wow, am i glad it's friday

My brain is so fried lately.

Class C is pretty damn cute. They kind of made my day on Wednesday. Two of them appointed themselves my assistants. They bustled around, doing the things I normally do. It was awesome, since I was tired from just having Class B for two periods in the afternoon, ie, hell.

Yesterday I put in some wee pigtails in my hair. As Class C and I were getting ready to enter the classroom, this one boy giggled at me, "You look like Miss Daisy!" I looked at him strangely and he continued, "You know, from Driving Miss Daisy?" I just shook my head. No, I don't know how or why urban sixth-graders have even heard of that movie, either. But, pretty funny!

As a special treat for them, I read a story instead of having normal reading workshop. I still made them make connections and inferences, though. I read Chris Van Allsburg's The Wretched Stone. After I read it, and after we talked about connections, I asked them to infer the meaning of 'wretched,' and then to infer what exactly The Wretched Stone is. If you haven't read it, I don't want to ruin it or anything. It's kind of parable-ish, about a ship that found a mysterious stone. It emits a strange glow, which entrances the crew, who then ignore their duties and turn into apes. After a big storm, the stone's glow is gone, and the captain reads and plays music for the crew. Soon they become human again.

So, this week we've started poetry. On Monday we did acrostics. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were haiku, and today I introduced cinquain. I had never heard of it before, but it seems alright. The kids are writing some really good poems. One boy wrote a hilarious, and politically aware cinquain today:

Saddam
A dictator
Killing his own people
A bleeping bleep that no one likes
Stupid

Ha! Awesome. He wrote it with the bleeps, actually spelled out just like that. Too funny. To keep track of these, I had them make Tiny Books. That way they can put them all in one place to see and celebrate their own work. And when it's time for the group project in a few weeks, they won't be intimidated.

Ho hum, I'm so glad it's Friday. I have been sleepy all week, as per usual.

Again, I'm sure I'd like to discuss my feelings and emotions and all that jazz....but see "fried, my brain."