Students today began an incredibly short Halloween unit that will focus on irony, so we did a quick review of irony with a gallery walk. It’s always a fun activity: the kids move around the room, looking at various images or texts and discuss them with a particular end in mind. Today, for example, they were to determine how each image was ironic.

“Don’t just explain what’s going on in the picture,” I clarified after we’d done a quick review of what irony is. “If you don’t explain the expectation and how that expectation was defied, you haven’t explained irony.”

In the evening, the Boy and I went out to find basketball shoes for him as he begins his basketball season.

At first, I was hesitant: “They’re somewhat expensive,” I texted K, “and I don’t really know that he needs them.”

“He only has one pair of shoes,” she replied, “so he’ll need another pair soon enough.”

I looked at him: “Will you wear these to school after basketball season?”

“Of course!”