I racked up 13,222 steps yesterday, according to the health app on my trusty iPhone, and much of that was running around school. Mondays are usually pretty busy because we have a bunch of books coming out of quarantine that need to be shelved, and kids are turning in books they finished over the weekend and (if we're lucky) looking for more. I delivered quite a few books to classrooms.
I always hate entering rooms when classes are in session, but usually teachers have a place for me to leave books without disrupting things. And sometimes I overhear pretty funny stuff.
Last week, for example, I walked into a sixth-grade classroom as the teacher was explaining what I think must have been synesthesia.
"It's like where you hear colors," she said.
A boy piped up, "I thought that was called schizophrenia!"
Remember the old Art Linkletter show, "Kids Say the Darndest Things"? That's basically my life.
A ninth-grader returned this book yesterday, positively stuffed with Post-It notes. What's the point of marking a place in a book if you're going mark every third page?! And more to the point, WHY ARE YOU LEAVING IT FOR ME TO CLEAN UP?! I sent the student a polite but firm e-mail telling her to henceforth remove her own Post-It notes.
I'm such a crank. The kids probably think I'm either evil or hilarious.
Back home in the afternoon, I worked in the garden. Almost exactly a year ago I picked up a free crown imperial fritillaria from Homebase, when that store was giving away plants before our first lockdown. I put it in a big pot along with some daisies. Well, the daisies died and vanished over the winter, and the crown imperial should have appeared again this spring -- but it didn't. So I dug into the pot and found nothing. It had evidently rotted away. So it goes. We have the worst luck with those things.
I now had a big empty pot, so I once again repotted the newly-divided Peruvian lily. We initially put it into pots that were too small. It's not showing any growth yet but I think it will be happier with more space.
It's supposed to get to 73º F (23º C) today -- positively balmy!
(Top photo: Olga on our neighborhood walk Saturday morning.)
Olga muttering 'Damn him for tying me up and his stupid photos".
ReplyDeleteIf she gets really annoyed she barks at me!
DeleteOh, that shot of Olga. If dogs could swear. The student with the blue post-its... what was she thinking?!? Kids DO say the darndest things.
ReplyDeleteAnd really, do sticky bookmarks like that serve any function? I suspect not.
DeleteI'm in two minds about what you overheard.
ReplyDeleteJust don't start arguing with yourself!
DeleteI bet Queen Elizabeth II's servants don't send her polite but firm e-mails telling her to make her own bed or to put old newspapers in the paper recycling bin.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that's true. But I am no one's servant, and this kid -- no matter what she may think -- is not a queen.
DeleteIt appears the girl got nothing of note from the first quarter of the book?
ReplyDeleteMaybe she skipped it!
DeleteI got a kick out of the book returned with post-it notes. I imagine her mother cleans up after her.
ReplyDeleteOr her servants, as YP suggested.
DeleteI think Wildwood must have gotten so exciting as the story went on...
ReplyDeleteNow see- this is where my mind goes when I see something like those post-it notes- that child may have some OCD going on here. That's just not quite normal. Hopefully, your firm e-mail will open her eyes to the fact that library books are to be returned in as close to the condition they were borrowed in as possible.
ReplyDeleteI think that you should write more about the little darlings you work with and what you overhear and see. I suppose that might be a problem, though with privacy issues.
I love the fact that you said they probably think of you as evil or hilarious. You're probably right.
Now I'm wondering what the book Wildwood is all about that it would make her want to bookmark so many pages with so many post-its. Must be quite a read!
ReplyDeletenot evil but definitely cranky. I walk all over this property just about all day and the sometimes the shop property too and I never even get to 10,000 steps.
ReplyDeleteWorking with kids can always bring some good lines. Yes, I remember Art Linklater. It was a good radio show.
ReplyDeleteI started to turn out the light last night & remembered that my Fitbit hadn't done its little celebration for hitting my goal. I needed 25 steps. Ha! I was a little fatigued from my 2nd vaccine on Thursday & the total of my steps from Friday, Saturday, & Sunday probably didn't add up to my daily goal. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThat is a LOT of post-it notes! And my little green self is sighing at all the paper waste.
I can't imagine turning in a book with all those post-it notes in it. Crazy.
ReplyDeleteYou made me remember overhearing conversations over the weekend. While I was eating, it occurred to me how much I missed hearing people talking. Inside the museum I heard an older woman say to a younger woman "where are we going next?" The younger woman said "let me look at the map to see where that park is." That's when the young boy (about 10 or 12) said "But mom, let's see the rest of this museum first." That really stuck with me. Usually the kids are ready to leave a museum, not the adults.
As someone who makes good use of post it notes both at home and at work, I have a different take on those. That book is over 500 pages long, and there are at most a couple of dozen post its in it - if the student was doing a project it would be much easier to flag and find relevant information by marking the pages - and at least she didn't bend the corners down. But if it was me, I would have cut the post its in half or in thirds - but, yes, she should have removed them before returning the book :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that school libraries are still a busy place. This year I ordered a fake hanging azealea plant so that I have something pretty to look at on my porch all season long. My green thumb left me many moons ago. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThe squirrel picture in the previous post was good. He's well hidden in the blossoms.
ReplyDeleteI think our forecast high today is only in the upper 60's so you win the bragging rights today! Enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI am simultaneously the kid eye-rolling, "geez, what's the big deal with the post-it notes" and you, removing them one by one by one, with furious energy.
ReplyDeleteI am simultaneously the kid eye-rolling, "geez, what's the big deal with the post-it notes" and you, removing them one by one by one, with furious energy.
ReplyDelete