#14 of 31 Because Chloe Says So

You wouldn't know it by driving though the area. Piles of snow are everywhere. It snows almost every morning. It's cold.

But Chloe knows it's almost spring.

She met me at the door today, happy as always. We played. I put her outside. She basked in the sun.

Most of the winter has been awful (can you say SEVEN SNOW DAYS). Right now, there are huge piles of snow in our yard. In the front. In the back. Huge (well, not as huge as they could have been, but huge.)

Chloe hasn't wanted to play in the backyard because the snow is deep. Probably a foot and a half or so. And because of speech rehearsals, we haven't played out there. Our routine is, I come home, hook her on the chain out front. She does her business and I bring her back in.

Then we play.

The first thing she does is grab her ball and go to the door that leads upstairs. Chloe loves to play fetch. This winter we've had to play on the steps. 15 steps. I stand at the bottom, throw something up and Chloe races up the stairs to get it.

Lately, I don't even have to throw the ball. She has it in her mouth. I say go and she runs up the stairs. She races around, jumps on a bed, and then stands at the top of the stairs until I say "Come!" And then, in about three leaps, she's downstairs again.

Tonight, she kept going to the back door with the ball. I tried to tell her that it was too deep and I wasn't going to go outside.

She didn't listen.

I opened the deck door.

She cleared the space in two deer leaps.

As she hit the snow, she took a moment to turn around and look at me.

"You comin"?" she asked.

I shook my head no.

"Fine," she seemed to say.

And then she ran.

And she ran.

And she ran.

She smiles while she runs, by the way.

JOY.

And as I stood coatless on the deck, I knew why she was smiling.

There might be a foot and a half of snow on  the ground

But the sun is warming up.

Spring will come.

Because Chloe says so.

#13 of 31 Test This

Sparkling River Academy of Dreams and Learning. 

Where we believe that school is a place for children to dream, learn and grow; that nature is abundantly full of beauty and an ideal setting for the flourishing of youth; that learners ought to have sufficient influence on how their learning is run for the benefit of their learning; and that school is meant to be an enjoyable time which prepares children for an enjoyable future.

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Here I sit in the midst of my junior homeroom taking their Iowa Assessments. And because you can only walk up and down the rows so many times without getting the death glare from some students, I sit at my desk reading the latest Creative Writing papers.

This year, I've been using ideas from Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher in my classroom. They both give students a great deal of choice in writing, all the while paying attention to the Common Core. So the last writing assignment was informative writing.

Sounds boring, right? Are images of dry, dull reports floating around in your head? Thinking students spent way too much time copying and pasting info from the internet into documents they then turned in as their own?

Not so fast.

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Our school is meant to be a relaxing and tranquil, yet exciting and stimulating environment that provides a strong learning experience for all our students. Our goal is to help you not only discover your dreams, but also to help you achieve them. Our teachers and staff are here to help you on every step of your journey through public education and beyond.

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Gallagher's book Write This Way: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts
has a great chapter on informative writing. Lots of ideas, some mentor texts, and the writing prompts I put on the board to begin the period provide enough variety to satisfy most students.

Many students modeled their writing after a piece in the book by Rick Reilly. It's a satiric look at NBA stars and all the money they make. Reilly offers them many ways to go through that money quickly. Students seem to like the tone of it, so they have fun modeling their own writing after it.

I also had several students who chose to do a little research about a topic and write a report. I was OK with that. It was their choice.  Topics chosen?  Cheese. Cheese Rolling. The Seven Wonders of the World.

I didn't know there were so many kinds of cheese.

But I bet I would if I went to the Sparking River Academy of Dreams and Learning.

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Our school prides itself on on offering a wide variety of classes on almost everything that can be learned. The variety increases at each school level, to the point where if there is something you would like to learn about and it is not listed among the course at the high school level, you may put in a request for a course in that subject.

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Some of the classes offered:  

• 10 of Everything: Lists for Life
• Bookbinding: From Papyrus to Vellum, from Paper to Silk, From Runes to Illumination
• Chinese
• Gallantry and Knighthood
• Ice, Ice Cream, and the Frozen State
• Making Math Less Painful: A 50-Step Process
• Philosophy: Let's Get Deep
• Quaint European Villages
• Writing: The Simple Joy of Expression (most genres are separate classes)
• Yellow: 100 Things That Are Better With It and Why
• 
  

I couldn't possibly share with you the whole brochure (It a small booklet really). Nor could I share all the course offerings listed. But I can share a student's dream of what a school should be. 

An academy of dreams and learning...

You can't test that.

#12 of 31 What Will I Do....

What will I do with

All my free time

They ask

No more rehearsals 

No more lines to run

No more contests

As if

I don't do anything else

Let's see

There are papers to grade

Lessons to plan

A showcase night

A banquet

EdCamp is this weekend

I've neglected the committee

There are family and friends

I'd like to see

Iowa Assessments  begin tomorrow 

Grades are due by the end of the day

What will I do with

All my free time?

#11 of 31 It Was a Good 12 Hours

The newbies whine about the early bus time

The vets just smile and know

7:30 is NOT early on 

Contest day.

Crate?

Check.

Scripts?

Check.

Computer and projector?

Check.

Nerves?

Check.

It's rainy and foggy as we head an hour and a half away to our Individual Events State Speech Contest.  The murmur of voices provide the music in my head as I try to sleep a bit more before we get there. I'm going to need all the energy I can muster on this very long day. It's be a good 12 hours before I get back home.

Kids keep asking me where this school is. There is no town by that name. Fountain told them "It goes like this. Corn field, corn field, corn field, school, corn field, corn field, corn field." She's right. That's exactly where this K-12 school is.

The middle of nowhere.

But they run a great contest site.

Kids find a spot on the gym floor to dump their essentials (pillow, computers, hair supplies, dress clothes, books)  and head off to find their performance rooms and check on times. Although we arrive at 9:15, contest has been in full swing since 8:00am. I check us in and we are ready to rock and roll.

I never try and see all the performances at individual contests. As the only coach, it's impossible. At districts, I don't see any of them. We had 43 events at districts this year and many of them went at the same time. Kids buddy up and make sure those that want an audience have one. Those that don't want an audience have someone waiting for them when it's finished. State works the same way, although I do get into a few rooms to see kids.

My job on contest day is to
calm nerves,
fire up the complacent
get ballots to those who forgot to take them,
handle technology issues (yes, the bulb burnt out in the projector before speeches at districts),
hold the kleenex box,
give hugs and high fives
cheer
keep track of everyone
tweet results
make sure we don't leave anything in the gym when we leave

and, oh yea....make treats.

The kids settle in and make camp. Girls are doing hair. Others are practicing quietly in a corner, a friend listening in and making suggestions. There are groups just chatting and laughing, hiding the nerves I know are there.

And, I can't forget Andrew, my ukelele player. He's the social butterfly of the group. He didn't qualify for state, but asked to come along anyway. He says he wants to watch the others. I think he's there for the girls. They flock to him. It must be the uke!

In and out of the gym they go all day.
"When do you go?"
"I think that middle judge hated/loved me."
"Wanna go eat?"
"Are your ratings up yet?"
Squeals of joy, "I got a ONE!"
Brave disappointment, "I got a two. But I'm OK with that."
There's a constant checking on center times as most centers are running ahead (thank heavens).

And then, we are done.

It doesn't seem possible, but all have performed. 18 Division 1 ratings. 7 Division 2's. I'm good with that.

It's rainy and foggy as we head an hour and a half back home.  The murmur of voices provide the music in my head as I try to sleep a bit before we get there.

It's been a good 12 hours.

#10 of 31 The Fallback Post

 I knew it would happen. There would come a day I wouldn't have time or imagination to write. I saw this on someone else's blog a while back and wrote it down so I could use it on "one of those days".

Currently...

Listening: The Mentalist is playing on TV, although I haven't paid attention to anything on since I finished watching Once Upon a Time. 

Eating: Nothing yet. But when I am done I'm going to have some white chocolate macadamia nut ice cream

Drinking: water

Wearing: My typical Sunday attire--comfy pj pants, oversized sweatshirt, slipper socks and a blanket

Feeling: Better than I did this morning. The cold and the speech contest hangover seemed to have gone away.

Weather: Well, if it's Sunday, it must be snowing. We have another Winter Storm Warning. An expected 4-8 inches of heavy, wet snow. There is a strong possibility of no school again tomorrow. If so, it will be our SEVENTH snow day.

Wanting: Summer. My grades to be done. That ice cream....

Needing: More time in my day. Trying to keep up with my two writing classes is kicking my butt. And then there are the other five classes....

Thinking: If I don't have school tomorrow I'll be able to get grades done and finish The Diviners by Libba Bray (a seriously good book).

Enjoying: Comments from the judges about my speech kids' performances yesterday.  It was a great day. 18 Division 1 ratings and 7 Division 2's.  Kids were amazing. More on this later.

So, there you are. My fallback post. Feel free to steal use on your own "I don't know what to write" days!

9 of 31 Dear Sam

I was going to write a blog post about the state speech competition today, or about the passion of my speech kids, but when I got home, Chloe had already written a post. Well, not really a post. She wrote a letter to Ruth's son, Sam. Sorry. The rest of you will have to wait...

Dear Sam,

I WISH you could come and sit with me. I was home alone for a long time. My dad went some place without me and didn't come home until afternoon! I can't believe they left me home alone.

If you came to see me, we could play on my hill. It's really fun. I climb up to the top and then I slide down it. Sometimes, Mom gives me toys to play with. I take them up the hill and then I chase after them. It's cool.

Mom says you can come anytime to visit. Maybe we could make those cookies you talked about, but I bet my dad won't let me have any. He says dogs can't have chocolate. Phooey.

Anyway, I hope we can play together some time. But until then, we can be pen pals:)

Love, 

Chloe

#8 of 31 Don't Call Me, I'll Call You

So I'm tired. Really tired. One of the reasons is here, at Fountain's blog. She wrote about our day at school very eloquently, and I'm too tired to try and out do her.

But the other reasons, I've been sick (just a cold, nothing to worry about) and it's the end of speech season (mostly 10 hour days since mid-November). It makes me grouchy. It makes me sensitive. It makes me a teacher I don't want to be.

But it will be over tomorrow.

Tomorrow is State Speech. I'm leaving at 7:30am, taking 20+ kids and hour and a half away on a school bus to a competition that has my last performer going at 5:45pm.

I'll love every minute of it.

But don't call me, I'll call you.