As 2008 Comes to An End…

Thanks to everyone who reads this Blog! We appreciate your support! Some good wishes await for you inside the slide show (below):

Make a Smilebox postcard

Online Writer’s Notebook

No longer will you see my weekly Memoir Mondays and Slice of Life Story Challenge pieces on this blog. (I haven’t stopped writing… don’t worry!) I’ll now be keeping those stories at 365 Memories and Slices of Life, a blog I’ll begin writing for tomorrow.
Though it’s a blog, I will be [...]

What I Know Now

My friend Nicole purchased a copy of What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self for me when I turned 30. The book sat on my bookshelf for over a year-and-a-half despite it’s pleasing cover and list of contributors. However, I decide to pull it off my shelf when I was packing [...]

Self-Efficacy in Writing Workshop

I recently read Michael Putnam’s article, “Running the Race to Improve Self-Efficacy,” in the Winter 2009 Issue of the Kappa Delta Pi Record. Putnam asserts, “I have complete confidence that you too could run a marathon; but it takes a plan, plenty of hard work and dedication, and a belief in yourself. Running [...]

Stacey’s SOLS: Gondola Ride in Vermont

Gondola Ride: Sights and Sounds

Originally uploaded by teachergal

My husband and I took a gondola ride up K1, which is in Killington, Vermont. I don’t ski, so this was about the highest I was ever going to get on any mountain during the wintertime.
We purchased our tickets from a woman who declared that [...]

Hola Slicers!

Can’t wait to read your final slice for 2008.  Post your link in the comments.

Stacey’s M.M.: Young Adulthood (Part II)

SIH Spark:
What did you study? Did you change your major?
I arrived at GW with the intentions of majoring in Political Science and Journalism and minoring in Exercise Science or French. I walked out with a B.A. in Communication and a minor in History. Just a little different than what I originally planned! [...]

Memoir Monday

The final Memoir Monday of 2008.  Won’t you share today?  Just leave the link to your post in the comments.
Happy Writing!

National Day on Writing

NCTE’s National Day on Writing is scheduled for October 20th, 2009. Lots of advance notice… I like that!
Here’s an overview of what you can do to get ready now (taken directly from their site):
Writing is a daily practice for millions of Americans. But few notice how integral writing has become to daily [...]

OLW Review.

Stacey inspired me to post a review of my One Little Word for 2008:  GIVE.  I continue to be amazed by the way One Little Word can impact my life, my outlook, and my growth.  This year I learned so much about giving . . . not just in the traditional sense, but in giving [...]

Merry Christmas.

Five Christmas”es” down and one to go.  It’s been a whirlwind of a holiday season on this end, which explains why blogging has been lighter.  Here in Indiana it was in the 60’s today — yes, I’m serious.  Yesterday the roads were a sheet of ice and our normal 4.5 hour drive to my husband’s [...]

Literacy-Related News Stories

Some of the latest literacy-related headlines you might want to peruse:

A Hartford Story Tries to Dodge an Abrupt End

By Lary Bloom (The New York Times)

The economic crisis and drop in corporate and political support have come at a critical moment — just as efforts to address the city’s literacy rate are gaining some traction.

Museum Field [...]

Photo Fridays: That Barn Again

I’ve been photographing a farm in Lincoln, RI for the past few months. I spotted it right before September 11th and was struck by the flag that hung between the silos. I’ve continued to capture photos of it as the seasons have changed.
I shot this picture this past Monday, one day [...]

Poetry Friday – Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s famous “Amazing Peace” Poem was recently turned into a picture book (Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem). I love everything about this book, especially the way in which the art matches the words so well. (It’s illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.)
Here’s an excerpt of “Amazing Peace”.
Amazing Peace
Thunder rumbles [...]

Goals Restated

A reader, Sara, suggested, a few weeks ago, that I restate the students’ goals for the upcoming Writer’s Notebook Unit of Study as “I Can…” Statements, which I did for the two most recent units I taught in Reading and Writing Workshops. Therefore, I tweaked what I had and turned it into the following:
Goals [...]

Exchanging “Kind Words for My Classmates”

I had a remarkable day with my students yesterday on so many levels. However, the “Kind Words” Exchange was incredible. I recorded some of their reactions to the Exchange. (Can’t read what the writing on the text? Just click on the image to see it in its largest form.)
What I didn’t [...]

Always: A Mentor Text for Writing Questions and Repetition

Always

Written by Ann Stott

Illustrated by Matt Phelan

Published by Candlewick Press in August 2008

Review copy provided by the publisher

Always is a touching tale about a young boy who questions whether his mother’s love (for him) is unconditional. He asks his mother a series of questions that include whether she loves him he remembers to feed [...]

SAS’s SOLS

My husband planned on waking up extra early this morning so we could exchange cards (or as he calls it, “exchanging our pieces of paper) for our first anniversary today. We did that, finding it humorous that we expressed the same sentiments in prose (him) and in poetry (me). Then, he asked, “Do [...]

Slice of Life Call

Good Morning Slicers!
Please post a comment with a link to your Slice of Life Story.

That Personal Touch

Our Entry Table Has Begun to Brim with Anniversary and Chanukah Cards

Originally uploaded by teachergal

We’re all so busy these days, aren’t we?
The snowstorm that hit New England this past Friday caused me, and many others, to slow down. I had the chance to reflect on what was important (safety first, Chanukah party [...]

Looking Back on “One Little Word”

2008’s OLW

Originally uploaded by teachergal

My best friend was at my apartment a couple of weeks ago and noticed a placard that said “Balance” in the top right corner. She asked what that was all about and I told her, “That’s the one little word I’ve been living by this year… balance.” I’ve written [...]

Some Executives Have Some Mail Coming to Their Offices Now!

Dropping a Stamped Persuasive Letter Into the Outgoing Mail Basket IS a Form of Publishing!

Originally uploaded by teachergal

Eleven of my kids showed up to school on this very icy Monday. 10:11 of them completed their persuasive letters when they had off on the snow day. (WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Therefore, all of them were able [...]

Memoir Monday’s Here!

Please link your Memoir Monday Post to this one by leaving a comment so we (Ruth and I), as well as others can read your post from the past.
Also, please feel free to use the new badge, above, alongside your Memoir Monday Post.

Stacey’s M.M.: Young Adulthood

I chose a two-part SIH Spark for today’s Memoir Monday Post. It is:
Why did you decide to go to college? Why did you go to the college you chose?
Going to college was never an option. My parents expected me to go straight to college upon graduation from high school. [...]

What’s Next?

I received a question earlier this evening about what’s next in my Writing Workshop:
What do you usually do next in writing workshop? I just finished persuasive writing, and this is the first time I have done it so early in the year. I am trying to figure out the next logical step. I feel like [...]