Slice of Life #8

I want to share this article posted on Twitter, "Teacher Survey Shows Morale Is at a Low Point" for today's Slice of Life.  I was not surprised by the surveys' findings, nor was a surprised by the reasons given.  Anyone in education could tell you that morale is low.  I spent some time last night and today reflecting about what I can do to keep my morale up.  I also feel fortunate to be surround by many like minded educators on Twitter that help keep me grounded in my beliefs during this uncertain time in education.

Slice of Life #7

"Just stopping by for dinner" the man called from the basket as I opened my front door.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  About 50 feet from our front door a hot air balloon was coming down.  We had only been living in our house for about two weeks and what a house warming gift we were given.  It was a very exciting evening for our kids, my husband and I.  Not to mention it made for some beautiful pictures.  The balloon owners let the kids get in the basket and they also got to help jump and lay on the balloon to get all of the air out.  It was an evening that we will never forget at our house.

It took awhile to get the air out of the balloon and loaded into the truck.  As the balloon people were working, I wondered why they landed in our yard and not the field across the road.  So, I asked the why they landed in our yard.  They said that farmers get pretty upset if they land in their fields and they need to have easy access for the truck to pick up the balloon.

Every time I see hot air balloons in the sky I think back to the fond memories I have of that cool, crisp fall evening.  I wonder where the balloons are heading and who will be the fortunate recipients of the landing.

Slice of Life #6

Lesson #1 
Learning from Slice of Life

I know this is only day six, but I have already learned some valuable lessons about myself as a writer and lessons that I can transfer to my teaching as a writing teacher.  

The first lesson that I have learned from doing Slice of Life 2012 is the importance of feedback.  The comments that I have received daily have been an enormous motivation to keep writing and participating.  So, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts and leave comments.  Your efforts are greatly appreciated!

I've always known the importance of giving students feedback, but struggle giving all students valuable feedback in a timely manner during writing workshop.  In experiencing the effects of timely feedback, I have been inspired to step back and reflect about what I can do as a teacher to ensure that all of my students have the opportunity to experience this.  

Slice of Life 2012 #5

This past summer I was introduced to something called, "Quick Writes" by Jeff Anderson at the All Write!!! Conference in Indiana.  He described how you can use the writing strategy in the classroom.  I modified how he described it for my second grade classroom.  I give students two unrelated words, like ice cream and car.  Students are instructed to pick one of the words and use it at least once in their writing.  I then give the students one minute to think about their story and three minutes to write.  This summer Jeff Anderson stated, "this is prompt writing that your students will love."  He was right.  My second graders really enjoy doing this.  I am always amazed at what they can write in such a short period of time.

This weekend my daughter wanted me to draw with her.  After drawing my version of a guinea pig and her laughing at me, I asked her if she wanted to try some "Quick Writes".  My daughter loves to write and I was saddened when she announced that they don't usually do writing workshop in 4th grade.  She was excited to try.  I varied it by giving her the choice of a word that we would write about and she decided on the time, two minutes.  She was really enjoying this and we invited her brother to join us.  After each write we would go around and share what we wrote.  "Quick Writes" were a really engaging activity for all of us.  What a great way to extend the brain, practice writing and spend time together.

Below are our last "Quick Writes" using "white car":

Betsy age 10:
She pulled up in front of my small broken down house in a white car.  I looked over to my mom.  "What are aunt Paris and cousin Mimi going to be like," I asked.  "Well they do have many more things than we do and they will be bringing their....

Ben age 13:
Dale was about to open his first car shop.  He had his collection of cars outside and his good cars inside.  Like his white double engine ferrari.  So Dale was ready to open up shop but he did not know what he might sell first.

Me:
All I wanted was a white convertible for my sixteenth birthday.  My sweet sixteenth birthday.  The one I had dreamed about since I was old enough to know what a birthday was.  I wasn't a popular girl, but if I could only get a white convertible my popularity....

Wonder Words - Using Wonderopolis to Build Vocabulary

Vocabulary development is important in all grades.  According to Sharon Taberski (2011), "we need to have an expansive vocabulary in order to be expansive in our thinking about topics and texts" (p. 103).  Furthermore, Taberski (2011) argues, "Children must know the meaning of most of the words in a text or passage to understand it" (p. 103).

One way that I build student vocabulary in my second grade class is by using Wonderopolis.org.  About twice a week after reading over the Wonder as a class we read through the "Wonder words to know and use".  I help guide students in choosing a word to add to our "Wonder Words" Wall.  The words are usually ones that I think they will encounter in their own reading.  In addition, I try to focus on words that improve and make their writing more interesting.  

After choosing a word, we go back up in the text of the Wonder and find the word.  We read the sentence before and after to try and establish a meaning for the word.  We will often talk about synonyms for the word, have students give examples of the word and/or use the word in a sentence.  We will also talk about the root word, suffix and/or prefix if there are any.

Sharon Taberski's book, Comprehension from the Ground Up she describes a neat idea that could be tied to Wonder Words that I may try in the future.  She calls it "Words Words Words".  She picks words from her read alouds, writes them on sentence strip paper and adds them to a list.  She encourages students to find, write and listen for the words to be used in a sentence.  If they find, write or hear the word, they are instructed to mark the page or write down the sentence.  Then during a share time, students will read the sentence omitting the word.  The rest of the class has to figure out what word the student is omitting.  What a creative idea for having students practice using words and exposing them on multiple occasions.  

Below are a few of my students describing some of our Wonder Words and using them in a sentence.

This digital slideshow made with Smilebox

Slice of Life 2012 #4

Today's Slice of Life entry did not come as easily as the other three have.  I started three different posts this morning, only to delete each one and start completely over.  The first was about a hot air balloon landing in my front yard.  I started that post at least three different times and each time it just didn't seem to flow so they were deleted.  Then I started a post about these t-shirts that I have my students decorate with pictures as one of their first homework assignments.  Nope, didn't like that one either, so it was deleted too.  I then started a post about what makes you feel smart, which is something I asked my students on Friday to reflect on.  Nope, that one didn't make the cut either, so it was deleted.   I was feeling rather frustrated.  The more I thought the harder it was to come up with a "slice" worthy idea. 

I then began thinking of the student who sits and does nothing the entire thirty minutes they have to write or the student who starts a new story each day and never goes back to it.  I also thought about the student who does everything to avoid writing.  You know the one who sharpens her pencil five times.  I could relate to all of these students this morning.  After my struggles this morning I began reflecting about what I can do as a teacher to help students through these times?  What environment to I need to establish in my classroom?  What routines can I establish to help these students?  Tomorrow I will look at these students from a new perspective and try some different strategies to engage and encourage their writing.

Slice of Life 2012 #3

Last night I did what I encourage my second graders to do before school even starts.  I encourage them to gather pictures that represent memories and help inspire writing and stories.  So, last night I started going through pictures hoping to find the "perfect" one to inspire a memory that I could write about.  I enjoyed my time looking through pictures and thinking about many memories.

Above is a picture of my son, Ben and daughter, Betsy.  In the picture Ben is 3 and Betsy is 4 days old.  They are now 13 and 10.  Whenever I look at this picture, I am filled with many emotions including, sadness, happiness, wonder, awe, anxiety, frustration, hope and guilt.

I am filled....

I am filled with sadness because they are not babies anymore and I miss that time with them.

I am filled with happiness because they are growing to be such wonderful young people with lots of characteristics any parent would be proud of.

I am filled with wonder because, I truly "wonder" where life is going to take them.

I am filled with awe because they impress me each day with with their thinking and perspectives.

I am filled with anxiety because I worry about the world and life that surrounds them and know that I won't be able to protect them from everything.

I am filled with frustration because we don't always see "eye to eye" as they become more independent in their thinking.

I am filled with hope for the world is at their finger tips, if they will just take hold and grab it.

I am filled with guilt because I don't always make them my first priority and I've made many mistakes as their mom.

Below is a Smilebox slideshow I put together last night after looking through pictures.  I made it for me, but thought I would share.

This slideshow design made with Smilebox