Happiness.

As I was packing up to leave school one afternoon this week I was hit with this feeling of happiness & contentment with what I get to do everyday.  Even though this week seemed never-ending (first full week since before Thanksgiving because of snow!), it was a really good week.  Really good.  These are the highlights that made me happy:
*Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems.  What Mo book can't spread a little happiness, right?  I read this to my 5th graders.  The way Mo began & ended the book popped out to them.  "Well, you know could always try that, right?"  That was all it took!  Away they went to craft the MOST amazing beginnings and creative stories they've written all year.  It made me happy.

*Inside the Slidy Diner by Laurel Snyder.  I shared this book for the first time with my 5th graders this week.  All I'm going to say is this... we read it right before lunch... 6 of the 7 students were boys... it grossed them out & they were disturbed that I read it before they ate!  Gotta love that!

*Cesar Takes a Break by Susan Collins Thoms.  Again, with the 5^th graders.  Thanks to Cesar we have a new phrase… “puddle of sadness”… we used it all week!

*Everyday this week I heard this after independent reading & writing time…  “Can’t we just do this all day?”  I really think they’ve missed this time!

*Ordering books.  Several teachers at school got to spend some of our Title funds on ordering books.  Ordering books is fun… ordering books on someone else’s dime is even better. 

* Planning trips.  Cheryl & I are gearing up 2 trips.  First to the Dublin Literacy Conference on February 26^th.  We found out this week we are also going to be able to attend a Debbie Diller Institute on 3 – 6 literacy stations in Richmond, VA. 

*The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  Cheryl & I are leading a study group of this book at school.  Our first meeting was Thursday.  We (& our school administrators) LOVE this book!  We were curious to see if everyone else did.  Unfortunately, I think the verdict is still out for some of them… fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised at some of the discussion.  We can’t wait to meet next time and hear what others in our school are doing to prioritize reading in their own lives & the lives of their students.

*Author visits.  Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has spent several days working with our K – 5 students.  Tuesday she gave a talk during our PTO meeting. One of her quotes: "Not everyone wants to be a NASCAR driver, but everyone wants their driver's license. We all won't end up being authors, but we all must learn to write to be sucessful in life!" Who doesn’t get happy about author visits?

*My desk.  This is a strange one, but bear with me!  I’ve been in the middle of Title I monitoring for months.  Everything is due next week, so this week I was wrapping everything up.  That meant I got to remove LOTS of paper piles from my desk.  I also put some of said piles into a neatly organized notebook (which makes my heart smile all by itself!!).  SO, it was right after the study group meeting, I was gathering up my stuff, & realized… my desk was neat and clean!  No clutter!  With a sigh, this allowed me to stand and soak in how much I love my class and my school.  As I looked around I saw the evidence of what we’ve worked on all week… stacks of books they’ve put out for research, writing drafts still by the computer, graphic novels they are using as mentors, scraps of paper from making books… all of it was a scene that made me happy & content.

*Cheryl.  She is who supports me.  She is who motivates me.  She is my book gal.  She makes me happy.

So, those are a few things that made me happy during this 5 day week.  This morning I (mbheartsbooks) created a Twitter account… I  hope that will add to the happiness & not scare me too much!  Cheryl (annrich7) has also signed up.  Follow us!  We're excited about all the possiblities this will offer for networking and continuing to learn from those we admire!