The tree is back. Can you see it? This time I got a photo. It’s not a great one, but that’s OK. I’m determined to find the tree! I see the tree out the bedroom window This time each year it begins to stand out from the rest It is the first to bud But by the time the others begin to display It blends in and becomes lost Lost in the shuffle of rebirth from the earth From late fall until early spring The tree is just like the others Waiting for its turn But it likes to go first The tree is a green so special Its yellowy-green hue is full of life It calls out, “Notice me!” The tree is an old frie ..read more

Waiting For an appointment For his turn For news Hoping To make it off a waiting list We’ve come to the right place For news Waiting and hoping is so hard Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and now daily during March. Happy Slicing ..read more

I wondered all weekend long. Did it happen? Would we miss everything? I couldn’t wait to get to school this morning. Yeah! Welcome to the world, little one! Looks like you’ll have company soon. I can’t wait for the class to get here. The wood frog eggs we are headstarting arrived on Tuesday. My Kindergarten conservation biologists and I will give them a safer start at life for the next 3 months. At that point they’ll be returned to the vernal pool on our school campus. In the tank habitat, which the students designed, and went shopping for in the woods, they’ll be safe from predators who migh ..read more

My Teach Write writing buddy Leigh Anne sometimes does a 5-4-3-2-1 reflection at the end of the week. You can read her most recent edition here. That’s the type of Slice I’m in the mood for today. I’ve save it in my back pocket for just such a week. 5 things that made me smile: watching my Kindergarteners rush into our classroom to see if our wood frog eggs have hatched yet (they haven’t) knowing my mom safely made it from Boston up to Portland, Maine all by herself today. She’s 87, so I worry. thinking about connecting with current and former school families tonight at a potluck supper. watc ..read more

Our Kindergarten Biologist in Residence met me in the drop-off line and handed me a small jug with vernal pool water and two fairy shrimp. I joked that she could start a “Fairy Shrimp To Go” business and that she was my dealer, meeting me in the school parking lot for an exchange. We had a good laugh over that. I knew my students would be so excited to see Fairy Shrimp up close and personal, even for just a few minutes. A jug of them was held up during our vernal pool meetup with Emilie yesterday, but they didn’t get to really have a good look. “Whoa! They are so cool!” “I wonder which one’s ..read more

The Teams invite has arrived. (I’m new to Microsoft Teams, so I sure hope it works!) I’ve been waiting over a year for this day to come, and it’s finally here. Am I crazy to start this now? Can I afford to give up every Wednesday evening and every other Saturday from now through mid-June? And what about the periodic assessments and fieldwork? I must be crazy! But if I don’t do it now, when? Tonight is the beginning of a new path to the future. I’m not sure where it will lead, exactly, but I’m excited! Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giv ..read more

It was time to meet up with our Kindergarten Biologist-in-Residence again. She promised to introduce us to some vernal pool inhabitants face to face. Back in the fall, when she came to meet us and show us many of the tools she uses to do her conservation work, she asked us to let her know when a.) the ice on the vernal pool on campus had melted and b.) if we were hearing something that sounds like quacking. Yes and yes! We were almost to the vernal pool this morning when I thought of something I wanted to say to my class before we arrived. I turned around to face the line that snaked down the ..read more

I guess it happens to the best of us. We get forgetful. “You better write it down,” my husband often says to me. He’s the ultimate list maker. Sadly, I am not. I’ve tried, but to no avail. Driving to school this morning, I began to run through a mental list of all that needs to be done today. Fold yesterday’s laundry, pay the dentist’s bill, refill bird feeders, write my Slice. WRITE MY SLICE! Oh no! Guess what I forgot to do yesterday? Write my slice! Oh man. There goes my streak. Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, spa ..read more

It was meant to be just a quiet dinner for two. Payday Friday. Dinner downtown at that little Korean restaurant to celebrate the end of the week. Only 10 small tables, it’s really just a whole-in-the-wall kind of place, but it’s authentic. Why don’t we come here more often? Arriving just before 6:00 PM, we are the first to arrive. We have the place all to ourselves. I’m feeling bad that the other restaurants down the block are jumping. It is St. Patrick’s Day weekend, after all. So glad we came here to give this one-woman operation some business. In walks a couple we know. We talk. They know t ..read more

Today’s Slice is wordless, because words can’t express how this joyous sound makes me feel. Click here and enjoy 25 seconds, a small moment, of my walk after school yesterday. Thank you and you’re welcome! Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and now daily during March. Happy Slicing ..read more