The Sunrise Story

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged here. This space is special to me. I'm sorry I've been gone so long. Where have I been?  I've been packing up and ending the inaugural year at my brand new middle school. It was a wonderful year! I've been walking. Every day. Incorporating walking into my daily routine has been so worth it. I feel more energy. I feel inspired by being outside. I enjoy chatting with a friend or the silence on my own.  I've been writing...mostly typewriter poetry. I took on #the100daychallenge and decided to write a poem a day for 100 days. Currently, I'm on day 87.  I've been reading. I'm in the midst of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I'm reading Innovator's Mindset for school. That doesn't include the news and poetry I read daily. Finally, I've been cleaning and organizing and purging. Taking it shelf by shelf, room by room...and really being mind...

This school year is quickly approaching its end. (I'm sad about that as it's been one of the best years for me as a teacher!)  I've found it helpful to make plans for the summer. With family visiting and PD sessions, I have forty-seven days this summer that are currently unplanned. What will I do with that time? There are a few things I want to develop habits by doing them every single day.  1. Walk. I want to go on walks every day. I've already made some plans with a few people who may join me. Starting the day out with a walk is a great way to get outside and really begin my day.  2. Swim. I love to swim. Being in water always brings me joy. I'm putting it out there. One goal is to get to the pool every single day. Again, I'm not one to spend lots of time outside and I want to change that. What's better than swimming?  3. Read. Ok. I read. I love to read, but my pleasure reading has fallen off. Bringing a book (or my Kindle) with me...

This question was posed to me by a friend a Facebook group. I decided to sit and think about it and make a list. Here's what I came up with... After I wrote, I decided to flip back to the past week or two in my notebook to see if I'd done this recently. Look what I found... It's a collection of posts that focus on the joy in life and the funny moments during the day. If I were forced to pick just one thing that brings me joy, satisfaction, and engagement...it all leads back to the notebook! Two Writing Teachers provides a space each Tuesday for slice of life posts. Please join us there !

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...

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...

I've challenged myself to participate in the hundred day challenge. One hundred days! I started on April 1st (the actual challenge began on April 3rd). Today is day twenty-four for me and I'm plugging along.  I've decided to write a poem every day on my pink typewriter. These poems are short and simple. Sometimes they aren't very good and other days I'm really proud of them, but I'm showing up every day. I think that's the lesson...showing up every day... even when, especially when I don't have anything to say.  That's what writing is. That's what writers do. They show up to the page every single day and write and I'll continue to do so for seventy-six more days. (That's July 1st, for those who are counting.) Twenty-four days into the challenge, I wonder...do I regret starting this? Sometimes I wish I hadn't. Sometimes it feels like it's just one more thing until I sit down at my typewriter and I write. Big goals are ...

Monday was rainy and cold and, well, it was Monday. Why was I awake and out of my house by 4:40 AM? We had a field trip to visit 94.7 Fresh FM . We were invited to be guests of "The Tommy Show" . We spent a few hours watching Tommy, Kelly, and Jen create incredible entertainment.They shared their tips and advice with the middle-schoolers. They listened. They answered questions. They treated the students with such kindness, generosity, and respect.   Students got the opportunity to record a promo for their segment, "Can't Beat Kelly". It was amazing getting to stand back and watch these kids speak on the radio. A few students interviewed Tommy and Kelly too.  As the morning came to an end, they decided to film some of our segments in the studio. Just watching these students grab Tommy and ask him to be in the joke of the day or asking for advice made my heart grow with pride. They had fun. They took our time here seriously and I watched them lear...