Categories
Writerly Life

Why I Write

Here at www.notesfromahappyteacher.org we celebrate writing. We write with voice. We write with passion. We break rules and embrace risks. We realize that writing captures the finite and gives it depth. We write.

I write.

I write to tell you that I’m more than impressed with who you are and what you’re doing. Because I need to tell you, I’ve believed in you all along.

I write because somewhere along the line everything got too hard for me and the rhythm of words was enough to draw me back to reality.

I write for change and the beauty that lies within it. I write for the mundane and the ordinary, because I believe a dandelion is a flower.

I write to dream further than my talk, to amplify what I believe in and silence the lies that drown my thoughts.

I write for you to know me; I’m not average; I’m working toward extraordinary, but I’m not there yet.

I write because I’ve been caught off-guard and unaware, because I can’t afford to risk losing today for tomorrow.

I write with the risk of permanence, letting you know I’m for real and I’m not going away.

Categories
Classroom Writing

little teacher moments

This week I experienced quite a few moments that made my teacher heart smile, and rather than forget them in the busyness that can sometimes overtake me, I’ve decided to catalog a few for you in today’s blog post.

I read a student journal where the student chose to reflect on the strategies I’d been teaching in class. First he defined them with an example, which was enough to thrill me; I mean he could have picked any topic Xbox, basketball, whatever, but he went for writing strategies. Then I read the line that reminded me why I love my job, “I then began to think about how I can use this in my story.” Oh how I love when they share their thinking so freely and when they begin to revise with purpose.

It started raining on Friday, really hard. If you’re a teacher you’ve probably thought many times about how to deal with weather. I mean if it’s raining hard outside, every kid in your room will probably think that’s more entertaining than whatever you’re presenting. For me, sometimes I embrace the weather, and sometimes I close the blinds. Friday I chose to embrace it, and I was sitting with a table full of boys talking about rain stories and this one time at camp. Suddenly, a boy at the table interrupted my story, “I don’t mean to be rude Miss Smith, but I’ve got a rain story too, could you pause for a second so I could jot down my idea in my writer’s notebook? I don’t want to forget it.” That’s a writer, one who stops a conversation to remember.

I was moving around the room during writing time, when I noticed a boy writing seed ideas. I was curious; I haven’t taught them in awhile, and his looked shorter than normal so I sat down. I sat down and inquired what he was doing. His reply went something like this, “Well I was looking at an old generating list, and I liked a few stories so I decided to try out a few short sections of each one to see which one I like the best, that one I’ll write long. We’re allowed to do that right?” Actually that’s exactly what I want them to do, I just wasn’t sure anyone would remember it.

I overheard a writing conference where the writer said, “I’m working on details.”

His writing partner looked at him and said, “What do you mean?”

“Details like being specific?”

And again the writing partner, “I don’t understand what part do you want to be specific in? Characters? Setting?”

“I’m not sure, everything?”

“That’s too hard, let’s read your piece together and focus on one thing that’s important to your story.”

Asking about goals, being specific with goals, and accomplishing goals, that’s what we’re all about.

That was just the beginning of my writers coming out of their shells this week. I had kids begging me to spend more time revising, and others finding punctuation in their independent reading books that they could model in their writing. I’m starting to feel at home with these kids. I love their talk. I love their thinking. I can’t wait to see how we’ll grow as writers this year.

Categories
Classroom Writing

timelines

Backing things up a bit, I wanted to share with you a planning strategy we used in our journals before lifting the text to regular paper. I didn’t think the strategy was blog worthy (or maybe I just didn’t have the time), but now that I’ve had the chance to read through most of their journals, I can see it had power.

I often teach making timelines as a planning strategy when working with Small Moment True Stories. A timeline is exactly what you think, a series of events in the order you will write them. The difference is I usually have my kids make at least three for the same story. I do this because I want them to recognize that a story might be more powerful if it started an hour earlier or maybe even right in the action itself. They’re the authors so in the end they do the picking, but I do force them to make timelines.

In making these timelines students are looking at:

  • Which approach best tells the story?
  • Which approach best conveys why this story is important to tell?
  • Which approach is unique or follows a mentor author?

After making the timelines some students had to shift text around, others had to add on, and some simply decided to keep their story as they had written it. All completely fine options in my book, as long as the thinking was there. And after looking at their journals, I’m thinking it was . . .

Here’s an example of three different timelines that I found in H’s journal . . . they kinda’ read like a poem don’t they?

Getting ready for game

Warming up for the game

Getting starting lineups

 

I start at mid-field

Snowing, raining, 40 degrees out

Playing my guts out

Can’t feel my hands or legs

 

After playing for 60 minutes we lose

2-1 was the score

Sweat and cold air

Thought to myself maybe next year

I will never stop playing soccer

Categories
Classroom Writing

lifting

Today we went for the first big move, or lift as I’m calling it. My kids took their first idea out of their notebooks and onto drafting paper.  I love this part of the process; where they have generated thousands of ideas and tried out a few seeds of stories in their playground (err notebook), and now they’re ready to test out their story to see if it will stick (and it will . . . because I’m teaching them to revise . . . lots).

I can’t wait to teach them revision. There is something about watching a writer struggle with their own paragraph, sentence, word, that gives me the chills. I love the decision process where a writer cuts out a whole paragraph because they’ve told you too much. Or better yet, I love hearing an author read a sentence aloud four different ways until they’ve found the perfect order for their words. Then again sometimes the removal of a word or the changing from the proper noun, Zack my boyfriend, to just the measly pronoun him when you break up — oh the power my young writers have (don’t even get me started on the drama they can cause with punctuation).

I’m giving them one more day to draft this whole thing out on paper, and then I’m diving in. I’m offering up five mentor texts to them for mining of tips and strategies while we revise together together.

Mentor Texts for Small Moment True Stories:

  1. Boys, Beer, Barf, and Bonding by Bruce Hale
  2. Crow Call by Louis Lowry
  3. Marshfield Dreams by Ralph Fletcher (Chapter 2—Statue)
  4. Dead Body by Jerry Pallotta
  5. Eleven by Sandra Cisneros

Of course, I’ll be modeling with my own writing and these books— hopefully, I’ll find a break in the middle of all this and share a tip or two with you.

Categories
Writerly Life

Promise, Possibility, and Potential.

It’s September. I’ve officially dropped off the social map. If you’ve seen me in the past three weeks it’s because you’re one of my students or coworkers . . . or really lucky.

I’ve overheard teachers saying:

 “I went to bed at 8pm last night.”

“Everyday my throat is killing me by noon.”

“I’ve been to Staples three times today.”

Or maybe that’s just me, saying those things. That’s another thing about September, I don’t remember who I’ve said what to, because everything I say, I say multiple times.

It’s exhausting at best. I want to blog more often; I want to read more often, but I can barely keep my eyes open once I reach the front door to my house.

Yet, for all the exhaustion, September holds its own romance. New routines are established, friendships are formed, the air turns cool, and my classroom becomes my favorite place to be.

We’re only halfway through September, I don’t want to label it exhaustion— it’s just not fair to say that’s what I get from September. At halfway through, I’m labeling September: Promise, Possibility, and Potential— and I’m holding onto that till October.

Categories
Reading

five.

Did she really just say five books?

Yeah, she did.

A majority of my students are on their third book of the year; I’m pressing for five by the end of September. We’ll be working on covering a volume of pages this year, but for September we’re working on a volume of books. For some kids, this is a goal they would have met anyway, but for most it means putting in more time, going for shorter books, or lowering your reading level and going back to old favorites.

I thought five books by the end of September was a strong request when I first said it. Now, I’m realizing it’s totally doable. I am giving them time to read in class, and I am forming my instruction around their independent reading books, they have more than ample opportunity to cover ground. In fact, their only homework for my class is to read (and make a post-it note or two on their book).

I wish my teachers would have done this for me— it’s no fault of theirs that Independent Reading wasn’t a trend when I was in middle school. However, I just love that most of my kids can name a book they love or an author they enjoy reading. It’s my hope they’ll be reading books long after they leave my class, long after they leave school. Side Note: I’d really like to thank all the teachers from kindergarten to seventh grade that worked with my students before me; it’s not a battle or a challenge for them to find books they like—I know this teaching and this culture is yours; I cannot thank you enough.

If there is one thing my district does right, it’s create readers. Five books? No problem.

Another Side Note: some kids do complain— they’re fourteen. I tried to count them today, out of a potential 85 students, 10 thought five was a bit much. A little more than 10%— this happyteacher is totally okay with those odds. It’s cool to read.

Categories
Classroom Reading Writing

Product of: Starbucks, Conversations, and Dreaming

Yesterday I was trying to figure out if we have been in school for two weeks or three. I’m starting to feel a sense of urgency in just about everything I do. During the summer there was Starbucks, conversation, and dreaming. Now I reflect, plan, and do, praying that a little bit of sleep makes it into the equation somewhere.

But, I feel like we are gearing up—I’m giving them the tools and structures they’re going to need for the journey this year.

  1. Lots of Reading & Post-It making
  2. A ton of Partner Talk
  3. Generating Ideas to write from

Post-Its. I’m a teacher; I love them, that comes naturally with the job. However, it wasn’t until this summer at Columbia University’s Reading Project that I understood their value for my students. I’m modeling strategies for responding to text in ten-minute mini-lessons and then watching the kids use that strategy on Post-Its in their Independent Reading book. It’s a beautiful thing to see their thinking sticking out on brightly colored notes between the pages of a book.

Partner Talk. I was pretty good about remembering partner talk last year with writing. I understand the importance of talk within the writing process, but this year I added reading partners to the mix. Now, my kids are talking purposely at least twice during the block. Once during reading; once during writing. I’m modeling this talk with my coteachers and other kids in mini-lessons, and mid-workshop interruptions. Sure, I’m hearing off topic talking. Sure, this is taking up valuable time. But, I’m thinking, give me another week or two and everyone will know my expectations for both reading and writing partners—from that point, these partner talk relationships will become invaluable to my instruction.

Generating. It’s weird to say I teach my kids to think up their own ideas. It’s even weird to me that they can’t just do it on their own. I mean they have facebook; they like to post. But, in response to their cries of, “What should I write about today?” I’ve learned the importance of teaching them to generate their own ideas. I try to give them about one generating strategy a week in the beginning of the year to get them going with ideas. Then later in the year, if they come to me with the awful, “What should I write about today?” question, I can simply point them to my wall charts and move on with a smile.

It’s the end of week two, it’s the product of: Starbucks, conversations, and dreaming.

Categories
Uncategorized

Teacher Appreciation

This Saturday, August 20th is Staples and Office Depot teacher appreciation day. All you need is a teacher ID and you can walk in and receive a free gift. In most stores they’ll also be handing out a free breakfast to teachers. For more information, or to see if your local store is participating in the AmAzInG event…click on the links. See you there!

Categories
Classroom

reviewing the game plan

All summer, pretty much whenever I could, I would sneak off to Starbucks. I’ve developed a love for a tall iced coffee, sweetened with soy. And although I was maybe embarrassed initially by my Starbucks gold membership, I’m not anymore. In fact I love it, and my free coffee refills (which you can get too as long as your card is registered—you don’t have to be gold). But today, I wasn’t at Starbucks at all; in fact, I passed four of them on my drive to school.

Then I arrived, at the door of my almost creepily empty room. At first, I was simply overwhelmed. Thirty chairs were stacked in the back, there was nothing bright or colorful anywhere, and I hadn’t had any coffee. I wish I could tell you some trick to make this moment better if it happens to you. But, I can tell you that I moved through that overwhelming threshold, plugged in my iPod, and got started.

I arrived around 9:45AM, then at 11AM I was ready to call it a day.  I think I pushed through until 2PM.  I hung all my favorite posters, took out new pencils, hung up artwork around my desk from former students, and then sat in the summer heat and tried to rehearse in my mind what I might say to them when they walk in on that first day of school.

Beginnings are nerve wracking and beautiful in the same breath. Maybe as a teacher, I shouldn’t admit that I get nervous about the first day of school. Maybe I should tell you; oh it’s just a bunch of administrative stuff that first week. But, you saw my last blog; you know my first week, and there are no preseason this doesn’t really count moments when you’re in my classroom.

For now, I’ll run back up to Starbucks and review the game plan one more time . . .

Categories
Classroom Reading Writing

August is.

It’s August.

I guess for some teachers that means the end of vacation. For me, August is inherent with reflection, planning, and oddly high credit card bills. My brain is ready to go back and my wallet needs to stay away from Manhattan and Starbucks.

I’m left thinking about what routines, what structures, and what assessments I really want to pack into that first week of school. I’ve downloaded curricular calendar after curricular calendar, and I’m packing my brain full of first month of school non-negotiables.

 

In Reading Workshop for Week One I’m thinking

-Volume Matters, kids make a plan of the next 6 books they’ll tackle (see things I’ve learned from my coworker S.Gardner)

-Model Reading Log Possibilities (More on this in the next post)

-Establish Reading Partners & Model talking about books

-Read Aloud A Picture Book or Two

-Reading Survey

 

In Writing Workshop for Week One I’m thinking

-PreAssessment, kids showing off their best writing skills

-Spelling Inventory

-Making Writing Portfolio Folders

-Generating Ideas to journal from

-How to set a up a journal page

-Establish writing partners & model talking about writing

-Writing Survey

 

And that’s just the start…

I’ll need to show them where to keep their tools and how to organize/respect our room. I’ll need to show them how to move the desks quickly when we sit on the floor, and how to move them back quickly to begin working. I’ll need to discuss technology, and how to respect it within the classroom.

There is more, I mean I can’t really even begin to tell you the more, because if you’re a teacher like me the more has started to wake you up in the night. What I’m recommending is starting your non-negotiable lists now. Then come the first day of school you can focus on helping kids open their lockers and learning their names, rather than planning some strange get to know you game that has nothing to do with your curriculum anyway.  Happy Planning!