Soapbox: The Way I see Things

Slice of Life Day 17: Progress Check

At the beginning of the year, I posted about my One Little Word: quiet. I had chosen this word for the second year in a row because, quite frankly, it got gotten the proverbial short end of the stick.

So how am I doing this year? Have I paid more attention to my One Little Word, or does it still lay crumpled on the closet floor, crammed between the past-their-prime tennis shoes and the sweater that can’t seem to stay hung no matter which hanger I place it on?

Well…I think I’m doing a little bit better, but I think…I could do a little better.

Here’s what I mean.

I’m starting to take more time in quiet. My gym has a sauna, and I’ve elected to leave my phone or other distractions out when I spend time there.

I’ve started to notice when my mind is going into “busy brain” mode, and I’ve used that noticing to bring myself out of my brain and into my body: what am I feeling, and where?

…but that’s about it.

I’m still distracting myself with noise more often than not. Podcasts seem to be the underlying soundtrack to most of what I do: chores, driving, drifting off to bed.

I think I’d like to disconnect more often: perhaps while walking the dogs? Perhaps at bedtime?

All of which is to say, I’m not ready for another One Little Word yet. I’ll keep this one around, but maybe I’ll pull it from the closet, dust it off, and let it sit next to the rock collection on my dresser.

And you? One Little Worders, how’s it going for you?

Slice of Life Day 15: A Writerly View

One of the things I love about the Slice of Life Challenge is the way it forces me to be on the lookout for things to write about. Seeing, experiencing, thinking or wondering about things causes me to think about how I might write about them, or how people might respond to them. Just today, I had an entire bumper crop of ideas:

The military-level logistics it takes to navigate each and every day

The joys of receiving big hugs from a former students

Using a metaphor in conversation and having my colleague say – with respect and love – that of course I’d come through with a metaphor

The heart-bubbling satisfaction of finding the perfect .gif for a situation

How choosing an ELA curriculum feels like dating (there I go with the metaphors again)

The parallel joy and anxiety of having kids in early adulthood

The guilt connected to preaching about the importance of commenting on blog posts and then not having the time to do it myself

The deep connection of mathematics to cheese and peanut butter crackers

Honestly. For each and every one of these subjects, I toyed with how it might look as a blog post. What would I say? What format would it take? What tone would I use?

Funny…I’m big on pushing for students to feel like writers, but a lot of the time it’s hard for me to feel like one. But March lets me step more comfortably into that version of myself – a version that I have to remember, during the other months, how much I enjoy.

Slice of Life Day 14: On Being Smart

My second graders are learning about children all around the world. We’re using materials based on the UNICEF work from the Conventions on the Rights of the Child. Right now, we’re learning about at what every kid has a right to, including the right to be healthy, to play, to have an identity, to food, water, and shelter. We’re learning that some kids have those things. And some kids don’t.

We were reading about one right in particular: Every child has the right to learn.

We read about illiteracy and the lack of opportunities for schooling, especially focused on gaps between genders or economic status. And then I asked my students: does being illiterate mean you’re not smart?

Sidebar: < clears throat, steps onto soapbox > If we want kids labeled “smart” to function in this world, it is absolutely critical for them to have conversations about what exactly “smart” means and doesn’t mean. <Steps off soapbox>

It sparked some good conversation, which culminated in this thinking:

I think they might be on to something.

Slice of Life Day 13: The Light Dawns

Some folks out there know all about my recent foray into crowdsourcing. It’s been a game-changer for my fourth-graders, and it’s been fun to share our discoveries.

We’ve also been working on the importance of using the language of craft no matter what the medium: arts, sports, literature…

So. Today.

I had my kids do a final piece of writing expressing why they like their favorite author. It was my pre-assessment earlier, and today’s writing will show whether they can articulate works written, impact, and specific mention of writer’s craft.

I put on work music and let them go, expecting silence save for Thelonius Monk and purposeful key-tapping.

And then, I heard it. VOICES.

The kids were talking to each other. And I thought, HEY! We’re in the middle of a writing assignment! I’m trying to assess my kids! They shouldn’t be talking to each other.

And then another voice said, HEY, ya nincompoop! LISTEN to what they’re saying. Your kids are crowdsourcing. On their OWN. You didn’t have to tell them to do it. They’ve DONE IT! They’ve LEARNED THE THING! And it’s important enough to them that they’re doing it for themselves!

Wow. Talk about a ton of bricks.

This reminds me of earlier on in my teaching, when I was the type of teacher who did Sustained Silent Reading. I clung to the Sanctity of Sustained Silent Reading with a white-knuckled grasp, admonishing kids who destroyed such Sanctity with whispers and giggles.

And then one day I actually listened to what the kids were talking about. Their READING. And it hit me like a ton of bricks: who am I to stop them from engaging in conversations about literature? That moment marked a clear before-after point in my teaching.

All of which is to say, I keep learning again and again to use my students as a guide. I keep learning to follow their lead so that I can learn alongside them. And I hope I can always keep that spirit.

Slice of Life Day 12: Prithee

Today is one of those days where I have the delightful problem of having too many things I want to post about.

So today, I think I will share my fifth graders’ work with Shakespeare. They spent last week learning about the guy and all of his weirdness, even coming up with their own favorite fact videos.

This week, we ventured into compliment and insult territory. I always like teaching from this direction because…let’s face it: Shakespeare loved to play with language! Even better, Shakespeare was not above a rotten or inappropriate joke. Tell me what fifth grader isn’t going to giggle at the thought!

And in what can best be described as a sneaky move on my part, I taught a lesson on pronouns before we began so that kids could understand the difference between “thee” and “thou.” Don’t tell them, but I also used the lesson to teach a trick for why first, second, and third person narration are named as they are. Oh, the sacrifices I make…

Once they built that understanding, it was off on a choose-your-own-adventure compliment and insult fest.

And while I have the stage, just take a look at the paragraph above. All of those hyphens to create an adjective? I don’t know if you started them or popularized them, but thanks for those, Shakespeare!

Bottom line: Word play is fun, and Shakespeare was a master at it. Catch these kids:

LISTEN to those GIGGLES!

Next up? The kids are going to make videos of themselves doing compliments or insults, and classmates are going to vote on “Shakey awards” for creativity and craft.

Shakespeare may be old-timey, but fun is NOT!

Slice of Life Day 11: Technically Speaking

There I was, all set to publish a post gushing about the online Slicer meetup we had yesterday evening. What a good time it was! We shared where we were from, how many years we’ve been slicing, what types of writing we really enjoy, and what challenges we’ve faced as writers.

Look at us! All the wisdom and experience here is a MARVEL.

I always have an amazing time interacting with fellow writers online, but the chance to see faces and hear actual voices is a true joy.

But WordPress has decided to be mean.

I haven’t been able to edit WordPress posts on Chrome for almost a year now. Just now, Safari has gone on strike. And to top it all off with a cherry, my Jetpack app isn’t refreshing my draft.

Will this post go up? Will it be doomed to the rabbit holes of back end technology? Time will tell, friends. Time. Will. Tell.

Slice of Life Day 10: Current Sitch

There are lots of places around my house that I could work.

I could sit in the recliner chair with my feet up, right in the middle of the family room.

I could also sit on the family room couch, right next to the hubs as he watches TV.

I could nestle under my favorite cozy blanket on the couch in the living room, taking in the view of the back yard.

All of those places are nice…in theory. But in reality, I have two dogs who see my laptop and immediately view it as their opportunity to demand attention. Fingers on the keyboard? Better nudge ’em off. Mom emailing colleagues? Time for a distraction. Let’s lick her elbows.

No, there’s really only one place where the dogs rest and let me work undisturbed. Only when I’m in bed do they feel calm and comfortable enough to leave me be. Black dog Lilah is happiest when she hogs the dog bed, brown dog Winnie is just fine with the leftovers.

Some call it unprofessional. Others call it poor sleep hygiene. I call it a matter of survival.

Picture of one dog with paw on lap desk, the other in dog bed — WHO COULD SAY NO TO THIS FACE?

Slice of Life Day 9: Letting the Nerd Flag Fly

I am
a puzzler,
a worder,
a counter of things
(though I can’t
imagine anyone
surprised
to know
that’s mentioned in my
answer key)

I am
a planner,
a thinker,
a system worker-outer
(because I gave you
two guesses
and the first one
didn’t count)

I am
a watcher,
a wonder-er,
a looker at skies
(and I admit
that’s the “C”
of my
all-of-the-above)

I started this post thinking it was going to be a retelling of my day through the different puzzles I did and how. Then I realized…I do an embarrassingly large number of puzzles. So today’s post started coming out my fingers as a poem, whether I liked it or not. I think I was also inspired by Ona’s clever SAT post, if you’d like to give her a peek!

Will there be a post about the puzzles I do? Probably. I just have to own it…

Slice of Life Day 8: Six-Word Slicelets

I’m a fan of the 6-word memoir form. Thanks to Britt, for reminding me how much fun it is to play with! Check out the post that inspired me by clicking this link.

A good day starts with chai

Kid performers make me so proud

Extra plan time? Please and THANKS!

Half days mean a long lunch

Time to plan, time to collaborate

Stick a fork in me. DONE!

Dog snuggles, snack time, mindless TV

Slice of Life Day 7: Planning and Plotting

Today, I took advantage of a rare day of light classes and meetings to work with a fellow colleague (co-conspirator?) to develop poetry units for a couple of grade levels. Sure, we knew we needed to use the Common Core Standards as the basis for content, but c’mon. It’s POETRY. We want our units centered around these ideas:
– it’s FUN to play with language!
– poetry is meant to be read aloud
– we can build literary analysis through meaningful responses and feedback to one another

Short list, tall order.

Boy, was I grateful I had my fellow colleague (partner-in-crime?) along for the ride. I’m the Google-Earth-big-picture-pie-in-the-sky-big-dreams planner, and she is the nuts-and-bolts-how-is-this-going-to-work-and-does-it-do-what-it-needs-to-do planner. Together, we settled ourselves in to work out our approach to planning. I think we might be on to something kids will enjoy learning, and teachers might enjoy teaching. I guess you could say my fellow colleague (aider and abettor?) found our rhythm (rhyme, simile, metaphor…).

Funny thing our work today comes hot on the heels of me talking about how powerful collaboration is for my students. Go figure that the universe is out there doing her thing, reminding me yet again to live how I teach…