late afternoon hours....

I am sitting in my classroom at the end of a long day...with more yet to come. I am lucky enough to have windows that open..so the breeze stirs the costume I have hanging up on the windowsill...this week a cowboy..last week a lady in waiting.

The sounds of softball practice echo in over the music on my CD player. Schools are lovely at the end of a day...reflecting on their work...my work. My room is always messy, even when I stay late to clean, you just wouldn't know it by the next day. It is full of books and music and forms and talent show papers and posters..we had a party for a student teacher after school in my room so there are crumbs from the chocolate cake.

Tonight is our Writer's Workshop taught with my friend and colleague, Kathy. We both love writing and teach it differently...but a nice blend. We are hoping for a good turn out on our last night.

My board is littered with vocabulary words from the fourth grade. Words such as enraptured, frail, celestial, azure. One of my fourth grade students, Jacob, wrote the word perpetual. Then he came up to see me..."Ms. Homan-Saylor...look at this word. P E R P E T U A L..never ending, very frequent. Just like writing is to us!"

Yes, I say, never ending, just like writing. It makes me smile to know that he understands. That is enough for me.