The Sunrise Story

What is it about taking a road trip? As a kid, I wasn't crazy about long car rides. They were boring and I fought with my sister about where we were sitting in the back seat and sometimes I got car sick. As an adult, if I am within driving distance, I prefer driving over flying. Long car rides mean discovering new places. Road trips give me a sense of possibility. I love the potential for getting lost, although I don't always love getting lost. I love when I find my own way and get to a new place. This weekend I drove from Virginia to Ohio. I'd never been to Ohio before, so this was an adventure. I confess that driving over the mountains was my least favorite part, but I can look back and say I did it. I kept remembering these words from the television show, "This is Us"... I rolled down the windows and cranked up the music and drove. I feel like each road trip changes me a tiny bit...makes me a little braver and reminds me to see the worl...

It was an honor to present with the amazing Deb Frazier today at the Dublin Literacy Conference. Here's our presentation...

Good Morning! I almost missed writing this post because I thought it was Monday. No work yesterday because of Presidents' Day...well, no school because of the holiday. I was very productive this weekend (and that's not the norm)...  I did laundry. I graded. I wrote. I planned. I created. I paid bills. I read. I saw a musical. I took walks in the warm weather. I enjoyed a leisurely cup of coffee. I grocery shopped. I cleaned... and now it's Tuesday.  I hope you enjoyed your weekend and have a lovely Tuesday.  Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers .

This week has reminded me to question perspective. There were some things in my life causing me stress or sadness. I decided to write about them. Seeing things from a different perspective and questioning my perspective turn into lightbulb moments for me. I'm choosing to believe that everyone has a story and is doing the best they can. I'm reminding myself that I, too, am doing the best that I can.  With my students, we created mission statements to focus our perspective during class. I can't tell you how amazing it is to hear the words that they wrote being read aloud, every single day. Here's one class sharing their mission statement:   We begin our time together reminding ourselves of our goals and our potential. Yesterday started out as a dreary Friday. In my communications class, the first class of the day, there were yawns and sighs and not much energy. We decided to change our perspective. In the morning news, we heard that it was Random Acts of Kindness...

This past year has brought some changes and disruptions to my sleep patterns. The one pattern that has stuck around is waking at three AM. Wide awake...the no going back to sleep awake. For weeks I was frustrated and worried until I relaxed into it. Research waking at this time and you'll discover some unsettling suggestions about ghosts and demons. I believe that if someone from beyond is waking me, it's someone I love. Maybe my dad is nudging me to get up or maybe it's my grandmother saying hello. That brings me joy and comfort. More research brings me to a song I used to listen to a lot, by Matchbox Twenty. That's just a nice musical break for you. I know I had read something about creativity and waking in the early morning. In searching for that, I just found this great blog post from Medium called, "Why You Keep Waking Up at 4 A.M., And why creatives should embrace it" . This post reminds me that these early morning moments are to be ...

I am going to let the words of my students speak today. We are working together on writing a class mission statement. I've written about the process here and here . One class is still in the revision process. They are at the point where they have completed individual or small group statements and they are on their way to revising for one statement. Here are some of their ideas... Many of these posters have been revised already. The next step is sharing and revising. In my other class, we revised as a class. (Have you ever tried that? Revising with an entire classroom full of sixth graders. It isn't easy, but it was lots of fun.) Each group shared their mission statement. We applauded and then we picked out the best words, phrases, and ideas to include in one class mission statement.  As we finished for the day, I reminded them that the loud and messy process we just completed is called revision. I said, "It's hard and messy, s...

I'm celebrating kindness today. This week a friend called me a "kindness warrior". I love that and I am claiming that title by recognizing and celebrating moments of kindness. I have so many moments spent with students this week that are filled with kindness! * Students collaborating and creating class mission statements * One class spontaneous bursts out singing when they hear anything close to a song lyric. * Students helping each other out and offering encouraging words * Laughing with students * Sharing new book titles with each other and listening to their work as writers. * One of my favorite moments: I was pointing out that the work we were doing with our class mission statements was revision. And revision is messy and hard, sometimes loud and fun, but always worth it. A student raised her hand and asked, "So, is teaching like revising?!?!" YES! Yes it is! Other moments of kindness from this week... * A co-worker listening to me through m...

This is why I teach.  In my last post , I wrote about a new mission statement that my principal wrote for our school. This comment on my post gave me a great idea... I decided to try this out with my students and we began our journey to create a class mission statement. Yesterday, we read and analyzed some mission statements. When we felt like we understood what a mission statement is, we started brainstorming words and ideas to include in a class mission statement. Today, we visited youtube and listened to Montague's Workshop and Kid President for some inspiration.  We continued to plan and we started to draft. Students were working hard and the room was abuzz with excitement. We aren't finished, but I couldn't wait to share these amazing mission statement drafts. Why do I teach? THIS is why I teach... Somehow we will revise and revise and revise to create one unified mission statement. Stay tuned...