The Sunrise Story

Today we will celebrate writing in room 734. We are writers. We will create new writing. We will share our writing in new and creative ways. We will celebrate ourselves as writers. Writing is powerful. Words change the world. Our time together will begin with the story of a writer who changed her world and soon the world beyond her own, Malala. The picture book, Malala and the Magic Pencil, is a perfect read aloud for this day.  I celebrate writing. I celebrate our writers.  I celebrate magic pens and pencils.  Please come back to see the results from our day of celebration. How will you celebrate today? 

We've launched notebooks. We write in our notebooks every day.  I collected notebooks for a first check. Spending time in these pages inspired me.  I get to know my sixth-graders as writers and I get to know their interests and passions. Notebook writing and reading their writing is certainly something to celebrate today!  The rest of this post will be pages from their notebooks. They've given me permission to share. You are in for a treat! Enjoy... Thank you to Ruth Ayres for providing this space for sharing our celebrations. Please join us and share your own!

Celebrating small moments today. My first celebration is sleep. I slept. It was a good sleep. The phone woke me at 7:30 and I felt rested. I love when sleep comes like that. If feels good and complete.  I celebrate Bella. Her joy when she sees me at the end of the day, playing wholeheartedly with her toys, and enjoying her treats. Bella knows how to live.  I celebrate new relationships. Working together with new people and getting to know them and allowing them to know me. It's been a joy already! We help and support each other. We listen to what we need and we work to provide that.  I celebrate surprises! Yesterday was busy & stressful. I was at my wit's end and frustrated with some circumstances when a package arrived for me in the mail. It was a sweet surprise from my friend, Dana. The JOY that it brought me!!!! I couldn't believe how thoughtful this gift was and it reminded me to show thoughtfulness like this to others in my life.  I cele...

The school year officially begins tomorrow. All teachers return tomorrow. I've been back already for a week and a half...moving buildings and setting up a brand new classroom. Going back early is like waking up in the early morning hours before the world is awake...the building is quiet(-ish), there's time to just be in my new space and imagine the year ahead. When I stop and sit in the space, I imagine the students who will call this home for the next academic year. I imagine the conversations we will have. I imagine the learning that will occur. I think about the debates and the silliness and the messiness of finding out who we are that will transpire in room 734. I can't wait for those moments to arrive. Those are the moments that I live for...the reason I love working with students. I'm not done. It's a work in progress. This is, at least, the seventh classroom that I'll inhabit. It will take some time to live in it and find the best w...