128 Words

The list might be overwhelming, so you should tackle it bit by bit.  Two hours of that flex shift here, an hour on that assignment there.  The laptop battery is going to die at some point, even though you fully charged it last night.  You find you are eager for the part of your life in which work is done largely on your feet, instead of at the keyboard, to begin.  You wish you could magically transfer the words scrawled on scattered sheets of notebook paper to the computer without having to type every single one and sort it all out.  These ideas are bouncing around in your head, but you cannot visualize the big picture on the computer screen and it's driving you a little bit crazy.

123 Words

They have to move.  Desks shift across the room.  Screeeech. The plastic caps have broken off the feet and the chairs scrape on the floor.  And the kids, they’re awake suddenly.  This one jumps up from his seat.  “Sit down!” you have to say, again, or is it the first time today?

This is what happens each day.  These kids have to shift and move because they’re growing, or tired, or too wide awake, or hungry.  They have energy shifting all around inside them, and so they have to move.  Here, in the front of the room, their movement takes purpose.  He will read the story, and she will perform.  Then, finally, they will move and loosen their excitement and, you hope, learn.