March 10 - Technology...love it / hate it

Looking around my living room/dining room last night I saw my school mac laptop, my blue iPhone 5C, my kindle, my husband levova laptop, his surface and his windows phone. Just the two of us have LOTS of tech devices in our lives. At times, I love it. At times, I hate it!

I love technology when it works for me...

I love the March writing challenge. It is just my second year and at firt, it seemed like a lot of tech to figure out to participate. But now I easily understand how to post to my blog, copy my link to the www.twowritingteachers.com and how to click and leave my comments. Lots of steps but now I can do it seamlessly and I love the writing and reading practice I am getting!

I love Wed night twitter chats with #tcrpw. After a year of "lurking", I have started to post my own tweets during their hour conversations.

I love connecting with my daughters who live far away from home now. I can text them. I can call them. I can view their instagram photos. I can check their status on facebook. Using technology, they don't seem so far away.

I love having my map app on my phone help me drive to a new location.

I love downloading a book to my kindle and reading a new book without needing to visit the library or bookstore.

I loved binge watching House of Cards and viewing other stories on Netflix and being inspired by online Tedtalks.

I hate technology when it doesn't work for me...

I hate it when at school, I can't connect to a printer, (which seems to have happened lots lately and I don't get why).

I hate it when I can't remember my username and/or password to log into a site I really want to get into.

I hate it when I sit and listen to the PARCC webinar (what I did yesterday from 3:30-5pm) that is explaining how I am to administer the online PARCC test starting Wednesday. The voice says a step. My brain begins to comprehend it as another important step is shared. The webinar screen changes and I have no idea how to make my computer screen change also. Lucky for me, a repeat webinar is occurring this morning at school. I plan to go. Afterwards, I hope I will say that I love how easy it is to start the PARCC assessment using my computer!

Technology...I love it sometimes and I hate it sometimes.
But I guess that is how it is with most things!

March 9 - Morning Routine

I walk out the door of my rental home and cross the street to grab the plastic bag with The Washington Post inside. It lays on the ground in front of my under-construction house. My husband, an architect, designed a new, energy-efficient home that we are having built. We were able to rent the house directly across the street during the demolition of the old house and creation of the new. Along with being here to watch the new construction, the rental allows us to keep our same commute to work and even our address. The mailman knows to deliver mail for both #5218 and #5219 to the rental house. However,  I never took time to tell the Washington Post delivery person that I'm in a different house so each morning I walk across the street and grab the paper.

Barbara is my next door neighbor to the lot where the new house is going up. She's a widows in her 80s and last year began fighting cancer. Most Sundays I stop by to check on her. She likes reading mysteries so I pick her up some when visiting the public library. Mostly, I just sit and chat. She loves to talk and I figure during the week, she may not talk to that many others. Her own kids and grandkids visit but don't live too close by.

A while ago, I began to change my morning routine. First, I'd cross the street and get my paper. Then I walked the sidewalk, grabbed Barbara's, walked up her walk and tossed the paper to be right on her front porch. Then I crossed back and return to my rental.

I can't remove cancer from Barbara's life. But I can ensure that she can get her paper easily each morning by just opening her front door. No walking outside and down the to the sidewalk required. I can at least help her to have her normal morning routine of reading her newspaper.

March 8 - Supporter of the Arts

After months of rehearsing, 100 Janney ES 4th and 5th graders took to the stage to perform Shrek, Jr., The Musical yesterday, even after a 2-day snow break that canceled two rehearsals. As they say in show business, "The show must go on!" and on it went with a bang!!

Memorized lines, delivered loud and clear.
Each stood confidently, heads held high.
Their elaborate costumes and stunning make-up, matching their personality perfectly.
The most stunning being the villain dragon!
All moved about the colorful scenery.
Sharing their sweet singing voices.
Some tapped.
Some delivered funny lines at just the right pace.
Some moved the story forward with their dialogue.

All taught lessons...
 The 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf
 The Ugly Duckling
 Pinocchio
 The Wicked Witch
 Peter Pan
 The Three Bears
 The Gingerbread boy
 Puss in Boots
 Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie
 Sleeping Beauty
 Snow White and the dwarf
 Little Red Riding Hood
 The Pied Piper and Rats
 Lord Farquaad and his dad
 The Deer, the Knights, the Guards, the Bishop, the Dragon Chorus
 The Captain of the Guards and the Police
 The Dragon and her wings

And the biggest lesson was learned from Shrek...little one and older,
 His Ogre mom and dad,
 Fiona, young, teen, and Princess
 and the friendly and funny Donkey.

My favorite lines from the songs sung:

It's a big bright beautiful world
With possibilities everywhere.

now I'm a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind 

It's time to stop the hiding. It's time to stand up tall.
Sing hey world, I'm different, and here I am splinters and all!

What makes us special

Makes us strong! 

What a production!

Bravo!!

I just love being a supporter of the arts!

March 7 - I Tried Betsy’s Poetry Idea!

As Betsy suggested on Day 5, I took my March 4^th small moment:

In Venice, laundry seems to be more than just a chore. It seems to be a work of art. First, it is pinned and moved along the pulley line to form a perfect composition. As each piece is hung, a piece never drops by accident  or comes loose and falls to the sidewalk or canal below. Then, as it hangs, one piece next to another, a pattern is created. Like a border painted inside a room for decoration, a Venetian's clean clothing decorates a building's facade. Laundry Day brightens up the neighborhood!

I pulled out some words, some phrases.

I wrote as a poem:

Venetian laundry

More than just a chore 

It hangs as a work of art

 

One piece next to another

Pinned along the pulley line

Above the walkways and canals

A colored pattern created

Against a stucco canvas

Venetian laundry

Decorating a building's facade

Brightening up the neighborhood

A perfect composition

Thanks, Betsy!!

March 6 - Things Heard while Chauffeuring Loved Ones

Chauffeuring my two daughters and their friends around was always an eye-opening experience. Somehow it was forgotten that I was in the car and I was privy to many insider conversations. I could overhear the latest gossip, like who likes who or the latest injustice, like the stupid assignment demanded by an unfavorable teacher. Sometimes, I’d be included in the discussion for some topics seem easier to discuss without direct eye-contact. The bubble of the car was conversation heaven.

I had a similar car ride experience last May, yet those involved were not teenagers but octogenarians. I was driving my 80 year old mother and her friends to a birthday dinner at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C.. All those in the car, including my mom, had grown up in D.C.. As we passed landmarks, they shared their memories while I drove.

“How did we survive without AC?” my mother asked as we drove in my air-conditioned Subaru on a Saturday afternoon in May when the temperature on the dashboard read 92 degrees.

“My brother and I would go to Rock Creek Park and sleep there overnight on hot days,” one women remarked. “You probably can’t do that today.”

“You just camped out?” I asked, thinking how that doesn’t sound like a safe thing to do.

“It was a different time and the park, with all those trees, was so much cooler on a hot night,” she answered.

“That house reminds me of Dr. Brennan’s row house on my block,” another said as she pointed to a row house with a corner tower on its right side. “His house was the first with an indoor bathroom.”

“Your house didn’t have indoor plumbing?” I asked.

“Not until I started school,” she replied. “I remember we were all a little skeptical about using an inside bathroom. We were used to the outhouse.”

“That’s where I got the bus to ride back home after school,” a third friend said pointing to a street corner. “I remember how my mom gave me a dime each morning to ride the bus home. But I wanted to buy candy from the candy store that was on that corner. So I would. Then I’d stand at the bus stop and cry. When asked why, I said I’d lost my dime and can’t ride the bus. Someone would always feel sorry for me and give me a dime.” Laughter filled the car after hearing that third story.

I kept driving through the city with these friends who grew up in a different time. I wondered what stories I might tell 30 years from now. What memories might I share while being chauffeured?

March 5 - Another SOL about Laundry

Armed with my 2 rolls of quarter from the bank, my jug of Tide detergent and my overflowing laundry basket, I pulled into the coin laundry mat. Both the washer and dryer at my house were acting up and with no time to call/meet a repair man, I decided to do what I did back in college - visit the coin laundry mat.

As I entered, I noticed it right away. The people inside were mostly Latino men. They were either watching soccer on one of the four flat screen TVs or chatting in Spanish to a friend while folding laundry. There were just a few women, also Latino and a few young kids. I was the only mid-aged white lady doing her laundry.

As I added 12 quarters and detergent to a washer filled with my whites and then to another filled with my darks, I thought about my life and the life of those around me. I own a single family home in a neighborhood outside of Washington, DC which has both a washer and dryer in the basement. Due to my teaching schedule, I haven't been able to call a repair man or be home to meet him if I did. So for now, I'm just a visitor here and not a regular. Yet, around me are the regulars.  I admit, it surprises me that they are mostly men. The TVs are a great draw for this crowd.

I wonder which came first..Latino men at the laundry mat or the flat screen TVs?!

March 4 - Laundry

While visiting Venice, Italy over Winter break, I saw this:

 and this:

I snapped both photos while I, myself, was wearing layers of clothes under my heavy winter coat on a very brisk December day. I kept wondering, "Will this laundry really dry? It is 32 degrees outside. If so, how long will it take?"

In Venice, laundry seems to be more than just a chore. It seems to be a work of art. First, it is pinned and moved along the pulley line to form a perfect composition. As each piece is hung, a piece never drops by accident  or comes loose and falls to the sidewalk or canal below. Then, as it hangs, one piece next to another, a pattern is created. Like a border painted inside a room for decoration, a Venetian's clean clothing decorates a building's facade. Laundry Day brightens up the neighborhood!