BOOK REVIEW:  Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo 

Mystery murders are not my preferred genre.  Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo is a book club pick, so I needed to break out of my reading bars, again.  This is the third in the Silence series.  My first from this particular group of Amish murder mysteries.  

Kate Burkholder is the sheriff in an Amish community.  Peace in this community has been shattered by the death of family members: Ma, Dat and an uncle. The sheriff is called to the Slabaugh farm as is the case when a death occurs. The deaths were ruled accidental  from methane gas asphyxiation by falling into a cesspit, until the coroner does his work. 

The twists and turns in this tale are surprising and shocking, even by Kate Burkholder’s standards.  Kate grew up Amish, but was excommunicated for reasons that are revealed in this plot-driven mystery.  

Silence is sacred to the Amish, such is the case in this work of fiction.  They do not want any help from outsiders, referred to in Castillo’s work as The English. There are several cases of harassment and violence targeting this peace-loving community in which the police intend to see that this violence ends. The  Amish response to anything dealing with society is SILENCE.  This lack of communication is vital to the solution of this mystery.  Pay attention to what is left unsaid or SILENT.  

Trigger: Language (As I used to tell my kiddos I taught when they ran across “bad words”; it is authentic to the story… let it go in one ear and out the other if it bothers you.)

 BOOK REVIEW:

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

WOW! The heart and mind of man can be a place of great darkness. Recently, I read David Grann’s book, The Wager; in it Grann references Joseph Conrad. The Heart of Darkness was in my TBR stack, I thought I would give it a try. 

This classic, though sparse in size, weighs heavy from a psychological view of the perversion of human nature. From Dover Literature and Language Catalog (back cover of the book):  “Heart of Darkness ranks as a landmark of modern fiction. It is a book no serious student of literature can afford to miss.” So, I read it and might even read it again one day. It is beautifully written. Some remarkable scenes came alive in my seeing and hearing. About halfway through the book, I checked to see if it was available via audio. It was! I listened to it while I read the words. This helped me immensely in my picturing the story in my mind. 

Monday? Friday?

Monday?  Friday?

Tomorrow's Monday.  

Back to school after 

two snow days and 

Springing Forward!

It will not be the normal Monday... 

more like the normal Friday, 

but it will be MONDAY!

At least 

there will not be a 

full moon!  

:)

Saturday's Therapy

Saturday's Therapy Session

Therapy can be extremely time-consuming, expensive, and necessary.

Therapy is absolutely necessary

As the world is going crazy

As the weather is wacky

As the four walls close in

Therapy is a necessity, that is for sure.

Therapy can be expensive

The price of gas begins to rise

The cost of milk is outrageous

The bills of heating homes is way out of control

Therapy can be costly, but oh so urgent.

Therapy can be time-consuming.

Time is everything to a teacher

Time truly does fly, matters not if fun is being had

Time is not money,  but time is priceless

Therapy steals precious time, don't have it to give.

Saturday's therapy was time well-spent, free, and totally necessary

Got out my running shoes

Got with my running buds

Got in the glorious sunshine

Therapy came in the form of Adidas shoes, sweet friends, and warm sunshine

Saturday's therapy was free, time well-spent, and oh so necessary!

Peace and Reconciliation

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds  in Christ Jesus."  Phillipians 4:7


My readings for the past two years have been mostly comprised of professional material... reading about reading and writing.  I have missed ficiton.  I have missed the empathetic feelings toward the breathing characters as they become my neighbors, the folks down the street, my close friends.  Last fall break... I picked up a book titled Lila by Marilynne Robinson.  I had read her Pultizer Prize book Gilead a few summers ago; as I tenderly lifted Lila from the stack of new fiction and read the inside flap, "... returns to the town of Gilead..." I knew what my next read would be.  As I continued to read professional readings,  Lila could only demand a small slice of my reading time.

Just finished Lila by Marilynne Robinson... This is not a book review!  It is a tiny slither of a slice ~ reflection of my teaching philosophy inspired by the words from Rev. Ames and Dr. Hiam Ginot.

Towards the end of the redemptive story of Lila, Robinson writes... "the peace that passeth all human understanding."  This line resonates within my spirit and soul.  

As a teacher, guide, facilitator, leader, role model for children... I realize the immense responsibility I possess.  Everyday, I hold precious impressionable minds and spirits in the palm of my hand.  (I am reminded of this Hiam Ginot quote, my mom handed to me when I began my teaching career.) 

How do I balance this heavy-laden but passionate postion of power and honor... 

in the lifted line from  Lila... "...the peace that passeth all human understanding..."   I must rest with the peace that when I lay my head down on the pillow every night...  each child's spirit who has crossed my path that day has been lifted by my words or my actions.  

This is why I teach.  This is my mission field.  I teach reading, grammar, word skills, but more than that; I teach the folks who will be leaders in my community... doctors, nurses, lawyers, moms, dads, policemen, firemen, video game creators... the list could go on and on...

Living breathing small humans are growing up in a world foreign to me.  Teaching them to think for themselves, to read deeply and critically for understanding, to take in what society hurls and reconcile this to their lives with logic and reasoning.  They, too, must be able to lay their heads on their pillows at night with the same feeling that affords me, most nights, to rest and rise again knowing that... "the peace that passeth all human understanding..."  will carry them through their lives with this same philosophy whatever the path of their lives.

Hope~Imagination~Dreams~Courage

"Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality."         ~Jonas Salk

This is what I know...

My hope for a bright future lies in the dreams, imaginations and courageous acts of my learners. At the beginning of this year, my hope began fleeting fast. This cluster of gifted and high-achieving fifth graders cried, doubted, whined, doubted complained, doubted, argued, doubted, cried, doubted, and whined some more.  Feeling emotions with intensity and magnification... beginning days ended with wondering what disruption thenext day would hold.  Imagining the fertile soil of a classroom community of growing learners seemed impossible.

Determined to disallow persistent doubt to harden this soil of learners, I dug deep for the long haul.  Knowing that a caring and empathetic classroom were imperative for optimal learning, I realized this year would be one of my toughest challenges.  Despite my daily sunny smiles and  warm welcomes, I was met with slumping shoulders, grumpy grunts, and "rain on my day" attitudes.  Every now and then I glimpsed signs hope: a returned smile or a tiny "Morning." My hope soared... imagining a classroom environment growing with compassion consumed me.

Determined to cultivate a cohesive and respectful learning environment, I pulled community building strategies from files, scoured the internet for new ideas regarding respect, studied anti-bullying lessons with heart-felt themes, and planned experiences to understand the value of empathy. We read and discussed literature about diverse communities, we wrote our thoughts about the characters' lives, and how their decisions and choices impacted others.  We attempted to resolve classroom snippiness, snarky comments, rudeness through sharing and problem-solving.  We read, we discussed, we role-played, we wrote... nothing seemed penetrate this tough outer covering.   My hope for a caring garden of learners began to wane. In my dreaming, I realized more patience woven with less frustration was necessary for this crop.

Determined to persevere or just "make it through the next day" by putting one foot in front of the other...
I trudged through my classroom: bookshleves filled with books, sounds of jazzy Pandora, Tower Garden complete with water falling, round tables encouraging rich conversation, a classroom with Zen-like ambiance. Taking a deep breath, I summoned every ounce of courage I could muster. My expectations were still there, laying just beneath the surface.  Testing, assessing, and checklists all showed little growth in areas of academics... reality of early retirement loomed.

Then all of a sudden, out of no where, I am beginning to witness emotional and social seedlings break this hard surface...sheepish smiles and sweet greetings meet me most mornings, kids speaking to one another with genuine kindness, where spiteful and ugly words were once spewed, their tone is becoming respectful in their disagreements.  A love for learning is evident, the buzz of meaningful learning crowds the sound of peaceful falling water within the Tower Garden.  Authentic questions and wonderings inspiring each other to read closer and write deeper.  Dreams for this group of drought-stricken intelligent souls are becoming a reality.

Learners in 5A continue to experience disappointments, doubts, and dailly struggles, now with finese. The struggles these learners experience are extending their roots for optimal growth . Courageous acts of spirited individuals has transformed this, once-believed, hopeless field to a fertile soil; one that encourages care, empathy, respect. Eager learners becoming the reality I hoped existed. My hope for a bright future EXISTS in the dreams, imagination and courage of this year's fifth grade learners.

This is what I believe... 

Adverbs and Dancing Pigs

SOL#2   Adverbs and Dancing Pigs!

Yesterday I was using a mentor sentence from a book called The Snowglobe Family.  Teaching life was rolling along... sentence analysis with revision sentences being created by fifth grade writers.

Next on the agenda, a brief lesson creating sentences using adverbs.  Distributing base sentences to groups of students...  "The dog barked."  "The children played."  My personal favorite:  "The pig danced."

As I walked around the room noticing the usual  sentence revisions with adverbs:  "The dog barked loudly."  "The children played yesterday."  The dancing pig group extended their sentence as follows:  "The pig danced happily."  "The pig danced happily in the mud."  "The pig danced happily in the mud yesterday."  Thinking to myself, I have found the grand finale group!  (The emphasis on the words "in the mud" is key because we have been working on adding preposistional phrases to our sentences... please keep this in mind as you continue!)

Share... share... share...  Now for the dancing pig!

The group was ecstatic that their sentence was extended unlike everyone else's!  So as we began analyzing the use of adverbs...  I get to the words "in the mud".   In my excitement for this group, I ask the students: "Okay, what is in the mud?"  The response from the entire class, "The pig!"

I did one of those... SMH moments... then dove in again!  "Let's try this again... What IS in the mud?" (All the while, I am using both hands creating "air" parentheses to remind them how we designate prepositional phrases in sentences.)  Choral response from fewer students, just as enthusiastic but a litttle less confident:  "Pigs!?!"

As I reflect about this teaching moment, I giggle and am reminded, with all the pressures and pleasures of teaching... God allows me to experience humor and keeps me grounded with the truth:  I teach children not grammar, not sentence revision, not sentence analysis, not adverbs.  Really, I teach kids who love to laugh and learn!  Blessed!