Tuesday, March 17, 2015

When the Ordinary is Not so Ordinary


As I was thinking about my day today, I thought I would never have a slice to write about. It was such an ordinary day, nothing special happened. I wracked my brains, and then it hit me. I needed to make a list, so I could see how ordinary my day really was. What I learned, is that nearly all our days have something out of the ordinary of we look. So here is a list of the day from its beginning, to the end of the school day. I was surprised by my observations!



5:00 AM - Alarm goes off. Groan and hit Snooze
5:10 AM - Hit Snooze
5:20 AM Hit Snooze
5:30 AM Hit Snooze (Thinking I seriously need to get up, but bed is so warm and comfy)
5:40 AM Get up
5:50 - Get Coffee
5:55 - Start straightening my hair - NOT ORDINARY
6:30 - Finish straightening my hair
6:40 - Finish getting dressed.
6:45 - Daughter gives me a hug - wants to stay home today. She's anxious. NOT ORDINARY
6:55 - Give note to son to drive to dentist appointment. NOT ORDINARY - first time he's gone alone.
7:05 - Leave for school
7:15 - At school
7:30 - Preparing for the day, making copies and catching up w/colleagues.
7:45 - Continue to prepare for lesson. (Had sub for past two days) NOT ORDINARY
8:20 - Day with students begins.
8:25 - Student comes in all excited and announces he's had no sleep - his mom went into labor!               NOT ORDINARY!
8:45 - First class begins - this class works hard.
10:30 - Second class - this class cracks me up.
11:30 Third class - this class asks questions.  Videotape my lessor for others to observe. Pray it's             okay! NOT ORDINARY. 
12:45 - LUNCH!! Today is Irish Potato Day with all the fixings. Staff goes all out with side                   dishes and desserts. NOT ORDINARY (Well, staff always goes all out, but we don't have             Potato Day as a rule!)
1:20 - Science lesson goes astray when I realize my teachable moment has arrived - kids are                   arguing if water, computers, and cars, among other things, are living. My lesson on                       Ecosystems turns into a lesson on understanding the differences between living and non-living things.Have a great debate.  NOT ORDINARY
3:00 - Dismissal - Phew!!


9 comments:

  1. Colleen, I love this idea and you have inspired me to try the same sort of slice. Yikes! Busy day. I found myself smiling at things you labelled "NOT ORDINARY".

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  2. Colleen, I love this idea and you have inspired me to try the same sort of slice. Yikes! Busy day. I found myself smiling at things you labelled "NOT ORDINARY".

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  3. So...you thought you had an ordinary day until you looked closer and found out a number of not ordinary things happening. We all need to do this some days and realize that there really is not such a thing as ordinary day. Jackie http://familytrove.blogspot.com/

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  4. It's all about perspective. You found specks of treasure among the ordinary events of the day. You found the marvellous among the mundane. You now have the opportunity to further unpack those 'not ordinary' moments in your day.

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  5. Love this as a topic generation activity. It was easy to spot budding stories by listing them in schedule fashion. Someone once said, we all walk by a thousand stories a day; it is the writer who notices five or six of them. :)

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  6. Love this as a topic generation activity. It was easy to spot budding stories by listing them in schedule fashion. Someone once said, we all walk by a thousand stories a day; it is the writer who notices five or six of them. :)

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  7. I will definitely have to try this! Thank you for sharing this idea and for showing us that while a day might seem ordinary on the surface, once we do a little digging, we can find those moments that defy being ordinary.

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  8. I love the bold NOT ORDINARY connections :)

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  9. Fun to read this list of your day and its not so ordinary moments. And now for my ?s - Whatever made you decide to straighten your hair today? Did daughter go to school? Did son make it to the dentist and back safely? How about the student with a mom in labor? And how's your mom doing?

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