9.04.2012

Slice of Life


There are many things I should be doing tonight.

There are grades (they don't matter, anyway)
lesson plans (I'll change them the minute the kids walk in the door)
papers to file (just like any other day)
a 3 mile run that doesn't seem likely (there's always tomorrow?)
and a stack of books that want reading (I miss you!)

But I'm not doing the things I should be doing.

I'm researching a culture,
because of a boy
who doesn't know his last name.

Today we explored poetry and talked about identity and shared our name stories.

Only...
Only -- in this new school,
it was presumptuous to expect them to know.

So I'm researching,
and I'm learning,
and eventually,
I'll get to all the things I should be doing.

3 comments:

  1. So reflective... Thank you for sharing. "Should" is an interesting word, isn't it? And the constantly shifting list of "priorities" can be like waves and tides that come and go, surfacing new truths and discoveries, while others ebb for awhile, then return...

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  2. Oh my, I've been caught like that at times. Our presumptions are often just that, presumptions, not necessarily true. It's a lesson well learned & I suppose by your research that you will overcome this glitch, & then listen to the students for their needs. I wrote a post a few weeks ago called something like 'twiddling our thumbs' because no matter how hard we work before the students arrive, we can't really plan until we know them. I think you've called it so right when you wrote: "I'll get to all the things I should be doing."

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  3. It sounds like you know what is most important to be paying attention to.

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