#7 of 31: WRAD and Book Love

How did I spend World Read Aloud Day? Well, first, I picked up the two boxes of new books that my friend the At-Risk coordinator ordered for me. Once again I watched the live stream of the ALA Youth awards, so I wrote down books. And I followed the conversation on Twitter to see what books were mentioned and loved. I made my list.







I lamented on Facebook about wishing I had money to buy them all. And Mrs. At-Risk told me to bring her my list.  So of course I did. Never tell a reader to bring you a list of books if you don't intend to buy them for her!

And yesterday I was finally able to get them to my room. I spent first hour going through the boxes. I looked at each and every book. Reading the summaries. Reading first pages. Checking reviews out online. And 2nd hour, I was ready to share with my freshmen. The lesson plan got put aside. We were talking books!

First, we read our ten minutes. I love that time of day. Many times I can't sit and read because someone will ask me to help them find a new book. You know how I love that! I do have a few squirrelly kids who want to mess around during that time, but the other kids are starting to get tired of their antics.

And then I read aloud from The One and Only Ivan. I had heard so much about it that there was no way I was going to leave that off my list!  I fell in love in the first four pages. I'm going to have to wait to read it, though. It was checked out right away this morning! And the love didn't stop there. I also bought some Carl Dueker books for my boys. In my afternoon class, there was an arm wrestling match to see  who got Payback first. I never thought I'd see the day....

#6 of 31 Chat Me Up

I've been on Twitter for several years now.

2009: 13 Tweets
2010: 88 Tweets
2011: Jan-July 74 Tweets
        Aug-Dec 431 Tweets

2012: (avg) 150 Tweets per month

2013: Jan 334
          Feb 373



I was a lurker when I started. Just logged on, read a few Tweets (and only a few since I didn't follow very many people) and logged off. I didn't really see the point of the whole thing. Didn't feel a connection to anyone. But I kept at it. I started Tweeting a few things, responded to a few people. But hashtags? What were those? Never used them.

If you check 2011, you'll see that my Tweets rose dramatically in August. You want to know why? My PLN. The people I was close to in school were Tweeting more, so I Tweeted more.

And I got a new principal.

And he followed me.

And he engaged me in conversations.

It was a good thing.

I began extending my PLN. I was careful who I followed and who followed me, but I branched out. And you know what? The more I branched out, the more I learned.

And then, we hired a new superintendent. He followed me before he was even hired. He had a HUGE online presence. I liked that.

I began expanding even more. Our superintendent is a great one for sending a Tweet that says, "You should connect with...."

So I do.

And I keep learning.

I accessed my archive of Tweets (did you know you can do that???? Go to  the very bottom of your settings. See that button that says "Archives"? Click it!).  I found a great quote that I Tweeted and forgot about (before I knew about Favorites). The quote was from Kelly Gallagher:

I want to be the teacher who has taught 20 years....

I've branched out again. This year, I've been participating in chats on Twitter. Not all of them (I wouldn't be able to do anything else in the world if I tried to take part in all of them), but a select few. My favorite is the #iaedchat. Iowa educators trying to make sense of things. There are thought provoking discussions every Sunday night.

I guess the point of this post is that you should get on Twitter if you aren't already. If you are on, then engage other educators. If you are engaging other educators, then try a chat. You can just lurk through a chat and see what it's all about. No one will know you are there. It's safe, and you will still learn.

But if you are brave and want to try something new, get involved in a chat. Follow the people you connect with.

You won't regret it.

If you do want to participate in a chat, try tweetchat.com  You enter the hashtag of the chat you want and the chat comes up. You can Tweet, reply, and retweet throughout the chat. And, it includes the hashtag for you!  You can adjust the speed of the tweets showing up, and you can pause them to read.

#5 of 31 Snow Day: Chloe Style

I hope she hurries up. I really, really, really have to go to the bathroom. I wish Dad wouldn't have been in such a rush last night. I really, really, really should have gone then, but the snow was so fun to play in. And my hill's getting bigger. I love that.

Oh, here she comes. Yippee. Peeeeeeeee. I really gotta go outside.

Why is she coming outside with me? Geez, Mom. Can't a girl get any privacy? Oh, well. Might as well go back in with her and get a treat. Sure wish she'd give me one of those cookies she has with her coffee. They smell amazing.

Yep. She gets a cookie and I get a dog biscuit. SO not fair.

Mmmmmm. Bacon. Not so bad....

Coffee going. I better go get my spot on the couch and take a little nap while she showers. Then I'll get some hugs in. She never wants to cuddle until after her shower and a cup of coffee.

Wait. She's not taking a shower. She turned on that stupid computer though. Why didn't I remember to hide that thing?

Another cup of coffee? She's getting her book out?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? IS SHE STAYING HOME? WILL WE PLAY????????

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! I think she's staying home. Must be because of the snow!

Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!

SNOW DAY!

#4 of 31 Snow Day: Student Style

Although there is a Winter Storm Warning right now for my county in Iowa, we are in school (thank heavens, because we probably won't be here tomorrow). The first question of the day was, "When are we getting out, Mrs. Day?" (I know, hard to believe it isn't about what we are learning in class). Kids have been tweeting their pleas for getting out early. So, in the spirit of the day, I asked a couple of classes to give me all the reasons we should get out early, then I took a couple of the tweets and made up a poem.

Bankin' on an early out,

so I'm lookin' like a bum.

Not believin' we  had school.

The weather and roads are dumb.

Early out! Please?

It's crappy and it's Monday, 

and I don't want to be here.

The sidewalks they are icy,  

and I fell right on my rear.

Early out! Please?

The wild turkeys are callin',

A snow tiger  on the loose,  

Two cars slid into the ditch. 

Wait! I think I saw a moose.

Early out! Please?

Flying monkeys are coming

A zombie apocalypse too

The end of the world is near

And my toes are turnin' blue.

Early out! Please?

#3 of 31. Writing JOY

Join me for the Slice of Life March Challenge at
Two Writing Teachers

JOY. My One Little Word for 2013. And since the beginning of the year I've intentionally looked for those little things that bring JOY to my life.

Grandkid hugs

Chloe's spirit

Passion in my speech kids

the growing reading lives of my freshmen

new babies

old friends

All of them have given me little moments of JOY. But all of them were given TO me. 

I haven't created the JOY.

SOLSC gives me a chance to create my own joy, because, you see, writing gives me JOY.

I  play with words

I try new forms

I explore ways to use text

but mostly

I  use my words to share a moment

So, here's hoping that others enjoy what I write and can feel the JOY I do as I write these slices.

Here's a little Twitter poem I wrote back in January as I wrote with my kids. It's also how I felt when I first joined this challenge:

Afternoon in Creative Writing

Must write my life

In front of an audience.

No place to hide.

Be vulnerable.

Just write.

#2 of 31 Of Tiny Tim and Root Beer Bears

It's March! And not too late to join the
Slice of Life Challenge at Two Writing Teachers

It's one of my favorite weeks of the semester. Demonstration speech week. My kids must choose an activity that they love to do and show the rest of us how to do it.  I learn a lot during this time. In the past I have learned:

• to change tires (never have had to do it, but I think I could if forced)
• throw a perfect spiral (if the NFL ever calls, I am ready)
• saddle a horse
• fish braid my hair (if it was long enough)  
• dig fence post holes (a life skill in this rural area) 
• the proper techniques for LOTS of sports  (I doubt I'll ever have to run the high hurdles or throw a dicus, but I'm ready if called)
• how to fold a wide variety of origami objects
• tips for wrapping presents
• great scrapbook pages
• tied blankets
• diapering babies (I don't think anyone loves this, but it has been done several times)

Thursday and Friday were rehearsal days. I'm exhausted after these days because I have kids EVERYWHERE in the building--the wrestling room, the auditorium, hallways and empty classrooms. I'm always running around the building. In the fall, I'm often outside too.

Anyway

It's winter in Iowa. And sometimes, we take rehearsals to the streets, as they say. So when one of my students was practicing with his partner on the proper way to put on the A&W bear costume

It takes a village to get the bear costume ready

Final touches

Well, we decided to brighten a winter day in the high school with a little walk around the building. Kids and teachers came out of classrooms to see what was going on. There were a lot of sad faces when they realized he wasn't handing out root beer floats!

My Friday started off with a student treating me and the hallway to a song while he played his ukelele

He gathered quite a crowd and made 50 cents in the process. Later in the day, we took his show on the road too. He sang and danced his way around The Fountain's Spanish class! Here's a little taste of his campy "TipToe Through the Tulips" ala Tiny Tim (he really does sing better than this. But it will bring a smile to your face)

And how was your week?

#1 of 31 Welcome to Coffee With Chloe

Finally. March 1st. I have loved the Slice of Life Challenge since I joined it two years ago. While once in awhile I stress about what I'm going to write about, but when I get in the groove, little things just pop up for me to write about all the time. Writing every day takes some practice. It takes some thinking. It takes some time. But slicing is truly my favorite writing to do.

I'm Deb, by the way. And I write Coffee With Chloe, a little blog where I can stretch my writer's wings. I don't have a particular theme for my blog, I write about whatever is in my head. Somedays I write about my classroom, sometimes about the grandkids or friends, sometimes about my time at the lake.

Hi. I'm Chloe. She writes about me a lot too. 'Cause I'm cute and funny and make her laugh a lot. I hate March. She sits at the dang computer all the time. She laughs and cries over people she doesn't even know! And I'm sitting right here being all cute and cuddly. 





Yep, that's Chloe. She's our almost three-year-old Goldendoodle. (She's a Diva)  Once in awhile, I let Chloe write a post. She has an unusual perspective on things---she kind of thinks she's the center of the universe. Chloe doesn't realize that writing is an outlet for me, and it doesn't always have to be about her.

We don't go for enough walks, we don't play fetch and we don't spend enough time in the yard. It's as bad as riding in the car to the lake. It's getting nice outside. I can feel spring in the air and all she wants to do is sit at the computer.

I love to write and have been writing since I was in grade school. I started because of the book Harriet, the Spy.  When I started this blog two years ago, it was because I was missing writing. My journals and writer's notebooks just weren't enough. I began teaching Creative Writing in my high school about that time, so I often write with my students, trying out the different ways of writing that I show them. The blog is a way to play around with writing.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Hurry up and finish already so we can go for a walk. It's nice outside right now and I've been alone all day.  I need a little Chloe and Mom time. And that dang squirrel is in our yard and I need to get ahold of him! Come On!





Well, I guess I'd better go. Hope to see you back tomorrow. Maybe I'll lock Chloe out in the yard while I write tomorrow's post.

The Slice of Life Challenge has started over at Two Writing Teachers.
Come on over and join us!