Flat Scalzi in Massachusetts

FYI Flat Scalzi fans: he's in Cape Cod and you can read about it at Stacey's journal, High Above Courtside. 

Revealing the turning point

I mentioned in an earlier entry that this was a turning point year for me. I couldn't talk about it much at the time because I wanted to be certain that the move would actually take place.

Now, it seems it will.

This is not a good news/bad news announcement, but I share these words with mixed emotions. You cannot work somewhere for seven years and not develop some trusted working relationships. Friendships, even. And you cannot just leave all that behind without some feelings of sadness.

Working in a school environment, one develops friendships, even if you don't have time to nurture them after the school day has ended. I know many of the younger teachers, especially, find time to fraternize from time to time, and I think this is good. I've watched friendships bloom all around me as more experienced teachers mentor the novice teachers.

I myself have bonded with teachers I've worked closely with from year to year. I seem to have a better chance of knowing someone if I work with them on a daily basis. Or even a weekly basis. That is enough to know a person's character.

A few of these relationships go back the full seven years. One teacher (the Mrs B from the beehive and beakeeper entries) actually went through teacher orientation with me at Elon College in 1999. We remember that day with fondness. Later, we both completed our ILT product (a reflective portfolio displaying a year of teaching practices. Back then, teachers did not get their initial license without it. It was grueling!).  It's not unlike what military recruits must experience with their buddies as they go through boot-camp training. Not as physically demanding, of course, but exciting and challenging. As I recall, it was also exhausting.

I am going to transfer from the school that has molded me for the last seven years. The first school I've ever taught full-time in, excluding my student teaching semester, has created in me a mode of confidence, resulting in an urge to leave the nest, so to speak. That's what makes it so difficult to leave my school and the people who work there: they have nurtured me, cared for me, guided me, taught me, and made me the teacher I am today.

Before, I was a novice teacher, anxious about everything I did or didn't do. Confidence has never been my middle name. Today, though I am not a seasoned teacher, I do have enough positive experiences behind me to make me feel like I am in the right field after all. Doubt has been replaced by certainty. I am not claiming expertness. Just more assuredness. That's more than I had when I first began this journey in 1996.

There is a restlessness in my heart to move on and try a new school building, to make new friends, to share what I have learned, to make a new contribution in another environment. By the same token, I cannot ignore the fact that I will gain volumes from the new routine, relationships, and classroom experiences: new strategies, ideas, and philosophies from teachers I have not known before.

I am giving up familiarity in exchange for new challenges. I am giving up routine and comfort in exchange for something unknown and different. I like where I am, but I am ready to follow another path. A different path.

Have you ever just wanted to take a different road? One that others may have traveled but you had not? Or even one that looks like it has never been traveled, like the Robert Frost poem. For me, where I am going, I have never gone before. It is a new direction in that sense.

I don't know what moves me from the inside, except the God who has always guided me and lighted my path. I don't always look forward to where He leads me, but I do follow. Eventually. It usually means more work is involved, which is why I resist. In this case, I've been resisting for over a year now, and it's time to listen, as Jonah discovered when he was contemplating his fate from within the depths of the great fish. While Jonah was indeed in a place of darkness and despair as he came to realize his error of disobedience and his need for redirection, my place of transformation can be likened to a cocoon: warm and familiar, surrounded by friends and colleagues.

I am not aware of any special message I am to deliver to my new school, but I do think I will have something special to do when I get there!

Or maybe I will find out they have something special to do with me when I get there.... either way, something special is going to happen. There is a change in the making. That is why I am calling it a turning point year.

I will write more about this in a later entry. I am not ready to say goodbye to my co-workers just yet. We still have lots of work to do together before the school year ends! Memories in the making.

Laptops: How not to store them in the classroom.

That's odd, I thought as I picked up the thin plastic square up off my classroom floor. The letters ctrl alerted me that this was not a letter tile, nor a piece of trash. It appeared to be a key from a keyboard. A quick glance at my computer showed that no keys were missing from the keyboard there.

Then I realized why it looked so familiar. It was a key from my laptop. But my laptop was hidden away inside...then I remembered... a student's desk. It's not actually used by any particular student. I have five different classes that rotate through my classroom each day, and each day, someone different sits at that empty desk. Empty until yesterday.

I had placed my laptop inside the desk for safekeeping yesterday afternoon. You see, when I leave each afternoon to go home, I have to keep the door open so the cleaning ladies can come in and dustmop the floor. I worry that they might leave the door unlocked when they leave, leaving my room open for possible theft overnight should anyone break into the school. I'd hate to lose the laptop that way. So I slid it into a student's desk, turned the open side to face the wall, then pushed it against the wall. I had plugged it in so it could recharge overnight.

The next morning, it was still in place, fully charged, and I was happy. Being in a rush, however, I left the laptop in the desk. I forgot all about it until late that afternoon when I was cleaning up... and saw the cool white control key laying on the floor. Immediately, I retrieved the laptop to find out how the key came off, and discovered three more loose keys laying in the desk. Clearly someone had pried them off. Another two letter keys were lifted up higher than the others, as though they were coming off next.

A kid, I thought, but which one? Who had sat there during the day? Which kid had sat there while I was teaching, his hands in the desk, prying the finger keys off the laptop without me noticing? I tried to remember as I packed the laptop up to take home. My husband might be able to repair the keys, reattach them. He's good about fixing things.

He was able to reattach two of the  keys, but not the longer shift key.

Today, I wanted to know who did it. I knew none of the kids would admit to it. I even have kids who wouldn't realize they had done it because they weren't thinking when they did it. Just fiddling, playing, absent-mindedly picking at something. My laptop.

Well, the school's laptop, but it was assigned to me two years ago. An Apple with iPhoto, CD and DVD burning capabilities. Many other features that I haven't begun to use. Mostly I use it for two things: word processor and iPhoto for making slideshows at the end of the year. I use it nearly every day. Students use it. I take it home. Now it is broken. Not irrepairable, though. I think.

So, when one of my groups came in and sat down today, mostly second graders, I said mysteriously, "So does anyone know what surprise I had hidden in this desk yesterday?"

The little 2nd grader, K, raised his hand high. "Oh, I do! I do!"

A 4th grader, S, also raised his hand, "I know, Mrs. Gilmore."

I hadn't figured on getting two responses... now what do I do?

I ignored S first because I knew he hadn't sat at that desk for very long. I turned my attention to K. "Tell us what I hid in the desk yesterday, K." I smiled with encouragement.

"Uhmmm... it was a ...." he tried to think of the word. Really, he had trouble coming up with the word.  He wasn't trying to lie his way out of it. Just couldn't remember. Finally, he smiled and  said, "It was, what do you call it, one of the  computers... a lap..laptop?"

"That's right, K. It was a laptop!" I said happily. All the other kids were listening, wondering where this was going, I'm sure. One fourth grade girl already knew about it because she was in another group earlier.

"And how do you know it was a laptop?" I asked.

"I could feel it. My hands were on it," he replied totally unaware of what I was doing.

"So your hands were on it and you could feel the keys?" I asked.

"Yep... I touched them."

I had him.

The fourth grade girl who knew that the keys were broken said "Uh oh! You broke it, K."

"I didn't break it," he assured her. "I just touched it. It wasn't broken."

I told him he had broken it while he was playing with the keys, and I showed him what he had done. I described the actions of his fingers on the keys, picking at the keys, lifting them up off the keyboard. He stared at it in shock. He really seemed innocent of his actions. Like I said, absentmindedness was the culprit. And touching something that wasn't his.

Mostly, though, it was my carelessness for leaving it in the desk knowing a student would be sitting there, knowing students put their hands in desks, and touch things, and sometimes break things.

I only said enough to make sure he realized the consequences of his thoughtless actions. He was quiet for awhile, another clue that he felt guilty enough. I let him stew for awhile. I sensed his remorse, and that was a good thing. He apologized, and I told him I might be able to get it fixed. 

Before I make a request to have it repaired, though, I'll have to download all my files that I want to keep. Personal stuff. If the tech person takes the laptop away to fix it, it may be a month before I get it back. By then it will be summer.

The laptop still works, of course. Just can't shift on the left. Minor inconvenience, actually. But I'm gonna miss the ol' laptop if they take it away.

I'm thinking about buying one. A nice one. With the larger screen. Compatible with my PC. Yeah, that's my next big technology purchase. But I won't leave it at school, and the students will never touch it. It will be mine. Only mine. My one selfish indulgence in this life.

My birthday is in July. Hmmm..... .

The Beakeeper

There was more to the bee story in the previous entry that I did not include. I thought, at the time, maybe it wasn't as appropriate as the teacher-student exchange. After all, we were in a classroom.  

Today when I informed the teacher, who partook in yesterday's classic classroom treasure, that I had written about what happened in my blog, she thought I should have included our more personal exchange that took place after the kids left the room. She thought it was the funnier of the two exchanges.

So here it is. Back by popular demand!

(If you haven't read yesterday's entry, just click on the link above, or scroll down to the next entry, and read it before you continue. It's part of the story. Prior knowledge, we call it.)

After the reading lesson (the topic was about transferring bees from one place to another), and the students were dismissed to their next class, I met with her briefly at the classroom door. Again, we had a chuckle over her unintentional question and the ensuing response. She said she would never forget this one.

"By the way," I said with an appropriate combination of professionalism and camaraderie, "I think I'm going to become a beekeeper in the next year or two." I paused. "Since my husband already is one."

Her eyebrows raised in genuine surprise. "He is?" she asked with delight. Her interest was keen.  "I didn't know he was a beekeeper!"

I waited another moment, a slight grin on my face, I think. It felt like a slight grin, but I don't know what she saw.

She had that questioning look on her face, you know, like when you think you know a person, and then you find out they have an interesting but unusual hobby like, say, maybe beekeeping. It sounded possible, not too far off the beaten path.

"He keeps bees?" she asked no doubt desiring to hear more of this sweet bit of news.

"Yeah..." I smiled curiously.

Then I tipped my thumb toward my heart and lowered my voice. "He keeps me!"  I said with what I hoped was a mischievous grin. 

I stepped back into the hallway, turning to get a glimpse of her reaction. Her hand flew to her mouth. A split second later she giggled indiscreetly as students filed back into the classroom for the next class. She has an infectious laugh. Another teacher standing nearby overheard the exchange. He chuckled.

"Bea!" she emphasized my name in mock reproof, but her laughing eyes let me know she appreciated my little joke.

"Gotcha!" I called as I left the classroom. I felt her smile all the way down the hall.

It was a good day for laughing.

Just a note: I don't often tell jokes, mostly because I have a lousy memory and always mess up the punch line, and I'm not very skilled at making them up, but once in awhile, I do get one in. Yeaay, me! and yeay 5th Grade teachers who love to laugh in the classroom!

Classroom Humor: Bees and Beehives

Teachers ask lots of questions in the classroom. We are not necessarily the experts in phrasing our questions, though. We try to be, oh yes, we work on our questioning skills, trying to find the right question for each student so they will not only experience success in their response, but also access their higher thinking skills.

But sometimes, sometimes we ask a question that doesn't get the response we expected.

This morning, the reading topic was beekeeping and the 5th grade students were about to read a passage that explained how a beekeeper safely transfers bees to a new hive box.

The teacher stood at the front of the classroom describing the way a beekeeper dresses to protect himself from the stinging insects while I walked around holding a picture of the same for them to see.

Tapping into prior knowledge just before giving a student something to read is a key teaching strategy, especially if you want them to learn something from the reading experience. Finding out what they already know about a topic is a teacher's first plan of action. Giving them a purpose for reading is another practical strategy to improve their reading comprehension.

Today, that's exactly what the teacher did. Just before reading the passage, Mrs. B told the students about the boxes that beekeepers put their bees in. When she asked the class what the boxes were called, students replied "Beehives."

Then there followed an exchange between the students and said teacher about what went on in and around the hive. The best of my recollection it began something like this:

T:  "And what do the bees do in the hive?"

S:  "They make honey."

T:  "Do they only make honey in the hive boxes?"

Now this question was a curious question. I wondered what she was getting at as she paused for the answer. Mrs. B asked it again. Students pondered this. Then onestudent raised his hand and she called on him.

T:  "R... do they only make honey in the beehive boxes?"

R:  "No," he answered confidently, and with no hesitation he added... "they also make babies."

A momentary silence as anyone who was listening closely thought about the question and the response. Then a snicker, then the three teachers exchanging looks, a laugh. The teacher who had posed the question burst into laughter, followed by the entire class laughing. Knowing that this discussion was never intended to follow the path of sex education, even regarding bees, as it were, made the entire scene hilarious.

The boy who had given the answer wasn't quite sure what all the laughter was about. Hadn't he answered the question correctly?

Sensing the student's uncertainty, she explained in between controlling the laughter, which was aimed at herself.

T:  "Thank you, R. That was a good answer... that just reminds me that I need to phrase my question a little more accurately." Her eyes met mine.

It was all I could do not to continue laughing as I realized she had not meant to ask that question. Teachers know that if they don't ask the right question, they won't get the right answer. An added bonus is if you ask the wrong question, there's no telling what kind of responses you will get.

It happens from time to time. We call it comic relief.

T:  "You're right, though, they don't just make honey in the hives, they also make baby bees in there. But that's not what I'm getting at. What I should have asked was 'are those beehive boxes the only places that bees can make honey?' Do they make honey in other places beside beehive boxes?"

Another student raised her hand. "Yes, bees can make hives in trees."

T:  "Yes..." and then the teacher recounted a time her parents discovered a beehive beneath their home when replacing an air conditioning unit one summer. They had to call a beekeeper in toretrieve the bees and transfer them to a another more practical location. This easily led into the topic of their reading this morning.

The students then read the passage, completed the multiple choice questions, and checked their answers as the teacher went over each one, practicing test-taking strategies like  elimination of obviously incorrect responses and referring to the text for the answers.

After the reading lesson, and the students were dismissed to their next class, I met with her briefly. Again, we had a chuckle over her unintentional question and the ensuing response. She said she would never forget this one.

I can't compete with Dead Investigator Dave's office humor, or even Caregivingly Yours Patrick's sometimes funny, often poignant, but always informative stories about caring for his wife Patti (who has MS). Journalers find the humor in their daily lives, even when for awhile their lives may seem dark and they despair.  Still, they take the time to write about what moves them in their journals, the people, events, and moments that make us laugh, cry, or ponder.

I wrote about today's event because I don't want to forget the delightful moments that often present themselves throughout the course of a school day, totally unexpected at times. 

Today was a classic classroom treasure. 

A child shall lead you.

I don't often make entries on Monday, but thought I would, this being a turning point year for me.

No insects to show for. No moths to free. No caterpillars to wonder at. The day was good in its usualness. Students relearned decimal place value to the thousandths place today. It was taught to them earlier in the year, but as it goes, unless it is used often, things like that don't stay in the memory for long. That's why it is important to do something with the numbers.

It wasn't my lesson, but the teacher who taught it had the kids  standing at the back of the classroom, holding their cards with the various decimals. They had to place themselves in order from least to greatest. There was much hesitation for many of them, in reading the numbers correctly, and in placing themselves in between other decimal numbers.

Not surprisingly, they had the most trouble with numbers that had a zero in the tenths place, or nothing in the hundredths place. For example, .045 and .4 ... which is least? They had trouble seeing that .045 is less than .4 ... but by the end of the activity, many of them were getting better at seeing the relationship. Working with the numbers in this way, reading them out loud, holding them in their hands, comparing them to other decimals, walking around looking for their place in the line-up, seemed to help them see, especially once they were all in order, the relationship of decimals placed from least to greatest. We saw several light bulbs go off as they discovered how to read and order decimals to the thousandths place.

Yet, my mind keeps going back to yesterday's event during church, and the words of a six year old girl who doesn't understand place value yet because she is only in 1st grade. But she understands the value of greater things.

Each month I've been reading a letter from the ZOE missions in Zimbabwe, Africa to the congregation. The letter is written by ZOE founder, Greg Jenks, a minister in the United Methodist Church. The letters usually retell his experience in a village or school in Zimbabwe, describing a child or a group of children affected by the AIDS epidemic which has killed thousands and thousands of adults in that country, leaving behind as many children, orphaned. The letters tug at my heart, probably because Greg has ministered in our area, and because the work he does involves children, the innocents in our world.

The Zimbabwe Orpan Endeavor works from the power and strength of the donations, prayers, and the skillful hands and hearts of those who are led by God. ZOE brings food, medical care, educational materials, and hope to the children orphaned by AIDS.

There's no other way to put it. How else does one walk away from one's own comfortable home and family in this country, and fly into a bleak land which is losing their adult citizens daily to that deadly virus? How else except with the call of God beckoning you, and your own hope in the Lord? That is what Greg is doing in Africa, and that is what the missionaries who hear his story and who follow him there to offer their skills and ministering gifts are doing.

Yesterday, the children of our church picked up the little buckets they had decorated with pictures and scripture last month during Sunday School, and passed them around to help the ZOE mission. We were pleasantly surprised when we counted up the offering after the service. I was happy with the amount, surprised because it was more than triple the amount they had collected the month before.

But one little girl was thinking bigger than I. Oh, she put me in my place. She doesn't know it, but she showed great wisdom when she spoke.

When I told the children how much we were going to send to ZOE this month, the six year old said confidently "And next month we'll get more!"

How little my expectations are. I looked into her intelligent blue eyes. She had spoken what I hadn't even thought. I was feeling satisfied, thinking that we had done a great deed this month.

She was thinking we could do better.

I know there is a verse somewhere that says we shall be led by little children. It is late. If you know which verse I'm talking about, would you leave a comment for me?

Don't ever discount what a child says to you, especially when you think you know what's really going on. God works through children as well as through adults. I thank Him for that.

Flat has his own FlatWebsite

Will this ever end?

Flat Scalzi now has his own journal page! If you are interested in keeping up with his travels, wherever and whenever they may take him, just click on this link and you will be taken instantly to his own flat website.

Flat is looking healthy and restored despite his days on the road cramped in a plain brown envelope. He even wrote about his visit with me at school. That was so sweet of him.

Now I'm wondering how does a flat paper dude with fat pudgy fingers manage the computer keyboard? He could easily slip in between the keys and disappear. I know he didn't have a laptop with him when he came to my house, so now I'm thinking that Flat Paul in Ontario must have set him up. What kind of deal do those two have going? Or maybe he dictates and someone 3D types for him? Hmmm. That flat universe is getting more and more complicated.