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!
I want to be one of those chill people, who just go along with all the things even when they are sick. But I can’t do it. My cough is annoying me.
I need it to stop. I’m so tired of cough medicine and cough drops but in between those, I’m coughing so hard it shakes my whole body.
I don’t want to write about coughing. I mean, how boring.
When I was growing up, my cough would get so bad that my mom would have to sit up with me in bed all night, propping me up. I had to take NyQuil (mixed with 7-up!) when I was like 6 years old. Luckily, these days, (knock on wood) I don’t get this awful cough as often. Also, I can prop myself up with pillows. And cough drops. Did I mention I am so tired of cough drops?
But when this cough comes, it sticks around and really stands its ground.
Today I tried. I took the dog on a walk. I worked a little. I read a little. I did adulting things like paying bills. And I wrote this. But that’s all the chill I can can do. I need my pajamas, some more tea, and please, some easy breaths. Just a few!
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!
Everyone wants an answer key You might be surprised, I don’t know if it will be pleasantly…
False. I was up by 5 something, of course. True. Heavy work … When it works, it works. True. I needed to clean my clothes. False. But I did sit on the rug down low. False. That will start this week, every day, all the days. False. It was 10. Seems way less than most days. True. I’m vegan but I use honey if I’m desperate True. She said “Oh my,” but accepted it. False. It’s my dog who needs all the meds. True. Pajamas… not just for going to bed! True. Bananas are a popular snack. True. But he had a different walk, and I had a cough attack True. We had to stay in until outside was cleared. True. We can talk now. Isn’t that weird? False. It was the kids’ lie detector project that was broken. True. I wish this was something misspoken.
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!
What makes a team a TEAM? You know what I mean! Like capital C Collaboration Where work’s not just an occupation but a favorite destination? Is it understanding? Intentional planning? Grace expanding? A safe place for landing? Or is it a magic personality match Type As and Bs attach Balance your energy with theirs, a synergy almost wizardly— you know when to give when to take and for heaven’s sake how to share a mistake Or is it not that deep? Is a team just the company you keep? You take turns bringing coffee -but, randomly You know how to share a Google Doc You’re each others’ rock? Whatever a Team is supposed to Mean You know, the dream? I’ve seen a theme – There has got to be laughter on your team! (and coffee doesn’t hurt either, so it would seem…)
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!
From my kitchen, where I wait for my chili to heat up, I see Bananas. It’s bananas that I can’t buy enough bananas. I see Mail, that somehow piles up. And speaking of piling up Why are there always dishes in the sink, even when I get them all done before bed every night?
From my kitchen, where I wait for my chili to heat up, I hear Drip-Drip …pause… drip-drip …pause… …pause… Drip! It’s also bananas that my kitchen sink is suddenly dripping – I just had the plumber here to replace my hot water tank! He was nice, but I don’t wanna invite him over again.
From my kitchen, where I wait for my chili to heat up, I see My couch The corner of my couch, to be exact Where I will soon sit With my bowl of homemade vegan chili from my mom — And my kindle Because nobody is home And it’s bananas that my cough won’t go away Ao that is what I plan to do with the rest of this Wild and precious Night That, and some tea.
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!
One of my second-graders loves to crush pretzels on the floor. I may be exaggerating. He’s done it twice. Once into the carpet – that was a big mess. And today just a small pretzel crushing. Both he cleaned up, of course. Natural consequences for the win. My student teacher wonders if maybe it was just so fun to crunch them under his feet, like a sensory experience. I wonder if we could find bubble wrap. I say how I love to crunch acorns under my feet. She shares how she purposely walks on leaves for the crunch. And later as I take my afternoon dog walk, and step with intention on those acorns, I think again of Mardi who loved the crunch of acorns on a walk. I wonder if I could collect acorns and sticks and leaves and bubble wrap and we could see what he likes best. Or, we could have a March Madness bracket of things that are fun to crunch under our feet with the whole class! acorns sticks leaves bubble wrap gravel ice What else could we do a crunch investigation with?
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!
The neighbor asked me how my dog was And I saw lightning as I said, ”He’s better but just on so much medicine that he hates.” He said he was glad that Finn is back, and I agreed “It was so scary.” “Did you see that lightning?” I asked And he pointed to just where I saw the bolt ”No, but I’m not surprised.” We both looked at the darkening sky I cajoled Finn back inside Wondering when the real storm would start Wondering how to do all the Sunday things When what I want to do is crawl into the corner of the couch A book or a movie or just sleep would be nice I’m somehow exhausted before the week begins
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.”
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!
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.
On a Thought 