Packing my bags!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

After losing our week of mid-winter break for three years, it's restored once again!  I love this break in the bleak of mid-winter.  When I moved to the Northwest, a wise friend advised me to leave town every February and go where there's sun.  
I pondered traveling to exotic locales - Hawaii (I've never been there) or maybe France  (but no invite to join son and his wife on their trip to Paris).  Then I turned to more practical possibilities (places where I could visit family and friends) - Oklahoma, Texas, California, or Tennessee.  However,  I decided that my spring break (which includes Easter weekend this year) will be the perfect time to visit family.  Finally, I decided that a week at home with plenty of time for pajama days, puttering, reading, resting, and relaxing was the perfect plan.  
Tomorrow I'll be packing my bags with papers to grade, books, i-pad, and snacks.  
My destination - jury duty!

On my safety soapbox!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

Several years ago, I suffered a slipped disk which was very painful for several months.  I found myself unable to sit comfortably and used a standing desk for grading papers, posting grades, and making lesson plans (after school work that I had previously sat down to complete).  I also purchased a wheeled bag to replace my bags filled with papers, my computer, and books that I had been slinging over my shoulders each day as I left school. Since that time, I've been on a mission to convince other teachers to use wheeled bags rather than carrying bags on their shoulders.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped a young teacher (at least 30 years my junior) in the hallway with the words, "You're carrying too much weight."  I followed up my comment by encouraging her to get a roller bag so that she wouldn't strain her back.  The next morning her carpool buddy shared with me that this teacher was appalled that I would comment that she was carrying too much weight.  I think she must have missed the rest of my advice since she thought I was commenting on her body weight.  It looks like I should rephrase this advice that I hand out each time I see a colleague schlepping heavy shoulder bags back and forth.  My new advice, "Lighten your load, ladies!"

On the first day of February I tripped on an electrical cord connected to the cart that holds my document camera.  As I stumbled across the classroom trying to extricate my foot from the cord, I kept thinking, "I'm going to pull the document camera off the cart and break it."  Luckily the cord pulled free from the camera.  When I finally landed on all fours, my students went quickly to the office and returned with the nurse, a wheelchair, and ice.  It was good to see their first aid instruction in health put to good use as they responded quickly and appropriately.  I was sent home with orders to stay off my feet, keep ice on my bruised knee, and take Advil for the swelling.  Luckily my daughter was home so I received her TLC and the benefit of her medical knowledge as a PA in training.  When I returned to school on Monday, my first task of the morning was to reposition my cart so that the cords were not on the outside edge where I stand all the time.  And so because of my recent accident, I add another piece of safety advice to my fellow teachers, "Check your cords, colleagues. "

Serendipity on the web!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

When I saw Tara's post about the wonders of connecting across distances with technology, I knew I had to share the fun connection that I made on the web while working on our mock Newbery project last month.  I started to tell the backstory for this project and it got way too long for a slice of life, but I will post it soon.  It's a great recap for me even if no one else ever reads it.  I'm not great at keeping track of how I do things, so this looking back provides great material for me if I do the project next year.  But I digress . . .

 One of the challenges for me as we were winding up the Mock Newbery project and moving to our final discussions was how to help my students better understand the Newbery criteria.  I typed Newbery criteria in a google search and was amazed to find a helpful powerpoint posted to slide share.  One of the slides showed a partial page with a list of questions for two of the criteria.  I longed to have the entire handout with questions for each criteria.  As I looked more closely at the power point, I found  a name and email address.  I briefly described our project, asked if he would be willing to share the entire handout, and sent it off.  That was Sunday evening.  On Monday night, I opened my email to discover an answer to my plea with a copy of the handout.  I copied it and was ready to use it in the classroom the next day!

Wow!  I love it when life or the web or a colleague hands you exactly what you need for the next day's lesson.  I noticed a blog address for the person who had so willingly shared this handout with me.  When I went to his blog, I discovered that he hadn't posted since July.  A quick reading of this post apologized by saying that he would be rather busy over the next little while since he was on the Newbery committee.  It was fun to share with my students how the handout we were using to better understand the Newbery criteria came to us from a person serving on this year's Newbery committee!

My return email on Wednesday thanked him for sharing the handout with us and asked if he would be willing to Skype with my students regarding his experiences on the Newbery committee.  This email was sent on Wednesday before the the ALA convention began that weekend.  I was not surprised that I didn't receive a return response and even thought that this librarian might be tired of my pesky teacher requests.  However . .  . last Friday (less than a week after the ALA), I received a return email that he would be willing to talk with my students regarding his experiences.  Now I just need to learn how to set up a Skype visit!

How to gain 29 lbs. in 3 hours!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

Two of my students (fraternal twins) shared with me several weeks ago that they would be going to the ALA Midwinter Conference with their grandpa who works for a major book company.  I asked my students if it might be possible for their grandpa to get their teacher a pass to see the exhibits.  They asked, he agreed, and on Saturday morning, I was off to the exhibit hall in Seattle.  Three hours later, I stumbled out of the convention center and headed for the underground bus terminal with an overflowing bookbag and a backpack filled with treasures to share with my students.  I weighed the bookbag and backpack when I got home - thus my 29 pound weight gain!

The best find from this treasure trove has to be The Runaway King (sequel to The False Prince) which won't be published until March.  Many of my students have read The False Prince and are so excited to read the sequel.  So today we'll have a drawing to see who gets to read it first and second and so on.  One student even offered me $20 to let her read it first!

We watched the live feed from the Youth Media Awards presentation on Monday.  We were excited that three titles from our Mock Newbery list (created by King County librarians) won Newbery recognition today.  Bomb was challenging for my students, but they learned so much reading it.  Three Times Lucky was not a kid favorite, but I loved it and blogged about it earlier this year. 
http://pleasuresfromthepage.blogspot.com/2012/10/counting-myself-lucky.html  Finally, The One and Only Ivan was our 2nd place winner (Wonder took first place).  My students feel a special connection to Ivan since some of their parents can recall seeing the real Ivan as children.  They have loved reading the Newbery possibilities over the last three months.  I'll share more about this process in a future post.

Instead of Progress Reports . . .

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

I can always find something to read and distract me from the nagging task at hand.  This week it was the Science Times section of the NYT (which incidentally, I read on Friday, even though it comes out on Tuesday).  I'm a solid Language Arts/Social Studies kind of gal, so reading the Science Times section is my version of Science Light!

From page D3:
Study Measures Impact of China's One-Child Policy - We are studying China right now in SS.
Wet Wrinkled Fingers Evolved for Better Grip - Those prunelike wrinkles allow a better grip on wet objects.  Curriculum connection - we study early man in SS.
Giant Squids Ready for Small-Screen Debut - The videos will appear on Jan. 27 on a Discovery Channel Show,  "Monster Squid:  The Giant Is Real."  I must remember to share this with my students.
Equation of Time Solves Mystery of Gray Mornings - This article explains the analemma, that uneven figure 8 on globes in a deserted part of the Pacific.  Does it seem like there's more darkness in the morning and less in the afternoon?  It turns out that earth's orbit and axis cause delayed sunrises even as days lengthen.  No wonder it's still so hard to get up in the morning!
This Was Supposed to Be My Column for New Year's Day - Yes, I saved the best one for last.  This article explains that positive procrastination may all be in the mind, but it can be effective.  It turns out that it works best for those who feel guilt for their procrastination and need to assuage it.  The author mentions that positive procrastination will likely work for you if you're the type of person who cleaned your dorm room before exams.  Not only did I clean the room, I could often be found mopping the floor in my dorm room when I needed to write a paper.   Unfortunately, I told my husband about this once, and so he now refers to any of my positive procrastination behaviors as "mopping the floor."
Hmmm - perhaps reading the Science Times is another version of mopping the floor for me.  Guess it's time to face those progress reports!

My third graders!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

When I returned to the classroom after staying home for more than a decade, my daughter was in middle school, and I taught third grade.  Since our middle school got out 40 minutes before the elementary school, she would walk across the field to my school and hang out in the back of the classroom getting an early start on her homework.
A few years later when she was a senior, she greeted me with these amazing words, "Mom, your third graders are freshmen now!"  I had to remind her often that my "third graders" were now "high schoolers" just like her.
This past week, a colleague stopped to introduce me to her student teacher.  When she said my name, the student teacher exclaimed, "You were my third grade teacher!" We had a few lovely moments remembering the 1998-99 school year.  She shared updates on several classmates.  We reminisced about reading the first Harry Potter book that year and having an end-of-the-year  Harry Potter party.

I woke up in the middle of the night wondering about a bound book from that class and went in search of this special keepsake.  This book of bios and photos of each student on the first day of school was a favorite classroom book for the entire year.  I found it and shared it the next day with the student teacher who took it home to share this lovely picture and her bio from third grade with her mom.

And so this past week I surprised my twenty-six year old daughter with the words, "Sara, one of my third graders is teaching down the hall from me."

Listening to my gifts!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" to the Tuesday Slice of Life sponsored by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers. 

Here's my stack of gifts from the holidays.  I moved them from the breakfast table to my desk and then to the bureau in the hall.  Day by Day I Notice and Note the book love expressed by those who know me so well and gift me in the way I love best.  The Carpenter's Gift begged to be read with my daughter on Christmas Day.  We marveled at the illustrations and realized that our years spent reading together are the best magic moments ever.  I look at these friends longingly as I pass by and promise that soon we'll spend time together Like an Old Friend from Far Away.  I promise that I won't wait for The End of Your Life Book Club, but today I will choose one from the stack to be moved to my bedside table!

Wednesday Update:  Notice and Note scrambled to the top of the pile, journeyed to school with me yesterday, and will now be my daily traveling companion.