with the return of the school year
comes the return of our outdoor adventure days.
—
“we could have never loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.”
-george eliot
Sep30
Category Archives: children
Sep25
crack the whip.
“crack the whip’ sculpture – sunset hills, flint, mi
j. seward johnson, sculptor
—
being the youngest in our neighborhood gang
i was often the smallest
finding myself on the end of ‘the whip’ during this game
sometimes it felt like i was flying
and highly likely that i was.
—
“being smart as a whip means knowing when not to crack it’
-vera nazarian
Sep23
steggy.
when you mix a scientist who loves dinos along with little people who also love dinos
you get bursts of curiosity, awe, and excitement on both sides
especially when one the of the kinder mentioned
it was ‘from the jurrasic period’ and another asked if it was ‘an omnivore.’
perfect match.
—
“did you know that the stegosaurus lived further away from the t-rex than we are from the t-rex in time?”
-johan peretti
Sep22
hard work.
not the panama canal
but a similar feat of engineering and hard work
—
“hard work works.”
-denzel washington
Sep9
beginning.
the little ones came to school
most for the first time ever
filling our room with emotion and energy
a few minutes into our day
one had me write
an urgent note to her mom
that read:
“bring the car!”
we’re all tired and mostly all happy
tomorrow we begin again.
—
“be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”
-meister eckhart
Aug7
at the school show.
one of my favorite things
is to go to school shows
i love every kind of kid up there
bored
nervous
awkward
moving
bouncing
spinning
hiding in back
overly enthusiastic
staring straight ahead
giggling
belting it out
faking the lyrics
wearing mismatched shoes
in a fancy outfit
whispering to a stage neighbor
giving it their all
waving to family
looking proud
non-stop smiling
have their own rhythm different from the rest
whether
dancing
singing
acting
playing anything that makes a musical sound
performance art
athletic feats
comedy
any kind of talent show
poetry reading
costumed or not.
i am all in.
—
“sometimes I was in school plays,
but only when the kid they’d originally picked got sick and they asked me to substitute.”
-peter falk
—
“i remember acting in a school play about the melting pot when I was very little.
there was a great big pot onstage.
on the other side of the pot was a little girl who had dark hair,
and she and i were representing the italians.
and i thought: is that what an italian looked like?”
-al pacino
—
“i did a school play when I was 10 where I played a cold germ infecting a whole classroom of kids.
the play was called ‘Piffle It’s Only a Sniffle.’
i’d never had so much fun. It was a thrill.”
-kim cattrall
Aug4
wilding.
back in time on a summer’s day
when your parents thought
you and your friends of all ages
were just pedaling around the block for hours
but in that time you really
explored abandoned houses and those still under construction
built your own underground fort
jumped in the mud to see if it was quicksand
left your socks behind
met a new kid
balanced on a a board going over the water to get to the other side
found a golf ball
explored the gravel pit
rolled down a hill backwards
shared snacks that fell in the dirt
had the best day ever
every single day.
—
“keep your children wild, don’t make them grow up too fast.”
– brooke hampton
Jul21
hot flash mob.
(not me, but a trio that has my same musical style)
nothing better
on a sweltering hot day
than having a front row seat
belting out fan karaoke.
—
“i think there’s something strangely musical about noise.”
-trent reznor, nine inch nails
—
image credit: google images
Jun8
a wish for my students on their last day.
“there is nothing wrong with loving the crap out of everything.
negative people find their walls.
so never apologize for your enthusiasm.
never.ever.ever.
-ryan adams
may you all live like this forever. and ever. and ever.
love, your teacher
(who lives like this too)
May25
line.
the kinder drew
‘the longest line in the world’
and that’s pretty long.
—
“every single line means something.”
-jean-michel basquiat
I didn't have my glasses on.... 