Most schools in this area are on break. However, my daughters' school is not one of them. They continue to go to school through Wednesday. Today I volunteered in my first grade daughter's classroom. If you are lacking a little spirit this holiday season, then you should volunteer in a first grade classroom too. 🙂 Among… Continue reading Thinking About Others
Category: reflections
Yesterday’s Post
Awww man, this was yesterday's post and I completely forgot. Yesterday was a day filled with unexpected tasks. Have you ever had one of those days? You just never seem to get the things done you planned to do because other, more pressing things pop up? For me, these "other things" usually involve people. Someone… Continue reading Yesterday’s Post
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Highlights from the Week
I have been in a lot of different writing workshops lately. Just this week I've been in 13 writing workshops and have met with 13 different teachers in either reflective practice meetings or planning meetings. Therefore, I have SO MUCH I want to record. Which leads me to my current dilemma: what do I not… Continue reading Highlights from the Week
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Reflecting on Reading Like a Writer
So I took some time to create a video about the system I created in order to track and reflect on my summer reading. Because I pushed myself to reflect in a new medium, I feel like I dug deeper into the work I've done with reading like a writer. (I hope it's not too… Continue reading Reflecting on Reading Like a Writer
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Writing Heals
Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals. --- Don Delillo Thank you for the kind comments you have left… Continue reading Writing Heals
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Year-End Student Reflection
An integral part of being a writer is taking time for reflective practice. The end of the school year is one time to ask students to reflect on their lives as writers. Take some time to consider which aspects of their writing lives you would like students to consider. Here is a PDF of a… Continue reading Year-End Student Reflection
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Refining the Art of Teaching
Refining is the process of purification. Natural resources are refined when they are almost in a usable state in order to make them more valuable. I think teachers ought to engage in a refining process as well. A process of purification. A process of becoming more valuable. I've heard all of the reasons why we… Continue reading Refining the Art of Teaching
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Reflections on the 2008 – 2009 School Year
On Monday, June 29th, we will begin our summer posting schedule. Therefore, I wanted to take some time to reflect, publicly, on my school year, which ended yesterday at 11:00 a.m. Challenges I'm delighted to have hosted the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC) this past March. It was fantastic to "meet" so many new… Continue reading Reflections on the 2008 – 2009 School Year
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End of Year Letters BACK TO My Students
My Hope and Dream Letter Originally uploaded by teachergal I can hardly believe there's only five school days left even though I've been going through my students' end of the year reflection letters, and responding to each of them in writing, this past week. It takes awhile to do it well. Therefore, this is the… Continue reading End of Year Letters BACK TO My Students
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Updated End-of-Year Letter Guidelines
Here's what I'm giving my students to work on over the course of three days this week: Guide to End of the Year Letters to Ms. S. NOTE: Your paragraphs do not need to follow this exact structure! It’s merely a guideline to help you if you’re stuck. • Paragraph 1: What is your greatest… Continue reading Updated End-of-Year Letter Guidelines
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End of Year Classroom Rituals
I've noticed that a post I wrote last June, about letters I have my students write to me at the end of each school year, has been getting a lot of clicks lately. Since it seems like a lot of people are looking for ideas with how to end the school year with the same… Continue reading End of Year Classroom Rituals
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Reflections
This week my students are reflecting on the drafting process (of their memoirs) more than they're sharing at the end of Workshop time. I wanted to have-a-go with them reflecting, in lieu of sharing, for just a week, after reading"Academic Resilience and Reading: Building Successful Readers" in Vol. 62, No. 5 of The Reading Teacher. … Continue reading Reflections
