Busy, Chaotic Day SOL#16

Today was a teaching day and a traveling day. I began in a scurry - trying to get ready for the two days I will be gone from school.  I worked last night getting ready for the time I will be gone. I planned and planned and worried. Up at 3:00 in the morning worrying about how things will go when I'm gone. My students are so smart and work so hard. We just started our poetry unit. We've looked at figurative language. We've immersed ourselves in poetry. We noticed. We've taken note. I hate to leave my kiddos when we're just beginning the hard work. I hope what I've left will inspire them. I hope what they work on will bring forth their confidence and creativity. I am looking forward to returning on Monday - seeing what they've done while I'm gone.

If We Look Around #SOL16

I began my morning with a check in on the Two Writing Teachers' blog to see what is in store for today's Slice Challenge. There was a link to a blog post, "Power-less" by Michelle Haseltine at One Grateful Teacher. Reading her post made me think about the struggle my students face when they think they don't have anything to write about. As I face this Slice of Life monthly challenge, I am understanding their fear and feelings about this. I know that Lucy Calkins tells us to notice the every day, notice the little things - keep a writer's notebook and always jot what you see, think, feel into it. This, I do not do. I have never considered myself a writer, BUT I strive to be what my students need, therefore, a writer I must become. Michelle's post brought home the power (no pun intended) to notice what is around us...or what isn't there - in her case, power.  This is my goal - to notice and write.

I love that the Two Writing Teachers are introducing me to new blogs and colleagues to read and learn from.

Thank you Michelle for this morning's inspiration and TWT for pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Memories of Smells SOL#16

Memories of Smells

It lingers in the air.

It wraps around me like a blanket.

There is a tug in the depths of my memories, pulling, pulling, pulling.

It takes me back to when I was young.

The summers - every summer - the fresh scent of rain.

The evergreen of the trees.

The sweet smell of hydrangeas and wild flowers.

The smell wafts around me; envelopes me.

I only walked through it.

I'm transported back to childhood.

Good times, family, friends, picnics, the lake.




This is my first Slice of Life Challenge. Join us won't you?

A Work in Progress

My students work quite a bit on writing fiction, so I wanted to work on writing a bit of fiction with my students.

A Work in Progress:

The washing machine thundered as the clothes spun like a tornado. Curious, the kitten poked his head through the kitty door and slunk down the stairs into the laundry room. THUMP! BUMP! The kitten ducked his head and spread himself as flat as a pancake against the base of the stair. He was sure no one could see him. He felt like a lion camouflaged in the tall grass of the savannah. Keeping low to the floor, he slid over the edge of stair, moving slowly and precisely one stair at a time to the bottom of the steps. The washing machine's window showed clothes tumbling and suds bubbling. The kitten crouched below the window and watched. He waited. His whiskers pulled forward; his pupils grew, the black, opening wide. He continued watching, waiting for the right time. He squatted on his haunches, shook his rear, and pounced - BAM! He ran right into the glass. The kitten seemed dazed as he fell backwards. Shaking his head back and forth, he cleared his mind and refocused. Around and around - the clothes were beckoning him. He pounced again.

A New Addition - SOL#16

old friends are comfortable

purring, sleeping, snuggling

old friends like routine

inside, outside, inside

old friends like quiet

a new addition

no more quiet

no more routine

walk in the door -

attacked

eating dinner - 

attacked

trying to sleep -

attacked

such is life 

with a new addition

This is the new addition.

Join Two Writing Teachers for Slice of Life.

Slice of Life: An Uncomfortable Time

I work in a private school. Every year we have to turn in a letter of intent. It's always this time of year that I begin to feel uneasy and unsure. Should I stay another year? Should I look for a new job in one of the public school districts nearby? I have a lot of anxiety around this. I love my classroom. I love my kids. I know that there are demands on you wherever you teach. I know that there are politics wherever you teach. Being in a private school though, you are dependent on the tuition from the students.

Some parents can be exceedingly demanding. We currently have a parent that we cannot make happy no matter what we do. Her child had an accident and had a concussion from it in October. He has had headaches and cannot track visually, so he cannot read anything. We are departmentalized, so each of his four academic core teachers meet with him during one of our planning times for one-on-one instruction daily. He will come to our class with other students for 10 minutes maximum one day a week. We have restructured requirements to the bare minimum for him. We try and invite him to class parties, community meetings, project work with other students, but the mother always has an excuse for him not to attend. Nothing we do is enough for the mother. We cannot make her happy. She constantly talks poorly about all of us, saying we don't care about her son. We are not including him. We are at a loss.  It is parents like these that make me not want to return. We try our hardest to help the child, to meet his individual needs, to go out of our way to do what we are being told is best for him right now. We cannot win. I know if I return next year, I will be teaching the younger sibling. I don't know that I can take another year with this parent.

On top of that the demands placed on us for retention are enormous. There is another school that begins in 5th and continues through 12th. Our school is 4K  through 8th. Every year we have a few students that leave between 4th and 5th.  It is a battle our school has waged since we first opened our doors.  We are losing 4 students next year. The administration has asked us to listen, to talk to parents when possible, to get genuine feedback as to why they're choosing to leave. The feedback we are getting over and over again is that the students have had their best year yet, but they know they're not going to keep them at our school for middle school.  The two reasons we keep hearing is because of the middle school math teacher not preparing students as well as they should be when they move to other schools, and the middle school program isn't strong. We've given this feedback to the administration. They are not listening. We keep asking ourselves, how can we fight a battle to keep our students through middle school when no one is addressing the issues with the teaching in those grades? It is incredibly frustrating. We are losing 4 students between 4th and 5th grade for next year. We are losing 16 students between 7th and 8th grade alone next year....and yet, nothing is said or done.

It's always this time of year....I don't know what to do.

Thank you to The Two Writing Teachers as always for hosting Slice of Life!

When We Get Stuck

I signed up for a Sixty Book Challenge this year. I've fallen behind already! I started a book due to reading the many, many, many recommendations from different bloggers I admire. It's a science fiction YA book, which I usually enjoy. I find I'm having trouble really connecting. I haven't reached that aha moment when a book really grabs you and you just want to read more. I'm only 60 pages in, but I feel like I shouldn't be struggling to pick it up this much. I am finding other things to do. I'm not crazy about the point of view and the narrator's voice. I have discovered that I tend to not enjoy books written in first person as much as third person. The character that narrates is a teenager, therefore she speaks like a teenager. I appreciate the true voice coming through, but for engagement - it's not happening. So I have a dilemma...do I plow ahead or do I abandon? I have a hard time abandoning. The guilt gets me...but I find I'm doing what my students do...I'm not reading. Any advice? What do you do when you get stuck in a book and have trouble moving forward?

Thank you to the Two Writing Teachers for hosting the Slice of Life!