This post was inspired by wahooliteracyteacher’s Ten Things Thursday.
- I only slept for four and a half hours last night (up late and early finishing a set of student papers), and I am feeling it. Those four shots of espresso and the extra-large iced tea aren’t doing much to counteract three nights in a row of under six hours of sleep.
- Although I do have to go to the office tomorrow, Thursday is basically my Friday, so tomorrow morning, I sleep in.
- My son’s eighth-grade class went on college campus visits today, and he chose to visit my campus. He didn’t even protest when he found out I invited the eighth-graders to visit my Comp class and chat with my students about their college experiences. And even though he had given me strict orders not to acknowledge him in any way, he said a very loud “Hey Mom!” when he walked in my classroom. I even got a “Bye Mom!” when he left.
- My college students confirmed that I was not embarrassing in any way. Totally unobjectionable momming.
- Since I did not embarrass him when he was in my classroom, I thought it would be okay to blow kisses and wave frantically when I drove past him on his campus tour later in the day. He grinned and waved back, but I’m pretty sure I will get an earful about this tonight. I’ll just tell him there’s a simple solution to this problem: if you don’t want me blowing kisses, don’t be so darned lovable!
- I am almost giddy with excitement over the freewrites my students produced in class today. Students who have never read before volunteered to share, and the writing was gorgeous. Thanks to Katherine Sokolowski for introducing me to Patricia MacLachlan’s What You Know First, which year after year is one of the best sparks for strong writing with my students.
- My favorite cat moment was a morning standoff between Frances and Zorro. They sat on either side of a bowl of food and glared at each other, ears back. Zorro lifted one paw. Frances’s ears flattened even further. I’m not even sure what to call Zorro’s next move. The most hesitant, tentative swipe ever. I’m not sure his foot even made contact with her fur. But she reared back and hissed and growled as if he had attacked. Then she ran off. He gave a kitty equivalent of a shrug and settled down to eat.
- I just started reading Brian Kissel’s book about writing workshop, When Writers Drive the Workshop. It’s excellent—and absolutely applicable to any K-16 writing workshop.
- I had my playlists to myself on the drive home and still chose to listen to Bruno Mars and One Direction. I don’t know what this says about me.
- When I got home, our feral cat, Barbara, was poking around the backyard. She’s a black-and-white-but-mostly-black Tuxedo with green eyes who’s been hanging around our garage for over a year. She had a sweet black-and-white-but-mostly-white kitten with her last spring. I named him Albert. He disappeared, but Barbara came back. She has wintered in our garage, and we feed and water her. She no longer spooks at the sight or sound of us, but she keeps a cautious distance. She hangs out with two male cats, both of whom are friendly and trot right over to be pet. She stays back and blinks uncomprehendingly as they rub against our legs and purr.
the dirigible plum 
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