Don’t forget to look up #SOLC23

“Hey, guys! Look up! It’s so beautiful in here!”

Wise words from a Kindergarten boy who I didn’t think was paying attention. Yesterday, we walked to the vernal pool on conservation land adjacent to my school’s campus. He was happily chattering with his partner as we walked along. Minecraft, Sonic, and playdates were what his mind was on.

I didn’t think he saw the trees. I didn’t think he saw the sky. I didn’t think he noticed the chickadees announcing our arrival with their winter Chicka-dee-dee-dee song. But he did.

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Advertisement

The Tree #SOLC23

I see the tree out the bedroom window

This time each year it begins to stand out from the rest

It is the first to bud

But by the time the others begin to display

It blends in and becomes lost

Lost in the shuffle of rebirth from the earth

From late fall until early spring

The tree is just like the others

Waiting for its turn

But it likes to go first

The tree is a green so special

Its yellowy-green hue is full of life

It calls out, “Notice me!”

The tree is an old friend who has been away

But wants me to know it is back in town

The tree makes me smile

The tree gives me hope

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Take our picture! #SOLSC23

Every morning they come in and get right to work. Not the kind of morning work you are thinking of, though.

I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge fan of morning work. Would you want someone handing you a form to fill out not long after you’d woken up? Before your coffee had kicked in?

We are a soft start Kindergarten classroom. We look at books, visit with friends, color, or maybe build for the first 15-20 minutes of the day, and then we begin our Morning Meeting.

There is a small group of girls who choose the same soft start almost every morning without fail. They LOVE Magna Tiles! And every morning they build essentially the same tower. Sometimes it’s fancy, sometimes it’s simple. And the fun part? They build on top of a cluster of four desks and, as their tower climbs higher and higher, they climb up onto the desks. I, of course, keep a watchful eye out for their safety.

Each building session ends the same way — “Take our picture!” — and of course, I do. Wouldn’t you?

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

One Happy Camper #SOLSC23

5:24 pm, I kid you not

Is when it began

Right on the dot

His song continued

It did not stop

Until the sun began to drop

Want to listen

To his “what cheer?”

Just click the arrow below right here

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Harbingers #SOLSC23

First hike, layers lost along the way

Mud, squishy squelchy beneath soggy boots

Skunk cabbage, aubergine and green, popping up to say hello

Red-winged blackbirds conk-la-reeing along the way

Vernal pools silent, waiting for their cue

Roadside ice cream stands closed to premature urges

Western sky still streaming light at 6:00 PM

So close

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

I’m a Lucky Ducky #SOLSC23

I never win anything, but today I’m a Lucky Ducky!

My school’s Sunshine Committee decided to spread a little St. Patrick’s silliness for faculty this week. It’s been a loooooong painful winter as we continue our battle with our School Committee for a fair and equitable contract. (A longer story for another Slice, perhaps.)

This is the first time we’ve done Lucky Ducky and I actually found one of the ducks. Woo hoo! One of the shamrock-laden rubber ducks was “hidden” on top of the soap dispenser in our K/1 prep room, so I grabbed it. Lucky me!

We had all week to look for them and I finally found one. I turned it in to claim my prize and it was…a $10 Amazon Gift Card. Not too shabby.

Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket on my way home. What do you think?

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Joy in PE #SOLSC23

Joy in PE? It sounds unusual, right?

At 12:10 PM today, family members of my Kindergarten class streamed into the gym. It was “Bring Your Parent to PE Day,” the first since “the before times.” It was also our last day working with the gymnastics equipment that has been housed in our gym for the last six weeks. On Friday afternoon it will be loaded onto trucks and moved next door to our upper elementary school. Now it’s their turn, after a “residency” with us and our neighboring sister lower elementary school.

It was time to celebrate all our physical and mental achievements and challenge family members to join us. And what a blast we had. I’m not sure who had more fun — the kids or their parents. They came in sweats and sneakers, some hamming up their pre-game stretches and warmups, ready to show their proud child that mom or dad’s still got it. The rope swing, parallel bars, tumbling mats, climbing wall, vault, and balance beam — they did it all. They showed their child that they can still be a kid, try something new, take a risk, and have fun. And how proud they were of their child.

Oh, the look on their faces. Pure joy.

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Not Again! #SOLSC23

Not again! I just fixed it!

I love birds. I love my feeder station outside my classroom. I love mud. However, mud does NOT love my feeder station!

Wild Birds Unlimited makes the coolest feeder station — The Advanced Pole System. It is truly awesome. It literally screws into the ground and then has these four doohickey things (very technical term!) that secure it into the ground. Well, at least they are supposed to secure it. But guess what? When the ground gets saturated from too much snow, rain, and subsequently mud, there’s no securing this thing!

Every time I look out the window, guess what I see?

And then I go back outside and stand it up again. Until it falls over again.

You win, mud! I am ready for spring!

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

Praise for Bare Pavement #SOLSC23

Today’s Slice was inspired by today’s nor’easter in my neck of the woods.

Praise

for bare pavement

that keeps us safe

as we travel hither and yon.

Let plows traverse

Its craggy surface,

scattering crystals of stability

shimmering in. the afternoon light.

Let shovels scour

perilous sidewalks

guiding school children and dog walkers

safely home.

Linger longer, snow,

upon grass, hillsides, and roofs,

blanketing homes and tender buds

until spring has settled.

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

We’re ready! Are you? #SOLSC23

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.