#celebratelu Goals, Cars, and Couches: Reasons to Celebrate this Week

I can't say it was an easy week; however, there is still much to celebrate! Thanks to Ruth Ayer's weekly Celebration, I am acknowledging the good stuff.

Change of any kind (even good, wanted, needed changes) induces stress, and I suspect the level of stress is somewhat proportional to the level of change (new semester, new house, new job, new car).

So I will start with the end of the semester, which in all accounts is a good thing for all of us!  My weekly powerpoints and daily emails from grad students will stop, and I will marvel at my "free" time as I only work only "one" full time job as a teacher of little kids!  Yet, those grad school finals and papers cause stress as I squeeze time to read, comment, and grade them with the respect and credit due. Yet, I really do love seeing how my students grow through the semester (or two or three) that I work with them. In my recent Assessment in Special Education course, I had them write "pretend goals" for students based on IEP needs. I smiled as I read them hearing my own "voice" as well as the course readings reflected in their words.

Then, there was the stress of getting a new car.  I spend a LOT of time in my car.  I was attached to my old one with magical powers and the ability to go more than 600 miles on a tank of fuel! http://drferreri.blogspot.com/2014/05/sol14-thanks-matilda.html

It was hard to say good-bye to a dear, reliable friend; however, my NEW car is incredible.  I took him to school on Friday for the first time and could not help but think how far cars have come since that first, radio-less '54 Ford I inherited, so to speak, from Uncle Phil!  This new car has more cameras than a fleet of cell phones and more brains than all the other cars I have ever driven.  As he drove through some mighty big puddles without hydroplaning, I realized he is the smartest car I could have ever imagined!  I am pretty sure he will be known as "Al" as in Albert Einstein!

Finally, the news is usually stressful and this week was no exception.  Yet, the story out of New Paltz about college students finding money in a couch made me smile with gratitude.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/16/313118337/thrift-store-couch-yields-40-000-roommates-return-money
I know that their parents are smiling from ear to ear with pride and gratitude this morning (even though the college bills are still piled high!).  I am smiling from ear to ear because no matter what they say about young people and our society, we are doing something right!  

Kids don't read anymore?

Frank Bruni's May 12th Opinion page article in the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/opinion/bruni-read-kids-read.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=1
has me thinking about WHY kids don't read anymore! While Bruni eloquently talks about Common Sense Media's report, I wonder WHY fewer than 20 percent of 17-year-olds now read for pleasure “almost every day!”  According to Common Sense Media, back in 1984, 31 percent read for pleasure almost every day.

YIKES is my first thought!  Yet, this study does not talk about the WHY?  A zillion WHY questions are playing in my head. 

• What happens to kids when they read every day for pleasure when they are younger?
• Did these kids read every day for pleasure when they were younger?
• If so, when did the reading decline?  When did it end? 
• What happens when kids are read to every day by parents?
• What happens when kids are read to every day by teachers?
• Did these parents and caregivers read to theses children?
• If so, what kinds of books did they read?
• Did they discuss the books?
• Were these kids "forced" to read just right books rather than texts they wanted to read?
• Were they "forced" to read certain genre books?
• Were their choices (comics, newspapers, sports) embraced?
• Were these kids forced to do reader responses?
  Were these kids forced to keep reading logs?
• Where there books in their homes growing up?
• Did their parents model reading?
• Was reading valued in the same way sports and grades might be?
• Was reading the subject of family discussions?
• Did their parents see reading as a way of opening doors?
• Do the young adults see reading as valuable or enjoyable?
• What roles do teachers, parents, caregivers serve as reading models?
• Do kids read for pleasure in school?
• Do kids have time to read for pleasure?
• Do they consider school mandated reading as pleasurable?
• Do kids consider reading newspapers and Twitter reading for pleasure?
• Are today's kids too cool to read?

HOW SAD was my next thought and yet I really wasn't all that surprised.  I thought about how busy our youth are with grades, sports, clubs and all the notches they need to put on their belts to get into the "right" schools.  I thought about ALL the homework That takes LOTS Of time.  I thought about afterschool, karate, dance, baseball. ballet, Brownies, Cub Scouts, swimming classes, playdates, the need to make the travel soccer team and the desire for our kids to be fit.  I also thought about Minecraft, Ipads and other video games....but only at the end. 


HOW IMPERITIVE it is that we research and find out the answers....because I really suspect there are more than one answers to the question.

Why don't kids read anymore?

#SOL14 Thanks, Matilda

Dear Matilda,

For five years, we've braved the elements, traffic jams,

avoiding accidents, crazy drivers,

more than two hours every day. 

I've marveled at your ability

to achieve 50 miles per gallon status,

your dislike of gas stations.

I'll remember that day,

way back when you were a wee Babe

 when I tried (in vain) to protect your hood

 from the hail stones that left, forever, 

pock marks on your bright red hood.

I'll remember those icy nights on the Taconic

 when you found the strength to climb past those cars

with spinning tires to take me safely home.  

I'll remember that icy morning on the Saw Mill 

 when you found the power to self correct

 as we did a 360 going down that icy hill

to take me safely to work.

I'll remember those sad trips,

when those I loved passed away.

I'll remember the happy trips

to see a new house, to shop for a special dress.

I'll miss your great cup holders,

your courageous entrances onto busy highways,

your bodacious display of your MPG.  

 I know that in spite of your German roots,

you were well named

 after the Roald Dahl character who like you,

did things that just did not seem possible! 

I wish I could keep you

for another 150,000 miles or more; 

but at this point in my life,

I need creature comforts, great mileage, 

a car with four new, round, smooth-riding-rims,

a car without a regularly-reappearing-check-engine-light.

I'll miss you, I really will.

I hope your retirement job, 

whether it be in construction of with a college student,

 is a good one with less stress, 

that will allow you to go for a run each morning 

as you have grown used to doing.  

I'll regret you only got to the beach once, 

but I hope that you have many adventures ahead.  

Thank you for waking up in the dark, 

taking me wherever I needed to go,

and most importantly for keeping me safe.

Fondly, like a great book,

with lingering memories,

I will remember you.  

#celebratelu 2014 Readers, writers, mothers and prayers

I am actually NOT celebrating that the computer ate my first celebration post today as I tried to make a tiny typo change!  Yet, this Ruth Ayers idea has me hooked so I will try to briefly recap!

READERS, indeed I thought several times this week!  It's clear as I do reading records for May and reflect on the path we have traveled.  I called them readers way back when they were struggling with  I can see a hat.  I can see a box.  I can see a hat.   I called them readers when I implored them to stop wiggling long enough to look at the words and get their mouths ready to read (to look at the first letter in the word). At times, they may have doubted their paths and many still have strategies, confidence or fluency to master; yet they have become what I knew they would be: readers!

WRITERS who beg for more opportunities to share what is in their heart and mind.  As we finished those books about John Deer tractors and princesses this week, they begged for another day of writing.  I smiled and sent them home with marble notebooks slathered in stickers.  I called them writers when I implored them to stop wiggling long enough to make the letter t from the cloud line down to the grass line.  They may still have conventions of written English to master; yet they have become what I knew they would be: writers!

"Happy Mothers' Day," one of the young'un teachers said sincerely as she went by on Friday afternoon.  Yes, I guess I have become a bit of a mother figure at school (and to a zillion grad students).  It's a reminder that caring, listening, advising, hugging and consoling others is what I can offer to those around me.  I guess at times we all serve as mothers offering what we can to our students, fellow teachers and friends.  I do not have all the answers, but I care.

"This is a hard day to celebrate," she said sadly.  There was not much more I could offer her than a hug and an assurance of my thoughts and prayers. I will be praying: for those who wish they were moms; those who want to be moms; those who are moms; those who are missing their moms; those who are praying for their moms; those who are praying for their kids; those who are worried about their kids; those who are mourning, sad, lonely, overwhelmed, or covered in too much love, slobbery kisses, and melted chocolate.  I hope you find ways to celebrate the day, even if your life, like each of ours, is not perfect!

Appreciate Teachers by Understanding What They Do | Edutopia

Appreciate Teachers by Understanding What They Do | Edutopia

Summer Reading

When I read Kylene Beers blog, I am often inspired and usually excited about an idea or two that jogs my thinking.  Yet, the other day, I was floored when with May just days old, I find a post about Summer Reading!   http://kylenebeers.com/blog/2014/05/04/guidelines-for-summer-reading/

While I do realize that summer is coming in spite of the lingering cold weather here, we'll be going to school until the end of June here in these parts and so I pushed the post out of my mind as one of those for people in other parts of the country!  

Yet, just a few hours later, at a CSE meeting, I found myself the focus of a discussion about summer learning.  I knew then and there that Kylene was not hurrying the end of the school year; rather, she was thinking about the season that will crash upon us very soon.  She was thinking about the connection between summer reading and achievement.  

Kylene makes many good points in her post, but one of my favorites is this one: 

"Summer reading isn’t about reading a certain number of titles from a list someone else has compiled.  It’s not about finishing A Tale of Two Cities before the first day of tenth grade.  It’s not about reading books at a certain Lexile level or AR level.   It’s not about preparing for a test, keeping a dialectical journal to be submitted, or logging a certain number of hours or titles in a journal that will eventually be graded"

.

#SOL2014 - The day the slices piled up too high

I really wanted to draft a SOL back on Saturday after I spent an energizing day at a conference in the city watching wise and learned people grapple with the CCS, APPR and other new initiatives that challenge us to think beyond our experiences and to make the most out of parts of our profession that are not congruent with our thinking!

I was going to draft a post on Sunday night describing hunting for hours through mounds of old mailing labels, birthday cards, and bank statements (in vain) for a deed that it turned out could be easily found at Town Hall in a matter of moments.  It's what we do out of respect for those we love, even if the work is fruitless.

I started to draft a post last night before I headed to bed. One of my students plopped himself down in his seat yesterday and announced with great pride that his teacher had ALL the Frog and Toad books in his classroom  HE was going to read them all before the end of the year.  His excitement and commitment made me smile all day.  He may have been a struggling reader at one time; however, now he was an excited reader!

Yet, when I sat down to write last night, my mind raced to all the posts above (and a few others) that were circling in my head waiting to be written.  How could I decide what to write? Which post was most worthy?  As I tried to write about one subject, the others scurried about like dust bunnies on the floor.

SO, this post is partially my "planning" notebook page so that I can go back and provide due diligence to my stories waiting to be written.

BUT, this post is mostly where I reflect on WHY we write every Tuesday and WHY we need to have our students write EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Back in March, I did not have this problem.  Every day I wrote slices of my life. I looked at my life through a writerly lens - every day.  Now that it's May and my SOL posts are fewer and far between; thus, the slices pile up like laundry waiting to be put away.  When the baskets are filled and the piles are so high, you can't even figure out where to start and so (if you are like me) you might not do anything for days and days hoping the disorder will somehow correct itself!

The central message of my post is clear to me as I bare my piled-high thoughts and the discord in my writerly life.  Writing, like exercise, reading, and even doing laundry, is easiest when it is a regular, anticipated and expected part of our daily routine.  When we put it off....or when the piles are too high, it's hard to get started!  

Share: Struggling Readers

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1573

#celebratelu Celebrating Dreams, Hopes and Wishes

  

It's Saturday and I'm going to celebrate thanks to Ruth and her Saturday morning celebrators who every week nudge me to do so! http://www.ruthayreswrites.com/ 

1) It's going to be a sunny Saturday and I'm very shortly off to the big city for a seminar; thus, that in and of itself is a reason to celebrate after a week of sad and often serious weather situations. 

2) It appears that my alliterative side is in full bloom even if the flowers are a little late so that would also be a reason to celebrate; however this week I am actually celebrating dreams, hopes and wishes: the ones that survive in spite challenges and the ones that sustain us throughout the challenges of our professional and personal lives.  

3)  As I prepared for my end-of-the-year evaluation, I did some self-reflection on what I had accomplished during this past school year and what I wanted to do in the future.  I'm sure that more than one principal has rolled his/her eyes when I left the office after sharing my dreams.  I am grateful that my current principal at least listens and embraces them! 

4) Among the ideas and images for next year that pop into my mind are this: I want to have a "take a book-give a book area" in the lobby next year like Sarah Kizzer. What a great idea! I could do this!  
http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/take-a-book-leave-a-book-by-sara-kieffer-kizzier/

5) I (still) have many school dreams.  I want to be more organized and more prepared every year.  I want to make some of my dreams a reality, however, like this one: I want to have a school-wide poetry month in April next year even though it is a testing-preparing and stress-filled month! I want to have poems in the hallways and on the stairways.  I want poems posted on bus ceilings and in the bathrooms too!  Short funny ones that will make kids smile.  I want them posted near the mailboxes and on the morning bulletin for teachers.  Poems of encouragement that will sustain us all. I want to post a poem a day all month long.   http://www.pinterest.com/pin/114138171779516945/ 

6) As I reflect on my home-life and family, I also have hopes and dreams. I hope that some cleaning-fairy will arrive to cart off the dust bunnies and that some shopping-fairy will arrive with bags of fresh veggies and fruits to sustain us each week. I'm going to have to do a lot of thinking (and dreaming) about how to make this one happen! 

7) Finally, last but certainly not least, I pray that my growing family will continue to surround and sustain me and each other with the love, fuel and fortitude that only love, friends and families can provide.    

Fidgety Kids ?

The title certainly caught my eye
A Link Between Fidgety Boys and a Sputtering Economy
I read this NY Times article "closely" in a CCS-sort of way.  I questioned the "facts vs the opinions" in the article and wondered about the "arguments" the author used to defend his points.  I also read this article under the lens of a mom, auntie, and teacher with lots of boys AND girls who fidget!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/upshot/a-link-between-fidgety-boys-and-a-sputtering-economy.html?ref=education&_r=0
I read...and my mind was reeling in golden thoughts....
The gap in behavioral skills between young girls and boys is even bigger than the gap between rich and poor. Really? I thought as I continued to read. I thought we had closed that gap a bit...
By kindergarten, girls are substantially more attentive, better behaved, more sensitive, more persistent, more flexible and more independent than boys, according to a new paper from Third Way, a Washington research group. The gap grows over the course of elementary school and feeds into academic gaps between the sexes. By eighth grade, 48 percent of girls receive a mix of A’s and B’s or better. Only 31 percent of boys do. Oh my, I thought as I got to this part.  That is quite a gap.  I wonder, however, does it cut across all subject areas?  Does this mean in math and science? Does this include computers and health?  What about girls who don't (according to some studies) answer as many questions? Does this happen in all schools?  Does it happen across all socioeconomic groups???????What is wrong with me?  I don't see this.  I see lots of fidgety girls and boys!
To put it another way, the American economy — for all its troubles (and all of the lingering sexism) — looks to be doing pretty well when you focus on girls. The portion of women earning a four-year college degree has jumped more than 75 percent over the last quarter-century, in line with what has happened in other rich countries. Median inflation-adjusted female earnings are up almost 35 percent over the same span, census data show — while male earnings, incredibly, haven’t risen at all. I really did not believe this at first.....but then I started, at least in my early morning mind, to argue that some, maybe most of that gain might be in "correction" after many years of earning far less! Then, I started to argue with myself and think that most of us do not see our kids, colleagues or friends with gender, race, or religion determined limits.

At college graduation ceremonies around the country this spring, women in caps and gowns will easily outnumber men. Seriously, I wondered, do boys finish later? What happens to them?  Is there also a gap coming out of HS?  Is it college problem or could it begin long before when they fidget as beginners. Why do girls fare better? Are girls less fidgety in other parts of the country?   
"....In today’s economy, being tough and being strong are not what leads to success.” Being tough and strong are important for resiliency I would think....but I must agree that is not what our schools are about is it.  Or, does the author mean physical strength?   
So thanks to some early morning reading of the NY Times online and thanks to some heavy duty thinking all day long, I looked at my students and pondered the facts vs. opinions in this text.  I must admit that at least among my students, FIDGETY is not a gender specific quality. They all seem to focus and learn best with differentiated instruction that focuses on hands on learning.  Perhaps, it's not about gender as much as it is about what we do in school to make sure all kids learn...but then I guess I am responding in an argument that would likely make the CCS gurus smile.  I am reading critically and thinking deeply.  I leave my reading with more questions than answers the way they would want it!