Indiscriminate clicking

I got some help in my classroom today. A sophomore attending Smith but whose home is in Chicago is spending her J-term interning at the school. She's an American studies major, so our director sent her into my room to shadow. She was able to help some of my struggling students with poetry terms and essay analyses. It's nice to have a second person in the room to help all those who need help. I'm exahusted at the end of the day just from walking around from student to student to answer questions and goad them to do their work. She also doesn't have a history with any of the girls, so some who have built up barriers with me are open to help from her. A fresh face. It sounds like she might spend the next three weeks in the room with me. It amazes me to look at her and talk to her and realize she young enough to have been one of the sophomores in my first honors classes at William Monroe in Greene. Am I getting older, or are they gettting younger?

I have two new bruises. One on my right ankle and one inside my right knee. That makes 9, but some are starting to clear up, so the official number might be lower.

My students are writing their own "This I Believe" essays in class this week and next. If you've never heard the series, you can read and listen on the NPR website (www.npr.org) to some of the ones from the 1950's Edward R. Murrow series as well as contemporary pieces that have recently aired on the show. They're really cool. I'm thinking of writing one along with the girls. If I do, I'll post it.

Lucy is afraid of all the trains in the area. She's always hated the El where it's actually an El. The dog park in Grant Park where we now take her is right next to the Metra tracks. She's so terrified the whole time we're there that she gets her only exercise by running back and forth from me to the gate. She tries to escape anytime a new dog comes in. I'm hoping that regular exposure will cure her of this as she really likes dog park, or has in the past. Sadly, that has not been the case with other things she's afraid of, like the baby gates, the vacuum, the laundry basket...