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Saturday, November 15, 2014

#celebratelu That old "ahhah" moment feeling


When I looked out the morning in the predawn darkness, the snow was everywhere.  My first impulse was to "sigh" with a realization that our color-laden-crispy-sunshiny-fall was morphing into a white-tipped-barren-dark-cold-to-your-bones-winter season. Perhaps, I wondered momentarily, if I should climb back into bed, pull the covers over my head, and forget this day!

Instead, I showered and dressed in layers, emerging in an old-favorite-wool sweater that had been waiting all summer for a chance to come back into the line-up. I fortified my insides with a bit of Quaker's finest that tasted surprisingly delicious as I shivered in the cold!

As I headed to work, the darkness gave way, somehow, to a glorious, early morning "ahhah" moment so lovely I wished I could have taken a picture while driving (so I borrowed this one from a Facebook friend!).  I celebrated the beauty, and the miracle, of thin branches carefully balancing inches of snow while the roads, still warm from the fall's sunshine, remained beautifully-bare!  

A few hours later, I was once again having one of those "I should have climbed back into be and pulled the covers over my head" moments as I coerced my first-period-amoebae-like first-graders into reading an old classic, Get In.

"Sure didn't plan this well," I thought to myself as I guided the amoebae through a short text where Mindy is encouraging her raccoon friend Buzzy to get in a blow-up pool!
"Point to those words," I implored them as word-to-word correspondence is still sporadic.
"Get your mouth ready for that word," I encouraged them.
"We have that word right here on our list," I said hopefully as I pointed to "you" on a short list.
"Now, read it again," I strongly encouraged one particularly reluctant amoeba as I wrapped my arms around him and placed my hands over his own, strongly, scaffolding the reading experience with my mouth moving for his and my heart not too far from his own.

"Will you get in?" we said together.
"I will not get in," he said softly, miraculously pointing to the words as I held him securely.
"Will you get in, Mindy," he continued, effortlessly getting his own mouth ready to say the words as if he had been doing this for a long time.
"See me get in," he said as if he had been doing this a long time.
My breathing slowed so I could hear every soft word coming from his mouth and I smiled from ear-to-ear as I felt that lovely "ahhah" moment-feeling for the second time in as many hours.

"I'm not sure who is more excited right now," the principal, who knew this amoebae quite well, offered as we celebrated our "ahhah moment rereading a page to him and to anyone else who would listen.

There is nothing quite as lovely as snow laden trees, except, if you teach beginning readers!



8 comments:

Michelle Haseltine said...

I laughed at this description, "first-period-amoebae-like first-graders!!" I must tell you that my first period sixth graders can be the same. I love the success that comes at the end! YAY!!!!

Maria said...

I have my favorite sweater and I also got it out this week. Winter has arrived in OH and I tackled with the same feelings as you did. I'm thrilled you had two "ahhah" moments in one day.

Juliann in WA said...

So lovely to be able to hold that special moment long enough to share.

Linda B said...

It doesn't get any better than that last line, Anita. We've had the weather week of surprise, too, so I know how you felt before you started off to work. Have a wonderful weekend!

Terje said...

Snow already? Glad you still got out of bed and experienced the beauty of snow and the growth of a young reader.

Julieanne said...

Amoebae! Perfect. I can imagine these students. So sweet, getting his mouth ready for it! Congratulations to you a beautiful ahhah morning.

Loralee said...

We have snow too! It's beautiful!

Loralee said...

We have snow too! It's beautiful!