Dear Friends,
Today is my Dad and Lori's anniversary. 39 years! Wow! That's pretty darn awesome in this day and age. I remember having a good time at their wedding and it being a really nice day. I hope today is equally nice for them.
Today is also the last day of school before a week off for spring break. This should be interesting. The kids started to really lose their focus yesterday afternoon, especially after their classmates started getting pulled out early. I was missing about six students already and by the end of the day I had about 10 or 11 gone.
These moments are kind of nice when behavior is good, but I'm guessing tomorrow won't be amazing. At least they are doing a musical performance in the afternoon and I can't wait to see it. I just realized, though, that I'll have a bunch of nervous nellies after lunch, so I better get any decent work out of them in the morning.
What a clown show yesterday was, though, and as I reflect on it, I wasn't doing my best work. I was rushing through the information and I not doing a great job of checking for understanding. They are such good kids in a lot of ways. For example, they are very curious and often ask great questions.
We were talking about Women's Suffrage yesterday and they had wonderful questions about equality and why women weren't allowed to vote. They had great questions, too, about the digestive system in the morning during science and we got behind schedule. I have to get better at managing time, especially when we only have so much of it before a lengthy break.
These can be really strong teachable moments, but I have to be better at making sure my smartest kids are challenged and my most easily challenged kids have the support and understanding they need, too. Checking for understanding across the board will help me make sure I am doing quality control in the best possible way.
I get carried away and forget to make sure the quiet students are keeping up. Today, though, I can be better. At least before lunch. After that, all bets are off.
*****
I feel like I jinxed Kevin Durant last night. Hopefully he heals up quick and gets back to work. Supposedly he will be reevaluated in three weeks, but damn. That sucks.
*****
"Please turn the light back on, Connie. Just for a second."
Connie turned the light on and turned to Mary.
"What is it? What's wrong."
"Look up."
Connie squinted to focus on the ceiling and saw the spider. It had gotten a bit lower and was hovering about three feet above them.
"I don't think that's a black widow, Mar."
"So what. It's still weird."
"I know. Let me get rid of it."
Connie got up onto her knees, grabbed a Kleenex from the box near her lamp, and reached toward the spider with one hand. She intended to squish it in the tissue but as she got close to it, the spider disappeared.
"What the...?"
There was no web and no spider anymore. It simply vanished.
"You saw it, too, right?" Mary asked.
"I did. I wanted to crush it."
"We're going crazy, but at least it's crazy together."
"One thing, though."
"What's that?"
"Is there anything you didn't tell me yet?" Connie asked.
"No. You know what I know."
Connie was quiet again. She reached over and turned out the light. When the darkness settled across the room, Connie said, "That fan is fucking with the wrong broads."
This made Mary laugh, which made Connie laugh, and they settled in for what would be a deep sleep.
(To be continued)
*****
See you tomorrow.

Also Chicago.
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