teacher scrunches her face in an “I’m sorry.” I assure her that it’s okay, no big deal. We should all dance a few more jigs going down the hall. 

A  boy walks towards me, says something in the way of a hello, and gives me a great big hug. I don’t know him, and think he might be mistaking me for someone else. . . but when a first grader gives you a hug. . . you just hug them back.

#sol16 March 13 A slice of a book on a shelf

Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

I’ve finally been ordered. Taken off the warehouse shelf, slipped into a box with other books. We are silent on the truck, anxious to get to school. Soon! Soon children will choose us! I think I have a good chance at being a top pick. My cover is shiny, and my blurb… well, it makes you want to open me and find answers! I’m exciting – a real adventure.

I don’t like to brag, but since it’s just you and me… My characters are unmatched. There is friendship, and perseverance and that’s just in the first few pages! Now, I’m not technically a true story — but in the children’s hearts I will be. I just know it. I wonder whose favorite I’ll be. I heard that one of the books that went to a classroom last month has a waiting list of kids who want to read it! Wow… to be that famous!

I feel the box being unloaded. A school! We are at a school! There must be readers here… real readers. I wonder how often they get to read. I wonder how long it will take until the edge of my cover is worn. Then I’ll know I’ve really arrived.

Being put on a bookshelf at a school is even better than I thought it would be! Books on my left, books on my right. I feel myself getting comfortable, even though it won’t be long before a real child picks me up! I’m ready!

Wait. This is a pretty dark, pretty small room.

Is this a closet? I can see and hear grown ups coming in and out a bit, but not kids. They must be teachers, since they are wondering which book will go with their lesson. They picked another book.

That’s fine. I mean, I can wait.

Someone picks me up. She’s not sure if her children will like me. She tells someone she needs to read me first before she lets the kids read me.

That’s fine. I mean, she will be very careful with me, I’m sure.  That’s good.  It must be weird to have a lot of kids reading you, talking about you, learning all sorts of different things.

I hear more teachers talking – they need to be sure that the book they pick goes with their lesson, That makes sense. What if they weren’t talking about friendship and perseverance but they read me?  They say they aren’t sure I’m the right level. I might be too hard, or too easy…I’m back on the shelf.

That’s fine. I mean, I’m sure they know best. What if a child was reading me and didn’t know some of my words?  What if they read me too quickly? What if the children disagreed about my message, or my theme, or my characters’ motivations? Yikes.

I’m a book. I don’t know… was I meant for all of that thinking?

I do wonder though. I wonder when I’ll get to come out of this closet. I wonder what it would be like to be chosen by a child.

 

#sol16 March 12 A slice of Saturday

Family, Reflections on coaching, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

I started a slice over 6 hours ago – when the Advil and Sudafed had finally kicked in. I took my books and laptop out to the deck while my kids played in the yard. I read a bit about vocabulary instruction, underlining passage while I watched my children get to know the neighbor kids. It was a slice for sure — my reading about teaching while I parented. So I got my laptop out, and started to write.

And then…

And then E fell and bumped his head, I got ice, kids went to the neighbors, I had an actual conversation with my husband. The kids came back to eat sandwiches before racing back to play.  I tried to listen from my spot on the deck to make sure my kids were playing nicely. Then L called me over to look at a cool swing. I stayed to watch the boys play basketball, then to talk to the neighbors. Then E fell again and hit his head at the bottom of the slide. Kids played some more and we met the neighbor’s dog. When we got home, we watched some Netflix, made some dinner, watched some more Netflix. (Hey! No netflix judging!  Did I mention I’m sick?) I tried and failed to solve some sibling conflicts and then got everyone ready for bed. E said he felt dizzy, so I was worried (re-read the head bumps part above). Mr. Thought reassured me that E’s just tired. But, E was too busy making up riddles to sleep.  Most of them started with “There’s a man stuck in a room with nothing in it but….How does he get out?” I knew I should tell him that it’s time to go to sleep… I knew I have to write my slice. But man, he was so cute and serious about these riddles.

Mr. Thought kindly brought me my laptop. I told E that I have to write my slice. He asked “What’s a slice?” and as I explained he curled up near me. “Oh, so it’s called a slice because it’s a slice of a story? Can I tell you another riddle? There’s a man stuck in a room  with one window, and all he has is a shadow. How does he get out?… I didn’t tell you what the shadow was! It was the shadow of a tree, and he climbs out!”

Soon, he was asleep, and then I wrote my slice.

#sol16 March 11 A Tiny Slice of a Family Story

Family, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

My family came over for dinner tonight because my sister was in for a surprise short visit. We all chatted at the table after dinner and some of our favorite stories came up. Do you have stories like that in your family? Stories where some of the details are a little fuzzy, but others are crystal clear? Stories that are like little slices of your family’s history? Stories like the Halloween dinner story: 

When I was in middle school, I invited a new friend over to go trick-or-treating. She arrived with her mom and dad and a brother or two. It seemed normal at first, they were dropping off my friend, so of course they would want to come in and meet my family. As we got ready to go trick-or-treating, we realized that this family was not leaving. I have a vague memory of the whole family going around the neighborhood with us. A few houses in, we all realized that the entire family was planning on staying for dinner as well.  My mom remembers leading us to her friend across the street. She ran a little ahead of us so that when her friend opened the door,  my mom was able to quickly whisper, “These people think they are having dinner with us, but I didn’t plan on a dinner. What should I do? Do you have any tomato sauce?”

I don’t remember many specifics from that night. What was my costume?  The dinner is foggy. We had spaghetti, I guess… I don’t know what costume I had on. I don’t remember how many brothers my friend had. What I do remember is the awkward feeling of the whole evening. We didn’t understand what was going on, we had to figure it out moment by moment.   It was a weird and uncomfortable night… but at least now it’s a funny little story… A tiny slice of my childhood.

 

#sol16 March 10 A Slice of a Sick Day

Family, Slice of Life, Uncategorized

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

Sick Days

Sick Days when I was a kid
Mom took care of me
I rested on the couch, on my bed
I read books
Watched TV
The Price is Right
Little House on the Prairie. 
I slept off and on
My mom brought me water and saltines
I watched People's Court
Read another book
Went to bed 

Sick Days now
I am awakened at 6:30 
head downstairs
I fill the dishwasher
Wash pots and pans
Clean the stove
Wipe down the fridge 
Clear and clean the counters
Step over legos
Mediate bickering
Go to Target for essentials
Stop at Trader Joes 
Come home to more dishes
Sit for a minute, open a book
Console a crying 6 year old
Go outside on this blustery, grey windy day
Listen to children make a fort
Wait for after bedtime
to rest, to sleep

#sol16 March 9 A Slice of Slowing it down

Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

On my way out of Wegmans I was rushed – already late, with a chest cold brewing. I just wanted to go home. I rounded the bend to the exit door, and found myself behind an elderly man slowly pushing his cart. He was in the middle of the corridor, blocking my way. I went a little to the right, a little to the left, but I didn’t want him to feel like I was annoyed. So, I just slowed my pace. I took a deep breath, and put a smile on my face.

I noticed that in front of the man was an elderly woman with her own cart. They matched, this woman and this man – both with the small two story cart, both with a couple of bags, both walking slowly. I noticed that the man had a cane resting on his cart, and I wondered if the cart was helping them each walk.

We made our way to the automatic doors, I felt like I was in a slow parade. Once both of them were outside, I noticed the woman stop and wait for the man. They had a short conversation, and I walked by. As I passed them, I started thinking about these people. Wondering about their story. Then I started hoping. I hoped that I will be lucky enough to one day go to the grocery store with an elderly Mr. Thought, both of us leaning on our individual carts, taking our time, chatting about this or that.

On my way back to my car I kept thinking about the couple. I noticed that the car beside me, the clean as a whistle sedan, had two hats resting on the shelf behind the backseat. As I stared at the hats, one plaid, one straw, I hoped it was their car. I could imagine them putting on their hats, maybe sitting outside with some tea and cookies when they got back from Wegmans.

I was a little disappointed to see them walk the other direction to a different car, but I was happy that I had slowed my pace, and allowed my imagination to whirl.

 

#sol16 March 8 A Slice of Going Beyond

Family, Reflections on teaching, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

My poor children. I find it nearly impossible to turn my  teacher brain off when I’m helping them with their school work, or even just reading with them.

My 9 year old has a big project due at the end of the month: The 3rd grade “Going Beyond” project. H’s inquiry is “How does the brain work?” I’m sure we should have been working on it for the last few months…Let’s just say that homework is not our specialty around here.

I made him bring all of his things home for spring break, though. The other day we bought fun index cards and some poster supplies. This morning, we sat together at the kitchen counter and started working. One thing I have found out about H is that writing  can be a deal breaker as far as stamina goes, so if the assignment isn’t about writing specifically, I scribe for him. Reading is another challenge that we are working on. It’s a balance, always. What do we do for him to help modify the assignment, and what do we push him to accomplish on his own?

We sat at the counter, with our colored index cards, post-it tags, and his favorite brain book. He organized his cards. I noticed later that he had put a quarter in front of each stack. I’m not sure why… but it made me laugh. As we read, I led him to agree to first take notes on the parts of the brain, and he carefully put post-it tags on important other information.

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“What should I write about that?” I asked over and over.

“Just write what it says!” he replied a few times. I tried to explain that we can’t just copy someone else’s words. I’m not sure I have him convinced about that yet.

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He was working on his attention getter: A paragraph that you can read even though many of the letters are mixed up. It’s actually a hoax, and as we wrote down how to explain that to his class, I asked him what the point of sharing this was.  I was trying to have him bridge the hoax to the rest of his presentation. He took offense for a minute, misunderstanding my question, and that’s when I knew his stamina was at an end. We had worked for over half an hour on a beautiful spring break morning. I would call that a success. We worked for a minute or two more and then he said. “Okay. I’m done.” We piled up his cards and notes and book. I hope later we can have another work session. I know he will feel proud when he is ready to present it to his class.

Reflecting on the work this morning, I was reminded (of course!) of some of the conferring notes I had taken at the recent Jennifer Serravallo conference.

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Now, I wasn’t technically conferring with my son. I was working with him. But, I’d call it pretty close. Jennifer told us that kids do their “best work when you are just with them.” I’d say that H benefitted from the time I was with him. I gave him feedback, I named the things he was doing well, I told him what I thought he should do next. I worked with him. I’m supposed to put myself out of a job as a teacher, by equipping my kids with strategies and a desire to read. I take that on as a parent too. This morning, I did some of the work to show H what to do, we did some of it together as well. Somehow I have to get him to work with other kids, and then do it alone. Knowing my son, it will be a slow and steady marathon to that independence when it comes to reading and writing. Third grade is almost over, I hope his fourth grade teacher is up for the challenge. You could say that working with H takes a little “Going Beyond.”

Maybe I should buy his fourth grade teacher a few Jennifer Serravallo books.

#Sol16 March 7 A Slice of Spring Break

Family, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

I think it’s time for another “Fortunately/Unfortunately” summarizing poem– learned from Sara Holbrook (@saraholbrook) at a wonderful inservice years ago. With many apologies to Sara Holbrook, I will try this again (I did it for a slice a couple of summers ago) First write using the words Fortunately and Unfortunately… Then revise taking out extra words. Here we go! 

Mr. Thought woke up with my early-riser middle son this morning
Fortunately I got to sleep until 7:20
Unfortunately the smoothie making woke me up
Fortunately we have a dishwasher now
Unfortunately we forgot to run it last night
Fortunately we have a sink too
Unfortunately it was full of last night's pizza making mess

After smoothie time, I chatted with L about her new favorite show: Fixer Upper
Fortunately the boys were playing legos in the basement
Unfortunately I got caught up in watching a Fixer Upper
Fortunately the sun is shining
Unfortunately the kids are still watching shows on iPads
Fortunately that is giving me time to write
Unfortunately, it's a bit hard to concentrate

Soon we will venture to the park
Unfortunately I have to make lunch for everyone first
Fortunately Mr. Thought will be on dish-duty
Unfortunately I haven't told him that yet 
Fortunately I bought cheap, thin paper plates yesterday
Unfortunately that makes me feel guilty
Fortunately I don't buy them often

This is spring break
Fortunately the weather is beautiful
Unfortunately I only have 2 days - spring breaklet
Fortunately for my children, they have all week
Unfortunately, my children have all week
Fortunately, it's a whole week of not packing lunches
Unfortunately, It's a lot of time for bickering 


**********
Revised. . .
This is Spring Break 

Mr. Thought woke up with my early-riser 
I sleep 
smoothie making woke me
dishwasher now
 forgot last night
sink
 full of last night's mess

 I chat with L 
  boys play in basement
the sun shines
kids still watch  
giving me time to write
   a bit hard to concentrate

Soon we will venture to the park
  lunch  first
Mr. Thought will be on dish-duty
I haven't told him that yet 
 I bought cheap, thin paper plates yesterday
 makes me guilty
 

This is spring break
weather is beautiful
I only have 2 days 
My children, they have all week
 a whole week of not packing lunches 
    time for bickering 

This is spring break

#sol16 March 6 A Slice of Noticing

Family, Slice of Life

Slice of LIfe  I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

 

It was a beautiful day here today. Friends came over, and the kids were in and out, in and out. If you are a parent, you know that sound of the opening and closing. You know how you yell, “Put on a sweatshirt!” and “You need shoes!” and “Leave your shoes on the mat when you come in!” You know how you open and close the door too – to check on the boys making a fort on the side of the house, and open and close it again when someone wants a snack.

When our friends left, we opened and closed the door a few more times, including when we realized they had left a fancy headband. H ran out, the door slamming behind him, ran up the street waving the yellow headband, pom poms bouncing. Defeated, he came back inside, opening and closing the door once again.

A little while later, we decided to go on a walk around the block. We opened the door, and my daughter said, “Wait? What is that? Is that a nest?”

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There, right on our storm door wreath, an industrious bird built a beautiful nest. I can’t believe we didn’t notice this amazing sign of spring all day, as the door opened and closed, opened and closed. I can’t help but wonder; what else have we been missing?