Slice of Life - Things I am Thankful For - #sol14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, we are posting a slice daily.
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On Saturday, I meant to do a joint Slice of Life & Celebrate This Week post.  However, it was pre-empted by my post about the package from Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet. So, I thought I would kick off the new week with a post about what I was thankful for last week.
 

In reviewing the past week, here are 5 things that I am thankful for...

1.  Read Across America - I had a chance to read in five elementary schools and about 8 classes last week.  Reading aloud to a class is one of my favorite things and in my current position, I do not have the opportunity to do it very regularly.  As a result, it was even more wonderful to share books and to read with students.

2.  Awesome Blog Readers - On Monday, I shared a slice called Authors are Magic.  One of my blog readers who lives locally saw the post and dropped off two more copies of A Snicker of Magic for the students at Jackson.  Though this person did not want to be identified, I am celebrating the generosity of their act, and that more students will have the opportunity to read the book.

3. Reading Slice Posts and More - Though it does take time to do this, I have really been enjoying the various slice posts that others have been writing.  I usually find one or two that make me smile, and few that require tissues (even for happy tears), and many that are inspirational.

4.  Quiet Saturdays - Lately, my weekends have felt like mad dashes filled with errands, and appointments and other obligations with little time to stop and recharge.  Yesterday, despite a pretty long "to-do" list, I slowed down.  I spent time checking out new books and chatting with staff at Vromans, and curled up on my couch in my jammies reading a stack of picture books. I also decided to pamper myself with a much needed pedicure.  And I wrapped up the day with a mini-marathon of episodes of Murdoch Mysteries - a television show out of Canada. 

5.  Professional Inspiration - Sometimes all of the daily little things crowd out the bigger view of what is happening.  I had a chance to chat with Donalyn Miller and Teri Lesesne yesterday and it was just the kind of conversation that I needed to get refocused and inspired.  I am forever thankful for the online professional learning community that I am privileged to be a part of.

What are you thankful for this week?

Slice of Life - A Splash of Red - #sol14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, we are posting a slice daily.
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Fetching the mail is not one of my favorite things to do. Lately, it seems that most of it is circular flyers and other kinds of junk.  If it isn't junk, then it is a bill.  Seldom do I receive honest to goodness real letters.  However today, there was a surprise in my mailbox.   It was addressed to me and was quite colorful.

Since June 2013, I had the pleasure of serving on the 2014 Schneider Family Book Award Jury. One of the books we selected was A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet.  If you haven't read it, you should.  It is fantastic.

Inside the envelope, two cards were attached to a cellophane wrapped picture. 

The envelopes contained handwritten notes from Jen and Melissa. Can I call them Jen and Melissa?

Under the notes was a specially wrapped print of one of the pages from the book, which was signed by Jen and Melissa.

I think I may have cried a little when I opened up the notes and read them. It was truly special and unexpected, and such a wonderful surprise to find when I arrived home.  I would hug this if I wasn't worried about crushing the print. I guess sleeping with it is out unless I want to mangle it. Best thing will be taking it to be framed so I can display it.

Thank you Jen and Melissa for creating such a special book as A Splash of Red, for the wonderful gift, and for being so amazing.  I can't wait to meet you in June, and I look forward to your next joint book, which comes out in the fall.

Slice of Life - Celebrating Day 7 and Some Favorite Day 6 posts - #sol14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, we are posting a slice daily.
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I am celebrating having gone 7 for 7 with Slice of Life posts.  This is my first year participating and my goal is to show up and write each day.  It has been fun reading what others are posting.  Sometimes the posts make me smile, some make me laugh, others are inspiring, and several have made me think.  I have appreciated all of these posts.

Today, I would have loved to have had something funny or witty to post. But I wasn't that lucky.  However, did I tell you how inspired I was by everyone else's posts? Like some of the ones below....

Did you see Kevin's (Dogtrax) comic strip for his post?
http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2014/03/06/slice-of-life-of-gutters-frames-bubbles-and-comics/

Yep, no comic strips here.

Did you see the fun post about office supplies from Mindi?
http://mindimusings.blogspot.com/2014/03/so-i-have-this-problem.html

Hey, she wants her pen back if you took it. I just want to know what the brand is.

Did you see the Lee Ann's post about "circle magic"?
http://portable-teacher.blogspot.com/2014/03/circle-magic.html

If you didn't, you might want to check it out. I was blown away by her student, Katherine's preparation for the circle discussion.

Did you see that some people actually wrote poetry?
http://msikking.edublogs.org/2014/03/06/and-the-point-is/

Yep, no poetry here.

Finally, glad to read that others were struggling with writer's block, or finding ideas.
http://mvervinck.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/what-to-write-about/

Of course, I am a bit jealous that she found the words and managed to put them in the form of a poem.

Well, tomorrow is another day to write,

Slice of Life - What keeps you up at night? - #sol14

Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, we are posting a slice daily.
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Recently, I was at a discussion session being led by a couple of staff from the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).   One of the things that they asked us was "what kept us up at night?"  The answer to that question was how they determined what books, booklets, and articles that they would write/publish for ASCD.  It was their opinion that if it was keeping teachers and administrators up at night then it was an important topic. 

What do you think?  I kind of like it.  Well, I don't like anything keeping me up at night, but I do like the concept behind this.  Basically, if it is something that is serious enough to worry about to the point of staying up at night then it must be really important?!

When I was a principal, I worried about my staff, and about the safety of the students.  Also, I worried about how to connect with the student who was having trouble transitioning to a new classroom or who were struggling with big issues at home. I worried about how to inspire my teachers to be better teachers. There was a lot of things that kept me up at night.  However, in reality, very little had to do with data, test scores, or rankings.  My heart's concern was always centered around students, staff, and families. I know these were the right things to worry about. 

Lately, what is keeping me up is centered around wanting children to develop into passionate readers and wanting teachers to share the same concern. 

So, what keeps you up at night?

Slice of Life - Read Across America - #sol14

 Slice of Life is hosted by Two Writing Teachers on Tuesdays.  For the month of March, we are posting a slice daily.
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One of my favorite times of the year is Read Across America.  I know that part of the purpose is celebrating the birthday of Dr. Seuss, but I love the excuse it provides me to step back from my normal schedule and simply read in classrooms.  This year, I will be reading across our District in six or seven schools. 

Sometimes I know what classrooms and what grade levels I will be reading in, and other times, I just allow them to surprise me with where I will be assigned. Since I am a former Special Education Teacher, I am often assigned to read in special day classes serving students with severe disabilities.

Before I head out to a school, I pack a bag with books.  All the books I bring with me are specially chosen.  I want the books to be the just right ones for the classes that I will be reading in.  Since many guest readers, pick from the stack of Dr. Seuss books, classes may hear the same books over and over again.  So, it is additionally important to me that these be books that teachers and students have not necessarily heard of before. Often, they are new releases or ones that have come out within the past year.

Every year, I also pick one book that I will read to every class whether it is a kindergarten class or a fifth grade classroom.  This year, I decided that Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown would be the book that I shared with every class.  So far, so good.  In one classroom, I had students that had multiple disabilities and were unable to speak. However, I was able to get them to ROAR with Mr. Tiger throughout the book.

By the time you are reading this, it will be World Read Aloud Day.  Another perfectly wonderful reason to read aloud with students.  I wish everyone the best in reading aloud for any and all reasons.