In Stacey's last post (right below this one), she wrote, "So what I'm taking away from today is . . . " and I thought, what a good reflection for the end of every day. Then I thought, what did I take away from today? Hmmmm. I suppose it's we matter to one another. As… Continue reading taking away from today.
Author: Ruth Ayres
Unhurried. Finding the magic in the middle of living. Capturing a life of ridiculous grace + raw stories.
get a giggle out of this.
You absolutely must take two minutes and click over to Christi Overman's blog, Chocolate for Teachers, and read about her very first sharing session of her teaching career. I think I'll be giggling for days over this one. Clarification: I'm giggling about the unexpected nature of kids in workshop -- not the content of the… Continue reading get a giggle out of this.
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power of place.
Today in a fourth grade classroom, the teacher let me experiment (play) a bit. We focused on places for our notebook entries. After all of the wn entries Stacey & I have posted about place (click here or here or here or here to read a few), the strategy has been yearning to get out… Continue reading power of place.
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more on generating writing ideas.
Like Stacey, I think it's imperative that kids have lists in their notebooks about writing ideas. I think one of the most powerful lessons we can give students in regards to finding writing ideas is to help them find topics they can mine. What I mean by this, is finding topics that have many topics inside of them. For… Continue reading more on generating writing ideas.
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writer’s notebook decorations.
Just wanted to let you know Z-Scrap has all K & Company products on sale right now (as well as other goodies). Here's a link to all of Z-Scrap's sale items. I've ordered from this online store a few times & have always been pleased with the results. Thought some may be interested as you… Continue reading writer’s notebook decorations.
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ruth’s wn entry: my fav things about (you name the place).
Following Stacey's lead, here's my list -- Favorite Things About Indiana Wide open spaces that allow for my mind to wander during late afternoon/early evening walks. My family is close in proximity. Indiana Hoosier Basketball -- need I say more? Colt's Football. My husband & I make several games each season. In fact, we used to… Continue reading ruth’s wn entry: my fav things about (you name the place).
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the balance of teaching writing.
Do you ever feel like you're being pulled in different teaching directions -- conventions and craft and process? Do you sometimes feel guilty when you're teaching about craft that you should be teaching conventions? Or in a conference when you compliment on the great focus of the writing, that you should be correcting the spelling? … Continue reading the balance of teaching writing.
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our talk.
This week I have been working with some stellar teachers. My role in their rooms has been that of a team teacher and so it's been easy for me to absorb things from them. One of the things I've been struck by is the way they talk with their students. They are so kind, so… Continue reading our talk.
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writer’s notebook share.
Yesterday in Teresa Zurcher's third grade classroom students were personalizing their writer's notebooks. I love how much I learned about kids simply by chatting with them about the stuff they were putting on their notebooks. As an end-of-workshop share, Teresa had everyone put their writer's notebooks on their desks and then they walked around to… Continue reading writer’s notebook share.
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clay fragments.
When I was learning the ropes of teaching, Tammy Hess helped me along. We stumbled into a study group for teachers of writing through the All-Write Consortium. We weren't sure what it was all about, but they offered great food, soothed us with read alouds, and encouraged us to reflect on our lives and our teaching. … Continue reading clay fragments.
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notebooks: make ’em work for you!
What a great discussion Stacey got started about writer's notebooks. To see it, read her post One Notebook or Many? (as well as others since, click here). I've been thinking a lot about notebooks this week too. It is one of the basics of writing workshop and essential for us, as teachers of writing, to… Continue reading notebooks: make ’em work for you!
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before GO.
Pretty soon we're going to be going at full speed as a new school year begins. Before GO, though, there's GET READY and GET SET. Have you gotten ready, gotten set? I know there are classrooms to organize and school clothes to buy and writer's notebooks solutions to figure out, but there's more too. We need to… Continue reading before GO.
