#SOL23 March 25 Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I don’t know if this is an actual writing format but the Right Now I’m . . .format made me think of this.

Yesterday I celebrated my 59th birthday. It’s a day I’ve been thinking about since I was 30 years old. The year I turned 30 my mother turned 59. It was the last birthday she would celebrate. Next month my oldest will turn 30. The closer this birthday got the more I was reminded of how much time my own mother had left at my age. I had a wonderful day yesterday with texts and phone calls from family and friends near and far, social media birthday greetings, handmade cards from students and gifts and treats from colleagues. A video call with my sons and their wives topped off the day after we returned from dinner at a favorite restaurant.

Today has been a lazy but productive day if that’s possible. A recent security breech of our password manager program prompted the need for a new password manager so part of the day was spent getting that set up. I loath these kinds of activities but it was a necessary task. We also spent some time finalizing some plans for a summer trip with friends. Many decisions needed to made and there may still be more to come but we are content with the current plan. We still need to finalize plans for another summer trip but that’s been put on hold while I slice. Thankfully it’s a gray rainy day and staying in the house was the perfect plan for the day. I heard something about taxes too but I steer clear of that kind of activity. I’ll be putting on my new noise canceling headphones and picking up my knitting needles when that activity commences.

Tomorrow won’t be the end of the weekend for me as I took a personal day rather than attend the all day training on the new reading resource we will be using next year. It seemed like a waste of my time to attend the training as I’m retiring at the end of the year. I will need to grocery shop tomorrow since I opted to not leave the house today. I’ll have my weekly check in with friends at church and probably lunch at Panera before we tackle the grocery shopping. I look forward to not having that familiar feeling of dread that shows up around 8:00 p.m. on Sundays.

I just head, “Okay I need to go do the taxes now.” That’s my cue to put on the headphones and pick up the knitting needles!

An updated photo of my knitting project from my Frogging slice.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. A quiet day at home.

2. Our summer plans are coming together.

3. I was able to sleep in this morning.

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

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#SOL23 March 24 A Six Word Birthday

Texts, cards,

Flowers, treats

Feeling loved.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. Everyone made me feel special today.

2. A wonderful author/illustrator visit at school with Eric Velasquez.

3. You can’t beat a Happy Birthday with Cha, Cha Chickens sung by 2nd graders.

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 23 Thursday Acrostic

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Threatening intruder

Hearing acute

Unexpected storm

Night interrupted

Dog barking

Everyone awake

Restless sleep

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. Milo didn’t bark when I let him outside this morning.

2. It’s not currently raining.

3. I’m an early morning slicer today!

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 22 Things I like. Things I don’t.

I read this format yesterday on Sharon G.’s blog Sharon My Thoughts

I like the beach, sunny days, summer, spring tulips, chocolate, flavored coffee, cooking with my husband, knitting, expensive yarn, handknit socks, knitted dishcloths, time with family, dogs, baking, cookie decorating, Formula 1, reading to children, and weekends at home.

I don’t like winter, snow, lima beans, March Madness, gray days, indoor recess, horror movies, dog hair on my pajamas, rushing out the door every morning, and anything coconut.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. A fun outing with coworkers to end the day.

2. I opened the sunroof on the way home.

3. I see green popping up where I planted tulip bulbs in the fall.

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 21 Gifts from the Past

For the past two days I have been teaching my second graders about schools in the late 1800’s. We have been learning about one-room schoolhouses in preparation for a field trip to a local one-room schoolhouse later in the year. My students were surprised about a number of things we have learned about schools during this time in history.

To say they were shocked about the discipline practices and seeing a student sitting in the corner wearing a Dunce Cap, would be an understatement. They declared,”That’s not fair!” when they learned a teacher in the 1800’s couldn’t be married. “You couldn’t be our teacher, could you?”

“No,” I replied, “I couldn’t.”

We continued exploring schools in the 1800’s today and read about school supplies. We learned about slates, inkwells and Mcguffey Readers. While I don’t own a Mcguffey Reader, I do have some other school supplies from the late 1800’s that came from my husband’s family farm. I shared some readers, an arithmetic book, an English book and two penmanship books. The penmanship books are my favorite part of this collection because they belong to actual family members whose names are on the front. They also include the teachers’ names along with the dates of 1895 and 1897. The penmanship books are falling apart but the handwriting of these family members preserved in the yellowed pages are family treasures.

My students oohed and ahed has I shared these precious items that I received from my husband’s grandmother. As I was returning the materials to my desk before recess, one of my students came over to me and asked, “Do you have more books?” This one simple question communicated so much from this student. He has only been in this country since August and, while he has learned a great deal of English in a short period of time, he very rarely speaks in a complete sentences. I knew our time exploring these gifts from the past was more than just a fun activity today.

Teaching materials from the 1800’s from my husband’s family farm.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. I didn’t need to wear my coat to go to my car this afternoon.

2. I received a nice note today.

3. I got a workout in this afternoon.

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 20 Six Word Slice

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Friends will gather.

Writing must wait.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. It’s the first day of spring.

2. The sun is shining.

3. My Tuesday lunch is packed.

Tim 1972-2022

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 19 Writing Memory

A few weeks ago I was sitting behind two former students at church. Sisters, who are only two years apart, who I had the pleasure to teach for two years each. I used to loop between first and second grade so I taught many of my former students for two years. These two sisters look so much alike, when I first met them at the open house before the older sister started first grade, I thought they were twins. All through the church service I was thinking about how I wanted to chat with them afterward and I prayed I could figure out which one was which when they turned around.

The service ended and I was able to catch their attention. “Good morning girls! How are you?” I exclaimed. I took a deep breath and pointed to one and said, “Ellen?” and pointed to the other and said, “and Diana?”

The nodded and smiled. I heaved a silent sigh of relief. We chatted and I learned they are now in 9th and 11th grade. When I asked what they are interested in Diana, the older sister, said swimming and Ellen said journalism.

I have to admit when I heard journalism I wondered if Ellen’s second grade writing experiences had sparked her interest in writing. It also brought to mind an information piece she had written as a second grader about swimming. I couldn’t remember the exact wording in her piece that made me laugh but I knew it had something to do with swimming safety.

Yesterday, as I mindlessly scrolled through Facebook, I saw I had a memory from 7 years ago. I don’t always look at these memories but I was glad I looked at this one because it contained the part of Ellen’s writing piece that made me laugh. I took a screenshot of it so I could remember it.

As I sat two rows behind my former students this morning, I knew I had my slice for today. I don’t know if Ellen will continue to pursue journalism but I do know the writing experiences we provide to our youngest writers can last a lifetime.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. Though the temperature has been in the 20’s most of the day, the sun is pouring through the windows.

2. I’ve recovered from a very busy week.

3. My husband is making homemade pizza for dinner.

Tim 1972-2022

All month I’ll be joining my sister in focusing on three positives a day in memory of my brother-in-law.

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 18 From My Chair

From my chair I see . . .

sun breaking through the clouds casting shadows on the wall.

yarn and needles waiting for knits and purls, yarnovers and knit togethers.

a resting dog snuggled up to his favorite human.

the glowing fire taking away the chill.

dust revealed by the light of day.

coffee in a treasured mug.

slippered feet, outstretched, pajamaed legs,

SATURDAY!

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. The sun is shining.

2. There’s nothing on my schedule today.

3. I slept great last night.

Tim 1972-2022

All month I’ll be joining my sister in focusing on three positives a day in memory of my brother-in-law.

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 17 Friday Haiku

Photo by Hilary Halliwell on Pexels.com

My brain is drained.

It’s been a very long week.

Time for recharging.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. My report cards are done!

2. Dinner out tonight!

3. The weekend has begun!

Tim 1972-2022

All month I’ll be joining my sister in focusing on three positives a day in memory of my brother-in-law.

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers

#SOL23 March 16 Morning Meeting News

I had some news to share at our Morning Meeting today. My family, friends and teammates have known for quite a while now. My principal has known since November but my second graders didn’t learn of my retirement news until this morning.

We did a quick greeting because two students had some sharing and I wanted time to share my news and answer any questions my students had. I was taken by surprise that I started to tear up when I began to share my news.

“What’s wrong?” one of the girls asked.

“Nothing’s wrong, I actually have happy news but sometimes happy news can make us cry.” I replied.

I took a deep breath and looked around the circle and siad, “I wanted to let you all know that I am spending my last year of teaching with you. I’m going to retire at the end of the school year.”

After some gasps and one, “Oh yeah, my mom told me that!” (the mom works in the school district). The hands shot up. I knew we were going to have an extended Morning Meeting today.

“But who will teach 2nd grade?” was the first question I fielded and the one many students had but there were also some fun ones.

Milo

“What will your next job be?”

“I’ll get to be a full time dog mom to Milo!” I replied.

“What’s going to happen to all the stuff in our classroom?”

“Some of it will go home with me and some of it will be given to other teachers but most of it will stay here for the next second grade teacher.” My answer sparked a whole slew of questions and requests.

“I want the geoboards!” someone shouted.

“Can I have the Origami paper?” another asked.

My favorite question was, “So what’s going to happen to the mini fridge?” Which was quickly followed by, “Can I have the mini fridge?”

I’ve spent 12 years in my current classroom and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and get stressed about cleaning it out. It sounds like my second graders are more than willing to help me out. Now to figure out what to do with the mini fridge.

My Three Positives in Memory of Tim

1. All I have left to do on the report cards is proofreading.

2. I completed the training for the state testing that I will never have to administer.

3. Tomorrow is Friday!

Tim 1972-2022

All month I’ll be joining my sister in focusing on three positives a day in memory of my brother-in-law.

Part of the Slice of Life Story Challenge by
Two Writing Teachers