The Sunrise Story

This year, I find myself kicking and screaming towards the end. In my best recollection, I've never felt like this before about slicing. I wonder what's changed?  Honestly, the only thing that's bringing me back day after day in this final week, is my students. I have students who have committed to this challenge. Sixth-graders are slicing over spring break. What can I possibly tell them? I didn't feel like it?!?! I forgot?!?! NO. That's why I'm here. Writing. Blogging. Slicing. Tomorrow is the final day. I confess...I'm excited to be finished. The feeling for me is different this year. I'll need to reflect on why that is, but right now, I just notice and accept it. Today is Friday. I spent the afternoon with friends. We laughed and talked and listened. It was the best part of my week. Sitting with people who know me and hear me and like me. I hope your Friday was filled with joy.  March is the Slice of Life Challenge. I'll be sharing a ...

At a conference this weekend, I heard a speaker say that writers see and experience the world differently. Something happens and it becomes fodder for our notebooks (or blogs). We see life as a series of stories. I agree with this characterization and I feel grateful that I am a writer. My friend, Christine, is also a writer. We met as writers in a writing group more than ten years ago! Our words connected us immediately and they still do years later. Words are sacred to us. We notice them. We share them. We ask for feedback when we write them. Words are sacred and it seems that only writers truly understand that relationship. Christine lives far away now and we rarely get to see each other, but our friendship remains strong through the sharing of our words. Words from my friend mean so much to me. They lift me when I'm down. They show me who I am when I forget. They guide me to better places. They keep me company when I'm alone. Here are some words shared between us...

Yesterday I got to spend the day with my friend Stacey , and her two amazing children. I'd met her daughter before and this time I got to meet her brand new baby boy. They live close to Hershey, PA so we spent the day there. Stacey blogged about our day together here . We had lots of fun catching up and spending time with the kids. Seeing Hershey and Chocolate World through the eyes of a six-year-old is magical! I marvel at the friendships that have started because of an online connection. Twitter and blogging have introduced me to amazing people. Sometimes those connections turn to deeper friendships. Stacey and I met online through blogging. The first time we got to meet IRL (that's in real life) was at NCTE a few years ago. Since then we have attended a writing retreat together and gotten together a couple of times on our own. Here's an opportunity that would have been missed had our online community not existed or if I hadn't participated ...

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 . I love seeing people make their dreams come true. My friend Chrissy made her dream come true. She is an amazing teacher and a wonderful mother. Chrissy, like so many of us, dreamt of writing a book. She had the story, inspired by her own experiences as a mom. She lived the words written by Toni Morrison, "If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." Chrissy wrote it. She never gave up on it and it was released on August 29th. The Early Bird is a beautiful picture book of a mother's love. It's about a child's love for his mother. There are lovely pictures and beautiful text. Inspired by her own son, Chrissy writes a sweet story about a baby bird who arrive...

Thank you to  Ruth Ayres  for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week!  September 19 will mark our  100th celebration ! Please join us! As I prepare to return for my twenty-first year as a teacher, I am taking time to reflect. Twenty-one years ago, I walked into a third grade classroom, Room 110, excited and nervous and ready to teach. I walked into that room alone armed only with my ideas. Twenty-one years later, as I walk into Room C10, I walk in with a crowd of support. I am not alone... As I walk into my classroom, I walk with Stacey who reminds me that I am a writer when I wonder and question myself. Her unwavering faith in me pushes me to continue when I think I can’t. I walk with Lee Ann who inspires me to be more creative in my notebook and in my life. I walk with Margaret who shares her creativity and poetry and her kindness. I walk with Julieanne who always encourages me to think about things in a new way with her thoug...

Thank you to  Ruth Ayres  for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week!  September 19 will mark our  100th celebration ! Please join us! Today begins a new month. August. This week I celebrate... quiet mornings school supply sales laughter ice cream sparkly lights reflecting looking planning Hope this post finds you in a happy place!  What are you celebrating today?

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 .  I woke up at 7:30 today. I slept through the night, didn't wake up at all until 7:30 this morning. That usually doesn't happen. I'm awake around five a.m. every morning and most nights I wake up a couple of times. Last night was filled with restful sleep. I find myself wanting a reason for this night of restful sleep, and then I can replicate it. Instead, I'll enjoy it.    Yesterday I met a friend for lunch. It was one of those lunches...we met at noon and we were still there talking after three o'clock. We used to work together and she left to open a new school and life got in the way for both of us. I missed our friendship so much. I missed our talks and laughing and how much we had in common...like our school supp...

Written Thursday at The Highlights Foundation Tomorrow I will go home. Tonight I think about what my goals were for this retreat... Go. Show up. Write. Meet some people. I did. I achieved all of these goals and much, much more. Go. I am here. This place is magical. Everyone is kind and helpful and supportive.  The food is delicious and nutritious. The weather has been comfortable. Show up. I introduced myself to people. I met new people. I listened. I learned. I asked questions. I shared. Write. Oh did I write. I wrote a lot. I flushed out ideas for two possible possible books. I wrote four blog posts. I wrote pages and pages in my notebook. I wrote a lot. Meet some people. I thought I'd meet people. I didn't expect to meet a dog and a bear too.  Back to the people...I didn't expect to make real connections. I didn't expect to leave here with friends. New friends and old friends... Writer friends. Also... I laugh...

Written Wednesday at the  Highlights Foundation ... I slept through yoga. It was a wonderful, restful, and relaxing sleep. Breakfast was powerful. The food is yummy...always yummy (I eat so quickly that I always seem to forget to take a picture!) This morning the group at the breakfast table got into such a powerful discussion about...life, race, gender, relationships, writing...you name it we discussed it. It reminded me of the conversations I used to have in college that lasted for hours. We had to cut it short, but it stayed with me.  We walked back to the lodge...the four of us. Making plans to keep in touch as Dana was leaving today. I'm so grateful we stopped and took this picture of the four of us... Dana, Lori, Stacey, Michelle Now, down to the writing today. Something about writing is tiring. At the end of the day, it feels like a day well spent. There was lots of writing today. We took a walk after lunch and that helped my afternoon productivity.  ...