The Sunrise Story

It's May. Chaos. Busy. Hard to catch your breath... We are going to start state testing next week. We are working on our poetry portfolios this week.  We are in the middle of our blog takeover at Sharing Our Notebooks this month.  It's Teacher Appreciation Week.I've declared it Notebook Month.  AND the year is drawing to a close.   It's hard to stay in the moment with so much to accomplish, yet that's what I want to do.  Savor these moments. Notice how seamlessly students are working together. Admire how they pull together in a team when one of their team members is struggling. Appreciate their time and attention and remember that they are probably feeling so many of the same things I am.  Today, I will savor, admire, appreciate, and remember these things. Today, I am grateful to be a teacher and witness the growth of these students. I'm grateful to do this work alongside kind and funny colleagues. I'm gratefu...

I'm grateful. Today I'm grateful. For what? Well, I'm glad you asked... Grateful for (in no particular order)... 1. achieving goals I've set for myself 2. friends who love & support me 3. writing, writing, writing 4. being an auntie & a Godmother 5. my family 6. memories of those who are no longer here 7. laughter 8. creativity 9. my voice 10. strong, resilient, brilliant students 11. a school community where I feel valued 12. being a teacher 13. books 14. twinkle lights 15. pens 16. notebooks 17. learning new things 18. grace 19. Bella, my sweet dog 20. mail 21. Oreos 22. the lunch gang And so much more. Sometimes, in the middle of a busy, messy, stressed life it's important to reflect and be grateful. I'm grateful for this blog and all of my readers.  March is the Slice of Life Challenge. I'll be sharing a post each day in the month of March. Please join me at Two Writing Teachers ...

I'm grateful.  I'm grateful for friends who help me move 38 boxes of books into my brand new classroom. I'm grateful for my dog Bella who loves me unconditionally. I'm grateful for daily phone calls with my mom who always makes me laugh. I'm grateful to be aunt and Godmother to three amazing kids! I'm grateful to be a writer. I'm grateful for the community of writers that I've found and for their support. I'm grateful for the quiet of early mornings. I'm grateful for the precious pages of my notebook. I'm grateful that I've learned the most important thing about life is showing up and being kind.  I'm grateful. I'm grateful. I'm grateful. 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 .

Do you ever have a day when you are grumpy and you can't put your finger on a specific reason? Yesterday started out like that for me. I felt annoyed at things that normally don't bother me and I couldn't seem to shake it. Days like that frustrate me. What do I do? Fight it, sink into it, accept it, ignore it? I tried to control the grumpies the best I could and go on with the business of the day. Yesterday was a day when classes were working on projects. I was moving from group to group, offering guidance and support, but the students were doing the work. My students in communications are busily filming and editing commercials. The sixth graders are beginning their picture book group projects. As I walked around the room and listened in on conversations, I felt lighter. The picture books must include researched information from the students' own culture and because they are working in groups, they are figuring out how to incorporate diverse cultures into on...

I'm grateful for... 1. my loving, crazy, amazing family 2. my brave, hard working, sometimes silly students 3. my loving, grace-filled, kind friends 4. books to read 5. notebooks to fill 6. just the right pens 7. my sweet Bella 8. peppermint coffee 9. soft, warm, cozy blankets 10. writing to soothe my soul 11. traveling to discover 12. mittens 13. sense of accomplishment 14. stickers 15. hugs 16. daily phone chats with mom 17. warm socks 18. bubble bath 19. memories of dad 20. autumn 21. faith 22. showing up Being grateful...expressing gratitude...it's contagious and powerful. It can change my mood and change my day. What's on your list?  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 .

Last Wednesday afternoon after a very long day, I prepared to teach the first class of Writing and Learning Across the Curriculum. Nine years ago I took this writing course and now I'm teaching it for the third (or fourth) time. I keep thinking...What an honor! I'm so lucky! What an experience! Teachers from elementary, middle and high school levels come together for a few hours every week to write and share their writing. They take time from their busy lives to be here. I get to facilitate those hours and I take that responsibility seriously. Having done this before, I now know that I can't do this alone. They need to be IN it! These teachers are IN it!!! Every week I read and respond to reflections from them about their reading, writing, thoughts, etc. The reflections I've read this week amaze me. These teachers showed such honesty and drive in their goals for being here. Many expressed frustrations with lack of time and so many expressed a desire to be better...a bet...

Here's a list JUST for my mom!!! I'm grateful for... 1. My mom 2. Daily phone calls 3. Sharing book recommendations 4. Talking about teaching 5. How cute she is 6. What a great grandmother she is 7. Shopping together 8. Trips 9. Swimming in the ocean 10. How much she loves her family!

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for an  amazing blogging community! On October 18th, I will be celebrating a year of gratitude! A year ago, I began a new practice of gratitude. It was inspired by a blog post written by  Kate Roberts .  Each morning begins with an email listing things for which I'm grateful. I send the email to a small group of friends. I send a separate email to a few family members. This practice has changed me. Throughout my day, I find myself thinking...oh, I should include that in my email tomorrow. Others like to end their day with the email. I like to begin my day with it...I feel like it steers me in the right direction.  This simple email can be a hard thing to send...you know, on those days when you just don't care...or those days where everything seems to be terrible?!?! So many days, I just wanted to give up on gratitude and say forget it. From my experience, sending the email on those days is when it matters the most! ...

Slice of Life Sharing my slice of life (#slice2013) over at  Two Writing Teachers.   Please join us! On Wednesday I turn 42.  I love birthdays.  Celebrating!  Laughing!  Singing! Birthday cake...presents...cards!  But this year, I wanted something different. Something more. I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I read it somewhere...I wish I could remember where. For my birthday this year, I'm going to practice acts of kindness. Twenty-two (since my birthday is on the 22nd) during the week of my birthday. (Although I am going to try for 42, since I'm 42 years old.)  I'm starting today...Sunday!  I have a list of 22 ideas... Can't share the ideas...yet! Excited to start!! I'll journal and blog about what I actually accomplished and what happened. Celebrate my birthday with me! Be generous! Spread joy! Do something special for someone else and share it in the comments here. I can...

Dear God,  I'm writing this letter to say thank you. Life moves so quickly that I hardly slow down and truly appreciate the gifts you've provided me.  Thank you for all of my blessings.   Thank you for my family...those here and those who are now with you. I'm grateful to have a family that loves me and knows me....a family that can be crazy and loud, but a family that always loves and forgives.  Thank you for my friends...my friends filled with faith and love and goodness. My friends who show me who I want to be and love me for who I am right now. My friends who pray for me and pray with me, my friends that laugh with me and cry with me. My friends that have taught me lessons of patience and forgiveness and have shown me how to live an authentic life. My friends that inspire me with their own lives.  Thank you for my home, filled with treasures like photographs and notebooks and drawings from my niece and nephew...that reminds me thank you fo...

Ah, I love celebrating! This week was a good one. The last week of a quarter can be exhausting and draining and overwhelming, but this week was calm and productive and, dare I say it, even fun!  1. I'm celebrating  Zone Day! That's the day when we spend the entire block celebrating our hard work with READING! We independently read, we share book talks, we read aloud, we bring in pillows and find comfy spots and just READ! 2. I'm celebrating my students. Two different students brought me in little treats. One brought me some of her Halloween stash. The other brought me this pen:  Thoughtful students make me SMILE! 3. I'm celebrating so many amazing professional books to read. Having so many resources to educate myself and grow as a teacher makes me so grateful! 4. I'm celebrating the work being done in my home this morning. After a terrible leak months ago, I'm so excited to have my home repaired and back to normal...or even better than norma...

Thank you for this opportunity to celebrate and be grateful. The timing of this is perfect! Last week, Kate Roberts wrote a post on her blog, indent , about gratitude and I borrowed one of her gratitude rituals of a Daily Gratitude Email. I started one with a small group of friends and another with some of my family. This daily email which takes a few minutes to compose and send has changed my outlook on life. I've done the thing where I write things down for which I'm grateful, but this works better for me because I'm sharing it with people I love! Here's one of my favorite emails from my aunt: My writing notebook! Oh I'll celebrate my writing notebook. I love writing in it and it makes me happy.  The title is "I untangle life in my writing."  It's my 56th notebook. I've been keeping them since I was ten years old! I designed this one myself and bought it on Etsy. (I highly recommend the shop Transient Books !) Here's ...