Daisy Girl Press

Every other day at school, I get two hours and fifteen minutes of quiet time all to myself. Right in the middle of the day. It's nice. I could explain the tedious logistics of our bell schedule, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say that my off period falls on the longest period of the day every other day. And I am thankful.

I used to sit in my classroom and listen to the radio during my off time. But they stole my radio. So now I just sit and listen to the clicking of the keyboard whilst I type grades... emails... CNN searches... blogs...

We're studying the memoir genre in class this six weeks-- it is, of course, my favorite. Our theme for the unit: Examining the Past, The Importance of Family Connections. For their first project, they're interviewing an adult about a significant moment in his/her life. They'll present their interviews to the class next week. After that, they start their big memoir project. They'll write a story from their lives from memory and also bring to class a physical object that represents the story. Last year I had a kid bring a pair of bloody, bullet-holed shorts for his presentation. His story was about the time he got shot while he was asleep on his couch-- the gunmen were looking for his brother.

That one was interesting.

I want to do a memoir project of my own this year-- just to give them an example, but I can't decide what story I want to tell. This is going to take some thought.

Meanwhile, it just started raining and I can hear the raindrops pelting and pinging off the metal walk-way coverings outside my door. It's cold outside too. Perfect weather for the first homemade chicken and dumplin's of the year!

Toodles!