Postcards

As a teacher, one of my jobs is to help my students see themselves as writers. Problem is, they often think they have nothing interesting enough to write about. To these kiddos, trips to Disney and swimming with dolphins are the only kind of topics with value.

I traveled to Jamaica last week and bought them all postcards. I wrote to all 32 students as I sat in the sunshine on my front porch the day after we got back. I was grateful to be home. I was grateful for the sunshine and happy to have my beagle back by my side. It was a small moment. A small moment of happiness worth noticing. And worth writing about.

I want them to see it's the small moments that make up a life, and it's those small moments that are worth writing about.

I decided this week I should take my own advice.

Here's what's going on just down the road:

It's happening. The spring we all hoped for. It's happening.

The forsythia is in bloom.

The sun - a spotlight - on what I need to see and remember.

Look up.

I used the postcards from Jamaica to kick off an end-of-year blogging project in my classroom, "Postcards from Our Lives."  

I think it's a good idea to notice those small moments making up a life. The beauty. The love. Thoughts. Feelings. Hard times. And hope.

A good lesson for them - and for me.

Because who knows what's waiting just down the lane on a regular Wednesday afternoon.