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Three Photos from School
The Books
I am fortunate to teach three honors classes. This means I work with kids who, by and large, do everything I ask of them. So when I said, “As you read the chapter on Tom Robinson’s testimony, you need to note passages of importance,” this young lady took it seriously. Plus, she has her own personal reading she’s keeping up with.
Spring
The cherry trees outside my classroom are starting to blossom. Everyone is taking note.
Notes
Once we’re done with To Kill a Mockingbird, I have a special lesson for the kids: a local trial lawyer comes in and discusses the case from the point of view of an attorney who has himself defended individuals against rape and murder charges. How would an actual lawyer with such experience view the case? It’s always eye-opening to the kids.
To prepare for it, I have the kids make detailed notes about the case from the testimony of Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson. “Make schematics of all the movements,” I say. “Make sketches of anything described in detail. Make sure you note what you know explicitly from the text and what is inference. Also make sure you note what things are less than clear.”
Where We Do Our Adventuring
Story
His homework: write a realistic story.
“What does that mean?”
“No dragons and such.”
He wrote a story about a little boy who eats cereal for breakfast and watches Tom and Jerry as he eats.
Where do you think he got that idea?
Sunday Bike Ride
Saturday Growth
The day began with a bit of unusual work: pulling old wiring out of the attic. At first, the plan was just to remove them from the area over the old carport. But when in the afternoon I began the second part of today's tasks -- adding insulation to the lower part of the house -- I realized I could pull almost all the wiring out -- just about the whole length of the house. It was a relic from the past: old 10-gauge wiring used for long-removed baseboard heaters.
We took a break around lunchtime for E's first game of the season. Emil had his first break of the spring season in the second quarter. (Youth soccer is divided into quarters.) He beat the last defender, sent his shot past the goalie toward the far corner, and would have made a goal but for a few inches.
Afterward, it was back into the attic for me. In the end, I put in several bags of insulation and took out one full contractor back of wiring.
Floor Joists
are in. Our builder tells us he will be done with framing, plumbing, and wiring by next week.
Out and About
Sunny Day
We finally had a warm-ish, sunny day today. I know -- other parts of the country are still buried under snow, but this is the south. It's not supposed to be this cold this long.
We also managed a bike ride at our favorite little haunt: Conestee Park. We took our favorite trail -- White Tail Trail -- and immediately had a problem: the Boy, jabbering away and not quite watching what was in the path ahead, hit a root which wrenched his handlebars out of his hands, causing a wreck with him lying on the ground in a bit of shock and the bike on top of him. He began sniffling and almost started crying, but I talked him down: "Deep breaths. Deep breaths. You're okay. Deep breaths." He calmed down almost immediately and was up for a reattempt of that trail that knocked him down.
That's strength.