This year I hope
I truly learn
to fly-kick
not to kick anyone
so much as
to fly.

I’m writing this post mid grammar fair. One of my students just gave everyone a kid-size bag of pretzels after she taught us about how to use apostrophes in joint vs. individual possession.  I couldn’t help myself—two times I said, “these pretzels are making me thirsty.”  One precocious student’s eyes lit up; he parroted it back in his best George Costanza.  Seinfeld has that effect on people.  I love stuff that has a long-lasting effect on me.

I won’t soon forget the book I just finished reading to the boys: Inside Out and Back Again.  Luke and Jonah enjoyed it; I loved it.  They knew nothing about the fall of a place named Saigon.  Nor could they understand a 10-year-old girl’s plight of leaving home with only one personal item for a place as foreign as the moon: Alabama. This beautiful novel-in-verse naturally inspires empathy for refugees.  Remarkably, it doesn’t come off feeling heavy as much as heart-warming. And it will leave you thinking about Kim Ha and her family for some time.

Posted by Tracy