Day 18: Puppeteering to Work

Day 18

By Zack Eustis

Last night I created two sock puppets, "Stretchy" (pictured) and "Sharpie" (not pictured) for today's commute. The two held a lively conversation with each other and, when the situation presented itself, several students. One boy dropped his mitten while he was getting dropped off and Sharpie was kind enough to let him know where it was. The boy's mother, unable to see my employee ID badge, was far from amused. The puppets continued their banter about the changing weather, impending snow storm, and options for lunch, stopping to greet fellow commuters along the way. The puppets stayed on during the first part of bus duty. Reactions ranged from unabriged excitement, including one "that's awesome," from a fifth grader, to looks of utter disgust by kids as young as five. Who knew?

One of my students was sounding out the word "garbage" today. He figured out the "gar" part, so I tried sounding out "bage." Apparently the way I pronounce the last half of garbage is the same way a lot of people say the word "bitch," because I could not get him to concentrate for the rest of the morning.

This is a link to the most amazing news story I've heard in years.

Tomorrow, the grand finale... stay tuned, it will be a surprise :).