So much more than grammar

Fridays I like to do something out of the ordinary, when we can. Since we had been doing the same drill for grammar for two days previously, I decided to see what they learned about teamwork when they were at the Marin Headlands. What I saw today was impressive.

I told the students that, if no one gets more than one wrong on the grammar page, the whole class gets a prize. Since, generally, the mistakes made are out of carelessness rather than not knowing what to do, I wanted to see how they could work together to eliminate those careless mistakes. I wish you all could have seen your students at work.

As soon as I let them start, groups formed. People who usually did well partnered themselves with students who needed help. I saw helpfulness and cooperation to begin with, then, when problems were found on the page, I heard music to a teacher's ears, arguments about grammar.

"Crossing is a noun."

"No, it is a verb."

"Ms. Grier, is crossing a noun or a verb?"

"It can be both," I said.

I smiled, because they were working out their own problems, and thinking them through together. Sometimes I can be most helpful by being unhelpful.

I saw students who usually didn't hang out together, being pro-active and making sure that their classmates didn't fall behind. I saw them organizing themselves, each one taking on a different task. I saw some students self-appoint themselves as the one to sit with students who looked confused and help, kindly. I saw kids who struggle with grammar getting up and sitting with one who usually does well. At the end, I saw smiles on the faces of all of them, because as a class, they succeeded.

Each one of the sixth graders is talented in multiple ways. Some have that grammar gene going for them, and some have different talents. What I loved about today was that everyone was included and no one was left out. Together, they all succeeded.

On Monday, we will go back to our usual method of learning grammar, but today was special. The prizes, well, I laugh when I think of them. Mostly trinkets left over from my bookstore and the days I taught second grade, nothing much, really. But they worked hard for a prize they don't know about. Today they each learned different lessons. For some, they learned that their talent shouldn't be only kept for themselves, but it should be shared. For others, they learned that they can depend on their classmates for help.

It was just one of those moments in time. Not a big deal, really, but one that made me smile. Parents, your kids are great, and I enjoy their company. I am glad we looked outside the box to try something different for a Friday.

ran off to join the circus

Really, I did. Field day for the school, and we went to the circus training center. Limbs still shaking, I over did the fun and I am expecting to pay for it tomorrow.

You never know when something will come up that is just too good to pass by. I had no idea what today would bring, I was just along for the kids. But I saw that flying trapeze and I forgot my age. Today, I cheerfully proved that I was, indeed 48, but also 48 isn't time to call the exciting parts of life over.

The trapeze was first. All the kids done, they looked at me and didn't give me an out. Not that I really wanted it. The waist harness was tight, but not connected to a thing as I climbed up the ladder with sweaty feet and palms. Halfway up, I forgot my sense, and looked down. I assessed the fact that I was hitched to nothing, that there was no net below the ladder, I had little upper body strength, and that my sweaty feet could slip any moment. Yells of encouragement and a camera clicking its way toward me pushed me forward. A quick instruction on how to make that 30 foot drop was given to deaf ears.

"All the way up," the smallish, muscular young man said, without a hint of encouragement. I clambered atop and held on to what I could find. Buckled in, I felt, at least, that I wasn't going to fall to my death, at least, not if the young man on the ground held me tight.

"How you feeling?", the man on the platform asked.

"Scared."

"Too late now." He said. Easy for him to say.

"Other hand." He commanded as I reached waaaaaaayyyy out for the bar.

"You are nuts," I thought, "I am bigger than you, if I slip just a bit, I fall, and you go with me. And you don't have a harness on."

Obediently, I reached my other hand out in the impossible position of butt tucked, arms stretched, his hand holding my harness so I didn't fall. At least, in hopes that he could actually hold my weight.

I felt a foot in my knees to bend them, and I realized that short instruction on the ground was a joke, because he wasn't giving me any choice on how I would make the free fall. "Hip" he called, and gave me a push, well, a shove.

A free fall on arms that I wasn't sure could hold my weight long. Swinging, remembering to keep toes pointed, because if I was going to go down, at least I wanted to look as graceful as possible.

"Hip" the command was called, and I fell, making a landing that would earn me a "2" on a scale of "10" if it were being judged. Massive cheers from the kids, as well as the teachers. A graceful somersault off the net, and I was done.

Trembling legs, and a shaky smile as I walked off with as much dignity as my shaking body would allow.

The rest of the day? I gave myself a headache doing far too many somersaults off the mini-trampoline, and the bouncing on the large trampoline sealed my fate. I am exhausted. I have had more lactic acid running through my body today than I have in more than a decade. I will pay for that fun, I know. But life, to me, is far more about the experience than it is about collecting stuff or gathering security around me.

Today I reminded myself that I was 48, and that 48 can be an incredibly exhilarating experience.

Party with the Bard!

I hope you managed to make it this far without getting this awful bug that is going around. Usually healthy me got it, and I was in bed for a whole week. I don't ever remember being that sick. If you do get it, take it easy, this is a nasty strain!

We just finished a short story unit in the seventh grade, and finished reading a novel about an immigrant girl from Cambodia, Children of the River in the sixth grade. The seventh grade test will be tomorrow, and the test over Children of the River will be on Tuesday.

The best part of the year starts on Monday with our reading of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. As we read, we will act out, read aloud, and learn something of the times that Shakespeare lived. At the end of the unit, we plan on 'Partying with the Bard' and we hope you will help us.

I will be giving out recipes to volunteers to help us with our menu. I expect to have shepherd's pie, soda bread, cider and one more dish for lunch that day. In order to make this lunch happen, we will need an adult volunteer or two to help set up, as well as assistance making the food.

In addition to the food, those who wish to dress for the occasion may do so. Ms. McGillivray will teach us some appropriate vocabulary to help us all fit in with the Bard and his peers.