Just Thinking

When I woke up this morning, I honestly thought today was the thirtieth, not the thirty-first. So this is it. I made it. I knew the challenge would be demanding and it was. And just like last year, participating in the SOL experience changed who I am as a teacher, learner, and writer. I was stunned to see all the new slicers this year. Throughout this challenge, one thought kept flitting around my brain. I wish there was a way for slicers to meet up. I would love to be able to connect with other slicers in person. I had this crazy thought that there could be a slicer’s conference or retreat. Just thinking. 

Mini Rant or I'm Glad I Got That Off My Chest

Lots of people clawing at me right now. Every time I turn around, someone needs something or wants something.(Do I hear weeping violins?) Okay, it isn’t every time I turn around but I still want to crawl in a hole and hide. Do you ever get so tired that you worry that you aren’t safe to drive? I’ve been at that point several times this month. I keep thinking of a post tezzie828 from Thoughts from a Reader, Writer,Surfer wrote about being overwhelmed. Her post made me feel like I wasn’t alone and it was okay to admit it. I admit it. I’m overwhelmed. My spinning plates are wobbling. I’ve had to let some important ones fall and I’m frustrated. Actually, that last sentence isn’t really honest. The only reason they fell is because I put them up there to begin with. Do I really need to spin that many plates?  I don’t have to live my life like a hamster in a wheel. I don’t. Things need to change. Seven more days until spring break. 

Thankful Thursday

Getting the Resume Done

My digital resume is coming along. As usual, I had to take a straightforward task and turn it into a full-scale production. Examining my professional journey has been good for me. Like any other piece of writing, I tend to create and write a lot then go back and whittle away based on my audience and purpose. I chose to create a resume blog. It is basically a home page with a single post and tabs across the top. When readers select the Experience tab, they are lead to a page that links them to an interactive timeline I created in timeglider. I’m pleased with the results even though I’m not quite finished with it. When I zoomed out and looked at my timeline as a whole, I could see how much I have changed and grown along the way. I also included a tab titled, Personal Learning Network. When readers select this tab that can view a mind map I created in bubbl us. It shows how reading professional blogs and creating my own blog has transformed my professional development. I feel like I’m about half-way finished. My deadline is Sunday. No more excuses.

This is a draft of my mind map created in bubbl us. Pretty cool that
  you save your maps as jpg's and also print them out on a single page. 

One Little Word: Thread

Whenever I examine my thread jar, I usually think of my Grandma Marion. Most of the thread in the jar came from her sewing box. As I look at her thread, I wonder what she made with it. Did she sew a teenager's taffeta prom dress or a wool suit or new chintz curtains for her kitchen window? My grandma always had an ongoing list of projects. And she knew how to finish what she started. Not much fiddling around when there were things to get done. Sometimes when I procrastinate, I can feel her gentle nudging, a hand on my shoulder reminding me that I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. Grandma Marion had a talent for getting rid of what she no longer needed. She must of had a purpose for the spools that ended up in my jar or she would have gotten rid of them. It wasn’t that she was highly organized or rigid. Grandma just had a way of clearing the clutter so she could get her to do list done. If she could see my desk at school right now, she would do more that give me a gentle nudge. Knowing her, she’d pull up the waste basket and start filling it. Maybe I should take my thread jar to work with me for inspiration.

On Becoming A Blogger

I've been thinking about how much I have changed as an educator in the last 13 months. Terje's post from Just for a Month about her online writing fears really hit home for me. I remember being scared to death to start a Google account so I could comment on blogs. It seems so silly now but it didn’t feel silly then. I still wish I could motivate just one of my co-professionals at school to leap into the blogosphere with me. So far, no luck. I completely get that blogging is a personal choice, not something I would try to coerce or guilt someone into. Still, I would like to encourage teachers to take this powerful leap. I tried to think back about what specifically prompted me to start blogging. For me, it was random. I found Two Writing Teachers by chance, just a few weeks prior to the 2011 SOL Challenge. Ruth’s words about starting a blog resonated with me and that was all it took. What pulled you to start blogging? Do teachers you work with blog also?

Timeline Web Tools

I’ve been working on my resume for a couple of weeks. Actually, I’ve been thinking about my resume for a couple of weeks and I finally forced myself to get started on it. Since my position as a literacy coach has been eliminated for the coming school year, I wanted to create a resume that was flexible enough to use for any variety of positions that may happen to become available. I’ve played around with numerous web tools that I could use in addition to a traditional paper resume format. I ended up deciding to create a resume blog in Blogger. Right now I am adding page tabs across the top with titles such as Education, Experience, Leadership, and Goals. I wanted to create and embed a timeline into the Experience page and experimented with several tools. I first tried out Tiki-Toki which is visually stunning and very easy to use. The only problem is that in order for me to embed a timeline I create, I have to pay a minimum fee of $6.00 per month. Scratch that. Then I tried Timeglider. It had the features I wanted and I could create up to 3 timelines for free and embed them into my resume blog. But, it wasn’t as intuitive as Tiki-Toki. Still not satisfied, I tried Dipity. I thought I had found exactly what I was looking for. It was super easy to use, I liked the look of the timelines, and I could embed what I created. I played with it a bit and found that when the timeline was displayed, it was covered with ads. Yuck. If I wanted to pay an extra $5.00 per month, my timeline would be ad free. No thanks. I’m too cheap. So I ended up back with Timeglider as my choice. It will take me more time to figure out how to use it but for now, it is the timeline web tool that best fits my purposes. 

Thinking in Color and Images

Over two thirds of the way through and I’m dragging and pulling myself to write and post. I’m not running out of ideas. It’s the discipline part that is the toughest for me. But in one of my avoidance tangents, I created a handy dandy writing idea notebook in Lino It which I love playing around in. In fact, I was feeling guilty about spending time personalizing it, organizing it, and adding to it. But isn’t that how a writer’s notebook is supposed to function? I’ve come to realize just how motivated my mind is with images and color. Images help conjure memories and ideas. I write in images. I organize in images. Does that sound weird? I have a habit of always wanting to see the whole so I can fit in all the bits of my thinking. My brain loves Lino It. I tend to be a stacker. I can visualize my stacks. My Lino canvases work the same way. I can visualize a canvas with my sticky notes on it. It has proven to be a very effective tool for keeping track of where I get ideas for posts. I like being able to easily give credit to other bloggers for writing ideas and provide a back link. When that, “Oh my, what will I write about for my next post” feeling washes over me, I go to my Lino ideas canvas or one of my other canvases and reread my stickies. Then the discipline thing kicks in. Since there isn’t much time to hem and haw over a topic, I pick one and get going. And as I am writing, if I get a new idea, I just post it on my ideas canvas and move on. Then I can go back and organize them later. I especially like my canvases that look like notebook pages. I took a photo of a blank page in a notebook, saved it as a jpg, and uploaded it as a background. Below are links to some of my canvases.

Notebook Page 4

Notebook Page 1

Ideas I've Posted

Thankful Friday

Ten Things I Am Grateful For 

It Takes Guts

Tomorrow, all teachers across our district will attend a day long in-service at their own building focusing on school improvement. Planning and preparing for the day started with looking at all kinds of data. A core group of teachers gathered current state assessment data. And in Michigan, our state assessment is given in the fall so we just received recent, if you call October recent, scores to analyze.  Local assessment data was also collected. In addition to numbers, we used what I like to call, our teaching guts. Using our guts was actually quite formative. In my position as a coach, I am a listener, a watcher, but NEVER an evaluator, which is the job of an administrator. Because I am not an evaluator, I was able to watch how students responded to instruction in the classrooms I’m working in. Without judgment, I could attend to teachers as they talked about student progress and what they wondered about. I watched how administrators responded to teacher thinking. Then I rolled all those observations together with all the junk rattling around my brain. The other Title teachers and I were charged with the exciting task of narrowed bits of state data so teachers could quickly see trends and then translate those trends into instructional practice. And somehow make it relevant for teachers of all grade levels and special subject areas. Sounds pretty dull to me. Actually, I’m lying because I love digging into data but I know it is a yawner for lots of teachers. The test results of our student writers will be the focus of what I have to help present. Honestly, our student achievement in writing is nowhere near where it should. And our school is not alone. 

Family Reading Night

My book making table at my school's Family Reading Night was a hit! As you can probably tell, we had a tropical luau theme to the evening. I was amazed at how many students were so excited to make a book about whatever they wanted. Several of the kids wrote about their parents.  I could tell the adults were quite touched when they read their child's book. Almost every student took extra blank books home to write even more. I think this counts as a writing celebration. Thanks for all of your great ideas! I'm already thinking about next year.

Kids and parents writing books! You can't see it but
there is an author board at the end of the table. After
the writers finished their books, they signed the board.

Ahhh, nothing like a good beach read.

These friends know how to relax at the beach. By the end
of the night, I was ready to take a nap too. :)

Wondering About Sam

This list was inspired by a funny “I Wonder” list by Stacy at TheMotherShip.

Wondering About Sam

I wonder when she will cease killing every piece of technology that she touches.

I wonder if she will come to know her parents as people.

Me and Sam. :)

I wonder where she will end up living when she gets out on her own.

I wonder when her dreams will come true.

I wonder if she will ever quit fighting with her curls.

I wonder if she will get a little less messy as an adult.

I wonder when and if she will have children of her own (no hurry).

I wonder what her happiest memories are from when she was little.

I wonder what she thinks of me.

I wonder what she thinks of herself.

Come on Fog!

“Hey, Mom.”

“Yeah.”

“Look outside,” said my smiling son.

It was after 10:00 pm and we had just finished watching Ohio University make it into the sweet sixteen. He should have been in bed earlier and I should have been in bed too but Sunday evening seemed to bring a last minute to do list. When I looked outside, I saw it. Fog. I started smiling too. This could be our last chance for a school delay in a year without one missed day or delay due to our unusually mild winter season.

“Wear your pajama pants backwards and put a spoon under your pillow,” I told my 15-year-old jokingly.

“You don't think I'll do it, do you?"

With that, he bounded down the stairs. I could hear the silverware draw open. He fetched two spoons from the tray and back up the stairs he came, taking two at a time. He appeared in my office doorway, a spoon in each hand and his plaid pajama pants on backwards. He looked at me earnestly and handed me a spoon. And yes, I did put it under my pillow. 

Update 5:15 Monday morning: It worked!

They Could Make Books!

Our elementary school of 1200 students is one of the largest in the state of Michigan. So many kids. So many teachers. And so many parents. It is a significant challenge to foster a sense of community and neighborhood in a 2-building campus of this size. Every year during March, our school has several events to celebrate Reading Month. Family Reading Night is coming up this Tuesday. Since last year was my first year in the school, I wasn't quite sure how to contribute to this event so I hung back and sort of watched how things worked. I looked for an activity that I could set up as a station and could accommodate all the kids and their family members that typically attend. I decided to create a book making table. I’ve been busily making simple paper books of various sizes. This has proved to be an excellent activity to do while sitting on the deck during the day and watching basketball in the evening. Since there is a luau theme for the event, I am planning on heading to Hobby Lobby to search for a grass skirt to go around my table. And maybe I could decorate a science board in case anyone wants to display the books they create. Ideas anyone????

So This Is What Spring Is Like?

Last year's residents of the nest
in our pear tree out front. 

This post was inspired by a poem by Michelle at Literacy Zone. Her poem made me think about how our mild winter has felt strange and that I kept anticipating we would get more snow and ice, but we never did. Winter never returned and now I can hear the robins chattering to each other this morning as I write. I wonder if a pair will take up residence in the perfectly good nest in the crook of the pear tree out front. Of course, they would have to spruce it up a bit. I've been so busy with the demands of school that I haven’t really surveyed the yard for winter damage yet. At this time of year where I live, the snow shovels, ice scrapers and down coats are still in use. On Easter, it is usually freezing, even snowy and little girls wear sweaters with their spring dresses at church. We dare not plant perennials until after Mother’s Day or they would freeze and die but I’m not sure that would happen this year. This year, we are actually having spring, at least I’m guessing that’s what it is. This weekend is predicted to be glorious; seventy-five, sun, and a light breeze. My husband is planning on putting the screens back up today. Unbelievable for Michigan in March. 

A Different Kind of March Madness

A Weird Michigan March

Waves of

Pounding ice

Pebbles clacking

On windows and roof

Tornado sirens

They’ll be no sleep tonight

Wind and rain and thunder

Then a lull

More cracks and claps

A summer storm

In March

Thankful Thursday

Ten Things I Am Grateful For

Quotes from Patricia Polacco

Link to Patricia's site

When Patricia Polacco visited our school last week, I took notes on what she did, what she said, and how the kids reacted. I also wrote down some of the cool things that she said. Then I misplaced the notebook that I wrote everything in. Just found it yesterday, thank goodness, and I wanted to share some of Patricia’s words:

“Art is like breathing.”

“Red heads are enchanted so if you don’t have a redhead for a friend, you better get one skippy quick.”

“The energy is in you.”

“Write what you know.”

“You were born with the power to change others. You change people by the way you treat them. That is what changes the human heart.”

“The truth is the journey you take through a story.”

“Everyone in this room is gifted. None of us open our gifts at the same time. And if someone has opened theirs before you, think nothing of it. You will open yours in time.”

Patricia certainly made an impression on all the students and staff
at our school. She created this drawing just for us! All the kids got
a copy of their own to keep.

An Offensive Brownie

I watched with dread as he squished two brownies together and sculpted the wad into a turd. Then he waited. When a trucker pulled up close behind us, he tilted his head back, dangled the nutty log above his mouth, and took a bite. The trucker, who could see what my brother was doing from the back of the station wagon, honked his horn. John, my brother, was delighted. He opened his mouth wide, shoved the rest in, chewed, and swallowed. When he grinned, his teeth were covered with chocolate brownie leftovers. John pressed his face close to the back window of the station wagon so the trucker could get a real good look at his cruddy teeth. The trucker honked again.

“What the h___ is he honking at? Johnnnnnnnn! What is going on back there?” yelled my dad from the front seat. My sisters, who were sitting in the middle, turned to look. I didn’t say a word. I’m not sure if I was more afraid of my dad pulling over or John knuckle-punching me in my arm for telling on him. 

My Latest Excuse for Not Exercising: Writing

I have been thinking a lot about a post written by Mary from The View From My World comparing the rigors of the SOL challenge with starting an exercise program. I couldn’t agree more. It feels the same. Carving out the time to write and post daily adds to my to do list. It either adds to it or it has to take the place of something else. For me, daily writing means less sleep and less watching my husband watch TV. And interestingly, the TV thing bothers him greatly. But the rewards of daily writing have been huge, amazing, and so very worth it. Although, as Mary said, there are days when it doesn’t feel fun. I have also found that daily writing has become an excellent excuse not to exercise as much as I should. So does that mean that exercise, even though it is good for you, is even less fun than writing? Okay, so I’ll get on the treadmill after I’m done with my post, that is if I’m not too tired or my husband doesn't want me to watch him watch reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.