Land of Snow

Happy Easter from Up North! When I first moved to Michigan from Ohio, I had no idea where "up north" was. I remember the kids at the school I worked at talked about going up north for the weekend. I had friends at work who had family cottages up north. Over the years I grew to understand what up north meant, at least I thought I did until we arrived in the land of snow, better known as Houghton, Michigan. There is still snow up to the first story windows of our motel. Supposedly, the Northern Lights can be seen most evenings. I've never been a fan of snow, mostly because I hate driving in it. But on our way here, drivers weren't in a hurry and didn't drive crazy like they do at home. Of course there isn't much traffic. I'm beginning to sense that the pace of life may be a bit different here than in suburban Detroit.

View from the first floor windows.

Posted with Blogsy

Spring Break Up North

Some people head south in search of warmth during spring break. The weather report for my vacation destination is 25 degrees, wind, and 50% chance of snow showers. My suitcase is packed with long underwear and wool sweaters. Since we haven't had many days over 40 degrees this spring, more wind and snow doesn't feel that much different. Seems like we don't even have much of spring any more. Temps hover around 40 and 50 degrees until May. Sometimes even Mother's Day is cold. Of course, I didn't grow up in Southeast Michigan. I grew up in Northwest Ohio. We had spring where I grew up. Little girls wore pastel dresses on Easter Sunday with just a sweater. We didn't have Easter egg hunts bundled up in parkas. In high school, I remember laying out in the sun during spring break. Maybe my spring break memories are simply selective.

Reflection Friday

First day of my spring break. Only a few more days left of the TWT 2013 SOL challenge. This is my third year participating and each year has been different. Every March brought different roadblocks. Most of the bumps were related to time. My writing process for posting has evolved in three years. I still have days when only paper and pencil will do to help me get going. Other times, I just lay down the words in a draft post in Blogger then let them alone for a while. I tend to keep numerous in-process posts. The one thing that hasn't change is my interest in adding images to posts. Images are important to me. I usually create my own. I still enjoy playing and editing my photos and if I use my own, I don't have to worry that I am violating copy write laws. My favorite editing tools are currently Picasa, Ribbet, PicMonkey, and BeFunky.

My Rotini Girl image was edited with BeFunky. 

Thankful Thursday

Not Rejected

I found myself checking my email every time I heard it ding today. The message I was waiting for came at 1:18 this afternoon. I got accepted to attend the Eastern Michigan Writing Project Summer Institute and I couldn't be happier. After I applied, I only told one friend at school. I didn't want to feel like a dork, in case I got rejected.  I wonder if they have ever had a speech-language pathologist as a participant before. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. I really needed this.

@emwptc Looking forward to the Summer Institute! #EMWP
— Diana Martin (@diana1litcoach) March 27, 2013

Tech Tuesday: 200 Tweets

This year, after I post and link to the Two Writing Teachers blog, I tweet my post using the hashtag #slice2013. I've been slowly learning how to use Twitter since last year. For the first six months I had a Twitter account, I just understand it. I didn't know what to tweet or who to follow or why I should even want to follow anyone. Little by little I started following authors and other teachers and professional organizations I was interested in. I also found other teachers from the Two Writing Teachers community and started following them. Stacey wrote a while ago that she reached over 1000 tweets. I'm not even close to that. For me, 200 felt like a major milestone. I anticipate that I will be using Twitter more and more. My favorite thing to do is follow hashtags associated with conferences. For example, ASCD recently had a conference in Chicago. The hastag for tweets was #ascd13. I wasn't able to go to the conference but many of the teachers I follow attended and tweeted their new learning or inspiring quotes from sessions. Some presenters even tweeted their PowerPoints and presentation packets. One of the speakers at ASCD was Maya Angelou. Through Nicholas Provenzano @thenerdyteacher, I was able to get a taste of what it must have been like to hear her tell a story. I think that is pretty neat.

We need more storytellers in the classroom. thenerdyteacher.com/2013/03/storyt… #ASCD13 #MACUL13
— Nicholas Provenzano (@thenerdyteacher) March 20, 2013

Picture Book Addiction

I wasn't going to do it but I couldn't resist. I told myself I didn't need more books but walking by the book fair at school numerous times a day was more than I could take. One of the books I purchased was, My Brave Year of Firsts by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell. I read the opening page and I was hooked.

The first time I rode a two-wheeler alone,
I crashed and my mom filmed it on her iPhone.
I crashed and I crashed. Dad ran out of steam.
He let go, I went straight.
Mom filmed as she screamed.

As I read, I laughed and memories of teaching my own kids to ride a bike flooded my head. As the title suggests, each page is a memory of a first time experience told from a child's point of view. I think this would be a great mentor text to spur writing from students of all grade levels. Below is my attempt at writing a "first" of my own using this book as a mentor text. Curtis and Cornell used rhyme throughout their book but I chose not to in my draft.

The first time I walked to school alone, I looked both ways before crossing at the corner. I stayed on the sidewalk, swinging my plaid Aladdin lunchbox the whole way. At the school entrance, I turned and waved to my mom as she crawled by in our station wagon.

Just Received My Spring Break Agenda

Can you tell that my husband is a
former Secret Service Agent? He still
gets a thrill out of planning logistics.

It is springtime in Michigan. The mornings are still frosty and the forecast for Monday includes three inches of snow. Normally a spring snow prediction would depress me but not this year. Snow or not, I just want a break. Even though we are not scheduled for vacation until the week following Easter, my husband has our time together all planned out. I received a typed copy of the itinerary yesterday. He gave me Good Friday off. Wasn't that nice of him? Then on Saturday we will begin our snowy trek to the Upper Peninsula to visit Michigan Tech, a college my son is considering attending. Church on Easter Sunday, followed by brunch. After our first college visit on Monday, we head to Ferris State. Our ETA (estimated time of arrival) back home will be late Tuesday. Wednesday is reserved for medical appointments. Thursday we travel to Indiana to visit Rose-Hulman then to Ohio Northern University on Friday. At each college visit, my husband has appointments arranged with football and track coaches. Normally I would recoil at the thought of spending days trapped in an SUV navigating the unpredictable spring weather in this area of the county. Not this time. I'm looking forward to spending this time with my son. The week after next will be a rare opportunity to stoke his excitement for the future and to quell fears about the unknown.

Song and Dance

Two hours and forty-five minutes of music, dance, drama, comedy, and costumes. I had never seen The Merry Widow before. I didn't expect to like it because it was an operetta. I was wrong. I am still humming the music and thinking about the powerful voices. Although my daughter did not perform, she choreographed the production. She began studying The Merry Widow in the fall, researching other productions and learning the story and the music. In January, rehearsals were in full swing. She used her young lifetime of training and experience to make everyone on stage look professional and natural. As I sat in my seat, taking in this wonderful experience, I could see evidence of my daughter's creative mark in scene after scene. She amazes me.

Reflection Friday

I used to think I looked pretty good in teal blue but evidently that is up for debate. I had three people yesterday ask me if I was feeling well. Was it my face, my eyes, or the way I was standing? Did I remember to put make-up on that morning? I thought I did. I'm long overdue for a dye job, that is for sure. I have gray threads popping up all over my part. I tried to get my teenage son to pluck some out the other day and after removing six silver springs, he handed me the tweezers and told me there were too many and he didn't have all day. I've tried to yank them myself but I couldn't see them to get a hold of them. It is time to look in the mirror, step back on the scale, and take a walk on the treadmill. Some new glasses wouldn't hurt either. Why is it so hard to make time to take care of myself?

Student Bloggers at Custer--Finally!

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of observing as a group of sixth graders, together with their teacher, problem-solved their way to creating their own blogs using Kidblog. The kids were entirely undaunted by initial challenges as they tried to get started. Although I have been blogging for a while, Kidblog was a new platform to me and has changed since I first experimented with it two years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed learning side-by-side with the students. At Family Reading Night at our school on Tuesday evening, the topic of blogging was buzzing among the kids. In less than two days, they mastered blogging tricks that took me weeks to figure out on my own. Their engagement during this process has been intense. The quality of their first posts was higher than I expected. As they continue to post and comment, it will be revealing to see how their writing and writing process changes. I'm itching to hear their reflections.

One Little Word Wednesday: Shoulders

It is Wednesday, right? Some weeks kick my butt and this is another one of them. When I have weeks like this--days full of evening school activities, parent-teacher conferences, and after school meetings, my family has to shoulder more of the load at home. As long as I communicate my needs, my husband pitches in without complaint.  Even during an easier week, I bring my job home with me every night. There is always a report to write, emails to respond to, and lessons to create. And on days when my school bag stays unopened on the chair, I'm still teaching and planning in my head. My husband has put up with it for 25 years. Being the spouse of an educator isn't easy, and I tend to forget that.

Family Reading Night

Tonight was Family Reading Night at our school. It was a relaxed well-attended event. For the last two years, I've provided a book-making table. It was a simple way to promote writing at school and at home. This year's theme was Super Heroes so in addition to two sizes of books, I added comic book paper. I also provided some sample sketches of cartoon facial features for eyes, noses, and mouths. Add pencils, crayons, markers, and the freedom to create a book about whatever the kids want to make. The best part is talking with the children about their books. I usually send home blank books with students if they want them. It is amazing how folding a piece of paper and calling it a book can spark young writers of all ages.

Custer Family Reading Night 2013

Almost Spring Snow

Almost spring snow doesn't stick around too long. More is expected today. Snow showers. Still, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of bundling up. More than anything, I hate driving in it. My car, although zippy in heavy traffic, is swervy in the rain and snow. Currently my drive to work is about as short as it gets. I won't be that lucky forever.

Learning About QR Codes

     "Look what I made for my interview tomorrow."

      I handed my creation to my husband. He scowled and handed it back. I got a similar response from my son but not because he thought it was silly. He is sixteen and not much interested in anything I hand him unless it is money or car keys. Learning about Quick Response or QR codes is something I've been wanting to do for a while. But like most tech stuff, I need a purpose to use it before I invest the time in learning a bit about it. I figured before I could actually make sense of how to use them with students, I needed to use them myself. As I researched about QR codes, I came across a great post by Monica Burns that helped me understand how teachers use the codes. If you read Monica's post, be sure to read the comments because there are additional instructional ideas shared by other teachers. I also read blog posts about how QR codes are used in marketing and business.

      Creating a QR code is easy and fun. There are many free services. I happened to use BeQRious because I could make colorful codes, it was easy, there was a forum to ask questions, and a blog with additional information. There are many other free services available. I wanted to create something I could hand to my interviewers that had quick links to my identifying information, my digital resume, blog, and Twitter page. Is anyone using QR codes? If so, how are you using them and what service do you recommend?

Codes are printed on both sides of a postcard. 

Working at Growing a Local Professional Network

I was about to make my pitch to a roomful of school speech-language pathologists to join Edmodo. I planned on keeping it short. I typed up a half-sheet with the link to Edmodo and a link to a Snapguide that explained the process. Just before I was to talk, another speech therapist shared about a program she was using in kindergarten classrooms to promote oral language development. One of the audience members asked if she could email her the data sheet she had created to the group. Perfect segue. When my turn came, I explained how Edmodo was an effective tool to share materials and ideas with each other. Rather than email the data sheet to everyone, it could be uploaded as part of post on Edmodo, and anyone belonging to the group could see the file, print it, and make any comments or suggestions. Links to the materials could also be posted.  I brought the Edmodo page up on the Smart Board and scrolled through some of the posts and showed the audience the folder I started that contained printable materials. As I looked out on the group, they didn't look skeptical or have scrunched up eyebrows. I actually saw some interest on their faces and a few head nods. Good signs.

Reflection Friday

Two weeks down and I'm trying not to drown. Push. Pull. Persevere. Writing isn't easy. I know that. I've often told young writers that when writing gets hard, you need to push yourself and that all writers feel the same struggle. My words are certainly slapping me in the face today. I have ideas but I don't want to write about them or feel like I can't or shouldn't write about them. I'm having a hard time getting the words down. Maybe I have nothing in my brain worth writing. I'm thinking that is how kids feel when they say stuff like, "I don't have anything to write about," or "I don't want to write," or "I hate writing." I want to rant but I can't. I hate it when I get like this.

Thankful Thursday

Ten Things I Am Grateful For

I haven't lost my job.

I haven't had pneumonia

I haven't recently had a flat tire

I haven't lost my phone

I haven't gained 20 pounds

(I only gained 15)

I haven't lost hope

I haven't given up on my writing

I haven't forgotten how to laugh

I haven't lost my marbles

I haven't forgotten who I am

One Little Word Wednesday: Shoulders

My son, had shoulder surgery in January this year. A torn labrum from football. His surgeon came well recommended. In fact, he only does shoulders. He even works on the Detroit Lions. My son goes to physical therapy two to three times a week and sees the surgeon every six weeks. In the last seven months, he has had three surgeries: pilonidal cyst excision, wisdom teeth pulled, and now his shoulder repair. Along with his PT, he continues to see a wound specialist every two weeks to monitor the healing of his cyst removal.  He still isn't completely healed from his surgery in July. Despite all the doctors, medications, hospitals, and the humiliation he continues to endure as I pack his wound daily, he keeps his sense of humor. It has been a difficult year. Today is his 16th birthday.

Using Edmodo

As soon as my principal sent an invitation to the teachers in our building to join Edmodo, I hopped right to it. Edmodo is a safe social networking site just for educators and students that feels a lot like Facebook and allows users to post files, links, clips, and images. One of the most powerful functions of Edmodo is that teachers can create Edmodo groups for their own classroom of students. Teachers can post assignments, links, and polls and kids can respond to the teacher and to each other. The teacher has the power to moderate all comments, content, and group membership. Parents can also be invited to join the Edmodo group. As a speech therapist, I don't have a class. But if the students I work with belong to a class that is using Edmodo, it could become a powerful tool to display student work, promote 21st century communication skills, and more fully integrate classroom curriculum into speech and language goals. Our district is in the process of implementing a limited 1:1 iPad initiative. There are a few classrooms in my buildings that already have iPads. I am hoping to convince a teacher or two to use Edmodo.

Another potential use for Edmodo is for professional development and to share ideas and materials with other teachers in a building or district. I created two groups, one for writing and one for speech-language pathologists in my county. I admit that the response to both groups thus far has been lukewarm at best. But, I'm not ready to give up just yet. I will be attending a meeting with all the speech-language therapists in the county on Friday and my supervisor granted me a few minutes to talk about Edmodo. I prepared a short Snapguide with directions and will hopefully be able to entice a few folks to join. If anyone has any insight or tips to help me tempt my colleagues to participate, I'm all ears.

Screenshot of an Edmodo homepage.