Slice of Life-- There goes that plan!

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

I had great plans for writing a great post today. For telling about an experience and relating it to teaching. For doing a glorious job, like some of the other slicers I admire so much, of writing about a small moment, a seemingly non-consequential interaction, a slice of life that could go forgotten and uncelebrated, and then incorporating some beautiful connection and reflection that inspires readers to pause, wonder, and maybe even change their thinking... 

I really did have great plans for today's post. 

But, one daughter is working on a cover letter. It's well over a page and it needs some serious trimming. Could I help? Of course. Another daughter is working on her application for her semester abroad. Could I look at what she's written so far? Of course. And still another daughter wants to bring cheesecake brownies to her after school meeting tomorrow. Could I make a batch of brownies to use for the crust? OF COURSE. 

And now it's about the time my brain shuts off and mandates sleep. 

So many, many times I have great plans in so many, many aspects of my life-- and they just don't go as I envisioned.

But-- please know-- I really did have great plans for a great post today.

Happy slicing,

Slice of Life: "I'm SO writing about this!"

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

"Oh my gosh!" Emma exclaimed, pointing in my direction. "It's Mrs. Meehan."

I think all teachers have had the experience of seeing students outside of school and having them be shocked that we have an existence beyond the classroom walls. On Saturday night, I went to a professional soccer game in Hartford. When we sat down in our seats, I couldn't miss the familiar faces all dressed up in their uniforms and as excited as they could be. 

For a while, I tried to catch someone's eye, but they were focused on their selfies, their popcorn, and every now and then, on the game. My friend and I laughed at their antics when there was an injury on the field or a break in the action. 

At half time, they all headed to the field, set up a smaller field, and scrimmaged. I'd read many soccer-related writing pieces from my experiences of working in their classrooms. When they came back to the bleachers, that's when Emma spotted me. She pointed me out to the others, then to her parents, and then she headed my way. 

"Mrs. Meehan," she said, her face flushed and her voice still high with excitement. "I am SO going to write about this on Monday."

I high-fived her and told her I'd be sure to stop by her classroom and check that out. 

"That's awesome," my friend said. 

Yeah. It was. 

Happy slicing,

Slice of Life: Today I'll do better...

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

"So what's the name of your character?" I asked D., a fourth-grade student. His class was in the second week of their realistic fiction unit, and I was in the room for the first time, trying to orient myself and learn names. That being said, I expected everyone to have at least a character. D. was not one of the students his teacher had expressed concerns about. 

"Sirius Black," he answered after a few seconds of hesitation. 

Uh oh, I was thinking. "Let's hear about him," I said. 

"He's a wizard," D. said. "He does all kinds of magic things."

In my head, I was thinking about how I was going to get D. back on the track of realistic fiction. Out of my mouth came the words that we'd talk in a few minutes-- I was going to hear from some other students about their characters. 

When I circled back to D., I had another couple of students in tow with different but related issues. Characters who were in college or high school, one girl with a character whose name was another child in class. 

"Here's the deal," I said, proud that I had a quick lesson to show to a new teacher. "We need to have a few constraints about characters in our realistic fiction lesson." I explained the importance and meaning of the word realistic, the need for characters to be within a couple of years of our own ages, and the potential for hurt when there' s character whose name is that of a classmate's. 

The students were compliant, and yes, they did move on. 

But I wish I'd handled that situation differently. 

What if, instead of telling D. he couldn't have Sirius Black be his character, I'd talked to him about how much he loves magic and the Harry Potter books. What if the conversation had spun into his reading life and some shared interested we had? What if I'd even let him contemplate some fan-fiction oriented stories that revolved around D's own version of Sirius? What if...

D. is NOT a student who writes a lot-- I got that quickly. This morning I'm beating myself up for stomping on his potential engagement. Later, when I'm in his class again, I'll make sure I honor him and that my interest in  and respect for students comes before my obsession with getting them to write. Relationships matter. I can teach them a lot of things when they know I care about them and respect them. 

Happy Slicing,

Slice of Life: Banana bread for fresh tuna

Tuesdays are for slicing about life. Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

When my nephew Jack walked in with fresh tuna on Monday afternoon, I had just taken banana bread out of the oven. Outside in the driveway, I talked to his mom, Amy. I tried to give her money for the fish, but she waved me off. 

"How about I give you banana bread, then," I said. 

"I don't know that Jack will take it," she said. "He's on a fitness kick. He might just take it to be polite."

In the house, I asked Jack if he'd like hot banana bread to take home. 

He didn't hesitate. "Sure," he said. 

"You're not just being polite," I said. "You won't hurt my feelings if you turn it down."

"Actually," he said, "I was worrying about not being polite by accepting because I'd think you'd want it."

(I love that kid.) 

I wrapped it loosely and handed it to him on a potholder. 

"I got a good deal," I said. "I'll trade warm banana bread for fresh tuna any day."

Later, I got a text and picture from Amy. 

I guess we both got a good deal!

Happy slicing!