The Orphan Master's Son

I just finished The Orphan Master's Son.  Man alive.  I'm still reeling from the amazing ending.

Well done, Adam Johnson.  Your Pulitzer Prize was well deserved, imho.

The Institute

Yesterday I taught a lesson on transition sentences.  I used two texts about Booker T. Washington as resources for examples of great transition sentences.

The kiddos wrote transition sentences and we learned a bit about Booker T. Washington along the way. I'll now share our learning with you thusly.

Booker T. Washington lived from 1856 to 1915.  (I think).

He was born into slavery.

He worked in a salt mine when he was a kid.

He wanted to go to school and he eventually did.

He founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.  He believed education and entrepreneurship were the avenue to civil rights, clashing with the more activist mission of the NAACP.

He had lunch with Theodore Roosevelt.

He wrote a book called Up From Slavery.

In conclusion, Booker T. Washington seemed like a pretty good guy.

Thursday Creativity Share: The Cardboard

I like this little cardboard puppet.  If we have indoor recess again tomorrow for the millionth day in a row, I may try to make some of these with the Thirdlanders.


So that's it for Thursday Creativity Share.  Refreshingly simple.  A cardboard puppet. There you go.

The Memories

Indoor recess yesterday so I sat down with some Thirdlanders to help with their crocheting.  Some Thirdlanders know how to crochet now and others not so much.  But we're all going to get there.

As I chatted with the two Wonderbugs and funny kid, the talk came around to being sneaky.  Funny kid said, "I can sneak stuff out of our kitchen without anyone seeing me.  You would not believe how quiet I am."

I replied, "I was pretty good at that when I was a kid."

The Wonderbugs began chatting about how they sometimes sneak things but then they feel so horrible about it that it's not worth it.  I kind of shrugged that off because how big a deal is it to take a cookie now and again?

Then things turned serious.  Wonderbug 1 said, "I have haunting memories.  If I do things that are mean or bad to anyone, I cry myself to sleep at night.  I can't stand it.  And the memories of these things never go away."
Wonderbug 2 says she has the same problem.  "I just lie awake thinking of anything bad I did and I try so hard the next day to make it right."

I have some of the same issues that these Thirdlanders have.  It made me a little sad to think of them having these feelings for the next 40 years or so, and possibly longer.  While compassion and striving for kindness are great goals, it can be over done.  Finally I said, "You know, sometimes it's hard to let stuff go, but we've got to try.  We have to put these memories in the past where they belong and just try to focus on the present moment."
Wonderbug 2 pulled at her crocheting which isn't really going that well to tell you the truth and sighed, "It's so hard."

#TwinTuesday

#TwinTuesday and what do we have going on?  A pin and a paper clip.  That's what I'm talking about.

The Exception?

Come to find out, one of our favorite alittleleeway readers lives with a beagle (pictured above) and this beagle goes by the name of Gracie.  And also come to find out Gracie supposedly does not fit the beagle bill and is allegedly much loved and appreciated by her guardians. As we all know, I'm always open to telling the whole story here. So I will be working to learn more about Gracie in the coming weeks.  There may be some evidence of guardian bias in the reports I'm receiving about Gracie, so I'll try to get to the crux of the matter in answering the question, "Can a beagle be a good dog?"  I'm nothing if not open minded.

As for goals this week, I'm thinking we should all be as kind as possible to those around us and primarily to ourselves.  Testing season is coming up and there's going to be a need for some extra TLC for all concerned.  I'm already getting a little testy about the tests.  Goal:  Kindness in the form of extra gifts for ourselves and cheerful, supportive chat with others.

The Dog

Artwork by Awesome Thirdlander

When I was a kid, we had a dog by the name of Henry.  Henry was a mutt, but mostly beagle.  Henry was lovable, but he was a bit of a pain in the neck.  He ran away constantly, chased cars down our street, and occasionally wandered through my school looking for me.  Sr. Electa, our principal, used to talk to me frequently about how I needed to figure out how to keep Henry at home. Of course I had other siblings who attended Our Lady of the Holy Rosary School, but I was kind of the go to gal for odious chores involving responsibility.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there.  The point is this.

All these years, I've had esteem issues about having a poorly trained dog with a devil may care attitude. I now realize that no one was really to blame for Henry's issues. He was just a friendly dog cursed with the legacy of a rascally breed.  The NYT has an article just today by a woman who wrote an entire book about problems with beagles.  The author, Emily Yoffe, is concerned because a beagle just won the Westminster Dog Show, so she fears every citizen of this great land may head out this spring to get a beagle.  I want you to know that I share this writer's concerns.  Do not get a beagle.  Beagles are cute dogs, but they have been known to wreck lives.

Teach Times Two Podcast

Here's our second episode of the Teach Times Two Podcast. KC and I talked about literacy in our classrooms.  Kind of neat stuff.  #1 Son gave us the music.  I edited the podcast this time, so it's not super professional.  The important thing is that I did my best and I totally forgot the rest.   It's less than 8 minutes long so I'm not sure why you wouldn't listen to it. In conclusion, you should listen to this podcast if you want to.

Thursday Creativity Share: African American Read In

It's time for the African American Read In.  Judith gathered all the books for us and we're reading away.  Some of the new books I've read because of the Read In are:

1.  Ashley Bryan's Puppets by Ashley Bryan. Ashley Bryan makes cool puppets out of stuff that washes up on the beach.  His puppets are stunning.  I'm not as crazy about the poems about the puppets, but the full page photographs in this book are splendid.  This is going to be a great partner book to Georgia In Hawaii because Georgia liked to find objects on the beach and turn them into art as well.  I wonder how I can get one of Mr. Bryan's puppets.  If you're reading this blog, Mr. Bryan, please send me a puppet as soon as possible.

2.  Before John Was a Jazz Giant.  This is a simple book about John Coltrane as a child.  I need to learn more about John Coltrane because he's obviously a jazz giant and one of the greatest saxophone players to ever live.  I'm hoping to learn to play the saxophone in the near future.  Just like John Coltrane.

3.  Josephine:  The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker.  Thirdlanders are loving this biography of Josephine Baker.  Did you know she had a pet cheetah?  She was phenomenally famous too on stage and screen. She really didn't put up with any nonsense.

4.  Rent Party Jazz by William Miller.  I didn't know about the rent parties.  Lots of famous jazz musicians played at these parties when they were still up and coming.  People who were having trouble paying their rent would have a rent party.  Win win.  Great illustrations in this beautiful picture book.

5.  Harlem Renaissance Party by Faith Ringgold. If you are wondering what was so great about the Harlem Renaissance, you should go ahead and read it.  I wish I could have been hanging out in the Harlem Renaissance with all the coolest artists our country had to offer. Sidenote: Speaking of Harlem,  there's a new statue of Malcolm X in the spot where he was shot, the Audubon Ballroom.  I would like to see that statue this summer when and if I take some textile classes at the New School in Manhattan.

Thursday Creativity Share.  My goal is to read a new book from the cart every day in February.  So far, I'm doing great.  New books by and about creative people.  It really doesn't get much better than that.  

The Owl

We've all been a wee bit down lately, so I decided to foster an owl for a pet.  I got Sheila from the Animal Rescue people.  She needed a nesting site so we offered our back yard.  The Animal Rescue people came over yesterday afternoon and set up her nesting area right outside our back window, in our Tulip Tree.  Did you know the Tulip Tree is the state tree of Indiana?  Anyway, Sheila's out there nesting.  She has two baby owlets.  Every hour or so we release a mouse on to the snowy yard and Sheila swoops down and kills it with her talons.  I feel a little sad for the mice, but mostly I'm fascinated by this Great Horned Wonder who has come to hang out with us for a few weeks.  She's the best.

#TwinTuesday

This unexpected pairing of remote and dice somehow seems to me to be fraught with peril. It scares the heck out of me to tell you the truth.  Let's all try to stay calm, give the photo the appreciative perusal it deserves, and then move on with life, putting #TwinTuesday in the recesses of our minds.

We have another snow day here, and I for one intend to live it in the now.  But looking forward momentarily,  my goals for the day look like this:  Restrict random reading of Bachelor articles, continue working on revisions of chapter 2, try hard not to eat the rest of the casserole that KVS brought over last night for all of us and lastly, to maintain a bright and cheerful attitude.  Maybe I'll take some photos as well.