SOL Preparation

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

 Five more days until March and the Slice of Life Writing Challenge! One of the things I like to do ahead of time, is create a draft of all my posts. I do this for a couple of reasons:

1. It saves me time on those days when I it seems like extra minutes can't be found. I open my blog, and boom! There it is ready to go.
2. It holds me more accountable. I have all the days ready to go, and seeing those numbers helps me to think, "Well, why not another one!"

As I was copying and pasting my Two Writing Teachers spiel and numbering my posts, I realized that because I started with 1, the posts move down, and number 31 would be on top. To me, that was backwards. After writing post number nine, I decided this was a silly way to organize it, so I started with 31 and worked my backwards. 

To some, this may sound silly. But for me, whatever it takes to keep me going in March is all good!

Is there such a thing as too many books?

 

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

I am sitting in my reading room thinking of something to write about (and wondering how I am ever going to make it through the month of March!).

I am an empty nester, and my reading room is my daughter's old bedroom. She has golden oak shelves that line the perimeter of three walls. It didn't take me long to fill those shelves with books, taking them from storage boxes and stacks in my classroom and my own bedroom.

Looking around at the shelves, I have concluded that I have a real problem. Most of the books I have not read...yet! And, I have several bags full of more titles that I haven't shelved.

Many of these books I have had for years and some I just bought this weekend, thinking, "I am going to read this one next", or "As soon as I read this one, I will take it to school." 

I might have to change those thoughts to, "Once I retire, I will have time read all these books!"

Whatever my logic, I don't think I will run out of reading material anytime soon.

The Magic of Snow Days

 

Where have all the snow days gone?

I feel like I need to write a song with that title. When I was a child, we rarely had snow days. Our superintendent's last name was Ader, and he was not one to call them often. He did, however, call a lot of one-hour delays. Thus, the nickname "one-hour later Ader."

As lawsuits and risks to young drivers became more prevalent, we began having more snow days. Superintendents didn't want to be responsible if someone was in an accident on the way to school. My kids would pray for snow and the surprise early morning phones calls announcing a SNOW DAY! We would have 5 snow days built into our school, and we didn't have to make them up. Actually, if we didn't use them, we had the Fridays in May off! A teacher appreciation gift for every teacher!

But those days are gone too. Now, we have eLearning days. Days filled with onscreen teaching and missing assignments that kids don't do. I don't know who dislikes it more, the kids or the teachers. I usually create an assignment that has them go outside, play, observe, and then come back and write.

I wonder if this pendulum will swing back the other way. I wonder if we will get to enjoy the magic of snow days once again.

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

Three Simple Words

Tree. Table. Book. 

These three simple words lead me on a journey full of emotions. Tree. Table. Book. is a book written by Lowis Lowry where one of the main characters is in the beginning stages of cognitive decline. Her name is Sophie, and she has young 11-year-old friend also named Sophie. When young Sophie overhears a conversation about her friend moving closer to her son because of her dementia, she sets out to help.

Young Sophie thinks if she can help her pass the three-word test, then she won't have to move. Young Sophie tries to get her to tie stories to the words to help her remember them. But this leads older Sophie to tell stories of her childhood in Poland during World War II, stories untold until now.

It is a beautiful story, but that's not the story behind this slice.

My mother also had dementia, and she was given this same cognitive test. The doctor gives three words and tells the patient to remember them. Then a series of additional questions are asked. At the end, the patient is asked to recall the three words.

We would sit beside mom and wonder how in the world she continued to pass this test. But as time went on, and my mother's cognitive ability declined, this part of the test became more difficult. I found myself, just like young Sophie, willing my mom to say those...

three simple words.

 

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

Snowstorm 2026

 

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

I was in the 8th grade in 1978. The year of the blizzard. The blizzard to which all other Indiana winter storms are compared and probably will be for the next generation to come.

I don't remember much about the storm. After all, I was a "junior high" student then, and I am sure I had more important things to remember than storms. Like bad haircuts! I don't remember being out of school, the minus 50 degrees wind chill, or the whole state being shut down. 

Instead, I remember the images. I remember the snow drifts taller than me, and the snow piled high on the street. We lived on a busy street in town--a snow emergency route--so our street was one of the first to be cleared. I remember my parents not going to work, which was not something they did often.

This weekend, 48 years to the day, we had another storm.  The snowfall was close to the 1978 storm in my area with about 14 inches. It wasn't as catastrophic as '78, but it was still significant. But that amount was the most we have had since then. For some, it would be considered historic.

As I see pictures of younger children in this year's storm, I have to wonder how social media will affect their memories and if they will be talking about it like we did in 1978. Will they be mesmerized by the amount of snow and how the town was shut down? Will they remember the empty shelves in the store? Will they remember having eLearning days instead of snow days? Will they even know what a true snow day was?

Sadly, I don't think it will be quite the same.

A Strengthened Faith

 

Welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday, a small group hoping to strengthen our faith with each other. Margaret is rounding up posts if you would like to join or read along.

I have been a Catholic all my life, a practicing one for most of my life. We fell away for a short time but have been back now for many years.

As a child, we didn't memorize scripture, and if I am being honest, I really didn't know much about Bible. I listened to our three readings at Mass and sang the responsorial Psalms. But I didn't know them, and I could not recite verses.

Over the past several years, reading the Bible has become a part of my spiritual life. Even if it ebbs and flows. I can now recite verses that hold special meaning to me, and some that "people say I should know."

This year, one of my goals is to read the entire Bible in chronological order. I am following a plan, like many others. I know that many people have started this on January 1 and have failed within a few days.

I think failure is part of any goal. But through this failure, I hope to find strength. I hope to build such a strong habit, that missing a day will only make me want to return.

The word strengthen is found in many verses in the Bible. This one in Isaiah 41:10 is one I am holding on to.

"Fear not, for I am with you; 
be not dismayed, for I am your God; 
 I will strengthen you, I will help you, 
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

By reading His word, I am finding a different kind of strength. A strength from something much bigger than myself. And I am looking forward to seeing how this strength plays out in other parts of my life throughout the year.

Hard Habit to Break

 

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

Being an English teacher, I know how to make words plural. I know the spelling changes and the rules. But my son has pointed out one word that I say incorrectly. 

Maybe you do this as well. 

Aldi is a grocery store that is found in 30 states across the country. One recently opened here in my small hometown. 

Me texting my son:  I'm going to Aldis, do you need anything?

Son's reply:  Oh, is there more than one now?

Yep, I make Aldi plural and call it Aldis. I do the same thing with JC Penney. I never call it "JC Penney." It's just "Penneys."

I try to be intentional now and try to say correctly, but some habits are just hard to break.