Skip to main content

I Am Declaring this Notebook Month!

March is Slice of Life Challenge. April is Poetry Month. I am declaring May to be Notebook Month. 

 The month when we reconnect with the pages of our notebooks. That's a primary goal for me this month. Get back to the notebook!

My students are reflecting and writing about themselves as notebook-ers this month because of an amazing opportunity! We...they...the sixth-graders are TAKING OVER Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's blog Sharing Our Notebooks. 

 They have signed up voluntarily to write a blog post for every single day in May. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Today I conferenced with every single writer (again) and checked their progress.

The excitement is contagious! They can't wait! I love reading their thoughts on creating their notebook pages and their advice. My favorite part may be their author bios. These students are writers. They see themselves that way...they call themselves writers. We are all writers.  My notebook is going to be busy this month...
Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for cultivating this strong and supportive community of slicers. Join us here. 
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 1, 2018 at 4:00 AM

    I am so excited to read their posts! It is almost time for our class to make their summer notebooks and we will be using your 6th graders as mentors for sure! I vow to recommit to my notebook this month too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DogtraxMay 1, 2018 at 5:16 AM

    Cool. Will follow your project.
    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 1, 2018 at 5:33 AM

    Can’t wait to be reading.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Chris MargocsMay 1, 2018 at 6:03 AM

    If the students are willing, I would love to see pages of their notebooks to share with my teachers! From the names on your calendar, I can also see that our demographics are similar....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineMay 1, 2018 at 6:33 AM

      Chris, We will be sharing pages all month. If you'd like more examples, DM me on Twitter & I'll get you more. They would love that!

      Delete
  5. AnonymousMay 1, 2018 at 8:53 AM

    I saw your students were doing this. Wow! What an amazing opportunity. And yes, the author bios are always the best.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Elisabeth EllingtonMay 1, 2018 at 8:54 AM

    I am all in with May as notebook month! I have nearly filled mine with writing from March and April and I'll be ready to start a new one in the next couple of days. I am looking forward to reading your students' takeover of Amy's notebook blog too.

    ReplyDelete
  7. elsieMay 1, 2018 at 10:09 AM

    I know I will be sharing this take-over with teachers. From the pens of students, how perfect is this? I'm hoping that this will inspire and teach me a thing or two (or more) about notebook work.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 1, 2018 at 11:06 AM

    I fully support Notebook Month!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Terje May 1, 2018 at 12:34 PM

    Exciting! Looking forward to your students' posts. Happy Notebook Month!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Christie WymanMay 1, 2018 at 7:11 PM

    LOVED day one of the takeover, Michelle. Can't wait for more! And I'm joining you in celebrating Notebook Month. After three straight months of daily creating for this challenge and that challenge -- most of which happened on my laptop due to time constraints -- I am looking forward to luxuriating in leisurely longhand. LLL! Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...
21 comments
Read more

Whatever Happened To...

Sharing this post on Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Do you ever wonder whatever happened to your students after the year you spend together? I imagine how my students are finding life...are they happy? Successful? Do they still read? Write? What is going on with them?   I taught fifth grade for eight years. Fifth grade was such a fun year to teach because the students were still young enough that school was something they loved and old enough that they could show some real signs of independence. Fifth grade is the oldest grade in our elementary schools, so the students enjoyed their final year before moving onto middle school and the challenges that came with that new adventure.  2007 was a tough year for me personally. My dad collapsed in September of that year and then died in March of that same school year. He lived thousands of miles away, so my mind was definitely unfocused that year...but that year, Catie was in my class.  Catie was a quiet stude...
29 comments
Read more

Someday...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb 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 . Do you have dreams? Kids are good at dreaming. I find many adults struggle with it. Speaking for myself, I get so caught up in the everyday drudgery of life, that dreams get nudged aside until they disappear.  It's important to have dreams. I've been writing about my dreams in my notebook and so I thought I'd share my dreams here... 1. Writing a book.  While I'd love to get a book published, my dream is to write a book...to complete the act of writing it.  I've started on this dream and it's hard and challenging and exciting and amazing.  2. Living at the beach.    I love the water, the waves, the ocean smell, the seafood, the sand...all of it! The Outer Banks is my favorite place in the...
23 comments
Read more