Work Station Debriefing Idea

I had a great day teaching BISD teachers today. For y'all not from BISD- it stands for BY THE BEACH Y'ALL! There is something so amazing about the sound of waves.  I wish the waves were about 3 hours closer to my little town in Central Texas.  Alas, I will teach all day, and put my toes in the sand after.  Not a bad gig! :)

I digress. I was teaching teachers today and it always reminds me of more resources I should put on my blog- and of how long it has been since I've blogged. Sorry about that!

So my work in DC Public Schools for 1.8 years was to help teachers with Guided Reading and Work Stations, called Small Group Literacy Instruction.  We were able to provide a lot of resources during this time for teachers and we were able to share lots of resources that teachers created.

This idea is from a coach in DC Public Schools and I'm hopeful it will find its way into classrooms all around the country (and beyond for my International readers out there).

It is important to get feedback from your students about their work during Work Stations.  You are trapped teaching at the Guided Reading table and it is hard to know what it happening out there with the natives unless you ask them. Right?  I've shared the idea of Debriefing Cards with you before. And today I'm going to share with you another idea that will help students be metacognitive about their work during stations and also provide you feedback that can help your stations get better.

Imagine a poster like this hanging in your room....

or a similar file in student work folders.  Download it here!

A teacher can choose which number for students to chit-chat about with a partner before sharing with the whole group each day by calling off a number. "Turn and Talk about 2!" Feel free to change up the prompts under each number- but hopefully you can find a way to take this idea to your classroom for the 2014-2015 school year.

Happy summer! Happy planning! Next year is clearly going to be your BEST year!

Send a Card

Want to do something good today? Looking to have something for your kids to do in the last few days of school? :) Send cards to Jason! I just put a stamp on mine. I read about this on a blog yesterday.
If you want to read check it out here or see below to send your cards and well wishes to Jason for his 2nd birthday! Even BELATED birthday cards will do! Send him happy day cards! Imagine being TWO and getting an envelope of cards from kids in school while you are spending your days in the hospital.

Currently June

Hey Y'all!

What an overwhelming and fun time of year! So much to do- only a few more days to have to do it! Right? You can make it! And you'll rest enough this summer you'll be ready to do it all over again!

I'm back to a commitment to Write About it Wednesdays this summer! I am back to being an independent consultant- and I thought that would mean a lot more time on my hands to blog among a long list of other things, but sadly, I'm still so stinking busy! I have NO idea where the month of April and May went! Alas here we are- June. SO it's time for Currently.

Listening: I love bad television... and I mean BAD television! It's Toddlers and Tiaras right now. Later tonight I'll be soaking in every minute of The Bachelorette! I mean it! Bad TV! I can do other things with bad TV playing in the background. So I watch a lot of it, because I am usually on the computer. This is the episode with Honey Boo Boo! Oh my! It is so terrible. Alas, you don't see me turning it off! 

Loving: I had plans at a friend's house to watch Bachelorette tonight- but she is feeling ill. So I have the whole night to myself now. J is at work tonight too- which makes this an even better SURPRISE... the house to myself! Not like I have any big plans. I will probably be in bed early. But as an only child, I do appreciate my "me time" for sure! 

Thinking: I got a lot done today! This is my first week for several weeks to be truly "off" and not traveling to a district.  Every day this week is a day at home to spend getting back in control of my life. The house is clean, the laundry is done, and the to-do list is getting shorter and shorter.  I swear I can get more done in 4 hours than my husband could even imagine doing in a week! Cracks me up! It's hard being me! :) I'm sure many of you out there can understand what I'm talking about! 

Wanting: So as we mentioned above, I have a surprise night alone. My friend and I usually have wine and pizza for our dinner dates.  While wine is still on the menu tonight (shocking I know) I can't decide what I want to eat. Typically it has to be something that J doesn't like to eat. Chinese food perhaps? Thai? Sadly we don't live somewhere with a lot of ethnic options. I'd kill for Indian from my little place back in VA tonight. Bummer. 

Needing: I'm trying to let it cool down out there before I go for a run.  It is steamy still.  I have a nice trail around a park near where I live. It even goes by a horse barn. PS- That is me trying to make myself want to actually go! 

Summer Bucket List:  I'm already on a roll with the first- read, read read. My "summer" kind of started in April. Since my summer months are my crazy time I took advantage of a slower April and May. I have already read 9 books and I have a stack of books still to be read! This may be the summer of the most reading- I can't complain about that!  

Next up is going to be crafting. I just got back from a HUGE flea market in Texas and saw a bunch of cute stuff which gave me a lot of new ideas! Not to mention the many Pinterest ideas I've found.  Made it Mondays- maybe I need to participate in those too! Uh oh- my calendar is getting pretty full.  

Finally, Enjoy is on the list! I want to float the river! I want to go to water parks! I want to be on the boat! It's going to be a summer of enjoyment! 

Woo-Hoo! 

Happy summer to everyone reading this!