#SOL20 Day 15. If This Isn't Nice...

For all the news of coronavirus and the cancellations because of it, I've still managed to find some pretty nice things in my world. I think it's going to be more important than ever to keep track of joyful moments. 

The best of the week was, of course, our son getting engaged. His fiance is a great addition to our family and she makes my son extremely happy. Which makes my husband and I very happy. I'm not sure I've quit smiling since Thursday!

We left our son's and went to check out the lake. We had to see what the snow situation was. Almost all of it is gone! That means lake time is not far away. We also met with lake friends, fixed dinner together and had a great visit! It was so good to be with them and just have a fun night.

Today I spent fixing chicken and noodles and Amish Friendship bread. Definitely comfort foods, but it seemed liked comfort has been called for!

Our governor has called for schools to be closed for a month. I guess I won't have to worry about subbing and can get to some of those projects I've been putting off. They will definitely keep me busy! 

• Chloe will get more long walks in
• I'll use the cleaner I bought for the kitchen cupboards. Maybe I won't paint them!
• The basement could definitely use cleaning out
• I still have pictures that need to be put into albums
• My TBR pile is quite large, so no problems there
• I have another closet to paint
• There's still the rest of the month for blogging
• #100daysofnotebooking will also keep me busy
• I can get the deck ready for warmer days

I'm sure I'll keep adding to this list and to my list of joyful moments. I hope you are finding your own "If this isn't nice" moments.

Celebrate: Life in Rural Area

There was a tragic, fatal car accident in our area this week. Five brothers and sisters were driving to school. The girls were killed, the boys injured. I didn't know them and they aren't from my hometown. Obviously, this is not what I celebrate.

It is the aftermath.

Around here, you drive an hour to a mall, so neighbors help neighbors.  Sometimes, even when you don't know them. And you never know who is related to who. You never know who counts who as "friendamily". And you never know who is going to step up and have your back.

It is the aftermath.

And it's always the gestures of teenagers that make me cry and give me hope for the future.

Because life goes on, even when you think it won't. There was a basketball game played the other night. And the fans and team of the opposing team showed up in the school colors of the school the girls attended. In fact, the boys varsity basketball team wore warm-up shirts that read "Mabel-Canton Strong".

But it's what they did before the game started that brings tears to my eyes and hope to my heart.

In case you don't want to watch the video or read the article, the boys took off the warm-up shirts and presented them to the Mabel-Canton team.  Such a simple gesture. But it's a "we've got your back moment". It's a "there's more to life than basketball" and "we understand" moment. 

In this day and age of Tide Pod challenges and government officials behaving in ways that make me cringe, it's nice to have this small moment bring hope for the future. 

Celebrate 1: The Start of a New Year

Tuesday was an ice day.  And while I now hate the ice and the teeny tiny shuffling steps across it to get from the parking lot to the school, I really needed Tuesday at home.

The boys and their families left from our family Christmas celebration about noon on Sunday. Greg and I did a quick sweep through the house and did a "five minute pick-up". But we were exhausted. Cleaning would wait. We watched basketball instead :) 

I though I would clean on Monday and take down the decorations. But, the football game was on and we started watching The Crown" on Netflix. Oh, is it a good one (the show, NOT the football game). So again, I procrastinated taking down decorations and cleaning. The weekend was coming. I would do it then.

Freezing rain overnight saved the day. Finally, Tuesday, with no school, no school work, I put everything away. And we are back to "normal".

Wednesday was the first day of classes and the start of new classes. It was short because we had a 2 hour late start, but that was OK. It was just good to get back into the routine of school. I missed my kids :)  I also have an education student with me during the month of January from a nearby college. It was a hectic week for him to start, but we'll get ourselves back on track Monday.

A couple of moments stand out for me this week. 

• Two of my girls from last semester's College Prep Lit class showed up the second day of this semester. They missed our discussions and books. I invited them back anytime they wanted to come and join in. 
• I teach Contemporary Lit also this semester. Current or fairly current YA Lit. We start with a class novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I love this book. We start with just flipping through the book. What do you notice? And then, I read the first chapter out loud and we talk about Junior. Kids got it right away. "He's so smart!" They were so excited, I read the second chapter out loud also. 
• The next day, a student came in saying, "I'm sorry Mrs. Day. I had to read ahead."  I laughed. She wasn't the only one. A "non-reader" boy was about half way through the book. Two other girls read the whole book! They all loved it.  I may have to adjust some plans, but I got what I wanted. Kids are reading.

There were more celebrations (I keep a post-it in my bullet journal for writing down celebrations), but these were my favorites. And I'm writing more...so there's that :)

Celebrating Summer: Part 1

I'm back celebrating on Saturdays! You should dust off your blog and join the celebration, too!

I think I've enjoyed this summer more than most in recent memory. I quit telling myself what I should do and just enjoyed things as they happened. It meant less writing, less reading, less online connecting, but I sure have had a good time! I also took LOTS of pictures....

Here's what I celebrated in June...

My first two weeks of summer break found me reading and sleeping, with a little golf thrown in for good measure.  Our sons and their families were frequent visitors, so we got lots of time with the six grandkids.

After a couple of weeks of relaxation, it was time for a little work (and fun). Roomie, ArtTeach and I presented our flipped classrooms at the Iowa Technology conference.  We worried that no one would come. It was standing room only.  We worried we weren't giving people what they wanted. Several stayed after our presentation to ask questions. We need to quit worrying :)

A trip to Door County, Wisconsin highlighted June.  We traveled with my husband's sister and her husband (our Hawaii traveling companions). Our home base was Sturgeon Bay and we explored each day from there.  We visited lighthouses, wineries, restaurants, etc.  So fun!

We did have a severe storm this summer that reminded all of us to be thankful and celebrate each day.  Underneath this huge tree is the remains of our friend's mobile home at the south end of our resort.  Really. There's a mobile home there.  The little green trailer on the left escaped, but the mobile home, a camper in front of it and a car were totaled as a couple of old large cottonwood trees blew over during some 90 mph winds.  The scariest part of this, is it happened early in the morning and people were in those trailers.  Their guardian angels were watching over them and woke them in time to  move before the trees fell. No one was hurt!

So many things to celebrate, Chloe, grandkids, family and friends, concerts, quiet moments, observing nature.....

I'll be back tomorrow with a little about July!

Sometimes...

Sometimes, in the middle of life

there isn't time to 

WRITE

about the celebration

because you are 

too busy 

LIVING

it.

You are sharing a 

FIRST BIG GAME

 with grandkids

Sometimes

You put your money

where your mouth is 

and take students

on a trip you hope will

GIVE THEM VOICE

And 

Sometimes

in the midst of grading chaos

and messy houses

and the rest of the

"I should be doings"

You take a weekend 

to RELAX

to REFUEL

to REINVIGORATE

yourself

Because, even though 

there are lots and lots of 

"I should be doings"

Life is meant to be 

ENJOYED

and CELEBRATED

Celebrate

This past week was Homecoming week in our district.  A week not only celebrated at our high school, but with our elementary and junior high as well. It is a crazy week of dressing up, selfie contests and and anticipation. For some it is easy to see negative behaviors and wasted class time, but for most of us, IT IS FUN.

Three little words that are so powerful.  I love you.  I've been saying them a lot this week--to students.  And I've been hearing those words a lot this week--from students. Kids drop in to talk, "Love you, Mrs. Day."

"Love you, too"

As I thought about it one night this week, it just made me smile.  Today, as I was looking through my quote board on Pinterest, I found this:

My students and I are creating quite the little community. We have a few "family" members who need to shape up, but most of us are taking care of each other in the classroom.  We're not perfect. Sometimes we lose our patience with others, sometimes we say things we shouldn't, sometimes we let things slide that we shouldn't. But mostly, we are getting it done.  And I do love my kids.....

This is my favorite picture of the week

When I asked him if was getting work done or if he was watching a movie or something, he immediately turned his computer around and showed me his work.  Never underestimate the power of putting yourself in the corner and getting a little work done!

And the last thing I am celebrating this week is a new friend, someone I know I can go to if I need to. She has joined @Artteach13 and I every Friday morning in a little project we have.  We are writing Happy Grams, for lack of a better term. Notes home celebrating something a student has done in the classroom or in school.  Not just the A students, but any kid who needs a boost.  It's been fun for us to meet and talk and write these notes.  We also decided that maybe they shouldn't be just for kids...there are a few adults who could use a boost also.  Here's to sharing celebrations!

Celebrating Students

118 students. 5 preps.

This has been the smoothest, happiest start to a school year I can remember. I think I've said that before. But I come home every day loving my students more than I did the day before.

It helps I've had most of them in class before. We all know what to expect. They know I expect them to work hard, to think hard, to take charge. I know that they are kids and that won't always happen.

We adjust.

And when you love them, they love you back. And how can your day not be better when you receive all that love?

It's not that there aren't negative things going on. There are. Some personal. Some professional. Some both.

I'm choosing to ignore the negative. Choosing to focus on my kids and the community we are creating.  It's a safe, comfortable place. A place where kids can come and honestly say, "I don't get it." And no one will ridicule them. Or tell them to read it again. Or ignore them.

We are reading Fahrenheit 451 in College Prep Lit. I chose it because I wanted them to think, to question, to have opinions. I wanted them to have a say in their education. My big question for this class, one I have written on our writing graffiti wall is, "Why do we need the things in books?" Yesterday's class discussion was one of the best I've ever had in a classroom with students because they did all of that. And they were honest about things they want and need from a teacher. We talked about making mistakes, about why kids don't want to participate in some classes and why they all have something to say in others. They explained why they hate most lectures, but love the ones from a certain teacher (he connects everything to the world they know).

That conversation affected everyone of my student interactions the rest of the day.

I hope it affects evert interaction the rest of the year.

Celebrate #Hashtags

Join the celebration over at Ruth's  blog. You'll be glad you did!

Here I sit on Saturday morning, doing exactly what I dreamed about all week...

• drinking more that one cup of coffee
• watching The Today Show
• snuggled in a blanket on a chilly Iowa morning
• writing about celebrating my week

And this was one amazing wonderful week.

I don't really know why the start of this school year has gone so smoothly, why I'm enjoying the start of this year more than years past, but I am. Seems like I am celebrating daily!

My favorite celebrations came in hashtags this week...

#CWFierce
I try to come up with hashtags for each class. As I tweet out what we are doing in class, I have a hashtag we can use. It's mostly for our class, but parents catch on and so do other teachers.  #CWFierce is the hashtag we came up with for Creative Writing.

It's been quite active this week as we wrote 6 Word Memoirs and Twitter Memoirs this week in preparation for Expressive/Reflective writing.  Once kids got writing, there were many great words shared. Some kids don't have Twitter or they preferred to remain anonymous, so they wrote their memoirs down for me and I tweeted them.  They loved seeing their stories out in the world.

And then, my blogging community teachers asked if they could also use the hashtag for sharing out student work. Of course, I said yes.

So, please, follow our hashtag. The kids are (and will) sharing some amazing things.

#OMW1415
This is going to be a fun project for my 8th graders to participate in this year (I may get my writing kids doing this too). Out My Window is a creative project to help kids become more aware of the world around them. Each month there is a different theme for kids to write about, all while using the five themes of geography.  We've taken our pictures and started our poems. Look for the final products next week!

#BoysDontRead
Ever since I read Grasshopper Jungle and then Winger I have been a HUGE  fan of Andrew Smith. I followed him on Twitter (he followed me back!)  I followed him on Facebook (he followed me back again!). This week on Facebook, he told a story about meeting several adult non-fiction writers. They seemed to believe that boys don't read, especially boys don't read YA. All week, teachers have been writing and sending pictures to him of boys that read. So yesterday, during our ten minute reading time, I snapped a couple of pictures of football players reading in College Prep Lit.  I tweeted them out with our school hashtag (#2020HowardWinn, just in case you want to follow that one) and then, thought What the heck and I added Andrew's name to the tweet.

This picture has taken on a life of it's own. It's been retweeted MANY times and Andrew put it on his Facebook page. How cool is that?  Well, the conversation on his page was pretty fun too. Especially after he said he should consider coming to Iowa and author Geoff Herbach jumped in. He visited my room last year and recognized it!

As I'm writing this, Andrew tweeted a promise to visit Iowa. I'm going to hold him to that :)

Well, that was my amazing wonderful week. How was yours?

Happy Saturday Celebrations!

Ruth Ayres has created a wonderful spot for sharing moments from your week. She even has  a page to give you all the details you need to know about sharing your own celebrations. So head  on over and see what everyone else is celebrating. 

 Happy Saturday!

I know I haven't been around much lately, but that doesn't mean I'm not celebrating.  Summer has been jam packed with new learning situations, lots of reading, and time spent with friends and family.

This week I am celebrating

Rainy days:  Although I love the sunshine of summer, once in awhile, rainy days are great reminders to slow down, read a little, write a little, talk a little.  Today looks to be one of those days.  Hoping I can finish Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (the sequel to The Shining).  It's a great sequel, but my husband will go home for a couple of days and I don't want to be reading it when I am at the lake alone :)

As always, I celebrate family.  We went and picked up my mom a couple of weeks ago and brought her to the lake for a short visit. The trailer we now own was hers previously, so she likes getting back up here for a visit.

Our oldest son and his family packed up and moved to a town just south of where we are at. They can now just run up for an afternoon if they want, not have to plan and pack for several days. They both found jobs before they even had housing or daycare, so things were a little tense for awhile, but now all is good. Our youngest son is also here, so now it's just us that needs to make the move.  

Lifelong Learning My husband keeps asking me when I'm going to be off of school time. I just laugh and remind him that I am never really "off". I've been to two conferences, I read Thrive and am now reading Reading in the Wild and participating in #CyberPD.  My mind keeps swimming in ideas. My notebooks are full of things I'd like to try next year.  Now I just have to find a way to organize my thoughts!

And finally, the gift of time. No bells, no schedules, no to-do lists (well, at least not deadlined to-do lists). Sleeping past 6:00am, an afternoon nap if I want, later dinners, long conversations with friends, wine at sunset. Summer is definitely time to recharge my batteries and get ready for the craziness of a new school year.  

Celebrate Summer!

Ruth Ayres has created a wonderful spot for sharing moments from your week. She even has  a page to give you all the details you need to know about sharing your own celebrations. So head  on over and see what everyone else is celebrating. 

Simple celebrations this week....my first week of summer.

This week has been about taking time for me 

I've enjoyed beautiful sunsets

Dinner with friends

And lots of time to read. This week's first nonprofessional, nonYA lit book was The Shining by Stephen King. I read it when it first came out, but want to read the sequel that came out last summer.  It was just as creepy and scary as I remembered it.  I had to read it during the daylight hours, that's for sure!

When I finished that, I needed something a little lighter. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple fit the bill. I really liked this book and will definitely add it to my school library. While it's an adult book, it will appeal to lots of high school girls.  

And how about this to celebrate...

Two of my grandkids learning to paddle board. They made it look easy. 

I did spend a little time working this week. Via google docs I collaborated with my partners in a blogging community we created this year. We are presenting on Tuesday at a technology conference about an hour from the lake.  Since we are all in different places, sharing our presentation on google and chatting as we worked was a great thing.  Wish us luck!

Celebrate

My friend Ruth Ayres has created a wonderful spot for sharing moments from your week. She even has  a page to give you all the details you need to know about sharing your own celebrations. So head  on over and see what everyone else is celebrating. 

1. Conferences with parents. I really don't mind conferences.  I like meeting with parents. I like telling them good things about their kid. I've always told my students to make sure their parents stop in to see  me because I will say at least one good thing about them. Naturally, kids challenge me on that, but it really isn't too hard to find something nice to say, even if there are some other things to say also :)

2. Our girls basketball team made the state tournament!  This is such an amazing group of young women. Many of them I taught in junior high when I was teaching advanced English. They are smart and athletic!  They are good friends, smart, nice to have in class, true student leaders....what more could you want?

3. My speech kids!  I had a little minor melt down on Monday, wondering how in the world we would ever be ready. I should know better!  Kids buckled down and worked hard. They practiced with me. Practiced with friends. Recorded themselves practicing alone. Most are ready to perform today. 

4. And last, but not least, a normal week of school. How's that for something to celebrate! We haven't had too many of those this year.

Just a note:
I have often written celebratory posts--- Friday Favorites, some titled Celebration, others that just because.  I love that Ruth has given us this spot to share.  Having this place to share every Saturday keeps me looking for the good in my day. It helps keep me upbeat all week, even in the midst of meltdowns!  If you haven't started sharing your week with us over at Ruth's blog, please think about it. I promise, it will make your week!

Aloha!

Celebrating a Little Late (But Celebrating, Nonetheless)

My friend Ruth Ayres has created a wonderful spot for sharing moments from your week. She even has  a page to give you all the details you need to know about sharing your own celebrations. So head  on over and see what everyone else is celebrating. 

 Reasons I'm late to the Celebration Link Up:

1. Stomach flu since Tuesday afternoon ( I didn't slice either). 

2. State Contest Week for speech

3. A rough day at contest

4. Tired

5. Grading

6. Procrastination

7. Couldn't find the celebrations

And then I started to think

And they were there

Those celebrations were hiding out, waiting for me to be ready to appreciate them.....

This week I wrote letters of recommendations for several of my senior speech kids. And this gave me a couple of things to celebrate. The first, kids who asked me back in the fall to write theirs.  So nice to write letters when there really is no deadline. And the second, well, first I have to be honest.

As many high school teachers will tell, I keep copies of all the letters I write. And every year, when a kid asks me to write a letter, I think about what former student they are most like. I use that letter as a template for the new one.  Of course, I add personal info about the student, personal connections, etc, but the form tends to be the same.  And with each letter I wrote, I began thinking about these students and our years together. Each and every one of them holds a special place in my heart. It was fun looking back at the growth they have had.

Friday, I wrote a letter for a student who is so unique, that there was no letter to fall back on. I had to start from scratch. And no letter will do her justice. I wanted to send video of her dancing with abandon during a "Don't Be Boring" Friday in Drama class. I wanted to send the brochure she wrote in Creative Writing about her ideal school. I wanted them to listen to her tell stories. And the whole time I wrote, I heard this song in my head:

As I said before, Saturday was a rough day at contest. I felt like I had failed the kids. It was hard for me to be positive when I got home, hard to find positives. But again, there were there

• singing boys on the bus ride down
• parents who drive down to see their kid perform for 5 or 10 minutes
• students supporting each other
• great attitudes
• The "let's move on to individual" attitude
• Seeing growth from one year to the next
• A student who will be a leader next year, although he doesn't know it now

So, you see, even when it seems like you had a crappy week and there was nothing to celebrate, there really is. You just have to peel away the crap and look.

Aloha!

Celebrate XIII: Family, Food, And Back to School

Ahhhh, it feels good to be back.....

This week, I am celebrating

1. Family.  We arrived back on the mainland on January 1. Our boys came for our family Christmas the night of the 3rd and stayed the weekend. I worked the 3rd. Good thing the Aloha spirit was with me. It got me through worrying about everything being perfect when they arrived. I put at the forefront that it was most important we were together and enjoying each other. On Saturday we had a Hawaiian Luau dinner: Kalua pork, Hawaiian baked beans, Mai Tais, but my potato salad, because some traditions can't be changed! We played games, enjoyed the kids and each other, and ate well!

2. Being back at school.  I missed my kids. Plain and simple. I couldn't wait and get back to see them and find out about their break. Some had tweeted me over break, but not nearly enough. And some of them needed to get back too. Gotta love this tweet:

3. Short Weeks: I know this sounds contradictory, but I was sooooo thankful for a "cold" day on Monday and a late start on Tuesday. As much as I missed my kids, I needed Monday to get things cleaned up from the weekend and to just sit!  By Friday, I was out of steam, but Mother Nature helped me out and sent some freezing rain. Not a lot, just enough for a two hour early out. I didn't waste that time. I went home and finished writing up my plans for my new class--

4. Creative Writing 2!  It started with one senior boy who needed another class in his schedule but found nothing he was interested in. "Wish you had another Creative Writing class, Mrs. Day." I have done Creative Writing 2 as an independent study before, so I thought, "Why not?" .  And then I got the idea that the whole course could be an multi-genre project. I jotted down ideas, expectations, etc and then---invited more kids to join it. Now there are five. All self-motivated writers. I can't wait to begin. This week they created their online portfolio and will be ready to start writing next week. I hope to share some of their writing as we move through the semester, so keep an eye out for them!

5. Hawaii.  I know I haven't shared much about our trip yet. I just can't seem to find the words. I've wrapped this vacation  experience life changing event (see, I don't even know what to call it)--I've wrapped it around me like a cocoon and am trying to keep living it. I'm sure the stories will come. It's just taking me a while to process.

In the meantime, 

Celebrate VI: A Week of Professional JOY

My friend Ruth has started this Saturday celebration. I find that I am constantly on the lookout for those little bits of JOY that fill my day. If you want to know about this celebration, check out the page Ruth created on her blog.

Professional Learning

Tuesday I spent in Des Moines with not only staff from my district, but teams from 9 other districts in Iowa learning about Competency Based Education. All ten teams were awarded a grant to study and develop competencies for the state of Iowa.. It's a one year commitment, with no mandate to implement. It's really a group that will study and learn together. Some of the teams have actually begun CBE in their districts. Others, like ours are just in the investigating stages. I'm looking forward to this learning. I've always wanted learning to be more concrete. For learning to wrap around students' passions. CBE will hopefully fulfill those wants!

Professional Development

Wednesday was an inservice day in our district. And most of our inservices this year are personally directed. We study and learn about what interests us, what will help us become better teachers. My learning community are those in the district who are flipping one or more of their classes. We're settling down into a groove. Wednesday we listened to a fellow teacher explain how he wants to see his classroom progress. He knows he's not there yet, but it was his vision for the future. There was a little philosophical disagreement, but that brought out great conversation and really made him think about his teaching. And isn't that what professional development should do?

 Personal JOY

Spending the weekend at our youngest son's home and babysitting the grandkids today.  The middle one, Tony,  crawled in my lap for morning hugs. A little sneaky grin showed up. Knowing him well, I asked what he wanted. 

"Remember at the cabin we have hot chocolate in the morning?"

It's our tradition, Tony and I, to sit and have hot chocolate and coffee together in the morning when they stay with us. We're the early birds (although little brother Max often joins us now). We talk about our weeks, the plans for the day, and sometimes, just silly stuff. Today, however, we made the all important Christmas list.

So these are my celebrations this week. What brought a smile to your heart?

I Just Kept Smiling

Like this idea? Head over to Ruth's blog and read some more. Better yet, share your own celebrations there, or on Facebook or tweet it out using the hashtag #celebrationlu  No matter what, celebrate what you do!

Monday, 7:45am I am met at the door by a student. 
She just finished reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Now she wants to know if Alex dies at the end of the book. I just smiled.

"You'll have to read the next book to find out."
"Mrs. Day...." in that whiny voice only teenage girls can have.

Every time I saw her, she begged for the answer. I just kept smiling. She googled a summary of Pandemonium to see if she could find her answer. No luck. I just kept smiling.

She came to class 7th hour.

"Where's that book?"

I point to where it's at and she goes over to get it.

"I'm going to read the last pages and see!"

She flips through the book, looking for her answer. She doesn't find it.

"I'm just going to read the whole thing tonight to find out."

"What if the second book doesn't tell you either?"

"Mrs. Day!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday, after our 10 minute reading time:

"Mrs. Day! Are you kidding me about the end of this book?"
I just smiled.

Freshmen boys aren't my biggest group of enthusiastic readers. Some will play lots of games to make me think they are reading, but they fake read a lot.

But this boy, this one, he found a book he loved. Gym Candy by Carl Deuker  This is a no fail book for my high school boys. I've never had one not like it. They like all his other books too, but this is the gateway book.

And now that this one read the book, it will find it's way into more hands. And more boys will say, "Are you kidding me about the end of this book?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All week.
The bi-quarterly meeting of PA (Procrastinators Anonymous) meets bi-quarterly in our high school The large group meetings take place in Roomie's classroom. The Retake Queen, as I like to think of her, allows students to reassess their learning constantly. If they don't score well enough on an assessment, they can retake it. There are procedures to follow, but they can bring up their grade. And that is a wonderful thing.

And we don't believe in zeroes. What do those show? Nothing. Zeroes are easy. But for us, zeroes are a placeholder until you get the work done. So, we are always on kids to get the work made up. Don't let those zeroes stand in the way of showing what you've learned.

It does, however, make for an interesting week right before midterms or the end of the quarter. The smell of panic is in the air. Early mornings, prep periods, class periods, after school.
The Procrastinators arrive. Anxious. Knowing they waited too long. Hoping for the best.

And we just smile.

Time to CELEBRATE

JOY. My One Little Word for 2013. 

"Nothing without JOY". 

I have focused this year on finding the little bits of joy that often times go unnoticed and unappreciated. I found that the more I focused on the things that bring me JOY, the less I focused on the negativity. Not that I don't have negative moments, or have negative people in my life, I just choose not to focus on them. So, happily, I join in Ruth's CELEBRATE this week (and thanks for the shout out, Ruth). 

This is the front of our high school. Isn't it amazing? These are window shades. From the outside you see this great CELEBRATION of our high school and our amazing students. From the inside, you see nothing. These shades block the sun and glare that come in the windows. 

Drama class. Exercise ball has been a hit with kids

Creative Writing: All students like to use the rocking chair when writing

Creative Writing

The way we read...

Comfy places for kids to work.  Do they sometimes get off track. Yup. Do they sometimes mess around? Yup. But all in all, giving students places to work that are comfortable and easy going has been the best thing I have done in my classroom. There's also a bench, lots of pillows and a rug. Students know that they can sit where they want as long as they work. If there are too many off-task behaviors, they get grounded. No one wants to be grounded!

Helping a student plan out a personal narrative

The best part of these comfy places--support from both my principal and my superintendent. There are many new types of desks and chairs coming to our building because they know that desks in straight rows are not always the best way to learn and collaborate in the 21st century.

Well, that's it for this week. See you all next Saturday for a CELEBRATION of our week!