Saturday, December 8, 2018

Vacation Time is Near (to the tune of the Christmas Vacation theme song)



Vacation time is near.  Two more weeks left.  Is it just me, or has there been a lot of time between Thanksgiving vacation and Winter break?  I blame the calendar.   

So, what can you do with that time between the breaks?  Instruction, of course.  Winter benchmarks, you bet.  Christmas movies in class, frowned upon possibly... we just can't help ourselves.  I call it relationship building.  Nothing says "I love you class" like watching a classic movie in which a young child must fend for himself while his family forgets him when leaving for a Christmas trip and eating popcorn at 8:00 am in the morning. 

This is the time of the year when I always do a poetry project.  When I first introduced this, the Monday after Thanksgiving, a few of my students popped up and said, "April is poetry month, Mrs. Brattin."  First of all, I almost began crying because they knew that (they have been listening for the past five years)... and second, I explained that any month is a good time for poetry. In all my years of teaching, the time between Thanksgiving break and Winter break is poetry notebook time in my class.  

I have decided to approach the project a little differently this year.  I am putting more emphasis on poetry appreciation.  Students are writing some formula poems, but they are also doing more poetry research.   They have looked through poetry books and found poems they like.  They have completed research online to look at poetry websites for students.  Next week we are going to listen to poets and work on some poet biographies (sneaking in some primary/secondary source lessons here.) 

A month immersed in poetry, at least until the last two or three days... then, it's movie time!  Any month is a good month for poetry! 

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Be the nice teacher!




How wonderful if every parent had this discussion with students heading back to school. Probably, most do. And, let's face it, we as adults need to repeat this mantra as well.  In fact it could be re-written to fit us as adults:

Some teachers are smarter than you.
Some teachers have nicer purses than you.
Some teachers are better dancers than you at school assemblies.
It doesn't matter! 
You have your thing too.
Be the teacher who welcomes the new teachers into the group.
Be the teacher who shares posters.
Be the teacher who listens to all the great vacation stories everyone has.
Be the teacher who doesn't chime in on the latest gossip.
Be the nice teacher.

It's the beginning of school again.  Today is August 1st.  For me, once it's August 1st, summer is over.  I'm in school mode.   I think I'm the nice teacher.  All I know is  I CAN'T DANCE.  But, I do like to share posters!  

2018 begins my 25th year as a teacher!  2018, here I come! 



(Picture found on Facebook from a post by Myra Trimble Barnes. Thanks Myra for sharing.) 


Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Less than a month left...


I haven't done a great job with that #bookaday commitment that I made at the beginning of the summer. There are several YA books and new chapter books that I had thought I would get completed, but it hasn't happened.  I still hold out hope that some will get read.  There is still a month, or so, left on summer vacation.  It could happen...

However, my reading life this summer has included reading things to enhance my role as a librarian and as one who loves to sneak in a writing lesson quite frequently with the fifth and sixth grade students that I see everyday 1st and 2nd hours. So far, I'm re-reading Pernille Ripp's Passionate Readers.   

I was fortunate to hear her speak at nErDcampMI last summer and I loved the things she had to say about reading in the classroom.  Her ideas are realistic and speak truth to the fact that things aren't always perfect or the way we intend, but the battle is waged daily and the war is not lost if there is not success on one or even two or three days.  My hope is to model a love of reading  that I hope transfers so that they think about reading a lot and not just between the hours of 8 and 3. 

Goals can be re-evaluated and revised.  That's where I am.  What can I do to make the rest of my summer productive?  I'll keep working on that.  





Wednesday, May 23, 2018

It's the end of the school year, so why can't I take a break?

It's the end of the school year!  Yay!  What's the first thing I did when I got home today, you ask?  Did I go to the pool?  Did I finish binding a quilt I had begun?  Did I take a nap?  The answer is NO to all those things. I began making lists for things to do, or do better, next year. 

I already have a list.  I have already sent myself  three emails.  I'm already planning on going back to school tomorrow.  The one thing I am going to do tonight is begin my journey on the #bookaday challenge.   

Here's my list of things, so far:

  • Read a #bookaday
  • Piece more quilt tops with the stash I have
  • Clean up, clean out
  • Write more
I think that list seems well-rounded.  Happy Summer!