usually, i try to stay out of the gutter...
but when i got home yesterday, i couldn't help but be amazed with the beauty of what the trees had dropped. with the help of the wind, these pink offerings were swirled into piles of decadence...
made me think of those pink-marshmallow-snowball thingys my mom used to put in my lunchbox.
for once again, my shorties have written!
hee!
they had five minutes to write a poem about a pet...
so....here goes:
My Dog
Once there was
A puppy
His name was
Guppy
I think his name
Is really funny
And he thinks
I’m a dummy.
-Derrick
Dogs yawn. Dogs bark
And they walk past in
The dark.
We walk, they walk
Just as I thought.
It makes me
Happy when they lick
Me.
But not when he’s scratching a flea.
I love dogs
More than rugs
Their minds are so different.
But they know more than
Us.
-Asaan
My Cat
I had a cat it had
Ears like a rat
It peed on my
Hat,
I beat it with a
Bat
-Demond
(hmmmmm...)
Poem
when I
got my
puppy
she was
very
little.
we took
her home
then we
took Smoke
out back
and we
played then
we took
Smoke for
a walk
and I
was hap-
py that
I had
a girl
dog.
- Teyona
My Poem About My Cats
I have two cats.
They are my pets.
They chase rats.
Sometime they get
In my big hats.
And I chase them with
A bats.
They have fur all over
My mats.
-Daisha
I have a turtle
Named murtle
She likes to
Put her head in
Her shell when
She hears something
That sounds like
A bell she likes
Me when I get
Like I am asleep.
- Jaz’mon
My Cat
My cat’s ears’re like a rat
It’s tail’s like a baseball bat
What a wonderful wonderful ugly cat.
-Daniel
Pet Poem
My cat’s asleep
My dog’s a peep
My frogs leap
While I sleep.
- Kashai
oh man oh man...
so.
i am sitting here, reading my email before i go to sleep...
and i hear my cat in the kitchen. he is making too much noise, obviously into something...
but i can't figure out WHAT. i hear sounds that are not his usual sounds...i hear metal and scratching...hmmmm.
so i am yelling "kitty!!!! what are you doing?!!!!?" as i am walking down the hallway towards the dark kitchen.
then.
i turn on the light and i see him on the stove.
he has pulled the burner off of the gas stove with his paw and is hovered over the stove with a bigfatdamnmouse in his MOUTH!
OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD.
so i SCREAMED a truly babysissy scream and ran back in here...in here i am not alone. i have you here with me...can you believe i am so freaked out?
so HE (my cat) is out THERE chasing the mouse upanddownupanddownupanddown the hallway...
i should try and save the mouse...or my cat. but i cannot deal with this.
paul is still at work and keith, our housemate is out with friends.
damndamndamn.
and now paprikash wants to come in the bedroom with the mouse...i am sure he thinks it is a gift...but i DON'T WANT IT. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!.
i am going to stay in here, with the door shut, and let paul deal with it when he gets home.
is that wrong?
oh god...i am freaking out.
i can handle a lot. but not this. i can't get the vision of him hovering with the fat mouse in his jaws....damn oh damn oh damn.
shorties' haikus and reflections on Earth Day.
Make sure you cleanup
Cause it’s Earth Day so clean up
Why won’t you clean up?
- Kashai
Dear President,
I am sorry that I put trash on the ground, but today I cleaned it up because it’s Earth Day and I don’t want a dirty Earth. You don’t either, so I want to write this letter to thank you.
- Kashai
(of course, i am assuming that she thinks bush cares about the environment)
“…take care of your home planet so you can have air…you must keep this earth shining and fresh clean…that’s what Earth Day is all about.”
- Malika
When we came back inside [from picking up trash], my hands smelled like beer and wine.
- Daniel
I clean up the earth
Around my house and others
I help clean the earth.
- Tyron
Dear Earth,
I’m so sorry you have trash on your ground, but today we tried to clean you up. We want you to be neat and clean and shiny. You mean so much to me! We need to recycle because we need air and oxygen and we don’t need to cut down your trees.
Your friend, Tyron.
p.s. I love you.
I love the earth. Whywhywhy would we litter? We need to take care of our earth! We need to take care.
- Derrick
Dear President,
The stuff we just did was amazing, but gross! I learned that our Sandtown areas are a mess! We picked up stuff you wouldn’t believe! We picked up smoke pipes!
We need more health…as a matter of fact, the trees and the grass and the flowers need to be healthier than we do because if they’re not healthy, then we won’t be healthy.
People need to respect this heavenly earth. Helping the earth be healthier is like helping God. Now I know why garbage men do their jobs. It’s because they want the earth to be a better place.
Sincerely, Asaan
Be aware of trash
Clean up your community
Make your ‘hood clean up!
- Asaan
Earth is now dirty
Clean the mess up pleasepleaseplease
Thank you nice people
- Brooke
it was like the streets were lined with cash!
the kids were screaming and runninglikecrazy to get to the trash they saw.
they were breathless after tearing down the street to pick up a soda bottle, only to pick it up and say "we should wash this out and put it in our recycling bin!" (god-love-em) the shorties were shouting "traaaaaaaaaaaash!" as they took off to right the wrong that some careless, uncaring person had committed.
my shorties grew wings today.
we left the school with big bags and big intentions. we wanted to put the word out in the community that littering was not helping the earth or our spirits. i mean, c'mon, who feels good living in the middle of trash?
we came back and reflected in our writing journals...deep thoughts and emotions came out of my babies today.
i think they truly "got it".
good teaching moment was had today (big cheesy grin).
i will post their writing later tonight or tomorrow.
cleaning up for earth day really makes one contemplate the future of our community
okay. so skip this if you want...but it is kind of funny...AND for those who need to brush up on their multiplication facts, this may even help you!
it was driving me crazy that my kids can remember EVERY lyric to "where is the love" by the black eyed peas, but couldn't remember their times tables. sooooooooooo...
we are rapping them! : )
we started with our doubles. the kids were each assigned a problem and had to come up with a rhyme. we sang it this morning for the first time!
it goes like this:
0 times 0 is zero. superman is my HERO.
1 times 1 is one and i'm gonna eat myself a BUN!
2 times 2 is four, and i'm gonna mop that DIRTY FLOOR!
3 times 3 is nine, and i'm gonna eat a BIG FAT PRIME! (rib)
4 times 4 is sixteen. I like beans and COLLARD GREENS!
5 times 5 is twenty-five I just got poked by a PORCUPINE!
6 times 6 is thirty-six and i'm gonna eat them CHICKEN STRIPS!
7 times 7 is forty-nine bright yellow teeth surely DO SHINE!
8 times 8 is sixty-four. if a bullet comes flyin' i'm gonna HIT THE FLOOR! (yikes...jeez)
9 times 9 is eighty-one i like my sun with some money, 'mon!
10 times 10 is a HUN-dred, i like my chili with mus-TED (mustard)
11 times 11 is a hundred twenty one, i'm gonna eat my CHEWING GUM!
12 times 12 is a hundred forty-four, i'm gonna boogie on the DANCE FLOOR!
yeah third grade!
last year, my favorite was: 9 times 9 is 81, i like my fries with a honey-bun! hee!
adios. thank you for letting me share.
i finally downloaded all of my pictures from vegas. it was nice to go back visually and remember all of the fun i had!
this pic was taken the last night i was in vegas with my brother, tom and sweetheart, debbie.
i am home now. it was great to see the kids because i missed them so much.
but man oh man...vegas was fun.
went with my shorties to a lacrosse game tonight.
they were stuffed with junk food (is that a compound word?) and sugar before they ran up and down the bleachers at the stadium overandoverandoverandover.
it was a fun night, even though our team lost : (
check out the images and see why i smile so much!
this is why i do what i do...
snack time at school
freezing at the game!
tootsie-pop squirrel
so...
i had to have a heart-to-heart with a student today...about his attitude and his lack of respect...
he has problems...yes...but i have been worn out...not able to deal with his eye-rolling and teeth-sucking...
and then...
i told him that he didn't HAVE to like me...but he had to follow our class laws...(long story...but we have a small government within our room)
then...he started crying. asked if could go to the bathroom...i asked for a hug first...and, his head on my shoulder, he lost it.
an 8 year old...losing it.
my heart broke. shattered. damn. godihatethis...
i took a chance and told him about when my parents divorced when i was 8...my mom moved far away (to florida) just like she threatened she would...and how, even now...i was hurt by that.
sooooooooooooo...upon opening a whole new can of worms....
he confessed that he is mad at his mom...(she basically deserted him)
he is mad because he lives with his great-grandmother....
of course, he wants to be with his mom.
and he is sad that he is invisible at home.
makes me want to scoop him up and take him. take him anywhere except where he feels that way.
no one. no one should feel that way.
sadly...he is one of the most brilliant 8-year-old writers i know. he is is amazing with numbers. he is charmingly beautiful...
and, he feels invisible.
my heart is broken over this. to hear it from his own mouth...an 8 year old with a broken spirit.
daunting is what it is. and all i can do is hope that hugging and words can get through to him.
this is what i did this morning.
peaceful.
serene.
coffee...email...book...vegas sun.
i am a teacher on vacation!
