Month: March 2015

Slice of Life: Spring Equinox 3/21

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Today, I am experimenting with poetry and with a digital design tool Canva. 
On Saturdays, I also participate in the Celebration link-up. If you would like to read my celebration post you can find it on my other blog here.

Celebrate 3/21

It’s Saturday morning and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

I haven’t done a Celebrate post in a while, but I do take time to reflect on my celebrations each week. I am so thankful for this community because it really makes a difference when I focus on the positive and celebrate little successes as well as big ones.

This list includes things from the last two weeks. I am experimenting with Canva today as well. I have had an account there for a long time but haven’t really tried using it for designs yet.

If you want to find out more about the picture book In Mary’s Garden, please visit yesterday’s Slice of Life post here

Last, but not least, I want to celebrate the fun of using a new digital tool. I think I will continue to experiment with Canva in many future blog posts.

What are you celebrating this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Slice of Life: In Mary’s Garden 3/20

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March. If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Today we had an author’s visit at school. I love that I have hooked up with the local independent bookstore, Boswell Book Company. I am on their school contact list and I get the e-mails about the opportunities for author visits.

This morning, we had Tina and Carson Kugler visit our school. This married couple wrote and illustrated the book In Mary’s Garden, which was released on Tuesday. What is so cool about this is that this book is about a local artist and pertains to a local bit of folklore. I absolutely enjoyed meeting the Kuglers as well as hearing about the work it took to make this picture book. It was so great to have our students learn about this really neat local attraction and possibly get them to ask their families to go visit.

Mary Nohl was a local Milwaukee artist who used found objects to build sculptures in her yard. She built an amazing space that was locally famous and many people came to visit it.

I really enjoyed hearing more about this interesting artist. I loved that the authors really focused on their own process. They worked hard to honor the artwork while also working to tell the story of this interesting woman. The video below talks about the artist. 

The authors were amazing and I am so excited that we were able to host this event at my school. This is a wonderful picture book and I think it is such an interesting story. I hope many people buy this book and share our fun story about the local artist who brought intrigue to the shores of Lake Michigan.

Then when doing some research, I realized that Mr. Schu did a blog post about this book. If this isn’t an amazing recommendation for this picture book, I don’t know what is. To find out more about the book visit Mr. Schu’s blog here. 

I am so excited that I got to experience a little bit of the fun book release party for this spectacular picture book.

(of course, I forgot to take pictures, so you’ll just have to take my word for it)

I love that I can provide this type of opportunity to my students.

Slice of Life: Upheaval at School 3/19

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

This year, our school has been put through the wringer. Our principal of 15 years decided to retire at the end of October. There was a plan in place and our assistant principal took over and we had a smooth transition. Just when we thought things were falling back into place, right before Christmas break, the district gave us the news that a person who was being demoted from Central Services would be placed at our school. It was a big upheaval. The administrator that was placed in our school had never been a principal and had very little experience in elementary schools. The situation was difficult for everyone, but we settled into our roles and sucked it up and it has been going well. The new principal took on the role very well. She worked hard to learn what she needed to learn about the way our school operates and she has been diligently trying to help our transition be smooth. 
Now that we finally seem to be settling into this and things are falling into place and working smoothly, the district decided to throw a wrench into our lives again. They are possibly messing with the assistant principal again and changing her role at our school. I can’t believe the amount of ridiculousness that has been going on this year. And this woman has had to go through so many changes. Our principal said today at our staff meeting that she is pretty sure that this is happening because of her. It is awful that the powers that be are trying to make things difficult for our principal, but in the meantime they are losing sight of the purpose of education. Making things difficult for her will make things difficult for all of us. I am worried about the effects that all of this will cause in our school. I don’t understand why they are choosing to put us through the wringer. I wish they would just let us be until the end of the school year. 
The reality of our situation as teachers is that we all have to bend to the whims of the political minds that run our district. It doesn’t help that I work for a large urban district. I wish that the business of igniting young minds did not depend so much on political moves. But I will keep plugging away and hoping that we get some consistency soon. 

Slice of Life: Genius Hour 3/18

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Two years ago, I attended EdCamp Milwaukee. It was an amazing experience and I had a wonderful day of learning. While I was there, I attended a session on Genius Hour. I had never heard of this idea but I was impressed by all the great ideas.

I went back to my school and immediately worked on a plan of how to incorporate Genius Hour into my day at school. Last year, I had my middle school ELA students work on individual projects. I loved the days that we worked on Genius hour and so did all of my students. This year, I have been trying to figure out how to incorporate this idea into my fourth grade classroom. I can’t believe it took me this long to get it started, but now I am so excited to start.

Today we had our second brainstorming session for my students to come up with their ideas for genius time. I suggested learning to code as one of the suggestions. I was so impressed with how focused my students were. It was so fun to hear how excited some students got when they wrote code and were able to draw pictures on the computer. I loved how engaged my students were today. It really turned my whole mood around.

I am looking forward to learning all about the topics they picked.

Slice of Life: Corned Beef and Cabbage 3/17

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

There are so many things that can make me think about my grandma. She was one of the most influential people in my life. I was the oldest grandchild by five years and so I had the privilege of being the favorite and the one with the closest relationship with my grandparents. I used to spend most weekends with them. I would call my grandma and invite myself over to their house. Then I would spend the weekend with them. 
Around St. Patrick’s Day, I think about my grandmother. Her mother was Irish, and the tradition was to find a meal with Corned Beef and Cabbage every March. Each year, I look for a traditional Irish meal around this holiday. If I don’t find corned beef and cabbage, I look for a great Reuben sandwich. 
So, when I wear a button saying “Kiss me I’m Irish” it makes me nostalgic for a time when I could share a traditional Irish meal with my grandma. 

Slice of Life: Mondays 3/16


I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I am not usually one of those people that gets down about things. I have a pretty positive outlook and I can usually find the silver lining. But this year, with this group of students, I hate Mondays. I. Hate. Mondays. Or should I call it might-as-well-not-have-bothered-with-lesson-plans-because-of-the-bouncing-off-of-the-walls day. This group of students is full of individuals that are sweet and want to do good, but they have one of those group personalities that makes my days very exhausting.

Mondays are full of reminders of the way we do things and redirections and giving my signal for quiet only to be ignored and struggling to get their attention. This group is making me dig all the way through my toolkit, which has been built up over 15 years of teaching.  I am almost at the end of my rope with them.

I know that tomorrow will be a little bit better and by Friday we will be right on track. Then, we will go home for the weekend and it will start all over. Oh, how I hate Mondays!

Does anybody else have this challenge this year? I would love to hear from you in the comments.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/16

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

So, I did it to myself again. I have too many books going so I did not finish a single one of them this week. Also, I was back at work after missing a week because I was sick. Suffice it to say, there were a lot of things to catch up on. Plus, I was still not feeling better so I was exhausted every night. I came home and fell asleep on the couch and took a nap every day last week.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am more than halfway through All the Light We Cannot See, which I am loving so far.  I also am reading La mirada de los angeles, which is another mystery thriller from Camilla Lackberg. I love this series. I am still also reading a nonfiction book about the history of chocolate.

What’s Next?
I honestly have no idea what I will read next. I think I will probably pick up a number of middle grade titles so that I can get quickly through some of my pile. It will depend on my work load this week and how I am feeling.

What are you reading? Have any recommendations for me? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Slice of Life: Let’s Go to the Movies 3/15

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

For fifteen years, Ramon and I have loved watching and critiquing films together. We enjoy the kind of movies that really make you think and we love animated movies. For many years, we have not gone to the movie theater because of the prices. For some reason, we chose to believe that spending that much money on a ticket to a movie was just not worth it when we could watch films for very little money at home. In the last couple of months, my husband and I re-discovered the fun of going to the movies.

There were two major things that happened that got us interested in going to the theaters again. First, a beautiful cinema opened up in our neighborhood. A great business owner restored and remodeled a movie theater that had been closed for many years. The Avalon theater is so gorgeous inside.

There is a lounge and bar in the theater and waiters are there to serve you during the movie. The seats are extremely comfortable leather chairs with a nice tray table that you can use for your snacks. Going to this fabulous place made the money spent on movie tickets worthwhile. So right before Oscar time, we were able to watch both American Sniper and The Imitation Game. (I highly recommend the latter by the way) We watched the Academy Awards with so much more interest this year.

The second thing that happened was a gift card. My sister and her husband gave us a gift certificate to Marcus theaters. That was such a thoughtful gift because they knew that we don’t often go to the theater anymore. This weekend, we went to our usual movie theater and discovered that they are remodeling and have beautiful leather reclining seats now too. I was so excited to see Kingsman. Colin Firth is my Hollywood crush and I was looking forward to seeing him in a different type of role. We loved the movie, although if you don’t like violence or crude humor it is not for you. I think the movie was similar to a Quentin Tarentino film. The dark humor abounds. We had such a nice date night and will definitely be going back to see other movies in the future. (We might even get there on a Tuesday for $5 movie night)

Since we rekindled our love of cinema, we have been watching amazing movies at home too. My husband has been busy requesting DVDs from our public library and we also rent some movies. My favorites lately were A Hundred-Foot Journey, 12 Years a Slave, Whiplash, Big Hero 6 and The Theory of Everything. I have to say that I really agree that the actors who won Oscars deserved them, and the nominations were all well-deserved also.

I love that these few things happened to bring us back to something that we enjoy. Being an avid reader makes me love a good story and a good film can bring that story to life so well. Having a spouse who enjoys discussing films is priceless. I hope we will continue to go to the movies and that we won’t forget how much we enjoy it ever again.

Slice of Life: Adventures in Kidney Stones 3/14

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I woke up to my husband screaming for me from the bathroom. I ran to the bathroom and found him huddled over the sink, trying to support himself, and going through dry heaves. My dog and I watched helplessly for a minute or so, and then I ran downstairs to get the phone. As soon as I got back upstairs, my husband collapsed down onto all fours. He kept heaving and pointed to a spot on his lower back that was blinding pain. I called 9-1-1. After a couple minutes, he was able to stand back up and by the time the ambulance got here, he was able to walk out to the vehicle and was not experiencing the same level of pain. I hopped into the ambulance with him (which in hindsight was sort of foolish) and we were transported to the Emergency Room. 
Once there, it was obvious that everyone thought it was a kidney stone. There were a couple tests and the diagnosis was confirmed. A couple hours in the ER, some medicine, some IV fluids, a lot of water, and he was ready to be discharged. We then had to call a cab to get home. 
Once home, I ushered my husband off to bed, and grabbed my phone and keys and the handful of prescriptions and headed off to the 24-hour Walgreen’s nearby. Walgreen’s at 3am is a really weird place. Of course, there was a ridiculous customer taking up the pharmacist’s time and attention. I waited about ten minutes before that man finally stopped asking stupid questions and complaining to the pharmacist about another pharmacist who had told him that he wouldn’t fill the prescription before 4am. Finally, the man left and I gave the pharmacist the prescriptions. As luck would have it, my husband hasn’t ever used Walgreen’s for prescriptions. The pharmacist had to enter all his information and then his computer froze in the middle of the process and he had to start all over again. Once he had the information in, he set about getting the prescription ready and was done quickly. 
I finally drove back home and went to bed at 4am. I am so relieved that my husband is okay. I never want to wake up this way again. The night brought back vivid memories of my father’s heart-attacks. I am glad I react well to situations like this without panic, but I don’t want to be this worried about people I love ever again.