The Sunrise Story

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 Wr...

We are almost halfway through this challenge. Tomorrow is the fifteenth. It's a good time to think about where I started and how far I've come in the slicing challenge. I'm surprised that I haven't had to write a, "I don't know what to write about" post, yet. I feel organized and successful in getting my posts done in a timely manner. Still, I'm surprised at which posts get the most comments and readers. I invited my student slicers to reflect on their progress in this challenge. Their answers delighted me and surprised me. There's a range. A few love this challenge...a few have given up...and a few are struggling through it. I am proud of each slicer who took the challenge. Here is what they are thinking about this, in their own words...  There are so many different perspectives and opposing views. I'm proud of my slicers for reflecting on this challenge and sharing it with me. These notes have insp...

Friday was a big day in room 734. We launched our blogs. Sixth-grade writers are now sixth-grade bloggers. We've started later than ever...I was frustrated with the late start, usually, I like to launch blogs in the fall.  (Learning Snapchat, but this is how launching blogging feels sometimes.)  Everything was ready. I managed to procure a cart of laptops. Instructions were clearly published in google classroom. We were ready! This day is one of my favorite days of the whole year. I know what my students are capable of and how creative they are, but by the end of this process...many of them know it too.       I guide them through the creation of the blog path (the URL) and the naming of the blog. I leave clear instructions for creating and submitting a post, but everything else is up to them.   My instructions are simple: PLAY. Discover. Investigate and share what you're learning. For some students, those instructions are scary....

Join us here to celebrate! I am grateful for my students. I am grateful for their great big hearts ! I am grateful for their empathy ! I am grateful for their kindness ! I am grateful for their  joy & humor ! I am grateful for their reflection ! I get to spend my days with these students. Guiding them. Watching them. Nudging them...and then getting out of their way as they take on the world! I am grateful for my students! Today I celebrate each one of them!

This is one of my favorite posts of the week! It gives me the chance to look back on the week and celebrate all of the good! Thank you to Ruth for this opportunity. Please join us at her blog ! Monday: I celebrate a day off. It was relaxing and quiet. I enjoyed a yummy cup of coffee while I watched one of my all time favorite movies, Annie!  Tuesday: I celebrate student bloggers. Students started blogging today! This is one of my favorite days of the year! I love watching them figure out the blog's dashboard and how to maneuver around. I love reading their posts and comments. It's such a fun and exciting time in our class! (They will soon be ready for the world to read!)  Wednesday: I celebrate my church family. Wednesday nights I attend a class at church. Life is so busy, I almost didn't sign up, but this hour is one of the best of the week. The leader of the class was celebrating his 81st birthday...so I brought cookies & brownies. We all indulged...