Day 24: Writer's Block Be Damned

I typically slice during lunch so the day doesn’t get away from me.  Of course, today’s lunch came, and all I had for ideas were… crickets.  Nothing.  Writer’s block.  I decided to postpone my writing, pushing it off for lack of anything with substance.  Little did I know my very next class would present me with the nugget below.  

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It’s 12:25, and I’ve kicked off my 3rd/4th grade combined ESL class.  We’re using numbered heads together (a great structure if you’ve never used it) to write opinions using strong vocabulary.  I notice the back table is struggling in the first round, which happens to be about skeletons.  I slide my chair over to held guide the discussion.

“Alright I see you’ve all written something down and are ready to put your heads together, share, and select which one you think is the strongest.  What do you all have?”

I look around.  And stop.

Skeletons are damd.  Reads the first whiteboard.

“Mhmm, mhmm,” I say aloud.  Internally, my mind is racing.  Does that really say ‘Skeletons are damned’?  I mean… I guess they are.  But is that what she actually wrote?  

No one says anything.

My internal dialogue presses on.  Should I ask her to share hers so I can hear the pronunciation?  But then what if it really is ‘damned’?

My thoughts are interrupted by Lupe*.  “I mean… I kind of agree with Natalia*.  But I also don’t know if that’s the best one.  I kind of want to pick another one.”

Great.  Well, that didn’t particularly help.

But Lupe continues, “I guess skeletons are dumb.  But I also like Stefan’s* sentence too.”

I smile.  DUMB.  That’s a ‘u’, not an ‘a’.  And that’s a classic reversal.  DUMB.  Not Damd.  Ha!

Relieved to have escaped a discussion about the appropriateness of using ‘damned’ in a 3rd grade lesson, I continue guiding the group discussion towards consensus.

I roll back toward the front of the room, tucking the story into the folds of my memory to be retrieved after school.  Thank goodness I didn’t write something inane at lunch, just to complete a writing assignment.  This was worth the wait!

*Student names have been changed.