#sol24 March 2 An Act of Love

Day 2 of the Two Writing Teacher Slice of Life Challenge

"Do you know Matilda?" she asked confident I would have no idea about the Roald Dahl classic.

"Matilda had just been published when I read it to your Mom," I said reflecting on that week, long ago, when Mono ravaged her Mom's body and I struggled to keep her Mom awake!  My mind wandered to a memory of that read-aloud. 

The little one continued talking about Matilda while my mind wandered to a long-ago after recess read aloud of Where the Caged Bird Sings in Ms. Huber's class. I caught glimpses of that read-aloud as I pushed into sixth grade for reading support; I had to borrow the book as I was as mesmerized as her students. '

I thought of that (last) read-aloud to my Dad, her great-grandfather, who was too weak to hold the newspaper (New York Times, Maureen Dowd). Then, as minds sometimes do, I thought about that last read-aloud to my brother, her great Uncle, who we knew would be gone before my article would be published (Including Matthew: Assessment Guided Instruction).

Those bittersweet read aloud memories were joined by a recent glimpse of a much loved newborn and her grandmother sharing a Madeline.  I could imagine the power of that read-aloud to plant seeds of love that will intermingle with roots from long ago, "...lived twelve little girls, in two straight lines..."

 

I thought about Kate DiCamillo who said something about reading aloud being an act of love.

“Reading aloud ushers us into a third place, a safe room, it’s a room where everyone involved, reader and the listener, can put down their defenses and lower their guard."

#sol24 March 1 Back, Again

 

I'm participating, again, in the Annual Slice of Life Challenge.

I was

Busy, worried, a wife, mother, sister, cousin, caregiver.

Making appointments, ordering groceries.

Fulltime teacher managing IEPs and reading programs,

Part-time Grad School teacher supporting Teachers,

Some days, I left home at 6 and returned at 11.

Lifelong learner embracing

Google, Wilson, Fundations, IEPs,

Exhausted commuter,

Hesitant, reluctant participant in 

March SOL Challenge

Year 1

I am 

 Proud Mom to wonderful adult children & spouses
 Blessed Meme to six amazing grandchildren,

Who are learning to talk, read, write, think, ride bikes,

Grateful teacher to newbie teachers,

Who are struggling with IEPs, reading curricula,

Lifelong learner embracing 

Aquacise, yoga, book clubs and pickleball,

Eager participant

Wordle, Connections, & Spelling Bee,

Longstanding participant in

March SOL Challenge,

Hesitant but excited?

Bring on Year 13!

#sol24 Before the SOL Challenge

 

Before the SOL Challenge begins

There will be 

Busy days and three sleeps.

There will be

Classes, workouts, dinners, laughs.

There will be 

Groceries, cleaning, laundry.

There will also be

Sunrises, sunsets, and a surgery.

My anxiety about accepting the SOL Challenge

Is about the same as the anxiety about the surgery!

Thinking About: Hamilton

Over the long weekend, I watched Hamilton thanks to Disney. I was grateful for the "bargain price" of 6.99 vs $$$$.  The music, the cast, and the historical-fiction-musical-infused perspective of America's story were worth the price! 

Lin Manuel Miranda's depiction of Hamilton as progressive and anti-slavery is not historically accurate; yet, the depiction of Hamilton and America's founding fathers as people with economic and political vision combined with a need for power and prestige is part of America's story.  The movie has spurred my thinking, reading and questioning!  

I knew Hamilton was an architect of our economy and was on $10 bills! I didn't know much else and so, many decades after my last history class, I started reading everything I could find about Hamilton and other founding fathers. 

https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Hamilton-Ron-Chernow/dp/0143034758https://www.ushistory.org/us/18b.asp#:~:text=Hamilton's%20vision%20for%20reshaping%20the,a%20more%20stable%20paper%20currency.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=2973

I've been reminded that Hamilton authored many of the Federalist papers that proposed 3 branches of government and he, as well as most if not all of our founding fathers were owners of slaves even while penning documents that "All men are created equal."  

I've been reminded about the power of controversy to spur reading, thinking and learning. If only we could inspire our students with books, films and talk so they want to know more about prejudice, racism, sexism, immigration, privilege, climate change, pollution, health care, education, welfare, critical thinking......so they can be a part of the change in the  course of our nation's story....

SOL#2015 Good Luck: You're Gonna Need It!

Last February, overwhelmed with awareness that our days are limited and determined to find joy in our days, we decided to go on a grand adventure!  We made reservations, promised to remember, and looked ahead.

This February, overwhelmed with endless snow and care-giving, fully aware of bad knees, crackling backs, aging bodies, and ebbing energy, we could have reconsidered this plan and headed to a pampering spa, instead. Yet, the pull of this grand adventure was stronger than the many reasons to not go.

Those "two little words" reverberated in my head as I got new hiking boots.  I went with beautiful blue ones, rather than sturdy leather ones.  These new books will likely not last a lifetime, but I will likely not be headed on this adventure again.  So, "Why not," I thought.  I went with a bright red day pack rather than use my old gray one thinking, "Why not?"  When I had all but given up hope on the care-giving front, some divine intervention must have taken place and a new care-giver arrived on the scene ready and able to provide mid-week support. "Why not?" I said to myself once again. Even as another ominous storm appears to roll up the coast threatening our flight, there were forecasters assuring us that it would be only 1-3.  So, "Why not?" I said to myself once again

So, when SOL posts pop Tuesday morning, I will be off on a grand adventure. I have those new boots, poles and even a head lamp (my partner in crime says I will need this) packed.  We have water bladders (? seriously), waterproof jackets, ice packs, and knee braces. We'll also pack a few books, because after all we are "Reading Teachers" and that is what we do when we are on "vacation." We're as ready as we will ever be for this grand adventure.  Why not?

It helps to be a bit philosophical about this crazy, grand adventure. "People older than us have done this! How bad can it be?"  "Life is filled with challenges and adventures, the grand and wondrous ones are the most scary and yet the most worthwhile."

As we prepared for this school-break, there was discussion of plans.  Usually I talk about cleaning closets and crafting.  Usually I sigh as I listen to talk of warm destinations and skiing adventures. This year I had plans that were a bit out of the ordinary and so we took a virtual hike!

One young student patted me on the shoulder as he left (probably for a week at Disney) saying, "Good Luck," and then adding, sincerely, with a smile, "you're gonna need it."  I smiled appreciating his concern but thinking to myself, "You have to take some risks along the trail of life if you want to live life to its full potential. Why not hike the Grand Canyon this week?"

PS If I can find the guts to carefully take out my camera along the trail, I'll take some pictures to prove that we make it.  If not, you'll just have to "trust" my stories just like I'm trusting that I'm gonna be fine!  

#celebratelu At That Moment

photo from Google images, not my phone!  

If my day is off to a good start, I reach a milepost on the Interstate as Charles Osgood shares his Osgood File.  I was right on schedule the other day when he started talking about one of the top wide receivers in the country, Malcolm Mitchell, who was reading things he never dreamed he could read and was eagerly participating in a book club consisting of 40-50-60 year old women! http://osgoodfile.com/  (You Can't judge a Book By It's Cover, September 17, 2014)

I work with kids who find reading challenging, so my focus was heightened.  I took a mental note of the name thinking maybe I'd try  to get a picture and create a bulletin board about him...or maybe I could get him to autograph a picture and offer it as a reading incentive....but the last thing I remember about the Osgood File that day was something about football coming naturally to him, ...a gift....unlike reading....he had to work hard to read.....

It was a good thing my mental acuity had been heightened because at that moment, traveling with the pack well above the speed limit, a little black car right next to mine began to enter my space. Somehow, I knew I could not move left as another car was in that slot.  He or she was not looking and my heart began to beat outside of my chest. Somehow, I placed the palm of my hand firmly onto my steering wheel and laid into the horn as if pressing harder would somehow create a magic bubble around my own silvery transporter.  Yet, he kept coming, and while I pumped my brakes and hoped the guy or gal behind me was also experiencing a moment of enhanced acuity, I saw, for a moment, my life, my future, my hopes, and my dreams vanish.

Somehow, at the very last possible moment, with only a sliver of space between us, the black car corrected his course.  Perhaps he or she had been talking on the phone or maybe even texting (although for the life of me I cannot figure out HOW someone could do that at 70+mph on a crowded interstate no less). Perhaps he or she was entranced by the sunrise where fuchsia encased clouds were surrounded by gold fringe.  Perhaps he or she was listening to another radio station!

Thanks to Charles, Malcolm and a Guardian Angel or two, or three, the rest of my trip was uneventful.  I finished sipping my coffee as I stopped at the light nearest to school and marveled that I had made it to school on schedule.  I celebrated small not always acknowledged moments of the day like lunch duty!  I celebrated Open House where I assured parents that sometimes learning to read is hard work, but working together, miracles happen, every day.

I made it to today and I really need to acknowledge Charles, Malcolm and Guardian Angels, everywhere, who not only were hard at work at that moment, but who were also using their gifts, helping small miracles to happen for so many, all week, in all the corners of my life. 

http://www.ruthayreswrites.com/

I Won't Ask You To Do Something I Wouldn't Do

I've asked my going to be master teachers to reflect on and write about some aspect of their own literacy learning .  It seems like such as an easy task, and yet they will go through the complex process of selecting a topic, determining a focus, finding a small moment of time, drafting, revising, rewriting, editing and sometimes, even discarding and starting over.  They will do the work they ask their students to do!  I too am writing about some of those who have shaped on my own literacy learning journey.

I worked hard to make sure everything I did for Mrs. Peters was perfect.  At night, she filled boards with impeccably written chalk tasks for us to complete each day.  Then, she sat at her desk and corrected work glaring over her glasses at anyone who dared to disturb the quiet.  I dreaded being called to her desk where certainly, you would be berated for handwriting deficiencies, calculation imperfections, or wrong answers. I dreaded read-around the room.  I dreaded raising my hand and asking the whole class if I could use the bathroom!  Yet, from Mrs. Peters, I began to learn what kind of a teacher I didn't want to be.

There were lots of great models along the way, like Mr. Jackson.  I would have done anything for him!  He always had a "point of praise" and shared a "point of growth" on anything you did.  He shared bits of his own life and modeled (what a novel idea) what he wanted those biology lab write ups to be!  We lived biology that year and I began to wonder if I should be a doctor when I grew up.  I loved that we "turned and talked" during his class!  I learned more than I needed to know about the subject and that I could make mistakes as well as about the kind of a teacher I wanted to be.  

I've taken more courses in person, on video-tape (remember that?) and online than I can count.  I've read more books, attended more workshops, watched more peers, and reflected on the process of literacy teaching and learning for the better part of years of my life.  The more I learn, the more questions I have and the more I realize I will never know it all!  

Yet, it was on the sidelines of a lacrosse (or perhaps it was a football) field, where I began to understand that effective teachers really serve more as coaches of learning.  Have you ever watched an effective coach carefully?  What they do is really hard and yet totally magical at the same time!  They first make certain their players are immersed in the sport, the plays and the options.  They spend time encouraging bonding, film viewing, and building muscle memory.  They demonstrate again and again and yet again through their own modeling and through mentor texts and videos the moves of effective players.    

Effective coaches do not expect their players to go into the game without trying out plays and positions. They make sure their players are fully engaged in playing the sport!  Even if a win is unlikely by most wise spectators' expectations, coaches expect players to give it 100% and maybe, even to win!  Finally, but perhaps most importantly, effective coaches give effective feedback. They pat players on their helmets if they have done their best even if their approximation of the play was far from perfect!  They don't waste time and airspace with empty words of praise like, "That was great." They clearly tell their players what they did right and what they did wrong.  They find words to encourage after defeat and words to celebrate what worked and what didn't.    

Along my own literacy journey, I've realized that reflective life-long learners learn not only what they don't want to be but also what they do want to be!   Effective teachers realize that everything they say and do can impact those they are coaching.  Effective teachers demonstrate, immerse, engage, encourage, and provide feedback as their students engage in real life reading, writing, listening and speaking activities. We know our actions, models, and words matter. 

Mastering the Teaching Game

Mastering the Teaching Game

Over on Edutopia this week, Tomlinson shared a post, Mastering the Teaching Game.  It's a good one for this time of year as we "gear up" and "psych up" for a new year with new challenges and all the potential that new learning can offer.

I spent some time in the past few days setting up my room.  There is a lovely, inviting reading area and the charts and books are ready to go.  While it may not be Pinterest worthy, I think it looks inviting and enticing.....and I was proud of how it looks.....and thinking I was all set.....until I read this article and was reminded that we also need to prepare our HEADS and our HEARTS to teach......and to learn.......it's not just about pretty spaces and images.....

This article, which you really should read, is based on a successful tennis coach, Coach Groeneveld, because as we all know, what teachers REALLY DO is to COACH learning!

"All human beings can achieve far more than they believe they can."

"Success comes from the desire to work hard to achieve a goal." 

"It's not enough to only teach skills."

"Make sure the player [student]takes responsibility for his or her decisions."

 
"Being a good coach [teacher]means dissecting the player's [student's] game"

"When there is resistance from a player [student], don't take no for an answer." 

"There's no single way to coach [teach]players [students]."

Reaching ALL Readers (Sight, Phonics and other Approaches)

I've spent a good deal of my adult life guiding, supporting and helping others find the joy and wonder in the printed word.  Sometimes, learning to read appears to happen like magic; however, there were years of experiences that serve as a foundation to the miracle of reading! 

Sometimes, learning to read is hard; however, if parents and teachers carefully analyze a student's relative strengths and needs, all students can learn to read.    

For many students, the "need" is opportunities to learn the phonetic code.  Programs like Fundations have made their fortune out of teaching the code.  Learning the complex ways that sounds can work in English offers all of us the means to read words and ideas we do not yet know.  While that may not seem like something we need, it does allow us to read scientific terms as well as names and the ideas of others outside of our experiences.  Some findings suggest students with language, speech and articulation difficulties, including apraxia of speech, may benefit from this type of approach.

Yet for other students, the need is opportunities to learn a fund of sight words.  There is some research that suggests diverse students benefit from structured sight based approaches. Students with Downs Syndrome as well as students with significant hearing/speech/articulation difficulties may benefit from a fund of sight words that can serve as a base for their own understanding of the code. I wrote about some of that research in this article http://journals.cec.sped.org/tecplus/vol5/iss3/art3/
Other students just find comfort in the predictable and repeated words that are found in sight word based programs such as these.

Some readers benefit from Language Experience approaches too!
Someresources to think about as we all prepare to return to school and face the need to teach ALL children to be readers!

• http://journals.cec.sped.org/tecplus/vol5/iss3/art3/
• http://pridelearningcenter.com/2013/01/29/childhood-apraxia-of-speech-and-reading-help/
• http://ereadingpro.com/ProductSeries-IWLD.htm
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3251281/
• Supporting Individuals with Down syndrome and other ... - DSAW
• www.dsaw.org/Data/Sites/3/media/resources/peer.../a11took-kit.pdf
• READING PROGRAMS/HELPFUL WEBSITES ... and for older non-verbal children ... grades 1-3 and 4-6 with games, sight words, teacher links, kids links and

• http://www.down-syndrome.org/practice/349/practice-349.pdf
• [PPT] Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome 
• www.dsgsemi.org/pdf/TeachingReadingtoChildrenwithDS08.ppt 

• Providing Effective Literacy Instruction to Students With Down ...

  www.bsnpta.org/.../VOL.36NO.4MarApr2004_TEC_Al_Otaiba36-4.pdf

During the toughest of times, just breathe

I was folding laundry late in the day when the clear sound of something awry,"THWAP," urged me to check it out.  "I bet its that screen door," I thought as I went to investigate, my arms laden with laundry.   Yet the screen door was shut, so I continued with chores until during one trip up and down the stairs, I realized that my husband was holding a shovel and staring at what appeared to be a small, gray-deader-than-a-doorknob bird on our patio! "He must have flown into the house," my husband said quietly, "but he is not dead!!  I looked closely, through the screen and indeed he was breathing. slowly. I must admit I found myself thinking of my father who loved to watch the birds tease the squirrels from his kitchen window.

Assuming nature would take her course, we ate dinner and did a few more chores before checking on our guest, who was was still lying there, breathing slowly but regularly.  I must admit I found myself remembering those long summer evenings, not so long ago, watching my father lying on his side breathing slowly and wondering if each one would be his last.

In the morning, the first thing we both checked was Birdie who amazingly had survived the perils of the night and was sitting up!  "He must have had the wind knocked out of his sails," my husband muttered, "but I'm guessing he'll be breakfast for the cats if he sits there long!"  We watched him slowly hop short distances and occasionally attempt to flutter his wings.  We left slid water through the screen door and left bread crumbs nearby.  He seemed unconcerned with our presence and phone-photos.  He appeared rather consumed with his recovery as he hopped around the patio, slowly but surely defying nature. We watched him, from afar, and cheered his progress still wondering how he would ever defy the forces of nature stacked against him.  Yet in due time, he quietly flapped his wings, slowly, and like a tiny 747, without looking back, he flew away. I smiled and celebrated his miraculous recovery. I must admit I found myself thinking of my father's perseverance through adversity, even when others had "thrown in the shovel" as I watched him fly into the woods. I wonder if the Central Message is this: During the really tough days, just breathe?  

#celebratelu2014 End of yearitis

It happens every year! 

 It's nearing the end of the school year in these parts and so the ritual of filling folders, cleaning files and running at full throttle is in full swing.  There are numerous picnics, writing celebrations and more "moving up" days than I can count.  This week, there will be graduations and curriculum rewriting will commence K-12 as soon as the graduates walk across the stage! On the one hand, we should ALL (kids and teachers) be exhausted and should be limping our way towards summer vacation; however, it never seems to be that way!  Instead, this week, I celebrate "The End of Yearitis." 

Perhaps you have never heard it named before, but if you are a student or a teacher or live with either one,you have experienced that energy surge that borders on mania that accompanies the end of each school year.  There is a bit of the "Bob the Builder" I can take on the world feeling that causes individuals to begin projects that would have been seen as  impossible just weeks before! 

Some clear signs of it were evident this week:

• More than one of my reluctant readers and writers showed up each morning with "made at home" writing creations.  In their own way, they are reflecting on the year and trying to savor the memories.  They have been listening and learning even when we thought they weren't.  Now, as the sun sets in this school year, they are filled with energy to write! Why, I wonder?  It's the end of yearitis.
• Parents are clamoring for books, ideas, suggestions, worksheets for their kids for the summer.  They have been assured by their children, who are suffering from end of yearitis, that they are eager to read every day this summer. Yes, some students who have been reluctant readers for the past 190 days are just clamoring to get at those piles of books their parents are stockpiling!  Why, I wonder?  It's the end of yearitis
• It's not that I don't have anything to do for school, like progress reports to edit, but I found myself recovering cushions for the porch this week!  I also cleaned out a closet! Why, I wonder?  It's the end of yearitis!  
• My son, a teacher, must have a particularly bad case this year as evidenced by his Depot visit yesterday! As the mania, now known as end of yearitis kicks in, he can certainly build fine furniture, take on home repair, and become a master chef!      
• As for me?  Yes I have it bad, too. When I found out that I would be moving classrooms, again, I began singing and dancing to Johnny Cash's "Going Down Down Down...." and the old 70's sitcom theme, "Moving On Up!" Moving, again, no problem!  I can pack 'em up, ship 'em out like Elizabeth Montgomery on Bewitched!  I have plans to write, read, sew and oh yes, clean up the mess I made sewing those cushions!   
•  It's a glorious feeling, this end of the yearitis! 

                       

 

#SOL14 Gold Stars

I started teaching during the days when the scars of the Vietnam War were still raw. Some of my students were "bused in" from nearby Southeast DC due to another socio-political war that raged in our country back then.  Some of my students had family ties to the military base and talked of planes landing late at night and MPs who came knocking at doors. Some of my students came from the nearby affordable-public housing complex, and that is where Zachary (name changed) and his mom lived. 

I can remember the abundant silky curls that framed his face and his eyes, so distant, at times.  I remember his mom, who did not look like him but consistently picked Zachary up, every day.  We were close in age yet far apart in experiences.  I was a young eager teacher trying to learn class management and curriculum while she, a young widow, was figuring out how to continue living after the greatest of losses and how to raise a son who looked like, but would never know his dad.   

I gave out "gold stars" on well done papers back in those days.  There was a lot of paperwork in the teaching-learning process back then, so the stars were reminders that I valued all of the students' work.  I remember that Zachary was particularly drawn to gold stars.  I was too glad the war was over and too busy trying to survive as a new teacher to stop and think about the potential significance of the gold stars.  

Back in those days, following a war many did not agree with, their sacrifice was quiet and never discussed. Back in those days, I didn't even know about the Gold Star Club of mothers, wives and children who gave more than their share in wars long ago, and through today.  Older and wiser, today I pray for Zachary and for his Mom, wherever they might be.  I wish I had acknowledged their sacrifice.  As we stop to acknowledge the sacrifices of so many, I stop to pray for all the many mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and children impacted by the loss of life in conflicts far away or nearby, long ago and on more recent days. 

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.  

#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!  

Spring Reading: The Digital Gap Reading Today Online

So, in between some Spring Cleaning, I did a bit of Spring Reading on the first day of Spring Break.  In this week's Reading Today Online http://www.reading.org/reading-today/digital/post/engage/2014/04/11/new-digital-tools-new-matthew-effects#.U0kVePldXTq

Paul Morsink writes about the challenge of digital gaps in our classrooms. 

At first, all I could really think about was my own personal technology challenge: will it work?
Then, I almost "poo pooed" the article thinking that kids are INTUITIVE with this technology stuff.  It's just us old adults who find it hard, right? Yet, if you stop to think about it, our students do NOT have a level technology playing field.  The real challenge, even now, is how we can avoid a technology equivalent to the Matthew effects.  How can we help students who fall behind in this area because of their exposure or because, for them, it is hard?
This is an article that makes you stop and think about how we all avoid what does not come easy to us!  
This article makes me stop and think about how some day, in the not so distant future, there may be Technology Intervention Services for students who struggle in that domain.   

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Ruth Ayres writes: Rescued {2 of 40 Stories}

When I share a post on this blog, it is as much for ME to remember and find it as it is to shared.  THis one is meant for both.  No matter who you are...
ruth ayres writes: Rescued {2 of 40 Stories}: Click here for the back story. I know what it's like to have prayed so long for a baby that you can't pray for it anymore. ...

Celebrating: Around the Table Edition

 

“I'm going slowly," commented one of the eaters who was offered another lightly-corn-flour-battered-bit of squid..  "On the way up, I was reminded that this is a marathon," she smiled, "and not a sprint to the finish line."

"That's a good plan," replied a relatively new member of the eating squad, "last year I was full before we sat down to the main course!  You have to pace yourself."

"It's my favorite meal of the year," said one of the veterans as he eagerly rubbed his hands together.  He added confidently, "I'm ready.  Let the eating begin."  I noticed an expression on this man-child's face traditionally reserved for little kids on Christmas morning!

As I manned the dishwasher and the pots of fresh zuppa di pesce sauce, I listened to the happy family banter around the mini-fish fryer.  I smiled at the new-to-the "family" tradition, manned by a  family-member who claims corn-flour expertise after just a couple of attempts.  At one point, my mind drifted to my own childhood where the "meat-less" meal was simpler, canned clams in homemade chowder, yet made with just as much love. At another point, my mind drifted to my sister-in-law's kitchen, where my shorts-clad nephew shoveled bags of clams and mussels into a vat of sauce. Empowered by memories, I embraced the magic of a special evening that intermingled  remnants of tradition with new voices and foods.

None of us speaks Italian, most of us have roots in Northern Europe, some of us eat gluten-free, and others must avoid shellfish.  We choose to not cook salt cod (bacala) and I did not make crab stuffed flounder (although it is on next year's request list).  We included a new favorite tapenade and some wonderful smoked salmon in our appetizers.  This year, our fish variety was bit excessive (shrimp cocktails, smoked salmon, fried calamari, fried shrimp, fried oysters, baked salmon, sautéed scallops, mussels, clams, cod, calamari and scungilli over pasta); however, we had only small portions of each so there was not much left over!

It's important to celebrate traditions, even though the people who started them have passed on.  It's important to celebrate even though each of us has worries, concerns, and stressers.  It's important to celebrate even though the memories may bring tears. It is important to celebrate even though the tastes and smells at the table change. In spite of eggplant tapenade (which my mother-in-law would have loved) and a light and fluffy chocolate mousse (replacing cheese cake) , we celebrated the way Italian-American families have celebrated for a hundred years, around the table.  

SOL 2013 A Slice of Christmas Eve

We encourage our writers (kids) to reread and reflect on their writing from the previous year as they start a new unit of study.  For the most part, my students look at me like I have two heads when I ask them what they might do to improve last year's piece!  Yet, revision IS writing, so, while I did not plan to just revise to "save time" during this busy time of the year, I am doing some revision making last year's December 24th entry, which was a revision to the year before's entry, to make this week's SOL more succinct!

I could beat myself up, 

I should have baked more, earlier,

Created personal, hand-crafted gifts,

Shopped at local merchants, craft fairs.

I suspect that on that first Christmas,
Mary, too was not quite ready,

Yet, she was prepared in her heart.

In reality, 

None of us really needs perfectly decorated, home-made cookies,
(don't worry, I made a few, but they are not perfect)

None of us needs perfectly wrapped, show-stopping gifts,
(don't worry, there are a few things under the tree,, even if they are not personally crafted) 

It's peace, understanding, love, patience, kindness, hope, and joy,
We want and need,
In our world, our families, our hearts.

So, 

Even if you have more shopping and baking, to do,

You're worried about logistics, traveling, seeing everyone,
Your loved ones are scattered here and there,

Your plans have had to change, 
Your heart is heavy, 
Your future is blurry,

 

I wish you a patiently-waiting, Christmas Eve, 

A joyously celebrated Christmas Day
(if you celebrate)

A season of peace, understanding, love, 
patience, kindness, hope, and joy,
(No matter what you celebrate!)

#Celebrate December 14th Edition

It's a bit hard to celebrate this morning, as the memories of last year, the Sandy Hook tragedy, come flooding back. Children, teachers, administrators were lost in a blink of an eye.  Families, schools, communities were changed forever in a moment of madness. All of us who work with or care about children and teachers were changed in some way by the events of last year.  Yet, there are some changes in our children, schools and families that have occurred that are worthy of celebration.

1. Our schools are safer than ever before.  More, better, different, thought out security systems are in place in schools everywhere.  We do not assume that things will be OK because we are in elementary schools anymore.  It's not perfect, nor will it ever be perfectly safe, but it is better.    

2. Our children are kinder than ever before.  We're ever more watchful of bullying, name calling, and the tribulations of childhood.  We do not accept or allow any form of harassment.  It's not perfect, nor will it ever be, but it is better.  

3. Our prayers are louder than ever before.  We pray that parents, teachers will work closely with those in the mental health field to help and support depression, obsessions, and metal health issues.  We pray that someday, soon, we can provide, offer, and accept mental health interventions whenever they are needed. It's not perfect yet, nor will it ever be, but it's a little better.  

Today, on this day of remembrance, celebrate by holding those you treasure a little closer.  Celebrate with words and acts of kindness.  Celebrate by doing something to make this world a little better for someone.