Back for the Attack

Long time and no blog.

I really miss it, but I have not had time. I did no correcting over the weekend, so I really had to get some done this week. I just finished my Comp 9 essays. They were good. I was impressed. The kids wrote about some serious stuff – the death of a grandmother, being involved in a school shooting, having the opportunity to plow a field for the first time all on their own, and standing up to an adult for the first time. All interesting reading. It made for some good writing too. I’m still trying to figure our how to score an essay according to the six traits, but I’m working on that.

Now I turn my attention to my College Comp class. So far I’m three essays in, and they all have been excellent. This class is really sharp and they care about their writing.

The problem, though, that I’m running into is that I’m repeating myself. Well, I don’t know if I’d call it repetition, but I’ll try something out with my freshman, like this week I had them write about a pet peeve. It went over so well that I decided to chuck what I had planned for my College Comp class and have them write about their pet peeves. It went over even better with them. We actually had a full blown discussion. For my classes, that is rare. So I just got out of the way and let them discuss. I just tried to moderate things.

The best moments are when I model and learn right along with the students. As my College Comp students were compiling their list of pet peeves, I devised one. Here it is.

1. Country music.
2. People who use “like” every other word when talking.
3. Unflushed toilets (especially here in school) – that got a discussion going of epic proportions.
4. Cell phones
5. Babies in movie theaters.

Once we had our lists compiled, we went around the room sharing. The kids generated such great topics – people who scrape their fork on their teeth when eating, people who snap their gum, those who chew with their mouths open, Republicans (okay I added that one to get things stirred up again), excuses, slackers, cell phones ringing in theaters, people who dress their pets (my personal favorite), people who drink those trendy chocolate café latte coffees, preps, people who fish for compliments, those who cannot recognize when they are wrong, people who drag their feet, celebrities, reality TV, radio stations that don’t play music, people who feel free to change the radio when they are in someone else’s vehicle, profanity on bathroom walls . . . we could have gone on all day.

Today was a drafting day. I just hovered and listened. Can’t wait for the rough drafts tomorrow.

*******

After school yesterday I had to pick up some things. That meant the dreaded trip to Walmart (talk about a pet peeve). I’m like a moth drawn to a flame. I keep getting fried, but do I ever learn? No. This trip would not be any different.

I located a leash for Kozy and a chain. I grabbed dog food and a vent for the furnace. There were no exciting Legos, so I headed over to the grocery section. There I founded the new greatest inventions, Uncrustables from Smuckers (these are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made as hot pockets – perfect). I grabbed them from the freezer and headed for the check outs.

That’s when the trouble hit.

When discussion began a few years ago about the Walmart coming, we heard all about how customer service would be a high priority. They would have a wide selection. We would get in and out quickly. Low prices. Yadda yadda yadda.

What a crock.

As I ventured over to the checkouts, I realized that despite there being 20 checkouts, only five actually had people working them. That was compounded by the fact that a bus of old people had stopped and flooded the store. Each lane had at least 15 people waiting. The lines actually were so long that they had to curve to the side.

I just left my cart in the clothes section and headed for the door.

What a crock.

I should have known better. I swear when I day – and if I go south – hell is just going to be one never ending Walmart/country music concert/monster truck rally/hockey game.

Instead I headed home and went to our local – and expensive – super market. Yes, I paid more (and of course they didn’t have any of the things – other than bread – that I had in my car at Walmart), but I waiting in line for a grand total of four seconds, got to see Casey at his new job, got the five percent employee discount (a whopping 17 cents), and ended up seeing my brother and getting some documents regarding Dad’s land that I had to sign and send off anyway. Perfect. I would have still been waiting in line at Hellmart.