Back to School!

Except for having to get up a little too early, I actually enjoyed being back in the classroom today after an eight month absence.

I made students in my first class do a stretching exercise -- to prove the point that it feels good to stretch (they weren't so sure, so I had them test it out... and then I told them to keep stretching until they agreed it felt good!!). I was trying to show my class the importance of stretching intellectually, so I tried using the example of physical stretching.

My first class was "Stuff of Nonsense," and I'm just in from teaching "Writing for Children." At the start of the semester, I often talk about body language. I asked students whether they knew the term in poker for when someone's body language reveals that he is, for example, bluffing or holding valuable cards. A student named Marc called out the word I wanted: "Tell!" .... which got me thinking how body language can TELL us information during poker, and it can also help us TELL our stories when we write them. For me, a lot of life is about telling, as in "What's the best story you can tell?" I grew up in a noisy family with many good storytellers. If you wanted attention (and a moment or two of relative quiet from your relatives), you needed to have the best possible story. That may be partly why I became a writer...

I also asked students in my second class whether they love the sounds of words. I have to admit, they looked at me like I was a little wacky for even asking that question. (I thought of it because I had just used the word "judicious," advising the class to "make judicious use of the intelligent nod," and I just love sound of the word "judicious." It sounds... well... juicy and delicious!)

Well, that's all you're getting from me today, dear blog readers. Though I'm a little tired after my first day back at school, I am planning to try and do just a wee bit of writing and reading before dinner. Hope you're stretching (physically and mentally), and watching for TELLS of all kinds, and nodding judiciously (this makes us look intelligent) and saying (and writing) words that are just plain fun to say!!