Poison Ivy

The monster is off sick today, so I've had rather more time on my hands than I really know what to do with, so here's some more writing from Ivy, one of Lucy's classmates.

Plants are living things. All living things can feel pain and danger. When we chop trees down, the can feel pain. If you were a tree and someone chopped you down, don't you think you will not scream? Trees scream with their secret voices. Other plants can hear their scream and feel danger. These days, almost everyone make trees into non-living things. That can be okay. Just remember that if you chop trees, it's like you are killing someone. So, let's don't chop trees!

Ivy is basically an ideal student, and her writing is always this good, which is damned impressive for a second-grader who has only studied in Korea. Her mom apparently makes her listen to English-language radio and tapes at home, yet she doesn't seem to resent studying English at all. In fact, she acts like a classroom assistant: answering other students' questions and correcting their grammar and pronunciation. Of course, I stop her from correcting her classmates, but she actually manages to do it without seeming mean or stuck up.

Lately, I've started to realise how lucky I am to be teaching such small groups of highly motivated and able students. I truly appreciate my classes because I imagine there won't be many like this if I teach public school in the US or the UK. So thank you tiny people, you make these long days seem much shorter.