the stack

I got home about a half hour ago. I checked my email, had a snack, and changed into my old D.G. sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt. And now… I’m ready to start reading my kids’ memoirs. (Their publishing party is tomorrow.)

the stack

EDITED @ 8:05 p.m.: Joy! Sheer joy! I’m finished reading all of the kids’ memoirs that were turned-in today (15:20) and am so, so, so pleased with their accomplishments as writers. Some of them truly nailed it and could probably teach me a thing or two about memoir writing.

end of year reflections.

Here in Indiana, we are wrapping up our school year.  That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, in ten more happy-wake-ups, school will be out for the summer!  Don’t the weeks leading up to the end of a school year hold such a grab bag of emotions?  At any given point in the day, we can feel happy, proud, frustrated, annoyed, sad, disappointed, elated . . . and all for the same reason — the school year is coming to a close.

May also is a time which holds deep reflection for me.  I consider things what went well for the year and things I would like to change.  I’ve noticed through my work as a coach, that this is true for many teachers.  May is a time of reflection.  In order to help with reflection on our writing workshops, I was inspired by Karla Hayden to create an End of the Year Teacher Reflection survey. 

It’s a fairly inclusive look at the writing workshop and is designed to lead teachers to identify successes and goals surrounding their teaching of writing.  To get a copy, just go here (to my wiki)and click on teacher_eval.doc near the top of the page.  This is the third year I’ve used this form to lead teachers through self-reflection on their writing workshops.  The checklist takes about 15 minutes to complete & I typically have positive responses to the process.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Also, while you’re at it, check out Karla Hayden’s website.  It’s a wealth of good stuff!  Thanks again, Karla, for inspiring this reflection.  I appreciate your willingness to share your ideas. 

TODAY: Word Up Submission

TODAY

Originally uploaded by teachergal

One Little Word is a great blog that pushes its readers to focus on the meaning of one word for them. I’ve been pondering the latest “Word Up” Call for Submissions, which is centered around the word “Today.” This morning, as I was getting ready, I pushed myself to write a poem using the word ‘today’ as the focus.

This is the poem (and the layout I came up with):

Today,
and everyday,
as I get ready for work,
I remind myself that
I
have the power
to make today
a good one
or a bad one
for each of the twenty children
I’m blessed to teach.

Today,
and everyday,
I choose to make it
the best
it can possibly be.

For more information about how to play along with the “Word Up” Challenges, click here.

Blogs & Grammar

Two months ago Pati, one of the Slice of Life Regulars, left this comment on one of our posts:

As I have been working on this “Slice of Life Challenge,” while writing my Peace Everyday Blog, I have been thinking about all of you teachers and what I expect to be your excellence in grammar. As I read your posts, I am not looking at where you put your commas or semi colons, yet as I write my own posts, I am constantly questioning myself about my memory of what is correct grammar. It’s been a long time since I learned grammar and I am not very confident about the quality of my instructors. If any of you have any advice for me concerning my grammar, I would gladly accept any suggestions.

My daughter, Ali, is constantly encouraging the scrapbookers, and Life Artists, that she is teaching not to worry about the grammar and spelling of their journaling. “just start writing,” she tells her students, “your family is not going to care if you have misplaced commas or words that aren’t spelled correctly.” I empathize with those woman who question their ability to write with correct grammar. Writing or journaling would be easier, and probably quicker, if I wasn’t always questioning my grammar.

Does anyone else have this questioning mode?

From Slice of Life Challenge, 2008/03/12 at 10:41 AM

I e-mailed Pati and promised I’d get back to her with my thinking on this issue, but never actually posted anything about it… until now. (See what waking up at 4:15 a.m. can do for a person!??!)

I try, extremely hard, to make sure that my GUMS (i.e., grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling) are correct when I post. Spelling is the easiest one to fix since I use Firefox and it points out all of my spelling errors as I type. However, the GUM part is a bit harder to fix/control.

In a perfect word, I’d write perfectly each and every time I posted. However, I’m not perfect, nor is this world. So, even though I’ll go back and edit my posts several times if I notice an error in grammar, usage, or mechanics, I realize that I do not catch everything… and I think that’s okay. Granted, some people might read this blog and notice that we don’t always use GUMS perfectly, but again, even though we call ourselves “Two Writing Teachers,” we’re not two PERFECT writing teachers. Hence, I agree with Pati’s daughter, Ali, who pushes people to just start writing. I think that getting down our thoughts is more important than getting down our thoughts perfectly.

I hope that helps you to understand my thinking a bit more on this topic Pati. My sincere apologies for taking two months to post a response to your important question!

Memories on Mondays???

Jane, who is a regular with the Slice of Life Story Challenge, suggested that we host “Memoir Mondays” here at Two Writing Teachers. I think it’s a wonderful idea, but need to know who else would be interested in joining something like this.

Here’s what I’m thinking with regard to Jane’s idea that she suggested on a post I wrote earlier today. I’ll break it up using the 5 W’s and 1 H:

WHO: Any blogger who’d like to capture memories in a public forum.
WHAT: A forum to share memoir-like entries.
WHEN: Every Monday (or perhaps the first and third Monday of each month if every Monday seems like too much)
WHERE: Here at Two Writing Teachers.
WHY: To record the important memories from our younger days.
HOW: Mr. Linky (of course) will help link everyone’s posts.

Please let me know if you’re interested by Thursday, May 22nd. Also, please let me know if you’d be up for this “challenge” weekly or bi-weekly.

Possible cute logo if it’s a-go:

Ruth’s SOLSC: Lilacs

We traipsed out to the Lilac Bush, near the road.  Mom, with a sharp knife in her hand, me with scissors, Steph with sandals that blink with each step, and Sam running ahead then stopping to inspect something on the ground.

It is the same journey I’ve made for years, ever since I could toddle out, following in my mom’s footsteps.  Every Spring, we would cut fresh lilacs for our house, and once I was older, for my teachers. .  I took Lilacs to school long after I should have stopped bringing gifts to the teacher.  Today, though, I’m sure there are secondary teachers who were thankful for the bouquets.   I would come home from college to smell the Lilacs.  Once I started my career, I brought bouquets in for special colleagues

We arrived at the bush, Lilacs hanging down high above our heads.  We started cutting.  Sam and Steph collected the flowers, sniffing in the sweet scent.  With both Mom and me cutting, the size of the bouquet quickly got out of control.  I stashed the flowers in the car and took them home.

At home, during nap time, I arranged the flowers into four vases.  Two of the vases for my daughters’ rooms.  It was then that it hit me.  My mom did the same for me years ago.   As the sweet scent of Lilacs filled my home and my nose I was face to face with the circle of parenting.  If only I can be the kind of mother mine was to me, perhaps I’ll be successful. 

Meme.

Stacey tagged me, so here it goes.

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer

What were you doing ten years ago?

Geez, what was that 1998?  I was dying to be engaged.  I just knew Andy had my ring, but hadn’t asked me yet.  I continued to wait another month and a half until he would ask.  I was also taking summer classes at IU  because I had just decided to get a minor in English.

What are five things on your to-do list today, not in any particular order?

1. Laundry (it is always on my to-do list)
2. Vacuum & Dust
3. Clean bathrooms
4. Clean out the top drawer of my filing cabinet
5. Watch Criminal Minds tonight.

What are some snacks you enjoy?

• Watermelon
• Pepsi
• Cheese
• Reese PB Cups
• Watermelon
• Popcorn with gobs of butter
• Spinach Dip
• Watermelon

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

• Donate LOTS of money to causes I’m passionate about: Things like adoption and helping kids without homes and orphanages in other countries and church.
• Like Stacey, I’d pay someone to do my laundry!
• Pay off our house.

What are three of your bad habits?

1. Avoiding laundry.
2. Forgetting to put dinner left overs in the fridge.
3. Drinking too much Pepsi.

What are five places you have lived?

1. In my parent’s house.
2. In Wilkie Res. Hall at IU-Bloomington.
3. In McNutt Res. Hall at IU — Bloomington.
4. In an apartment after getting married.
5. In my current home.

What are five jobs you have had?

1. Mom
2. Writing Coach
3. 7th Grade Language Arts Teacher
4. Summer Camp Counselor/Life Guard
5. Babysitter

photos + words finale.

Let me just say that this week someone is coming to look at our home to see if we will be able to have high speed Internet.  Let me also say I may pull my hair out if the answer is NO.  You know, I wouldn’t consider where I live to be remote, rural, or inaccessible.  But apparently, it’s not “hip” enough to be wired for high speed via phone lines.

With that said, here is the LO I completed in response to all of the thinking, learning, and wide-awake-living that I did last week.  I completed it on Mother’s Day.  It was a good day.  Filled with reflection and love and hugs and daisies.  Gotta love that.

 

Words on strip:  I’ve decided to capture the story of refining the art of balance in my life.  It’s the crux of joy and peace and all of that good stuff.  This is what I’ve learned.  I’m never completely balanced.  And I never will be.  Such is the give and take of life.  What matters is that I’m okay with the choices I’m making.  Not just the big choices, but those minute-to-minute choices.  Things like:

Rubric: Memoir Unit of Study

When I woke up this morning, I realized I never created an assessment rubric for memoir! My first thought was :How could I forget to do that!??! My second thought was: The Publishing Party is this Friday and there’s no rubric! YIKES!

It’s 6:02 a.m., and the problem is finally solved since I sat down with Calkins’ & Chiarella’s Book, and an old memoir rubric I had and proceeded to create a rubric for this unit of study. (I think it’ll need some tweaking before I use it again next year, but I think it’s highly workable for this year.)

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

Draft II: A Letter Back to a Student

Originally uploaded by teachergal

This note is a response to a student who turned-in her second draft yesterday. She did a phenomenal job mentoring herself after Cynthia Rylant’s Book When I Was Young in the Mountains, changing it to “When I was four on Lonsdale Avenue.” She wrote an exquisite memoir about what she used to do with her best friend when she was four years old. (And when I saw exquisite, I mean exquisite! It could be a picture book!)

That being said, I don’t want to tell her, “You need to publish this for Friday’s Pub Party as a picture book,” since that might not be her vision. So instead, I merely suggested that she think about the structure of her memoir.

I wonder what she’ll decide to do…

Welcome to the Second SOLSC of May!

It’s Tuesday, so you know what that means! Time to link your Slice of Life Story to this growing community of writers by using this Mr. Linky Widget:

Speaking of a growing community, I was thinking of putting together a badge with all of the regulars’ avatars. If you have a picture or avatar you’d like to share, please leave a comment on this post and I’ll generate a cute little graphic by next week for you to place on your blog (if you so desire).

Meme

Bonnie tagged me for a meme, so here goes!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Okay, now the “juicy” stuff:

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was finishing my junior year at GWU and getting ready to intern at an advertising agency during the upcoming summer.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
1. Unpack my suitcase from my weekend in NYC.
2. Create Friday’s Spelling Test.
3. Clean up my desk.
4. Draft my newest memoir (i.e., mentor text for my kids).
5. Finish reading Bud, Not Buddy in preparation from tomorrow’s discussion group with four of my students.

What are some snacks you enjoy?

Buttery Popcorn

Chocolate

Ice Cream

More Chocolate

Blue Potato Chips

Did I mention chocolate?

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Donate a lot of money to public school teachers through DonorsChoose.
2. Donate money to the UJC.
3. Open up an urban literacy program for adults who couldn’t read.
4. Buy a sleepaway camp.
5. Take a long vacation.
6. Pay someone else to do my laundry.
7. Pay off my friends’ student loans.
8. Buy a pied a terre on the Upper West Side overlooking Central Park.

What are three of your bad habits?
1. I work too hard.
2. I don’t get enough sleep.
3. I rarely exercise.

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Rhode Island
2. New York
3. Maine
4. New Jersey
5. Washington, DC

What are five jobs you have had?
1. Teacher
2. Public Relations Specialist
3. Assistant Beauty Editor
4. Merchandising Manager
5. Unit Supervisor (day camp)

What six people do you want to tag?
CrossStitchDramaQueen
Frankie
HipWriterMama
Mary Lee
Megan
Ruth
Skrappa

SOLSC: Crying in Front of My Class

My copy of Number the Stars

Originally uploaded by teachergal

I cried in front of my class today.

And no, they didn’t torture me or each other to the point of tears. (Remember, I have super fourth graders! They’d never do that!)

I cried today when I read Number the Stars to them. Though it’s far from the first time I read the book to a class, it is the first time that I cried while reading Chapter 17 aloud. (Last year I got really chocked up, but didn’t spew tears.)

Last week I had students depict the scene that was the most emotional for them. The scene that affects me the most every time I read it comes from Chapter 17; when we fast-forward to 1945 and learn about Peter’s fate and of his final wishes. I remember crying the first time I read this part of the book alone, but have always managed to keep it together, until today.

I was prepared, with a tissue in my pocket. As soon as there was a catch in my voice, K. stood up and tried to grab me a tissue, but I told her I already had one. I caught my breath and heard nothing but the sound of my own breathing, in the room, as I did.

Once I gained a little more control, I continued to read the paragraph, the wetness from the tears smearing my mascara underneath my eyes. Still, you could hear a pin drop in my room. In fact, when I looked up from the page, two other students had tears streaming down their cheeks. Two more had extremely red faces (and were blinking back tears), and about four others had tears welled-up at the base of their eyes. What a sad, but wondrous moment, to all be connected with the same feelings of sadness as we read this text together.

Structure

Last week I blogged about the three structures memoir writing I’m teaching my students. Seeing as they’re all walking around saying, “I need more beads,” or “I’m not sure if my car is really hybrid,” I figured I’d share the chart with others since it’s proven to be useful in my classroom:

P.F. is here this week!

Just a quick reminder that Poetry Friday will be hosted here, at Two Writing Teachers, this week. We will use Mr. Linky for everyone to use for linking their submissions. The round-up will be done in the evening since we’ll both be working on Friday.

Sight Words

I’m very good about posting our class’s vocabulary words on a classroom bulletin board, but I’ve never had a list of high-frequency words up on the wall. I’m starting to think I should, because the portable Word Wall I gave them earlier in the year isn’t always making its way out of their folders during independent writing time in school.

I did, however, go online to look for word lists this morning. Here’s a few good ones I found for fourth grade.

Dolch Words –> This is more of a tutorial about sight words.

4th Grade High Frequency Spelling Words

Fourth Grade High Frequency Word List

Fourth Grade Sight Words

Sight/High-Frequency Words: Fourth Grade

You can adapt these if you teach a higher or lower grade OR do a Google Search for “_____ grade high frequency words.”

Another Way of Responding to Student Writing

My comments about a student’s memoir (draft one)

Originally uploaded by teachergal

This is the other way I respond to my students’ drafts for all assignments. I always attach a short narrative with my thinking about their writing. It’s almost like having a mini-conference (except there’s no interview-research… the research just comes from me reading their draft) with each child on paper.

I’m sitting reading memoirs…

My students’ first drafts (of their memoirs) are filled with truth and emotion. I started reading them yesterday during Workshop time since some of the kids went home and completed them for homework. Then, I read some last night and began again this evening. Though I cannot scan them and post them (for safety reasons), I must say, this is some of the best writing they’ve done all year.

This is the t-chart I created (Compliment & Teaching Point, essentially) on one of the kids’ pieces. Though I rarely give kids more than one thing to work on as a writer, I purposely gave a lot more GENUINE praise to this student, as well.

Words + Pictures: Day 5

Make a Smilebox postcard

An e-mail I didn’t want to see at 4:15 a.m.

My body woke me up 45+ minutes early this morning. However, I felt awake, ready to face the day…
until I saw an email from my cousin informing me that my great-aunt has taken a turn for the worse. She has had cancer for over a year now, but she’s faced it head-on. She looked it in the eye, stared back and it and hasn’t let it beat her. She came to my wedding and even got up there and sang a song with our band, impromptu, which made me feel as if everything would be all right.

But it’s not. Not at all.

So, I sat down and did what I do when I need to make sense of something. I wrote. And since it’s Poetry Friday, I thought I’d write a poem with the hope of capturing my emotions, which are pretty intense. Afterall, my 80 year-old great-aunt, who took me out countless times when I was a college student living in Washington, DC, and visited me so much in New York City, is not well. And with my grandmother’s death still being fresh in my mind, it seems so hard to accept that my aunt is not well. So, this is my Poetry Friday Poem: revised once, but totally from the heart.

The Matriarch

You care for others.
You hold the family stories.
You listen making us feel like
the most important person in the world.

You have walked the city streets of
Paris
Washington
And New York
More times than we can count.

And now, walking has become a challenge
Because of the most recent test –
Cancer…
Making the simplest things
We all take for granted –
Hard.

You are the matriarch
My grandma’s beloved sister-in-law
My hip great-aunt
The devoted mother of two
The doting grandmother of five
Friend to everyone you meet…

And none of us want to see you
in pain.

Eil na refa na la.
Please G-d, bring healing.

Writer2b is hosting Poetry Friday this week. (We’re hosting it here next week, so head on over to Writer2b to submit your poem today.)