#sole17 Day 9 The Beast Sings Again

I liked the first, long-ago, animated, 90's, version so much I turned it (sort of) into a Parents as Reading Partners Kick Off Play, Beauty and the Book Beast.  The setting, of course, in a library!  The problem, of course, people were not borrowing the "boring old" books!

So when I began to see trailers for the new, soon to be released version, I got a bit excited.  There is something about the potential of a shameless love story. Then, I saw this movie trailer of Josh Groban singing Evermore pop up on Facebook, and I listened, and I cried as I know the heartbreak of losing someone you love.

Even as he/she runs away
He/she will still torment me
Call me, hurt m

Move me, come what may
Wasting in my lonely tower
Waiting by an open door
I'll fool myself,  he/she'll walk right in
And be with me for evermore

http://hellogiggles.com/josh-groban-beauty-beast-song/?utm_campaign=socialflowfacebook&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Fac

#sol17 Day 8 Stay Home or Go To Work?

I heard about the International Women's Day initiative as I was sipping my coffee and finding my space on the interstate.  "Oops," I thought, learning I was supposed to be staying home, not shopping and wearing red!  "Strike 1,strike 2, strike 3,"I thought, sipping Mobil on the Run Coffee while driving to work and wearing a new pink sweater!

Then, the news story continued to say that some stations decided to play songs ONLY written and sung by women while OTHER stations interpreted this day in the opposite way.  THEY decided to play only songs written and sung by males!  I smiled realizing there would be many ways to interpret this initiative!

To be honest, even if I had known about the initiative, I probably would have had my black coffee and gone to work today,  While I respect the choices some of you may have made to support respect, I have to take off from work my family is sick.  I have to take off from work when family joys, like my newest grandchild, and family sorrows, like my Aunt's broken femur, come along!  Not that anyone on the International Women's Day asked me, but I'd prefer to spend a few minutes of the day sharing about the impact of women in our society and how life has changed for women in the last century.  If I had a choice, I's prefer to SHOP!  If I had a choice, I

Long ago, my grandmother had to quit teaching when she got married!  Sounds crazy in an era when we talk about more - even if not still enough - leave options for new moms and dads. Long ago, when I was in grade school, girls did not wear pants to school!  Sounds silly now, but it was true not THAT long ago!

So next year, I would like a little more Facebook or Twitter publicity the day before so I can at least wear the color of the day and join in sharing the many juicy quotes about and by women! This year and next year as well, I hope we can all be respectful of the many challenging decisions women (and men) make every day to support their families, communities and careers.  Whether we stay out of the work and financial world in order for others to see our impact OR if we choose to make an impact by being visible at work, in our families and in our communities, in the words of an old commercial, "We've come a long way."

A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men." - Gloria Steinem

"The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all." -Aung San Suu Kyi

"There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish." - Michelle Obama
 

"In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders." - Sheryl Sandberg                           

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” Nora Ephron

#SOL17 Comments

"When I comment during this SOL Challenge, I always remember my first time.  It was March 1, 2012, and I was trying to figure out why I was feeling compelled to be write for people who would never read my words.....But I had a new tablet and wrote about it..

Late that first night,  Wendi Richert said, "your post really grabbed me! I love how you described messing with your new tablet and reluctantly putting it away to cook dinner."  

Then, a few minutes later, Elsie, who still writes and still inspires me connected with my fears and told me about how she had joined the SOL community the year before.  She assured me that this challenge, "Does change one- in a good way."

Then, when I had fallen asleep but was already thinking about my next post, Ruth Ayers thanked me for joining the community! 

I was so excited the next morning as I read their comments on my blog, I responded to THEIR comments, adding, "NOW I REALLY get how the kids feel when I respond to THEIR writing!"

There are a LOT of new slicers this year and having the community grow to over 300 makes responding to all the newbies challenging....but then I remember that this is part of MY challenge to PASS some encouragement FORWARD.   Certainly, our verbal and written comments can inspire ALL readers, writers, and in fact everyone we meet, each and every day! 

As a former assistant principal used to say every day, "Make it a good day!"  I really do hope it is a good day for you. 

  

#sol17 Day 6 Shoos and Gam Mees

"Ma ma," she said and pointed to her mom.
"Bi bi," she smiled and pointed to herself.
"Nooz," she continued, proudly pointing to her nose.
"Eeer," she continued on naming another body part because when you are just figuring out this talking thing, you can't practice too much.
"Ow si," she continue proudly pointing to the door and thinking someone once took her outside when she uttered those sounds.  It just might happen again..
"Shoo," she said proudly, just in case we forgot that you learned to walk so you could get sparkly zebra print shoes.
"Gam mee," she continued.  I wasn't sure what this meant without a video of what she was pointing to, so I didn't respond right away.

"That's right," her mom said proudly,"Grammy is on the phone. Where are you going," her mom wondered aloud as she toddled off waving good-bye?

But, Bi bi knew she had done her "job" for the moment.  She had added a word to her vocabulary and made her Gam mee's heart beat just a bit faster!

SOL17 The Beast

I liked the first, long-ago, animated, 90's, version so much I turned it (sort of) into a Parents as Reading Partners Kick Off Play, Beauty and the Book Beast.  The setting, of course, in a library!  The problem, of course, people were not borrowing the "boring old" books!

So when I began to see trailers for the new, soon to be released version, I got a bit excited.  There is something about the potential of a shameless love story. Then, I saw this movie trailer of Josh Groban singing Evermore pop up on Facebook, and I listened, and I cried as I know the heartbreak of losing someone you love.

Even as he/she runs away
He/she will still torment me
Call me, hurt m

Move me, come what may
Wasting in my lonely tower
Waiting by an open door
I'll fool myself,  he/she'll walk right in
And be with me for evermore

http://hellogiggles.com/josh-groban-beauty-beast-song/?utm_campaign=socialflowfacebook&utm_source=Social&utm_medium=Facebook

#SOL17 Day 5 Kindess at the Depot

As I wandered up and down the aisles looking for a very specific piece of hardware, my mind wandered to the possibility that a small service-oriented-I-will-get-it-for-you hardware store might still exist somewhere?

I was about ready to give up when I heard, "Can I help you?" An orange vest appeared and someone wanted to help,adding a whole new wrinkle to my dilemma and a renewed understanding of my students who struggle with academic language.  How do you ask for something when you do not know what it is that you you want?

"So, I have an old wooden storm door," I began, "and I need a hinge of some sort to secure the door does not open when it is pushed."  The words were not even out of my mouth and I knew I had not clarified my need, so I continued."See, when you are inside, you really have to fiddle with the handle to make sure it stays shut.  Right now, there is no way to lock it.   I want to put on something with a little bar to make sure it stays shut."


"I'm not quite sure what you want," he said looking as if I spoke another language.  "Maybe you could draw me a picture of what you want?  So I did and he smiled as he took me to the next aisle where there was a "top mounted door latch," just like in my mind! "How about this?"

I really was relieved, but my eyes filled with tears, as they do sometimes do when I am overwhelmed with how-to-take the next step on my new journey, one for which I did not study nor did I prepare. "Will this be hard to install," I asked my new orange-vested friend?

"I'm pretty sure we could find you a You Tube video," he smiled as he took out his I pad!  He pointed out a few critical steps in the tutorial and assured me I could do this one with a drill and a screw driver.  

On the way home to my storm door, I thought about the impact of acts of kindness and the power of those who go beyond the demands of their jobs to provide those of us who are outside our comfort zone.

So, today, I celebrate the small kindness of a random orange-vested gentleman who watched a 2 minute video with a teary customer.  He'll never need to know that my tears were not just because I was overwhelmed with installing a door latch; rather I have been overwhelmed with events in my life which I could not control and my stress-tear-thresh-hold is rather low.   Our paths are not likely to cross again, but I'm reminded of the potential of our actions and words to impact everyone we meet.

#sol17 Day 4 Slime

The Oxford Dictionary says slime is a moist, soft, and slippery substance, typically regarded as repulsive.  It claims synonyms should be ooze and muck.  I must respectfully disagree with this definition!
Science teachers might describe slime as a polymer, composed of very large chains of molecules that are composed of repeating units known as monomers. A single polymer molecule may comprise hundreds of thousands of monomers. The monomers may be identical, or they may vary. 
The In the past few months, since SLIME became the rage among the upper elementary set, I've used slime to teach reading and writing the "How To" genre to students who  were excited enough to show up two periods early for "reading club."  
I've used slime to encourage focus, persistence, and dedication as it really takes a long, long time to make some really great slime.  I've had students who avoid writing as if it were the plague, excitedly copy recipes and bring in suggestions for making it again!.  In fact, I thought, foolishly, that I as a bit of an expert of SLIME, formerly known to me as made-at-home-play-dough.
But, thanks to You-Tube video clips, I now know that you can make edible/inedible slime, slime with/without Borax, slime with/without cornstarch, slime with/without shaving cream, slime with/without shampoo.......  I now know that the possibilities for slime are endless.  I now know that slime has taken over the internet and may just be the most wonderful Friday night date imaginable!
My definition for slime would be: a magical substance that is messy and takes a lot longer than those You Tube videos suggest to make.  Slime makes kids of all ages happy and it's magical polymers are engaging and powerful.  Synonyms: fun, happy, magical.  Antonyms: repulsive.  Sorry Oxford dictionary; however, I must disagree with you on this one. 
Google: How to make slime or check out these resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVU9u8GNtH4
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjH0ojn_7zSAhWB6YMKHSJxAwUQtwIIHTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSATp0cgFoKU&usg=AFQjCNFh4PZmwIFxq1_is2oheMMZuGHUdg&sig2=T5zj-7wO_RWWD6DEdIrNLA&bvm=bv.148747831,d.eWE
https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters/articlesbytopic/solidsliquidsgases/chemmatters-dec2004-slime.pdf
https://www.reference.com/hobbies-games/make-slime-borax-abc489bbae1e810?qo=cdpArticles
https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEViknxrpYgDMA46MPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=How+To+Make+Slime+Youtube&fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt
https://www.reference.com/hobbies-games/make-green-slime-used-nickelodeon-game-shows-cd8af24e4e9ca711?qo=contentSimilarQuestions

#sol17 Day 3 Like a Coach

I must admit that adjunct "professors" in Graduate Schools of Education do not make a ton of money, just in case you might have been thinking of this as a get-rich-quick-gig.  Yet, the "gifts" and kernels of wisdom that emerge from my second job can only be compared to those I "earned" from teaching religion (CCD) to middle school students!  They are price-less!

Both groups of learners are exhausted when they get to you at the end of a long day. If they read their homework assignments, they really do not take the time (have the time) to reflect deeply. They sit in class hoping that you will talk and they can lull themselves to an-open-eyed-slumber; but, with a good stimulus or assignment, they are able to think-outside-the-box and make ME think deeply about life-long living and learning!

"So why did I ask you to read this article," I asked? "Turn to you small groups and talk."

"I was wondering why," one student responded quickly, " I never met a Literacy Coach!"

"I was wondering if she thinks teaching is like coaching?" someone asked the group.

"I was thinking that too," said someone in the other group as my turn and talk turned into a whole group talk-over, speaking about me as if I had left the room!

"Well I coach dancing and you show them again and again until they do it."

"I coach swimmers and I do that, too," someone said.

"You always just model and scaffold?" someone asked. "That must be how we all learn!"

"Until they have it and then you let your little birdies fly."

"I guess teaching teachers is like coaching!"

"Coaching is like teaching!"

"You tricked us into thinking," said one of them to me!

"I'm watching them start to flap their wings and it's only class # 5," I smiled to myself pretty sure some of them will remember this moment and make Coaching, Turning and Talking, and Making Connections part of their classrooms in the days, weeks and years ahead.

#sol17 Day 2 Let's Go

He waves his arms up and down as he croons, "OOoooooooOOOoooo," which I am sure is, "my Grammy has come to play."

He reaches for my hand while my coat is still on and places it gently on a tiny car.  "Vroom, vroom," he reminds me. "Let's play cars like we did when you came the last time. remember?"

A few minutes later, he grabs my hand, firmly, and places it on the door knob. "UuuuUuuuuu. Outside, please, Grammy," he says clear as a bell without every uttering any of those English words.

Then, he looks at me with eyes that sparkle with potential and clearly say, "Take me to the park, please,Grammy."

Then, while I hold his baby brother for a moment, he puts my shoes near the door.  "Let's go," he says with his smile as he takes my hand, again, and places it on my shoes.  "Let's go to the park so I can go up and down the stairs and turn that steering wheel pretending to drive an imaginary car."  

"There is so much we could do outside, right Grammy? Do you remember my watering bucket?  I could show it to you again. Do you want to see my broom?  Do you want to see some rocks? We could pick them up and put them in the bucket.  Remember? OoooOOOooooOOOOooo," he crooned.

It seemed as if his arms that speak so clearly as well as his that glisten with excitement and his voice, filled with his own temporary, approximations of English language, is offering our own version of a during-the-day-right-now let's get-outside-and-play-rewrite of Sandra Boyton's Good Night Moon.  While I'm not totally sure of the words running through his head, it might just be....

The sun is bright

But the days are short,

There is so much we could do

But we have to get outside 

While this day is still new.

I can run and play and hide.

You can too.

Let's run and run

Let's have fun in that sun...

I'm so glad you came to play,

Let's do this every day!

               

#sol17 Day1: I'm Excited

I put my computer next to my pillow, apprehensive that it would be hard to rise for an early morning post. Silly me.  I was awake at 2:30, 3:30 and then again at 4 thinking about my "all about me"  post.  I ran through formats to succinctly and creatively share who I am!

I'm Anita and during the school day, I work with young readers and writers who find decoding, encoding, and/or comprehending a bit challenging.  I've been doing this for quite a few years, but I still get excited/teary/energized when one of my flock breaks through the barriers and emerges as a stronger reader or writer. I might slice about them.

I'm very lucky that I also work with teachers who are refining and reflecting on their craft after school.  Trust me, it's a lot of work to stay current, reflect on my own practice and determine the kernels of research and our craft most worthy of discussion.  Sometimes I think I am wacky for fighting the traffic in the big city and putting so much time into this gig for so little money; however, I ALWAYS leave energized and excited about those who are newbies in my profession. I might slice about them.  

I'm fortunate that my "grown-up" children allow me glimpses into their lives and opportunities to relive the wonder and of course the angst that comes with navigating the hills and valleys of life. I'm thrilled to be "Grammy" to three little people who are just beginning their literacy journeys. Every word they echo, every book we share and every walk we take around the yard reminds me of the magic and excitement of learning and growing. I might slice about them.

I've always wanted to be a writer and have notebooks and clouds filled with books, short stories and yet-to-be-published-writing ideas. I might write about or share them.

I'm a niece, sister, cousin, auntie, friend, mentor, lover of words, and I've experienced love, loss, hills, and valleys on this journey through life.. I'm a fan of social media and its potential to connect our busy lives and provide glimpses into babies, toddlers, middle school and even first teaching experiences! I might write about them too.

I'm excited!  I can't wait to read your stories (after I shower, get gas for the car,  get coffee for me, go to school, teach little people, write a few progress reports, attend a faculty meeting....)......