Slice of Life 2023: 25 of 31- How I'll miss her

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

My thoughts spin as I walk toward my car. I've been teaching in a second-grade classroom. The children were enthusiastic. Responsive. Excited to see me. Hanging on my stories and grateful for any feedback I gave them. Instead of teaching small groups, I'd pulled small groups to offer complimentary feedback. 

Look at the transition words the four of you have used in your writing. Between these pieces, I say words like when, a little later, after a while, and next. 

Look at the complex sentences you're using in your writing. You've written long sentences, combining short sentences with the little word and. That's an important thing writers do. 

Listen to the word choices you've made. You've brought your story to life by carefully selecting the exact word to make readers understand how your characters moved or talked. 

Students waited for me to tell them what they should do, and I didn't. Instead, I encouraged them to keep doing the wonderful things they're doing with vocabulary, transitions, and sentence structure. I loved the surprise on their faces for receiving only positive feedback. 

I think about this as I walk to the car. As well as the science teacher who doesn't like the current unit and is rewriting it, but I don't know how to enlist her to support a new teacher who needs a mentor. And I think about how I've been as a coach and if I've done a good enough job teaching a different teacher the components of a minilesson so that she isn't handcuffed to the curriculum, but instead is empowered to teach a purposeful and intentional lesson with clarity which is just what students need on that day. And why are all the students writing the same basic story and filling out the same basic graphic organizer? Thoughts continue to whip around as parents file toward the school, eager to pick up their children and begin the weekend. Everyone is familiar and no one is known, so I stay within my thoughts. 

I am only partially aware of a figure in a green puffer coat approaching me, and my busy brain dosn't pay enough attention as the figure walks into my path and stops short just before I would have crashed into her. 

"Hi!" says S. a favorite parent and a part-time tutor. She smiles, and then laughs when I stop short and gasp for a breath.

My heart races with that feeling of surprise, shock, or fear. "Oh my goodness," I say. "You scared me."

She laughs and puts her arms around my shoulders. "You were in your own world," she says. 

I was! 

"You gave me the story I'll write for tomorrow," I say. "Have a wonderful weekend."

It occurs to me as I watch her walk away from me how much I will miss her when she returns to Ukraine next week. How much I've enjoyed getting to know her. How much I hope she stays safe. 

All good things,

Slice of Life 2023: 24 of 31- A pair of atomic bomb specialists

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

As I walked through the hall headed to the exit doors and my car, two boys were setting up their green screen. The fourth grade has been working through some independent writing projects, and they've had a lot of options in terms of final presentations. 

"What's the topic?" I asked, unable to resist the conversation about anything to do with writing. 

"Atomic bombs," one answered. 

"Whoa," I said. "That's quite a topic."

"We're definitely not sharing it with the little kids," the other boy said, as they continued to prep the video apparatus and test out the image in front of the green screen. 

He held up the paper of writing he was planning to read. A full page of very small print with not a single semblance of paragraphing. (I may or may not have been working with him on paragraphing in his two previous writing units.)

"What happened to paragraphs in that piece?" I couldn't resist asking. 

"Don't worry, Mrs. Meehan," he responded with a grin. "I'll be speaking in paragraphs. I know how to do that even when they're not in the writing." 

"I can't wait to watch it," I said.  And I meant it. 

Walking away from them toward my car and meeting across town, I wished there was someone to talk about their curiosity, awareness of audience, technological savviness, and ability to recover with a response that was more than satisfactory to this writing teacher. At least I can slice about it. 

All good things,

Slice of Life 2023: 23 of 31- My slice wasn't ready, but I guess it is now

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

For the first time this month, I got into bed and realized that my slice is not ready for publishing and sharing tomorrow morning when I wake up. 

My slice isn't ready!! 

I have not even written it or thought about it or verbally rehearsed it. Okay, maybe I thought about it. I had several slice-worthy moments. 

I made scones, and I know Clare would appreciate that. In fact, she'll also get to appreciate them because it looks like I'll see her on Saturday. I helped Cecily with her essay and its focus is on how she wants to be a teacher and I'm scared for her and I'm proud of her. I missed Julia's call and then got Julia's call and then had to make a very long call for her because of a missed payment that had been missed one too many times, resulting in the involvement of a collection agency (WAIT---WHAT?!?!?) Have no fear--that  one got cleared right up, and then, yes, I joined Larkin for a Peloton live ride in the hope that one of us would get a shout-out for #700 and #300. (Neither of us did... ) 

Those were several slice-worthy moments, and there were more, as well. A welcome and surprising email, a cute interaction at the grocery store, a debate over whether or not to make a u-turn in front of a police officer. (I did... are u-turns illegal? I don't think so, and his reaction validated my thinking). A very loud interaction between my should-be-more-fearful small dog and the neighbor's good-she's-gentle larger dog. The latest Ted Lasso episode.  And still... 

My slice isn't ready. 

But maybe it's as ready as it's going to be. 

All good things,

Slice of Life 2023: 22 of 31- There are some issues with Google Translate

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

I've been fielding a lot of questions about Google Translate and its shortcomings. Of course it has shortcomings...it's technology! However, for the most part, the good far outweighs the bad. I've been able to communicate far more with A. than I ever thought possible because I can speak into my phone and have my words translated instantly into his language. We use it less and less as he understands more and more, but sometimes, we need to figure out the answer to a question and we can do that fast with a handy little app. 

I was running late this morning, and when I got to A's school to work with him, his class was about to head to P.E., a part of the day he really likes. 

"They're doing presentations in class today," his teacher said. "He might rather work with you. It's going to be a lot of sitting and listening."

I didn't disagree, and I beckoned for A. to come with me. He grabbed his iPad, gave me a smile and thumbs up, and headed toward me. 

We sat down, ready to get to work, but I wanted to make sure he was okay with missing P.E. I'm not always sure he understands "would you rather" questions, so I used my translate app. 

"Would you rather work together or head to P.E.?" I asked. "They're doing presentations so it might be better for us to work together."

"P.E.," he said. 

"You'd like to go to P.E.?" I said, wanting to make sure he understood, but not realizing that the translation app was still in play. 

You'd like to pee? flashed across the screen with the voice in Ukrainian asking the question. 

The two of us burst into laughter. 

"I said P.E., and not pee," I said. 

He knew exactly what I meant, and I walked him to the gym with both of us still sharing a good giggle. 

All good things,

Slice of Life 2023: 21 of 31- Happy (Half) Birthday to Clare!

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

With four daughters, I find myself worrying about paying enough attention to everyone a lot of the time. One annual injustice is the birthday recognition Julia receives every year because her birthday falls in March. I have years of slices that have recognized her special day. The other offspring birthdays have more random months, so they don't get the posting publicity. This year, Clare, my third daughter, is blogging in the community. Because of this, we've had more conversations about topics and planning for posts. She made the spot-on point that while she does not have a March birthday, she does have a half-birthday in this all-important Month. This post is for Clare! 

She's funny, kind, smart, and she makes all of us better and more thoughtful human beings. (And did I mention she's cute, too?)

Happy Half-Birthday Clare-Bear! I could not love you more. 

All good things, 

Slice of Life 2023: 20 of 31- Saying No to Navigation

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

I have a complicated relationship with navigation systems. Google Maps has served me well over the years, guiding me out of the land of lost many times. I was never great at reading maps. While my husband can find himself in an unknown land, spin around several times and still navigate to the hotel we need to find, finding my way out of a barrel can post  a challenge for me. Directionality is not my strength yet. 

That being said, there are many routes I travel enough to know that the algorithms behind Google Maps or Waze or whatever system I might choose must sometimes debate the recommendation. Tonight as we drove home, the system was insistent about getting off the highway and winding through the city roads to go over the mountain and then home by way of a couple more side streets. Projected time of arrival home: 9:09. 

"I don't want to go that way," I said to Garth. 

Immersed in the basketball game he was streaming, he barely looked up. He didn't care. 

"I'm not listening to you," I said to the automated voice. 

I said it again as she directed me to get off at the next exit, projecting my arrival time to be 9:09. 

"How am I supposed to trust this thing when she tells me one thing, I don't follow the direction, and I shave two minutes off the time?"

A low-key grunt from my passenger who was still immersed. 

Take the next exit... 

Nope, not doing it. I'm taking Exit 39 which is my preferred route home. The quickest way is the one you know, my father used to say back when he drove me around well before the invention of bossy navigation systems. Tonight I was that driver who questioned the authority of the automated voice. 

As I blew by exit after exit that was suggested to me, my arrival time fluctuated, gaining a minute here and losing a minute there. What algorithm does the system use? 

When I got off the highway, my projected arrival time was back at 9:09, the original time I'd faced way back when I first decided to ignore it, and I was much happier with my driving route. And, while who knows what time I would have made it home had I been more compliant, my actual arrival time home: 9:06. (I know you were all cheering for me to beat the predicted time!)

Sometimes questioning authority and taking the route you're pretty sure will turn okay might turn out even better. Sometimes it might be good to keep those relationships a little complicated. Not every authority figure is right every time. 

All good things.

Slice of Life 2023: 19 of 31- Happy Birthday to Julia

 

It's March, and March is for slicing.  Anyone is welcome to join us through Two Writing Teachers, slicing, sharing, and commenting on other slices! 

  

ATTENTION VISITORS: 

If you leave a comment, please include your name in it! So often all I see is "anonymous", and I REALLY want to know who is commenting! Thank you!

I have a much more joyful post today than I had yesterday! 

Since Julia was 14, I've posted every year on her birthday. She's the lucky daughter with a birthday during March, so her day gets an annual slice. (Although this year, there will be a special half-birthday shout-out in a couple of days!)

Julia was home for a week because of spring break, and for a couple of days, it was just the two of us, an unusual occurrence in a family with four daughters. We shopped and ate and watched basketball and laughed together. 

"I could roadtrip down to see you on your actual birthday," I offered. 

She shook her head. "We'll be way too busy," she said. 

My head knows she's way too busy. My heart is with her, though, celebrating this incredible woman who entered my life twenty-five years ago today. 

Happy birthday to Julia! 

Please know that Julia wasn't really in handcuffs... I mean she was, but it was the result of her winning a family scavenger hunt. She got a LOT of points for convincing the local cops to put her in handcuffs! 

All good things,