A Back-to-School Prayer

It's that time of year again! Some of my readers have already started this school year, but most begin tomorrow. I am praying for you! I am praying for your students. I am praying for this wonderful and worrisome time of year we all call Back-to-School.

May God cover you, your families, your students, your classroom, your books and even your crayons with His peace and wisdom.

A Teacher's Prayer

Dear God,

A new school year is about to begin
and my classroom door will soon open. 

Right now, I am worried and a little anxious.  

I toss and turn at night thinking of the waves in the distance 

called the “First Day of School”.

I know that every student name on my list 

you have assigned to my care. 

You have known from the beginning that we would meet.
Open my mind and heart to each of your precious children 

and especially to the ones who will challenge me the most...
Help me remember, Lord, how young my students are:
give me patience to help them grow 

and insight to know the help they need...
may I be clear in the things I say and do,
and in how I say and do them… 

knowing every day that I am doing your work for these children.
Send your Spirit to fill me with your gifts; 

knowledge and understanding, counsel and wisdom.
Lord, open my mind and heart to my students' parents 

and their heart to me. 

Let them know that I am good and true 

and working hard for their child every day.
Help me to teach as you would, Lord
Help me to be patient until the last bell rings…

A new school year is about to begin, Lord, 

and I am ready to do your work.

Thank you in advance for this time in our lives that you have crafted 

called the 2103-2014 school year.

I Learned Something New Today

I had time to actually be TAUGHT instead of doing the TEACHING today! I sat in on a session on Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Media for teachers!

That's when I learned about... remind101.

remind101 allows teachers to text students and families without sharing his/her personal phone number.  I just signed up (FREE of course) and sent my first test text! You know you will LOVE this! Can't you see the texts:
"Don't forget tomorrow is picture day"
"Remember to bring a paper bag lunch tomorrow for our field trip!"
"Science test tomorrow!"

Rock on!

Top Secret and Exciting News

I just realized for some of my friends reading the title of this post- that they will think I am pregnant! NOPE! That is NOT it! :)

Many of you know that I left the classroom about 5 years ago (I did the math three times to be sure that is right- it doesn't feel that long ago).  Alas, I am a teacher without a classroom every year this time when the back-to-school supplies come out.  I can't contain my excitement at new crayons, glue sticks etc.

Here comes the TOP SECRET/EXCITING NEWS:

NOW I WILL HAVE A CLASSROOM for all of those school supplies! No, I am not going back to the classroom- but rather the best of BOTH worlds! Keep reading! 

I work full time for DC Public Schools in the curriculum office where I design the professional development for all of our K-5 teachers.  We have been looking for creative training spaces for teachers and one of my co-workers had a brilliant idea! Why not in a school? Why not set up model classrooms that teachers can be trained in? 

So- I get a classroom again! Yep! You heard me! I am going to get a classroom in one of our DC Public schools (we are still conversing with the administrators at a few schools so I cannot announce THE school yet), but I will have a model classroom where I can train teachers during the school year! 

GOOD news or BAD news? 

GOOD- I do NOT have to have this classroom set up by the time school starts. Whew! I just have to have it set up by my first scheduled training which is in October. That is still a tight deadline if you ask me!

More GOOD news- I finally have a place for all of that "stuff" in my basement! 

More GOOD news- I am the Guided Reading/Literacy Work Stations girl for the district- so I don't have to set up for anything else! 

More GOOD news- I have a coordinator on the Literacy Team who will help me do anything and everything. I never had a personal assistant like that when I was setting up a classroom. Unless you count my parents... 

GOOD news- when we need to demo lessons etc. we have kids RIGHT downstairs! 

BAD news- I haven't set up a classroom in FIVE years (see above).  Yikes! 

BAD news- have you heard of this thing called PINTEREST? The cute factor has been raised so high! I'm freaking out about how "cute" my room needs to be. Uh-oh. I have made a secret board on Pinterest however. And I've started pinning. 

BAD news- I am pretty sure our classrooms are on the top floor of the school. I've never had to lug my teaching belongings UP flights of stairs! All of my schools have been only one floor. Oh my. 

I do plan to chronicle the set-up. I think we (we= myself and the other two Literacy Professional Learning Designers in DC- I'm Guided Reading/Work Stations, another is Close Reading, and the third is our Phonics/Morphology girl) are going for a school visit next week. I'll take my first BEFORE shots.  

Stay tuned... 

Currently August

Here we go... can I just say... I have always loved August! It makes my brain think school!

Listening- Why do people talk on planes? Is it necessary? Just read a book, plug your headphones in. No one else wants to hear you go on and on about your time in the military, or your pregnancy. I am a friendly person- but on a plane- I just don't want to be bothered! Anyone know what I am talking about?

Loving- I rarely sleep on planes. But I got a nap in on my last flight. I started the morning with a headache- and that nap chased it away.

Thinking- I really am NOT a blogger these days. I know every blogger has seasons. My season right now is called TIRED! I work so hard every day and when I get home, I just want to sit on the couch. I know I could blog from the couch, but it requires brain-power. And I don't have any of that left at 7pm (which is the average hour of when I finally sit still every day). The weekends used to be a good day for blogging, but not in the summer time. Summer is boating season! And while the boat has many amenities, one it does not have, is Internet!

Wanting-  Woo hoo! A work trip to Texas! It's like going home. I land in Austin. Working in Killeen and then traveling south to the River Walk! I can't wait! Time to see some dear friends. See some of my favorite teachers and celebrate an incredible curriculum that teachers in Texas use- CSCOPE by attending and presenting at the state CSCOPE conference.

BUT I made big plans for my afternoon. I need a trip to Uncommon Objects and Gueros on South congress! Then hit up the Domain. And I promised my sweet friend I'd show up at her house with BBQ from Schoepf's for dinner! A torn sticker on the bottom of the plane (which made us sit at the gate for 38 minutes) cannot stop these plans!

Needing- This plane is freezing. No blankets left, but I got hot tea instead!  It's OK, I probably won't be cold once I get off the plane in Texas!

B2S Must Haves: Those three things say it all right? I will spend a fortune on crayons, glue sticks, etc. I will work harder than a dog to get ready for the year to start. I will schedule a way to prepare mind body and soul- with a mani/pedi/massage the Friday before school. AND when I need it- there will be wine a plenty! Sounds like a good plan to me!

Flashback: Conferring in Jonesboro

It was my pleasure to travel to Jonesboro this week! They invited me into their school to see Writer's Workshop in "action". Thanks to the very detailed directions provided, I was able to find the right entrance to the K-12 school just fine and a little gentleman was glad to point me in the direction of the office. Little did I know he would soon be a writer I would be talking to.

First stop- 3rd grade in Ms. Cate's room. Writing time began with kids saying "I'm gonna finish my story from yesterday", or "I'm gonna start a new story", or "I can't wait to write about __________". I was in a Writer's Workshop classroom... I could just feel it! I settled in next to a gentleman named Wyatt. He was working on a BOOK! It wasn't a book yet, but he wanted it to be one! We talked for a bit and he did in fact have a story that you could just SEE playing out across pages. He informed me that it was modeled after another book the class had read called The Quiet Book. His book was written on lined paper, so the first thing I had to help this writer do was get a "vision" for his book- or a plan for how to tell it across pages.

So we said parts of his story out loud and imagined turning the pages as we read. Next we used crayons to make each page a different color. For example, he used the color blue to underline everything he wanted on the first page of his book, another color underlined everything that would go on the next page etc. We counted up the colors and we knew how many pages- or so I thought! 20 colors, 20 pages, BUT little Wyatt reminded me that books have pages before the pages. "The page that is just the picture before you read, and the page that has the writing about when it was written". Yes Wyatt... I will make sure you have those pages too. I went to go make his book (construction paper and copy paper inside- 5 staples, ta-da) and came to show Wyatt. His eyes showed me that this was pleasing to him. I left Wyatt to his work of placing words on the right pages. He decided he wanted to do all of this words, and then all of his illustrations. I also reminded him that words can be anywhere on the page. I reminded him there are still lots of things to think about as he is writing the words. I let him work.

I moved over to another gentleman (there's only ONE girl in this class by the way). This gentleman had seen what Wyatt was doing and wanted a part of it. He informed me that he wanted to write a book, "cause Wyatt had given him an idea". His book was all about friends. and when I sat down, that was all there was on the paper. The title...Friends. And so sat the writer not knowing where to go.

I was knee deep in brainstorming. "What do you want your book to say about friends?" I asked. "Friends can be nice" he replied. I went and got a blank piece of paper- this conference was going to be help this writer brainstorm and we needed paper to do it on. I introduced him to a web (not sure if this had been taught in his class previously). We put friends in the middle and going from what he said, "friends can be nice", I put the word characteristics in a bubble to the side. We came up with 6 or 7 other characteristics for friends. We also generated ideas for things friends can be good at, where you can find friends and things friends can help you with. When this conference was over, he had a cute third grade boy's smile on his face- he NOW knew what his book about friends was going to be! Whew!

Thank you 3rd grade- time to move to 2nd!

I was a few minutes late getting into second grade (see friend conference above), they were waiting on me to get there to start their mini-lesson. I was instantly excited because on Mrs. Smith's lap was her Writer's Notebook! This was gonna be good! And it was... Mrs. Smith shared a story from her notebook about her son and the stories they used to make up when he was a young boy about a special rock- a "pet" rock so to speak. The best part of her mini-lesson was that sharing the story touched her. Her eyes got a little glassy, cause she was remembering her now grown son when he was just a little boy. I'm sure there are MANY more stories about that little son to share with the little ones in her own class.

The students were going to be making up stories about objects they had brought from home. Making that object become a character in their story. I couldn't help but jump in (I know- it's the teacher in me and the fact that I am desperate for a classroom of my own again some day- SOME day). I pulled their writing motors in the group. Asking them which object (there were three on their desks) that they might choose. Some kids knew right away and some had to think a bit, but when they went to their seats, they ALL knew which object to start their story about.

I ended up sitting by a gentleman who was writing about his slinky. Didn't know it at the time, but he is the promising writer of the classroom- his teacher thinks he may in fact PUBLISH a "real" one some day! He was writing about his lost slinky and was on a roll. I watched him write, and when he came to a break I interrupted his work. I asked him to tell me what he is thinking about this story and what is going to happen next. It really looked like his hand could not keep up with how fast his ideas were flying. We stopped at the part where the slinky had fallen out of his pocket.

"What are you thinking is going to happen in this story?" I asked. "He is going to look everywhere for his slinky and then he is going to find it at the store with all the other slinkys" ( is slinky an example of when you should drop the y and add ie? Hmmm... seems to me like a brand name... so I am leaving it as is!) The fog lifted and I decided to talk with him more about that part where he said the boy was going to look all over. I really didn't want him to JUST write- "the boy looked all over" - that is boring. I wanted him to show, don't tell, so I went for the kill.

"That part where you said 'he looked all over'. I think that is really neat. Where might a boy go look for a Slinky?" We brainstormed out that he could look at his grandparents, at the grocery store, at his school etc. And I asked, "So is he going to ask his grandparents, 'Have you seen my Slinky?' What are the grandparents going to say?" To which the young writer said, "no". I encouraged him to keep writing, thanked him for talking with me and moved on.

When I checked back with him 10 minutes or so later, I was so uplifted! He had included going to three or four places looking for the Slinky, asking the same question at each stop. He had included asking "Have you seen my Slinky?", but with every person he asked their responses were different. Grandma and Grandpa said, "No, but would you like some cookies?" WOW! That is how you teach the WRITER, not the writing!

Thank you so much 2nd grade- time to go see the BIG, BAD, 4th Graders!

Ms. Foote's class was just coming in from the library when I arrived. They knew right away to get out their Writer's Notebooks. Today, they were knee deep in writing time. Right away I pulled in close just asking kids to share some things from their notebook with me. I think this may have been one of the neatest experiences of the day because the stories these kids shared with me with REAL! I was getting to know complete strangers through their writing. One gentleman was almost in tears over his story titled Ethan. He had tears in his eyes as he whisper read it to me. Ethan was a friend who had moved away. I think the best line was, "We were best friends forever, until he moved." I told that young writer that that is what writers do. They write about what matters. I told him to write everything that makes his heart hurt about Ethan down on paper. When I left him, he had added, "I'm mad that he moved" to his writing.

I moved over to another gentleman who was working on a piece about basketball. Nonfiction. He started with the history of basketball and how it was created. He went on to talk about great players like Michael Jordan, even telling his reader that you can go on YouTube to see videos of Michael's best slam dunks. There was so much potential to this writing and I wanted him to keep going. I asked him if he had a favorite team and he said "The Celtics". I asked him what he could write about the Celtics and he said "I don't really know anything about them". Well.. I'm sure that same computer that has YouTube has Wikipedia! I encouraged him to find out all the cool stuff about his team that he can and to add that to his writing about basketball. He nodded his head considering this idea.

Another young girl stands out from this class period. She was writing a story about her Marine Uncle. Problem is the story really had more to do with everything and the kitchen sink, than it did about her Marine Uncle, so we had some talking to do. I started by asking her why she chose to write about her uncle (pretending the story was actually about her uncle). She told me it is because he is special to her and because she worries about him and other people who go to war that they may not come back safely. We had a bit of a heart to heart, I pointed out the part in her story where she said "I pray for people who leave their families that they will be OK". I told her about my Army Husband. I encouraged her to think about writing a letter to those "people" telling the things she says in her prayers. She nodded her head, and when writing time was over, she was changing things in her story.

Whew! I am worn out just writing it all down, but honestly, it was a great day! All those stories and hundreds more are why I believe writers THRIVE in  Workshop classroom. Conferring is the lifeblood of a workshop! Hope you enjoyed examples of some conferences in this post.

Currently July

Yep! It's July (well in a few more hours)... June came and went... which means my big awesome vacation to the Bahamas is OVER! O-V-E-R and I'm so sad about it. The only thing I have left to remind me of the amazing time with my hubby are some shells we collected on the beach and a bunch of bug bites that I can't stop scratching! Exact diagnosis hard to know- but best guess is sand fleas. They got me- and they got me bad! Oh well. I can wear pants a little bit longer to hide the bites all over my legs.

Now it's July... and currently... currently I'm glad it's July! July will be boating on the Potomac! July will be a visit from my BEST FRIEND... July will be a thorough cleaning of my house (to be ready for a visit from my BEST FRIEND- her husband is a clean freak). July will be over before we know it... just like June was.

I'm hooking up with Farley... for this month's Currently.

Listening:

My husband loves to listen to people TALK on TV about things that he has NO control over! AKA Politics! Good grief. It might as well be white noise to me. But then he always says, "Did you hear that?" and I'm like "No. I wasn't listening!" Now I'm upstairs on my personal DVR. It's a Sunday with Flea Market Flip! 

Loving:

I spent the entire morning on my computer. It made me happy to know it was raining outside so I wasn't "missing" a gorgeous day outside. The sun has since come out, but I'm pretending I don't care. Rainy days also mean I don't have to go on the boat. Don't get me wrong, I love our boat, but sometimes a girl just wants a day at HOME to do nothing! 

Thinking:

Seriously! We need to go back to the Bahamas and ASAP! But next time, it has to be longer. We had just started to relax into things when we realized it was almost time to go home. 

Wanting:

I really want a housekeeper, but I am too cheap to pay for it! It feels like a waste of money. But today as I was sweeping up dog hair and wiping up dust for almost the entire morning, I'm feeling like it is money well spent. I still won't do it... but I want one nevertheless! 

Needing:

Oh I miss my Rae! We have been friends since college. This year her drive to work has been at the same time as mine and we have talked at least two mornings a week. Rachel is a teacher. Which means she doesn't HAVE a drive to work in the summer, but I still do, and I miss those phone calls!  I so wish we still lived in the same state so I could just go over and hang out with her right now. 

Tips, Tricks, or Hints:

Do what you can- and some days I can't do much. Teaching in Killeen the in June, I realized how many things ARE on my blog as a reference to teachers, but I also realized how many other things I could still write about.  I remind myself that it is MY blog and that it doesn't have to be like any other blog.  I will admit that COMMENTS from readers make me want to blog more. If you read something and you like it, comment! It is the best blogging encouragement there is! 

My Heart Is Whole... in Kindergarten

This is another oldie but a goodie! This was from my time at Region 12. However, there is much to be learned. Read on for some Writer's Workshop in Troy Texas...

I spent the morning in Kindergarten today! I was greeted with many hugs and smiles and looks of awe! There is nothing like a visit to Kindergarten to make you feel like a SUPERSTAR! Some little girl didn't even know my name yet, but she ran over and said "I made this for you". She proceeded to hand me a piece of paper that had been colored on. I took it with a reaction that showed what a treasure I believed it to be and proceeded to back it with tape and wear it on my shirt for the duration of my visit. It is now inside my Writer's Notebook.

Shortly after my arrival it was time for the Writer's Group Meeting where I was introduced to the class as Mrs. Sommers's teacher!  Make note of time number two that I felt like a SUPERSTAR!  Mrs. Sommers was showing the class her Writer's Notebook and I couldn't help it- I went and retrieved my own from the bag I brought in... SUPERSTAR episode 3.  Students were finishing up letters to soldiers today and many who were finished would be making their photo envelopes for their ideas folder.

The first thing that became evident when I saw students leave the rug (after having turned and talked with a partner about their writing plans for the day) was that this is a classroom where WRITING TAKES PLACE! Student folders were overflowing with papers and students knew exactly what to do when writing time began.

Mrs. Sommers had a list of students to confer with about their soldier letters. I am so happy to have this picture to replace the one I use of a teacher with a RED PEN in her hand. Rhonda- watch out- your picture is going to be part of my powerpoints now. Look how intent she is! Look how focused on that student! What a gift she is giving her writers- her full attention!

 I let her work as normal, and I pulled in close to some writers. Unfortunately names are escaping me so another description will have to do. I sat down next to a gentleman with the cutest squishy cheeks you ever did see! He was writing a story called Me and Scrappy.  Little did I know that Scrappy is a frequently chosen topic.  His story read...
Me and Scrappy
Me and Scrappy
He rides in the car because my mom picks him up.
Yes.. that is where the story ended.  I settled in as a listener first. And I said... who is Scrappy?! He said, "My dog!" Oh... I explained to him that I had no idea who Scrappy was (everyone in the class knew, but not me).  I asked him if Scrappy was his Uncle? He laughed. "NO"  I asked if Scrappy was his brother... "NO".  His classmates piped in and said, "It's his DOG!" OK. "Where did you write that?" I asked the cute squishy cheeked gentleman.  We worked out a new opening sentence. "Scrappy is my dog. I am his daddy." The second part the student came up with all on his own.

Next I asked him to tell me more about his dog. He told a story about Scrappy and the fence, Scrappy and the bed, Scrappy and how he jumps on him. I looked at this writer and explained that he had not written any of that down on paper. He shook his head and assured me that he had. "I don't see it!" I said looking at the paper in front of me.  He started digging in his folder and sure enough- he pulled out not one, not two, but FOUR other stories about Scrappy. And he HAD in fact written those things in those stories. Turns out, my conference should have been about more ideas for story topics with this little guy.

I spent a little time with Andrew. Very quiet and soft spoken. When I sat down next to him, his eyes got all big and his face blushed a little. "ME? You want to talk to ME?", he seemed to be saying.  Andrew was just getting ready to start writing a new story. "About what?" I asked him. "About when my mommy gets the baby out of her belly!" Ah... Kindergartners have such a way with words! They are even funnier with their illustrations of such things!  He explained that his mommy is having a baby- a baby brother.  I asked questions to try and get his mind going with what could make a good story.  I left him to work.

When I came back, he had his folder closed and was working on his picture envelope. "Are you done with that story?" I asked.  He shook his head yes. "Well let me see!" I said. His story read:
I am happy my mom is having a baby.

Yes folks- that was IT!  I shook my head.. I scratched my temple... I looked on the back of the paper? I asked "Is that it?" He looked surprised to be called out on the table. "You didn't write about how you are going to help him learn to read like we talked about. You didn't write about how you don't want to change his stinky diapers like we talked about?" He started to smile. "I don't think you are done." I said.  He got his pencil back in his hand and he continued to write! When I left he had it on the NOT DONE side of his folder to keep adding more details to tomorrow! Praise God!

Alas it was time to get on the road to Waco. I began packing up.  Over came a sweet cherub whose name I never did get.  She had been writing about her Calico cat that day.  She opened with...
"Can I ask you a question?"
I should have known not to allow that from a Kindergarten student I had just met, but I said,
 "Sure!"
"Are you pregnant?" she asked. I know my eyes got large, I swallowed my pride, and instantly sucked in my (slimmer than it was last year this time) stomach and said, "No dear, I am not pregnant." She continued to stare at my belly a few more seconds... she may make a good Nancy Drew someday, examining the clues.

Thank you Kindergarten for a NON SUPERSTAR sendoff.  I will reconsider this outfit more carefully before wearing it again in the future and I will admit, I have been holding in my stomach ever since.

Show and Tell at SWS @ Logan

I had the opportunity to go to a Reggio inspired school in DCPS last week.  I love early childhood! I love Reggio and its emphasis on the spirit and worth of being a child.  Childhood matters. Kids matter and at at a Reggio school it is evident with every step.

I started at a Morning Meeting and Sharing Time in a PK classroom.  I got to receive a handshake, a high five, or a hug.  I wanted a high five and my partner wanted a handshake.  I loved this idea for natural materials to mark how many questions/comments can be made after someones share time.

Sharing time this day at Morning Meeting was about their cicada adventures/learning/experience. I learned more than I ever thought I'd know about cicadas in a brief five minutes I must say.

 Look at these BLOCK structures! And the fact that they STAY up- they don't get cleaned up every day. This just screams childhood rather than "school".

When they are ready to clean up... here is the sign that says so. Otherwise- it lives another day.

This made me laugh out loud! What a unique use of corks! It's a bridge of course! I guess I'll need to drink a little more Chardonnay for the kiddos at SWS!

More block inspiration.... where would one get a poster like this? I need one. For my basement and that classroom I'm going to have again... some day! 

And in a first grade classroom they were knee deep in Writing Workshop (the Katie Wood Ray kind) and publishing books- lots and lots of books! I loved this clever display for the author's work. 

I'll keep going to schools... and I'll keep taking my camera.
I love my job!

Lovin' This in Lubbock

 I worked last month in Lubbock ISD for a Writer's Workshop training for their district. We had a great day full of Writer's Notebooks and CSCOPE IFDs color coded pink.

But I have to say my favorite site was in the halls of the administration building. It is a map tracking all the places Lubbock grads have gone to college! I think every school district should have something like this- maybe every high school?  I wonder if DCPS has something like this?

I just loved the idea. The only problem... Texas kids are choosing the WRONG Michigan school! Seriously!

I hope this inspires someone out there the way it did me!

June? Is It Really June?

It's JUNE!
Holy cow.
Time for Currently from Farley.

Listening:  I rarely actually watch TV. It is usually ON, but I am always doing something else in front of the TV- on my computer. Like right now! The news is on, but here I am doing my Currently. I am however super excited for the Bachelorette! Don't make fun- you either watch- or you don't- if you don't, don't judge! I am actually pretty jazzed because I get to watch it on the BIG TV tonight too! Jeff is at work.  It's just me and 14 Bachelors! :)
Loving: My dentist is in the same building as Baskin Robbins and I thought I had earned a little ice cream treat for the hour of torture she put me through. A small cup of Very Strawberry is waiting on me in the freezer!
Thinking: Not do any work tonight? Who am I kidding... I know I will do ppt before the night is over. I'll be doing PowerPoint while Des is kissing boys. Woe is me...
Wanting: Dinner is soup... I knew I could "eat" that without biting myself. It won't be too hard to make. Half my face is still numb! I really hope my kids get my husband's "teeth" genes, but mine is the pits. I've always been a cavity kid- aw nuts!
Needing: Seriously. It takes so much TIME to look good! Men have it so easy!  That does remind me that I could paint my nails while I wait for Man Candy Monday.
Vacay Essentials: So... I am actually going on a pretty incredible VACAY! Jeff and I leave in 17 days for the Bahamas! We have NEVER gone on  trip like this and we are doing it! I am kind of freaking out that I won't have a PHONE on this vacation... but it will be OK. Right? I need to disconnect.  So since I can't have my phone, the top three essentials for me will be sunscreen- I am so white it is not even funny- so I need to put it on over and over again. Next is the sunhat- keep the sun off my face- last summer my LIPS burned! NOT this summer. No way! Then of course a camera- but what am I going to do when the camera can't post the pics right to facebook? I am really going to go through phone withdrawal! Maybe I should also put BOOKS on that list! Soooo many good books to read!