The Sunrise Story

Notebooks # 70, 71, 72 This happened...a friend sent me this picture on twitter. It's from the Saturday Reunion at Teachers College...WOW! I am a notebooker. I proudly wear that title. Almost everywhere I go, my notebook goes with me. I'm on notebook number 72ish. (Notebooks keep popping up after I've counted, so that's frustrating. I'm not good with numbers.) I just started writing in this notebook on March 13th. Starting a new notebook can be overwhelming, even for me. It occurred to me as the words came tumbling onto the page a couple of days ago, After notebooking for so long, I know what I like in a notebook. I prefer blank pages and a hardbound book. My favorite notebooks to write in come from Barnes and Noble, but I love to try new kinds...or do I? Number 72 is from Michaels... Different kind of cover, rounded edges to the pages...I know it sounds like those are unimportant details, but they aren't. They matter. When I...

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 ...

I found many opportunities to talk with my students on Friday. Simple conversations. I listened to them, I took the time to hear their stories, to look them in the eye and to show them they are known. This is a luxury. What I mean to say is time is precious and there are many moments when I move on and I don't take that kind of time...on this day I did. As I watched and observed my seventh and eighth grade students working on their projects, I noticed that I had two choices. I could nag and remind and complain about their choices or I could watch and encourage and talk to them. Gratefully, I chose the latter yesterday and I was treated with the most wonderful conversations and moments with my students. One of my students who doesn't normally engage teachers in conversation started talking to me about the tv show Planet Earth. I was intrigued. He started telling me about the part with the flamingos getting frozen into the same lake, every single night. Night after night, th...

Reading...Only Love Today, by Rachel Macy Stafford Watching...Parks & Rec on Netflix Listening...to silence after a long day at school Writing...blog posts Drinking...water, using a bendy straw Eating...junior mints Tweeting...about new podcasts Cooking...nothing, out to dinner tonight to celebrate a friend's birthday Trying...listening to podcasts again Enjoying...watching my friend enjoy her gifts Thinking...about transitions and how best to navigate through them Feeling...at peace with life Loving...my new notebook Learning...how to ask for help Celebrating...Jessica's birthday Smelling...the "Frito-paw" smell from Bella Finishing...the day Discovering...a new way to compose a blog post (Written the evening of March 16th.) 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 ...

I believe I'm late to the game when it comes to podcasts. I tried a couple of years ago and failed. It felt like one more thing to keep track of and it was something that I felt comfortable letting go...until now. In response to my blog post about authors, my friend Jennifer Laffin from Sweet Writing Life suggested I listen to a podcast called "Beautiful Writers". I'd heard of it, but I hadn't listened. With the gift of a second snow day, I decided to find the time and settle in to listen to two of my favorite writers, Glennon Doyle Melton and Anne Lamott, have a conversation. It's exactly what I said I wanted, to eavesdrop on them chatting. The podcast was a little over an hour long. I started listening as I was getting dressed, but I quickly realized that this was too important not to give my undivided attention. I grabbed my bag with my notebook and headphones and pens and headed to Wegmans. I found a spot and grabbed a drink, set up my headpho...

During my snow day yesterday, I finished a book, "The Inexplicable Logic of My Life" written by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. This is the third book of his that I've read...devoured actually. He writes beautifully. I adore the stories he tells and I try so hard to savor the book, but I can't. Instead, I devour it and return to his stories again and again. I tweeted my review for the book and tagged him in it. He retweeted it... I can't believe he read my tweet and retweeted it! He is someone I admire for so many reasons. I started thinking about getting a chance to meet him. He's one of those people I'd love to sit down and have dinner and a conversation. Who else would I include on that dream list? Benjamin Alire Sáenz Anne Lamott Adriana Trigiani Pat Conroy Elizabeth Gilbert Dani Shapiro SARK These people create and craft with words. I'd love to be able to sit have dinner...actually, I think I'd like to sit and listen to a ...

I want to be real about my teaching. Authentic. I mess up and I rarely share it here. We all make mistakes, don't we? We talk about growth mindset, but do we share our moments of true growth? It's scary. I don't want to be judged. I always want to do my best, but the truth is sometimes my best...well, it stinks. As this week started, my best was not good...not good enough for me. I handled a situation badly...that is to say, I didn’t handle at all...at first, and then I handled it poorly. There was teasing and laughing. The subject of the teasing was on the screen, not actually present in the classroom and the laughter was subtle, more like snickering. The reason for the laughing and teasing was weight. The girl on the screen was overweight. A couple of students laughed at her. They covered their mouths, cringed, and rolled their eyes...because of her weight. I stayed silent. I froze. This is a trigger for me. I am overweight. I’ve always been overweight. As a mi...