from the porches

frozen bees

I am posting this in hopes that my family in Kentucky will feel a little bit better about the frigid temperatures they are experiencing, while we're sitting down here in Florida, supposedly enjoying warm temperatures.

Last week, while I was in Tallahassee, Truett took a few photographs of Bee Boy.  The temperatures were in the low twenties and obviously it was cold enough to freeze water.

      

                                      Let's take a closer look.

      

             Right up there in that cup are where the bees used to roost.

      

                                                        Brrr!  Brrr!

      

           Truett's hands must have been shivering when he took these photographs.

Well, anyway, we're thinking about all you folks without electricity in the north.

writers at work

As my morning began today, I looked at all the empty desks while I waited for my first third grade class.  I knew I had the perfect prompt for second and third graders. . ."The Day it Rained Chocolate Pudding".

      

Even though the prompt sounds easy to write about, the younger children don't know how to elaborate enough yet; so the papers end up being pretty boring.  

      

I had already written a beginning for the story that goes something like this:

            One day I woke up to the sound of rain on my roof.  I rushed to the window and boy did I have a surprise.  That wasn't rain.  It was chocolate pudding!

In their stories,the children end up eating the pudding or playing in it without showing me the finer pictures I need for my brain.  

    

       

Since I had written the beginning, the children were to write a middle event of the story, just in case you're trying to read their small handwriting and see that they have begun with So . 

      

                     "Ohhh!  I remember this from last year!" a few shout.

      

                        But then again, a few are new to our school.

      

     The stories were written and next week I will begin the teaching.  That's the fun part of my job.                                   

defeating aliens

Tonight's post is about how a second grader (7 year old) thinks when he writes narratives.

One boy's story had him finding a space ship in the woods.  He crawls in it and then the space ship blasted off to Pluto.  After that five aliens appeared out of nowhere and began chasing him. 

How does this child defeat the aliens?

He simply pulls out a handful of rubber bands and pops one in the head, another in the eye, one in the face, and another in the chest and the last one in the ear. 

Of course, we all know being popped with a rubber band stings like the dickens, so I imagine we'd run too.

Finally, the boy hops back in the spaceship and it spins around fast and he ends up at home.

The boy's final statement was,  "Whew!  That was a long day."

once in a blue moon

Once in a blue moon a teacher is blessed to have had the opportunity to teach a very special child.  We have a fourth grade boy this year who has enriched my life immensely.  I'll call him Michael.  Michael is autistic, although I'm not sure to what degree.  I do know frustration sits in when others make noises like rapping pencils or tapping feet, and often he eats alone by choice.  But Michael isn't alone.  Those things bother me as well. 

It does disturb me when Michael repeatedly smacks himself in the forehead if I call time and he's not finished with his paragraph, so I whisper to him to "Go ahead and finish your paper."  His classmates understand and respect his mind, enthusiasm,and creativity.  I have been known to say,  "Michael, do you think maybe your story could stay on Earth this time?"  Often he and his little brother are teleported to other planets, which have not been discovered yet.

All of us have been blessed by Michael this year and Michael has blossomed as a writer in the fourth grade.  We are in the final throes of refining our writing and most of the children are trying their hardest to please me and to receive high scores on the state writing test.

This afternoon I had the children elaborate one small paragraph using a "Picture this."  In a "Picture this" the children are to show not tell about the subject.  So I modeled a "Picture this" and then turned it over to the children to do the same.  The prompt was about something in nature that they enjoyed, so I modeled thunderstorms (even though they scare the pants off of me sometimes).

One-by-one the students shared their writing using a document camera.  They just lay their paper down and their writing appears magically on the screen in the front of the classroom.  The children especially enjoy using the document camera because they like to see what others write and then they pick it apart or applaud.

This is Michael's "Picture This".

                     "Picture this.  Black-gray clouds hovering above the

                    the surface.  Thunderclaps bellowing in the air and

                    a powerful gust blows ferociously, blowing every

                    leaf off of the tree as I eagerly watch.  Precipitation

                    harshly plummets down, quenching the plants below."

After his writing was shown on the document camera the class burst into applause; and one child shouted,  "Mrs. George, I think Michael out-did you!"

I agreed and applauded Michael myself.

This is the once in a blue moon student that makes it all worth while. . .a fleeting child who will leave me after this year where the fifth grade teachers will undo all that we've been working on since first grade.

bye bye fish

Truett and I left our grandson's car seat in our car on Saturday.  So Sunday was the day to return it to the rightful parents.  We decided to meet in Alachua for lunch at Conestoga's.  Unfortunately, Conestoga's was closed, so we met at The Ivy House instead.

      

      The Ivy House is what men call a fooh fooh restaurant.  Women love this place because it's nostalgic and frilly and makes you want to order iced tea with strawberry flavoring. The entrance alone is inviting.  In the summertime there are jasmine blooms all over this trellis.

      

The garden has a cute little gazebo. . .

      

with plenty of outdoor seating during fair weather, and. . .

      

it has a water pond with water cascading over the rocks.  Now in this pond are three large goldfish and I have see Koi there, but not on this particular Sunday. They might have frozen during last weeks frigid temperatures.

So when Maddie and Oliver arrived they raced to the water and ooh-ed and awed at the the three goldfish.

      

Of course, I hurried them along into the restaurant where we ate a delicious lunch.  We were all  polite and courteous as Southern folks should be.

Following lunch there was a mad dash to see the fish.  This is when I took many photographs of a two year old and a five year old enjoying nature.

        

                             Oliver and Maddie spied the three goldfish.

     

Oliver got quite excited and kept squealing, "Bye bye fish!"  It seems the fish swam in a different direction when they felt two kids looking at them.

      

A two year old brings it all down to "Hi fish!" and "Bye bye fish!"  I found that pretty refreshing for one encumbered by adult life and all that that entails.

      

  Here is a final photo of Merry Jennifer, Sam, Truett, Maddie and Oliver.  All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday lunch at The Ivy House in Alachua, Florida.

      

something old

      

When the skies are gray and the grass is brown and when we're in the dead of winter, I often can't see a photograph.  But the other day I was just staring at our old garage and started taking shots.

      

First I noticed the cat's claw slowly and steadily pulling the old garage to its knees. 

      

 I noticed dark openings and wondered about things that lurk behind these empty spaces.        

 In this one I saw a crevice of sunlight.  Snap! 

        

And in this shot it was the chains that caught my imagination.  I wonder if it ever had a doorknob?  Our original old house was built in 1918 or thereabouts and probably the garage was built a few years later.

Just thought I'd share them with you.

my fix

This morning I told Truett I needed a fix.  So we called Dr. Markham and asked if she could help me.  Of course, the good doctor, told me to come to Gainesville and she would fix me right up.  I was delirious already just thinking about it.

Finally, after three hours, I was satisfied.  We met the Drs. Markham and their children at McAllister's for a quick lunch at which point they left and I had everything I needed to satisfy my desires.

      

 My grandchildren!  This is Madeline.  I would have posted a photo of Oliver, but in the picture he was picking his nose, so I chose not to lay that on you guys, even though most of us at one time or another surely did this.

Maddie and I colored for about two hours while Oliver napped. . . and Granddaddy; and while Merry Jennifer and Sam enjoyed quality time without the children.

      

I recognize the same diligence in Maddie as I saw in her mother.

      

 and the same joyful exuberance.

I tell you, I could dive in those eyes and never come out.  Isn't that the way it's supposed to be if you get a fix. . .never wanting to come out.

    

Maddie is growing too quickly all of a sudden. I watched her today as she worked on a coloring page, diligently concentrating.  She did tell me it was okay if I went out of the lines, but only a little bit.  Two hours is a long time for a five year old to concentrate, don't you think.  I was the one who was anxious to go outside in the fresh air, but Maddie insisted on more coloring.

Now I am satisfied for a little while until I feel the need for a new fix.

good things awaiting

   Good things awaited me upon my return home from Tallahassee:

1.  Clay met me at the car as I pulled up. In his hands he held a gift for me..a book entitled The Wandmakers.  It's really a book he bought for himself; and I do appreciate the thought, but will most assuredly give it back to him as a gift.

2.  Roger and Punky bounded to the door and acted too cool as I set my suitcases down on the living room floor.  (You know how independent cats are.)  But within an hour Roger became his pesky old self and hasn't left my side since, with Punky only a few feet away, but too insecure to let go and let me love him.

3.  Next, came Truett with a great big smile, a big old bear hug and a tender kiss.  Oh, how I needed this.  

4. After that, the front porch begged,  "Sit on me."  So not to disappoint, Truett and I retired to the front porch and recapped the events of the past four days.   

      

 5.  We watched Carolina chickadees, male and female cardinals, titmice, Freida and Freddy (the mourning doves) and squirrels enjoying the 70 degree weather.  By the time Truett and I went inside I was beginning to feel back to normal.

Don't get me wrong.  I serve on a very important State Writing Advisory Committee, and the people there are like family.  In fact, I see this group of people twice a year, which is more than some of my own family.  Now, that's sad.

But nothing...NOTHING  beats HOME-SWEET-HOME.

muddling through

Hooray!  It was 60 degrees here in Tallahassee, although I didn't get to enjoy the warmer weather because I was sitting in a room all day tediously concentrating.  The good news:  we only work until 1:00 tomorrow and then I'm headed back to good old Fort White.

Cracker Barrel again for supper; but I was a good girl...only a salad and water.  I totally forgot about my Facebook page where I can keep in touch with my friends and family, so I'll be heading over there in a second. 

I haven't taken photographs of nature and I'm pretty sure you don't want to see photos inside a hotel lobby.  This only makes my desire to get home stronger.  But wait.  I did take a photo of a pine tree.

      

 Yea!  Nature!

whipped

I find it is very hard to be creative after a long day of analyzing test scores, sitting all day long and concentrating hard. Whipped!  That's how I describe how I feel.  So day one is down with two more to go. 

At the end of the day I thought about my last period classes of fourth graders and how I expect them to come into my classroom, sit up straight and tall, and  listen to me drone on and on about essays.  Furthermore, sometimes I expect the children to write during the last hour of the day.  I may just have to rethink that last hour. 

So I got out of my meetings at 5:00 and went straight to my room, where I found mom dressed and ready to eat supper.  Cracker Barrel is close by, so that was our choice.

      

"What are you taking a picture of?" mom barked as we headed to the car.

"You, mom.  I like your cute little hat."  We were eating at 5:20 and back in the room by 6:00.  We both ordered vegetables only, so there was no wait for chicken to fry or beef to grill.

Mom caught me up on President Obama's first day in office and comments from around the world.  I just watched parts of his first day speech and love the effect it has on Americans.  I especially loved hearing children commenting about reaching their dreams. . . "Yes, I can."  I am overwhelmed with joy.

Hey, I found an X

        

Taking photos of the alphabet letters just about drove me nuts, and it has been a while since I've done so; therefore, when I saw this letter part of me just couldn't pass it up.