Two Things
Last week's entry was all about how, now that I'm forty, I don't give a damn what people think. And up until like ten minutes ago, I had decided I was going to use a prompt from one of the three books full of writing prompts to write today's entry. For that reason, there will be two short entries on two different topics.
Just now, in my car, on my way home from my weekly coffee date with my mom, I heard that song Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis. Every time I hear that song I cry. This time, though, it was more emphatic crying than usual (is emphatic even the right word). Then it hit me: part of the reason I'm crying so hard is because of the line that says something about what's important is what we leave behind when we are gone. This Friday our retest EOC scores came out and the kids in my class performed worse this time than they did the last time they took it (except five, who passed). While I know that's a stupid test that doesn't measure any true value in a kid, those results hit me hard. Am I even affecting these kids? Am I getting to them? So, while I don't really give a damn what people think, I do, desperately, want to have a lasting impression on some of the students I teach. And this year's group is giving me a run for my money. I struggle everyday with how to engage them, let alone getting them to actively think. When we came back from Christmas break, they couldn't even remember writing a persuasive essay (we finished it two days before the final exam), let alone HOW to write one. It's like all that work from the previous semester had vacated their brain. That means they weren't thinking when they were writing. So, again, I wonder: am I even affecting them a little? Just a little? *sigh* I'm not going to give up, but I have to find a way to make them THINK!
The prompt from my book: what does a lazy day look like to you (or something like that)?
This is an easy prompt for me because I've had so many of them recently AND I got to experience the gloriousness of a cruise for the first time recently.
A perfect lazy day must include the following: queso and chips, adult beverages with umbrellas, sun, water, and books... lots of books. I would love a few days on a beach or next to a pool in the sun where I could have fun beverages with umbrellas and queso delivered periodically while I read book after book. The kids could play in the pool or the ocean and occasionally come over to show off or ask questions or whatever. That's the perfect lazy day. As I reread this, I realize I left my hubby out of this perfect day. There's a reason for that. He doesn't really do lazy days well - he can't. He has to move all day. So at the end of each of these lazy days (while he's off doing whatever he wants), we would go to a wonderful dinner together and just enjoy each other.
Just now, in my car, on my way home from my weekly coffee date with my mom, I heard that song Three Wooden Crosses by Randy Travis. Every time I hear that song I cry. This time, though, it was more emphatic crying than usual (is emphatic even the right word). Then it hit me: part of the reason I'm crying so hard is because of the line that says something about what's important is what we leave behind when we are gone. This Friday our retest EOC scores came out and the kids in my class performed worse this time than they did the last time they took it (except five, who passed). While I know that's a stupid test that doesn't measure any true value in a kid, those results hit me hard. Am I even affecting these kids? Am I getting to them? So, while I don't really give a damn what people think, I do, desperately, want to have a lasting impression on some of the students I teach. And this year's group is giving me a run for my money. I struggle everyday with how to engage them, let alone getting them to actively think. When we came back from Christmas break, they couldn't even remember writing a persuasive essay (we finished it two days before the final exam), let alone HOW to write one. It's like all that work from the previous semester had vacated their brain. That means they weren't thinking when they were writing. So, again, I wonder: am I even affecting them a little? Just a little? *sigh* I'm not going to give up, but I have to find a way to make them THINK!
The prompt from my book: what does a lazy day look like to you (or something like that)?
This is an easy prompt for me because I've had so many of them recently AND I got to experience the gloriousness of a cruise for the first time recently.
A perfect lazy day must include the following: queso and chips, adult beverages with umbrellas, sun, water, and books... lots of books. I would love a few days on a beach or next to a pool in the sun where I could have fun beverages with umbrellas and queso delivered periodically while I read book after book. The kids could play in the pool or the ocean and occasionally come over to show off or ask questions or whatever. That's the perfect lazy day. As I reread this, I realize I left my hubby out of this perfect day. There's a reason for that. He doesn't really do lazy days well - he can't. He has to move all day. So at the end of each of these lazy days (while he's off doing whatever he wants), we would go to a wonderful dinner together and just enjoy each other.
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