Look at sunsets and talk about the Patriots

Sunset over Stevens Hall, September 10, 2012

During class this evening, the sun began to shimmer in the clouds out beyond Stevens Hall. I turned my head back to the class conversation. A moment later I saw a student's eyes widen as she looked out the window.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but---LOOK!"

My cell phone's camera may not have captured the beauty of the moment, but each of us in class had.

"Thanks for taking the time," said Denise, a K-6 literacy coach.

Three minutes later the sky turned dull gray without the slightest hint of what had just occurred.

Earlier in ERL 540 Writing and the Teaching of Writing a student said something like, "This morning, one of my students started to talk about the Patriots. A dozen hands shot up, each student desperate to talk about New England's victory. But, there was no time in the schedule ... I had to move on with the day's plan." She felt guilty.

RTI, CCSS, NCLB.... Vivian Gussin Paley said, "The first order of reality in a classroom is the student's point of view."

In other words, look at sunsets and talk about the Patriots.