Author: Andrea

I am an instructional technology coach in a middle school in Milwaukee, WI. I have been teaching for over 20 years in many grade levels ranging from first through eighth grade. I am a lifelong book nerd.

Slice of Life: Thoughts on Tragedy 3/26

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 speechless and heartbroken thinking about the victims of the latest airplane crash in the French Alps. It breaks my heart to think about all of those people who died in the latest tragedy. Whenever something like this happens, it really makes me think about the way that life can take a turn for the worst at any moment. It was bad enough knowing that it was a horrible accident. 
But now, they think that the co-pilot crashed the plane on purpose. Say what? I am without words for this. How could someone be so messed up that this is the decision they made? The pilot was trying to break back into the cockpit for goodness sakes. What must have been going through this person’s head? The only thing I can think about is how this person must not have been right in the head. I wonder if he thought he was being told to do this horrible thing. 
We will probably never know what was going through this man’s head during those moments. I just think that this makes the whole thing so much more tragic. 

Slice of Life: Clutter 3/25

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.

The state of my desk at work is approaching disaster level. I have so much clutter and so many papers and so many books and so little time. I find myself inspired by the insanity.

Buried
under mountains of copies,
the teacher editions
collide
with papers
awaiting grades,
awaiting files,
awaiting signatures.
Books are piled
haphazardly.
There is no end.
The papers and mess keep
piling up until
my sanity
starts to unravel.
I must organize,
I must clean,
I must tidy up.
But when?

Slice of Life: Book Club 3/24

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.

Tomorrow after school I am hosting the first meeting of my staff book club at school. I am so excited to have this meeting. It is something I have been thinking about for years. I finally decided to put it out there and I am so happy about the response. I feel like the book culture at my school could use some help. It is great that other teachers love the idea of a book club. I am so happy that I decided to put it out there. 
The book club decided to read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I loved this book and am really looking forward to discussing it with others. I will be stopping by a neighborhood bakery in the morning to pick up some french pastries to share with my colleagues. I know I will love my time at book club and I hope that the other teachers do too. 

Slice of Life: Monday Poem 3/23

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.

Thought I would try a poem tonight. I don’t remember where I saw this idea, but I loved the playful form of two word lines. It was a challenge to stick to only two words for some lines. It is definitely something I will try again.

Monday

Bone Tired
Get up
Dress Well
Drink Coffee
Hurry up
Plan well
Make copies
Organize papers
Log in
Check mail
Greet students
Give directions
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Deliver lesson
Answer questions
Listen in
Blow whistle
Clap Hands
Line up
Eat lunch
Become genius
Read aloud
Confer quietly
Sort words
Remind students
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Repeat myself
Line up
Find bathroom
Quick Meeting
Gym over
Walk back
Quiet writing
Homework directions
Line up
Say goodnight
Exhausted teacher
Yoga time
Clean more
Cook dinner
Read e-mail
Write blog
Must rest
Sweet dreams

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/23

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.

Books I Finished This Week:
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr is a breathtakingly beautiful book. I loved this historical fiction book. The language in this book was gorgeous and the characters were so intriguing. What I liked the most is that the author really brought out the fact that the characters were who they were doing what they were because of circumstances of where they lived when the war started. This is a beautiful story and heartbreaking read, but so worth it. 
La mirada de los angeles by Camilla Lackberg is the 8th book in her Fjallbacka series. It is another great murder mystery featuring Patrick Hedstrom and the crew in the Tanumshed police squad. The first three mysteries in this series are available in the USA in English and I would highly recommend them. 
I was lucky enough to have a school author visit last week from Tina and Carson Kugler, authors of In Mary’s Garden. I highly recommend this great picture book about a real-life Milwaukee artist. For more information visit my Slice of Life post from Friday here.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I just started listening to Outlander by Diane Gabaldon. I have both the Kindle book and the Audible audiobook so I will probably switch back and forth between listening and reading this one. I also am reading a nonfiction book from Netgalley about Chocolate and its history. So far it is a very interesting glimpse into ancient cultures of South America.

What’s Next?

I am probably going to pick up some of the middle grade titles that I have sitting on my shelves. I want to be able to cross a number of titles off my TBR list and I have been reading long books lately so it will be nice to read some shorter selections. 

Slice of Life: Serendipity 3/22

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.

Sometimes things happen that seem to be more than coincidence, as if the universe were conspiring to send you a message. There are many books that I have read over the years that speak of some sort of force like an energy that brings you the things you need. Both The Celestine Prophecy and The Secret come to mind. Whether you believe in this sort of theory or not, it is hard not to read meaning into some coincidences. 
On Friday, my husband and I went to our favorite bar. It is a beer bar in our neighborhood and we are regulars there. We enjoy having a beer at happy hour on Fridays and talking to the bartenders and relaxing. This week, we happened to sit down next to two Spaniards. This was significant because my husband is also a Spaniard. We overheard them speaking Spanish and knew from the accent that these two people were from Spain. Now, over the years we have met many people from Spain who are living in Milwaukee. We have been friends with some of them, acquaintances with others, and we most recently have really drifted away from the group of friends we had. So when we run into people from Spain we are curious, but cautious. It does not necessarily follow that just because you are from the same country you will be friends. But Friday, we had a very pleasant conversation with the two men that we met. One of them was just visiting and the other is living here. It was nice to talk about the things that we miss about Spain and the things that we like about Milwaukee. We had a nice conversation and we exchanged numbers and we will see what else happens, but it was nice to meet him. 
The conversation with this Spaniard who we hadn’t yet met turned to conversation about a few people from Spain that were mutual acquaintances. My husband and I have not really seen these people for about three years. We talked a little bit about possibly trying to contact a few people who were friends of ours to try to re-establish contact. I am happy about this because it has not been something my husband has been interested in doing for a while and I kind of miss these people. 
Then, on Saturday, we got a text from another couple who we had met in December. These people live in our neighborhood and also go to the beer bar frequently enough that the bartenders introduced us to each other. She is from Spain and he is from here and they didn’t really know anyone else from Spain. My husband and I had tried to contact them a couple times since we met them, but it never worked out. Then, all of a sudden, on Saturday, they were interested in meeting up. It just seemed too serendipitous. I wonder if their ears were burning from the night before when we were talking about the people we knew that were living in Milwaukee but from Spain. 
I don’t exactly know what the universe has in mind for us as a message from this weekend, but it definitely felt like a sign. If nothing else, we might have a few new friends. Now, I need to go make Paella because we are craving Spanish food. 

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.