Today's Adventures

I brought my camera to school today so that I could quickly shoot a role, get it developed, and have pictures to show this weekend! The differences in student reactions were intriguing. My high school girls groaned a little, but then proceeded to give me an adorable pose, which I think will turn out great. My high school boys were cooperative, but not exactly riveted by the idea of having their pictures taken. One refused to smile, although a little smirk did escape. The junior high girls were quite enthusiastic by round two, while the junior high boys were mostly delighted with my willingness to take pictures of them making faces and hitting each other. Then there were the second graders who happened to be in the area and begged me to take their pictures, too. So I'll have some pics of random youngsters whose names I do not know. Sigh. My greatest teaching weakness, so far, is my inability to remember names, and sometimes faces, even. Ah well. No one seems to hold it against me yet.

Happy teaching moment: I'm doing The Phantom Tollbooth with my junior high kids, and today I was talking about the old woman Milo found in the dungeon. She told Milo a story about the Princesses Rhyme and Reason (this is such a great book!). So I decided to reenact the scene. I put my glasses way down on the end of my nose, and put a scarf over my head, and borrowed a pencil and pen for knitting needles. I was so thrilled when one of the girls slipped from her seat to sit at my feet. And then another. And then came my trouble-maker! I love him so much. He is hard to keep under control, but we have quite a rapport, and this was such a sign of support and solidarity. Pretty soon almost all of them were there, gathered around my seat, listening to the great tale. What a great teacher moment!

And tomorrow... Fairwood! With Pictures!!!