Lucky

Lily first came to live with my sister and her family as a high school sophomore. Her real name is Zizhui. She was an international student from China and she has been a part of our family ever since.

It was August of 2013 when Lily arrived, two days before my dad's birthday. When it came time for the birthday celebration, she sang Happy Birthday to Dad in Chinese. He smiled from ear to ear and a friendship was born.

It didn't take long for all of us to see Lily as more than a visitor. Since then she has spent many a Thanksgiving with us- she's always in charge of rolls. I don't think anyone will forget the first year my sister, Jeen, told her she'd be handling the dinner rolls. She looked at my sister and with perfect comedic timing asked, "What is roll?" 

Now she proudly shows off her dinner rolls to her mom in Shanghai- who always calls in to say hello on Thanksgiving.

Covid has had its silver linings. Due to travel restrictions, Lily hasn't been home since December of 2019. I know she's missed her family in China. But her American family has enjoyed every moment she's spent with us.

Interrupted Silence

One thing you don't expect when working after contract hours is a fire drill. It was just about 30 minutes after the last bell. I was settled in at my desk trying to get ahead of some work for the next unit when the alarm pierced the silence in my classroom.

I thought about trying to work through it but quickly stopped to consider that perhaps there was really a fire somewhere in the building. 

Two computers were open on my desk with a few papers scattered about. What if it really was a fire and I couldn't get back into my classroom? My car keys were in my pocket, so I quickly grabbed my bag and wallet and headed outside. I left my desk the mess that it was.

Once I got out of the building I noticed one of my English 6 colleagues. 

"Is this how they find out who's working late?" I laughed.

There was no fire. Once the all-clear was given I went back inside long enough to clean up my desk and headed back out into the sunshine and blue skies with a long walk on my mind.

Just Right

As we come closer to the end of the unit on fiction writing my students are working hard to plan, write, and illustrate a short children's story. The unit has had many iterations over the past few years. Students have written fiction stories of their own choosing with very few limits placed on length or subject. This teacher would say that wasn't a great experience as stories were either way too long or way too short.

Next, we tried a collaborative approach. For that assignment, students worked with a partner to write a short story written in epistolary form. This run had a little more success but finding short mentor texts was problematic. Although I liked the assignment it just wasn't quite right.

It was probably about 3 or 4 years ago that the English 6 team sat down to come up with a better plan. Eventually, the short children's story was hatched as the summative assessment for the fiction unit.

Finding mentor texts was not a problem. Students were familiar with the texts as they had heard them in elementary school and breaking down those texts into the building blocks of any plot diagram is pretty darn easy. Once students can see the stories they know fit the plot diagram it becomes easier for them to create their own plot chart for a story of their very own.

In turn, many students see, for the first time, that they can "do" English. 

To me? That seems just right.

S.O.S

We have been able to put up with most of the inconveniences brought on by a two-year pandemic. I pivoted to home instruction and pivoted back to the classroom for hybrid teaching. I have bought masks, so many masks. Tiny hand sanitizers can be found in many coat pockets and purses, and I have done more than my share of wiping down surfaces. I've done my best to put my head down and get on with things just like my granny taught me.

Two others in the household are having a rough time with the latest inconvenience brought on by Covid, and they are not exactly being quiet about their feelings.

Alice and Edgar would like to know what is up with the cat food shortage? In particular, where in the heck is there Fancy Feast Grilled Tuna?

Cat owners can certainly attest to the finicky nature of most felines. Edgar is the king of finicky. One day Chopped Grill Pate tastes fine and the next day he thrusts his nose straight up in the air as he walks away from his fresh bowl of food. 

He has never, ever turned away from Grilled Tuna, and right now it is the one can I can not locate anywhere. I've tried Giant, Safeway, and the Teeter. The closest I've managed to find is Ocean Whitefish and Tuna Feast in Gravy. Each bowl has been met with mediocre enthusiasm, meaning it's just a few days before that gets snubbed as well.

Purina! Help!

Dreaming

 It was a chilly Sunday but the skies were blue and the light of the day definitely had that "summer's coming" feeling.

Thanks to an early morning electrician appointment I was up and ready to go at 7:30. The electrical work was wrapped up before 9 leaving me the entire day to get out for a walk, stock up on groceries, and cook up a batch of chili. Yes, it was another productive Sunday with plenty of space for relaxing and dreaming of a Spring Break that is still 12 days away.

Finally

I'm probably one of the last people to have finally taken the time to watch the award-winning movie, Coda. The two hours I spent with the movie this afternoon was well worth the time. 

At least I'll have watched one of the Oscar-nominated films before tomorrow night's broadcast. Who knows...maybe I'll stream another nominee in the morning over coffee.

Tonight I'll be going to bed humming a little Joni Mitchell.

Weirdness

Something weird is going on. For the past three days, I've had very few kids ask to leave class for the bathroom. I probably shouldn't even say that out loud as just putting it out into the universe will no doubt jinx whatever good mojo is happening in 6th grade English right now.

Could it have something to do with the pocketful of Jolly Ranchers I have? Believe me, I know that's not exactly what the experts would suggest as a way to increase participation and engagement. 

I'll just leave you with this...Jolly Ranchers work...this week.