slice #7

My 5th graders made me really proud today.  For the past week we've been researching the Iditarod... reading books & articles, watching videos, checking in on our favorite mushers, listing questions.  Each day I've had the current standings pulled up on the Smartboard.  The students have been coming straight in, helping each other locate their musher, updating a class chart we made, & then adding to their individual charts in their reader's notebook.  We had a snow day yesterday, so today when they came into class they couldn't wait to check in on the progress of the race.  I loved seeing them all huddled together at the front of the room calling out the standing of their mushers to each other. 

This is what research should look like!  Working together to find the answers to authentic questions & topics that interest students.  Helping students write research papers can be a real struggle for me.  When I get discouraged in the future I need to remember today. 

Do you track the Iditarod with your students?

slice #6

The "maybe we'll get one more snow day" hype was in full swing yesterday.  If you teach, you know what this kind of hype does to a classroom.  And it really leaves you no choice, but to also wish for just one more snow day.  If you can't beat them, join them.  After all it is all about the kids, isn't it? 

So this morning I woke up before my alarm.  Which is quite unusual.  Quite.  I'm instantly alert & making major decisions.  Do I check my phone for the text that lets me know how my day will go?  It might be too early to check.  What if the text hasn't been sent yet & I'm just disappointed for nothing?  Or should I just sleep for a few more minutes & then check closer to a normal hour?  Should I look out the window so I know what to expect?  Or stay burrowed under the quilt?  After much back & forth I made a decision.  I checked my phone.  Much easier than getting out of bed to check the window, right?  2 hour delay!  I'll take it!  Change the setting on the alarm clock, let the hubs know so he won't wake me up in a panic that I've overslept, & settle back in for a few more hours of much-needed sleep.  When it was finally time to get up I checked my phone one more time, just in case.  Snow day!! 

I don't think I'll ever get tired of snow days!  There is something so luxurious about them.  Especially when they are in the middle of a very hectic week.  Today has been exactly what I needed.  Nestled on the couch with my books & Netflix.  Yes, just exactly what I needed. 

slice #5

Our 6th graders were responsible for the PTO meeting tonight.  The 6th grade language arts teachers decided we would focus on poetry. We are doing a March Madness bracket with books so we talked about that, too.We asked students to choose poems to read, either ones they'd written themselves or found.  The weather is really nasty here tonight, so we really weren't sure how many would show up.  We had about a dozen!  Which we were pleased with for a middle school program. 
After the students were done sharing we shared Ralph Fletcher's "The Good Old Days" poem.  Students had passed out clipboards & paper as people were coming in & told people they would be participating in the program.  The students spread out in the bleachers with their families to work on creating their own poetry.  It was so sweet to see them sharing & encouraging their families to write poetry!

On another note... I'm really tired!  I keep hoping to get started on my writing before 8 or 9 at night, but so far it hasn't happened!  But, I'm still writing, so I'm happy with that!  See you tomorrow fellow slicers :)

slice #4

I have four favorite letters today.  M-A-U-I.  We are in the process of planning a return trip to Hawaii!!  We are traveling with my dearest friend & her husband, so I spent the afternoon at their house planning & dreaming of all things aloha!  We've all four been there before, & we're having fun comparing notes about what we want to do the same, different, or not at all. 

One thing we know for sure is we will definitely go whale watching.  Now, I am not an animal person.  At all.  We went whale watching on our first trip & I was instantly hooked!  They are now my favorite animal.  My friend & I drifted away from the condo sites to the Pacific Whale Foundation site.  These creatures amaze me.  One picture showed a baby jumping & it was completely horizontal.  Several showed a rainbow mist from the whale's blow hole! 

I can't think of many better ways to unwind after a Monday... fun company, gorgeous pictures of Hawaiian beaches, & virtual whale watching.  Lookout Hawaii!!!!

Here is a picture from our last trip:

slice #3



Sundays around our house are for recharging.  We very rarely have set plans, other than church.  Our weeks, like I'm sure most others experience, are hectic, busy, & full.  We are lazy most Sunday afternoons & don't feel guilty about it! 

The sky has been spitting snow all weekend, but not much of it has stuck.  Snow that doesn't stick & weekend snow really seem useless for teachers.  Just a tease.  This afternoon at church our worship leader thanked God for the snow that was quieting the earth.  I love that!  It made me think about how our Sundays quiet our minds, lives, schedules, & all the junk from the previous week.  They give us time to enjoy each other & reconnect.  Sunday evenings we usually talk about what each of us has coming up during the week & start gearing up to hit the ground running on Monday morning.  Sometimes our weeks are too hectic & we don't take the time to enjoy the moments we have.  But Sundays?  They quiet our earth.

slice #2

I've always been a reader.  Always.  Even before I could read, I loved books & was surrounded by them.  I have all these artifacts of a reading life & have been thinking about how I would like to curate them into some sort of project.  Photographs of them with some quick blurbs about them is what I keep coming back to.  I'm big on nostalgia & photography, so the two hobbies could really combine on this (future??) project.  So, I'm thinking this month some of my slices could be a perfect place to try out some ideas for this.

My sweet dad sent me a text this morning with this picture of me reading when I was little.  He said it was in honor of Read Across America.  I love that he cares so much to send these sweet little things!  Just beyond thoughtful, really.  I think it was taken Christmas 1976 when we were visiting my grandparents.  Just me & Drowsy hanging out with The Three Bears.  Love.

good old days #1 of 31

Last February my grandfather passed away.  He fell & broke his hip on a Thursday night, wasn't strong enough for surgery, and passed away on Sunday.  One day I still had all four of my grandparents.  The next day I didn't.  This past month I've been thinking about him often.  And missing him. 

Last Saturday during the Dublin Literacy Conference, when Ralph Fletcher invited us to write using his poem "The Good Old Days" in his general session, my thoughts immediately went to my grandparents.  This is what I came up with:

Sometimes I remember
the good old days

visiting a house with
both grandparents still inside

each having their
own brand of love

struggling to find
a balance

Nannie at the window
eager to listen

PawPaw in his chair
eager to share

I still can't imagine
anything better than that.