Pulling myself further up that mountain of things to do! We finished our group presentation for my Master's, and I'm all but done with the professional development plan I have to put together. I'll probably finish that tonight. I'll be done grading a class set of essay reflections on _The Crucible_ tonight as well. That leaves a portfolio and the research paper for the Masters, and one set of _The Crucible_ essays to knock out to be caught up.

Today in Sophomore Honors, we were discussing the aphorisms (short witty sayings designed to provide moral instruction) or Ben Franklin. And because we had a bit of time to kill at the end of the class, I pulled out "Wise and Otherwise," a board game in which the players have to finish a proverb. It's kind of like a variation of "Balderdash;" I just let the kids guess and then I'll share the correct answer. The card I pulled read "An old Jamaican saying is: A hoe in the shop..."

At this point, I'm thinking, "Don't read this out loud!" But I do. Prefacing it with "We're talking about the gardening tool here!" I read the first half of the saying, and flip the card over for the answer.

Yeah, should have skipped it. The answer? "...is worth a stick in the bush."

So, remember the advice of an old Jamaican: "A hoe in the shop is worth a stick in the bush." I'm sure it's a lesson for life that will come in handy.