Haiku Time! SOL 2013: 12 0f 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day. 

Daffodils burst forth

To signal spring has come and

Banish winter's gray

Slices on my Mind! SOL 2013: 11 0f 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day. 
 
It's a dangerous time!  After dropping hubby at the park and ride, I headed for home.  I sat at a stop sign for several minutes before realizing it wasn't a light and would never turn green.  Thank goodness no one was behind me.  What was the source of my distraction?  I was working on today's slice, composing in my head!  I find myself distracted all the time by ideas for slices as I drive, eat, shower, or drift off to sleep, hoping that I'll remember the idea long enough to get it on paper or typed into the computer.


In order to become a safer driver, I'm doing a brain dump of slicing ideas:

Dad's lunchbox

Drones

Genetically modified rice

Daffodils

Collections

Hubby's vault

Weathermen

1.3 & 1.9 people

Surrounded by comics

Lifted up

Embracing poetry

Time travel with a nut bowl

Leah time on the horizon

The princess of a little bit

It skipped a generation!
Guests galore
My life in a bag
The three G's of slicing

A quest for color
Less clicks, more happiness!
My pink bedroom
YCC

How about you?  Do you find yourself distracted/consumed/overwhelmed by slicing?  

Share your strategies for giving this endeavor a place on the couch without letting it overtake the room.  

Nourished Three Ways! 2013: 10 of 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day.  

Those who know me, know that I love chocolate.  I learned a few years ago to keep my chocolate in my friends' classrooms.  I have some stashed in Karen's room and Linda's room, my neighbors to the left and right.  They replenish "our'' supply sometimes, but the lion's share is consumed by yours truly.  Keeping my chocolate in a friend's classroom makes me less likely to eat it mindlessly, plus I get a moment to touch base with a friend when I reach for chocolate.  Friends and chocolate, a perfect combination.  When you add the words from Dove Chocolates, you're nourished in three ways.  I save my favorite Dove quotes and post them along the top and bottom of my bulletin board.  It's always fun when a student notices them and comments, "Hey, Mrs. B., I save those too."  I could probably write slices from my favorite Dove quotes for the rest of the month.

While I frequently find the same quotes (do I really eat that many chocolates?), I unwrapped a chocolate this past week to find a new quote and the perfect words to nourish me at that particular moment.  We had just finished an afternoon of district directed work with time to reflect on our growth and set goals for the remainder of the year.  Our district directed time this year has focused on total engagement strategies.  When a new strategy is presented to us, I'm excited to try it out.  But then life intervenes, deadlines loom, all the minutia of our profession steps forward, and before you know it, another week has passed with little implementation on my part.  I find myself getting discouraged as I realize how very difficult it is to change and implement new practices in my classroom.  So I opened my Dove chocolate that afternoon and found these validating words:  "You are exactly where you need to be right now."  And so I'll continue taking small steps toward change and remember the words from a piece of chocolate to know that my efforts are moving me forward, one baby step at a time.

Time to Celebrate! 2013: 9 0f 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day. 

Today is my 100th blog post!  I remember when my children celebrated the 100th day of school. One year S. wrote out 100 with stickers, and B. pounded 100 colorful tacks into a board.  S's favorite memory is the cookie that Corinne made with 100 chocolate chips.  She got to go home with her after school to eat it.  And just this week I read someone's blog post that mentioned a grandma sewing 100 buttons onto a shirt for the 100th day of school.
There's a bit of the child in me - I love holidays, snow days, birthdays, and celebrations!  So to mark this special day, I created this 100 posts M&M picture.  Thanks to all my friends at Two Writing Teachers who have supported me on my writing journey!

Dove Philosophy 101 Slice 2013: 8 0f 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day.  

This week I opened a Dove chocolate to find these perfect words for our month of slicing,
"Lose yourself in a moment."

I just enjoyed three days with "my boy" home for Spring Break, his first visit home since he got married last June.  My boy is 28 years old.  His wife had to stay in DC and work.  I wanted more time with him, but she misses him too.  Those days went by too quickly.  I managed to spend one day away from school with him.

We lost ourselves in many happy moments:
A chat on his first morning home (love that his inner clock is on east coast time)
Chocolate chip pancakes
Shared laughter and stories (watch for a future guest post from him telling one of those stories)
A trip to Costco, his happy place
His favorite meal - chicken casserole
A quick stop at Nordstrom Rack
Quick visits to 2 friends (a 70-something and an eight year old who cried when my son left)
Pumpkin chocolate chip bread
Bear hugs
More bear hugs and a promise that graduation is only 11 weeks away!

The Early Bird Dance! Slice 2013: 7 of 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day.  

I try hard to arrive at school around 7:00 a.m.   I use alarms at 30 minute intervals to keep my mornings and myself on track.  I get up at 5:00 a.m.  I know that's really early, but I do love mornings.  It's my favorite time of the day, and I always have more that I want to do than I can squeeze into those two hours.  

In my ideal world, I have quiet time, shower, get dressed, head downstairs for breakfast, pack my lunch, and straighten the kitchen.  Then it's back upstairs to brush teeth, put on my makeup, and collect my school stuff.  If there's time, I can hop on the computer for a few minutes before my phone notifies me via the 7 a.m. alarm that it's time to head out the door.  With a little luck, I arrive at school early enough to find a spot in the front parking lot.  That's when I do the early bird dance!  

In my real world, I hop on the computer to check a school email regarding a meeting or retrieve a school document that I'm still working on, and then find myself distracted by emails or during the month of March trying to do a quick post before school.  Then I'm rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to still get out the door by 7:15 and with a little luck, score a spot in the front parking lot.  If not, I head to the back parking lot where I do the late bird stomp.  Consolation prize:  I get more exercise, and I see colleagues that I never encounter in the front parking lot when I'm doing the early bird dance.  

Staying on Track Slice 2013: 6 0f 31

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Stacey and Ruth from Two Writing Teachers.  For the month of March we are challenging ourselves to write a slice every day.  

 As I glanced around my desk this morning in search of a topic for writing, I decided to share my favorite money-saving tip.  I go to the library often.  By often, I mean at least two to three times a week.  We are limited to a 100 book checkout total.  Sometimes I switch over to use another family member's account when I hit my limit.  I keep many books in my classroom to connect with current Social Studies curriculum, to provide titles for book talks, and to allow my students to browse titles that I recommend.  It saddens me that many of them go to the library infrequently, so I try to bring the library to them.  I'm fortunate that KCLS only charges ten cents a day in late fees.  I love that I can renew books online, but I still found myself occasionally missing due dates and accruing late fees.  I tried putting due dates in my phone or writing them on the calendar, but with so many different due dates that took too much time.  So I finally hit upon the perfect low-tech reminder system.  It's a sticky note that I move forward each time I renew books.  When I renew books, I check for the next upcoming due date and then move the sticky note to one day in advance of that date (it covers two dates).  That way I can miss a day and still be on time for renewal.  What tricks do you use to keep yourself on track?