What Do I Do All Day?

There's a program at school every spring called "What Do Parents Do All Day?" Parents (or other guardians) are invited to come speak to their child's class about their work. I never really thought much about doing it—what with all the exciting surgeons and astronomers and musicians in my neighborhood—but Pete's teacher (grade 5) thought it would be a good idea, since they talk a lot in class about editing their own work, and there are some budding writers in there, too. I didn't even consider doing Julie's (grade 2) class, figuring that they'd glaze over at the first mention of incorrect punctuation. When I asked Julie about it, she said, "What you do all day? Like laundry?" Thanks, kid.

I didn't really prepare much for my presentation this morning, figuring I'd just wing it. I did plan to lead off with a joke (as all good presenters are told to do), courtesy of EditorMark. I told the kids that on Thanksgiving, when they got really hungry, they might say (as I wrote on the whiteboard), "Let's eat, Grandma!" Then I said, "What if you got so hungry that you instead said—" and I erased the comma "—Let's eat Grandma!" The kids laughed, and I told them that a good editor can save us all from cannibalism.

Rimshot! I'll be here all week! Try the veal!

Beforehand I darted into the library to grab Lynn Truss's kids' version of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, which has very cute illustrations in that same vein, like "Look at that huge hot dog!" with a drawing of an enormous frankfurter, and on the facing page "Look at that huge, hot dog!" with a drawing of an enormous panting pooch. I showed a few of those.

Then I asked the kids what they thought an editor does, and took off from there. Pete had the idea for me to bring edited manuscript pages and then show the same page in the published book; I brought those things but didn't end up showing them together like that. I showed a few books (and Pete made me tell them that my name is in them, which he thinks is the coolest thing imaginable) and explained the difference between editing and proofreading, and why it's never a good idea to edit or proofread your own book.

I talked about the different types of books I work on (mostly textbooks and cookbooks) and pointed out how a simple typo ("teh" for "the") may be no big deal, but something like "Add 1 cup [instead of 1 teaspoon] of salt to the cake batter" could be a major disaster. The kids asked good questions, although Pete later said I went on a little too long in my answers—I guess I was just so relieved and flattered that they were asking them!

Oh, I also dusted off (and updated) an old chestnut. I wrote "I lent my son my iPhone" on the whiteboard and then inserted the word "only" in every possible position, explaining how the meaning changes each time depending on what word "only" is modifying:

Only I lent my son my iPhone. ("only" modifies "I": Someone else did not lend him an iPhone.)

I only lent my son my iPhone. ("only" modifies "lent": I didn't give him the iPhone.)

I lent only my son my iPhone. ("only" modifies "my son": I didn't lend it to my daughter—or "only" modifies just "my": I didn't lend it to someone else's son.)

I lent my only son my iPhone. ("only" modifies "son": I have only one son.)

I lent my son only my iPhone. ("only" modifies "my iPhone": I didn't lend him anything else—or "only" modifies just "my": I didn't lend him someone else's iPhone.)

I lent my son my only iPhone. ("only" modifies "iPhone": I have only one iPhone.)

I lent my son my iPhone only. ("only" modifies the whole sentence or just "my iPhone": I didn't lend him anything else.)

(Don't worry, I didn't once use the word "modify"—I just read each sentence out loud and emphasized the word being modified to show each change in meaning.)

The whole presentation lasted about 30 minutes, and Pete later told me I did a good job (and Andy said he told him the same thing, so I know he wasn't just trying to make me feel good). So, now they know what I do all day. In addition to laundry.

Comments

[Chuck Tanowitz]

I like the only trick. Very cool.

[scott]

Cool! I just have one question. Did you really lend someone your iPhone? :)

[Catherine Azzarello]

So cool!

I used to volunteer teach art literacy to my kids' (I have 3) elementary school classes once/month. Engaging them is the hardest part--especially with age ranges from 6-12.

Best class ever? Teaching 2nd graders about architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright--on Halloween. What did we do? We made small models of haunted houses. And boy, did those 8-year-olds get into it!

My ice breaker...'What does Dracula NOT want in his bedroom?'

I had a blast. My daughter, Marjorie, wasn't so sure...I 'dressed up' in all black and spiked my hair. Wore sunglasses and a bandage on my neck. Teacher and kids loved it, but Marjorie was really concerned about the bandage...I hadn't had any owies in the morning before school!

Sometimes, we really ARE supermoms!

[Molly Walker]

Could you loan me your iPhone? Just kidding. Great post and explanation for the kids.

[Sandy]

I love this, Karen. It sounds like you did a great job.

[Marci]

When my son was in kindergarten, I told him I was going to change jobs and would be working with his friend's mother. Then I went to see his teacher who asked me if I was a doctor. When I asked why, she said that my son thought I was a doctor. Obviously he thought that, like Barbie, one could change careers by changing your clothes. His friend's mother is a doctor.

So I did a discussion with the kindergarten class about marketing physicians so that my son and the other kids would know what I did. I brought in cereal boxes and asked them which ones were supposed to be for kids and which for grown-ups and how they knew. We talked about logos and taglines --- they knew all of them. Then I asked them where I should do advertising for the doctors and what I should say. These 5 year-olds knew exactly where one would find ads -- and they wanted to say things like "it doesn't hurt when the doctor puts that thing in your ear". It was great fun.

[Liz]

Wish I could have been there - sounds right up my alley. But what do I do all day? Do housewives get to give a talk?

[Sharon]

Great lesson. Funny about the laundry.

[Rachel K]

Laundry! LOL!!!!!! I love it!

[Steve]

LOVE it. Love IT. LOVE IT!