It's coming back

Last year as the days passed and I learned more about my students, I would have stories come to my mind. I still have two stories in particular come to my mind that originated from two kids I had last year. One story is about a boy who, in his own imagination, can do no wrong, but in real life, he is a bumbling and stuttering boy who blushes at the sight of a girl and trips over his words when he has to give a report. In his imagination he is a commander of troops, lawyer to the poor and hero to all. The other story is about a girl who, at a young age, believes that she is very smart until she comes into a new school where everyone is as smart, if not smarter, than she; so then she goes through a series of events which cause her to question who she is and what she can do. In the end, she has to use her strengths to help in some yet to be determined situation.

These two kids keep playing around in my head and their stories are just faint images at this time. I had thought I would write over the summer, but when I started to write, I felt like I was working. Well, I wanted the summer off. So I didn't write and I took some time to do some soul-searching. But these two kids keep playing in my mind, and lately, I am hearing new stories emerge as I get to know my new class. I am wondering if their faint outlines will darken and if I will start to see their faces better (the boy looks a lot like Fudge in Judy Bloom's Fudge books, and I can't shake that image from my mind), and if somehow they will all intertwine to become one story. 

Today I started to write a new story in my mind as I listened to the kids talk to each other. I can't exactly say what the story is, but it's starting to emerge. It really started to come out after I asked the kids if they feel like they are over-scheduled and over-booked. Many of them nodded that they were. I advised that they speak up and let their parents know that they were too busy, if it was a problem for them. It was after that when a story began, but I can't really see it just yet. 

BTW: I am reading Andrew Clements's "No Talking" to my kids. He is such a great writer. He really has the kids' voices perfectly written in his books. 

Also, sometimes I wonder if the kids can tell that I'm lost in my thoughts sometimes when they are with me. I hear what they say and I talk with them, but at the same time, I start to think about stories and books, and I doubt they have a clue; but sometimes I wonder.