Commitments and crushes

I decided today that I like my job- the revelation hit me during writing block. Writing block is the time of day where you get a peek into the minds of your students because they end up writing their thoughts down on paper. Mostly this is a fascinating privilege; occasionally it's just a little disconcerting. I also like writing block because it varies from day to day, avoiding the monotonous and routine. For example, today I helped to write Mother's Day acrostics, acting angry and indignant that old could be considered an O-descriptor for their mothers (some of whom are my age). Yesterday I helped a student brainstorm for a narrative he's writing about his newborn sister who died last month during heart surgery. One day this week I read a "fable" about Sponge Bob; another I edited a piece about a terrifying wolf taking over the job of the Easter bunny. I work with students to find "name brand" words (ex. appetizing, untidy, spectacular) to replace the generic ones in their stories (ex. good, messy, nice). I helped Bradly who was "puzzled" about what happened to the sloppy copy of his story from last week; while cleaning out his desk, we found a note written to his mom in January and a pizza certificate from December. I whooped and hollered when students read their published stories in the author's chair. I think it was during the last whoop today that it hit me, I was made to be a teacher.

It may be fortunate that I had just re-affirmed my vows to the classroom because tonight I went to a professional dance contest with my Ecuadorian sister at Notre Dame. There were lights, rhythm, airy dresses, high heels, twirls, whirls, swishes and dips- they made it look effortless and exhilerating. If the classroom and I ever have a big fall-out, maybe I'll become a dancer. For tonight, I'm not going to mar this evening's "crush-from-afar" by actually signing up for dance classes.