Well, to be totally accurate, it is already Saturday, but since I'm still up on a Friday, I think it's still legitimate.
1) Several of my friends are at the NCTE convention this weekend. I've always had an excuse for why it just wouldn't work for me to go -- money, time, other commitments -- but, with a little nudge from a friend, I will be headed to next year's convention in Philadelphia. I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend this year; I can't wait to be part of the fun next year!!
2) I know Bill blogged about Twelve Terrible Things by Marty Kelley, but I just have to reiterate that it is laugh out loud funny!! And once you read it for the funny part and get some of your laughter and silliness out, it would be a wonderful tool to have in writing workshop as a reread when you talk about point of view. Great find!!! (And I'm not sure which was more fun -- reading the book, or watching Bill crack up each time he watched one of us read the book for the first time!!)
3) My class and 3 other 5th grade classes from our school participated in JA BizTown this week. It is set up by Junior Achievement, and basically, the students run businesses for an entire day. They take out loans, gather supplies for their business, sell goods or services, get 2 paychecks a day, make deposits at the bank, open up a savings account at the bank, pay their utilities for their businesses, and that's just to name a few! After my teammates and I did some reconstructing of lessons to make sure all our state indicators for economics would be covered, we ended up having a fabulous day. When we processed with the students after getting back to school, it was amazing at how much they had learned about a city's economy. What wonderful lessons to have for them, especially in these troubled times.
4) Our first trimester just ended, so I've been busily grading papers and filling out progress reports. I will be going into school for a couple of hours on Saturday to finish up, and then I'll have things completed. We're going for an early Thanksgiving dinner to my parents on Sunday; I will be totally relaxed and ready to have some of my father's oyster stuffing because my progress reports will be done, printed, and stuffed!!
5) And speaking of Thanksgiving, I'd just like to give a shout out of thanks to all of you who stop by to read what's on Bill and my minds when it comes to our teaching or children's books or even our Friday ramblings. We're not even a year old yet, but we're so grateful for the connections we've made with people because of our blog. Thanks so much for stopping in. We hope you'll continue to stop by!
6) Finally, I'd just like to end tonight with this:
We hope you have a safe, relaxing, and wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Showing posts with label Friday Reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday Reflections. Show all posts
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Friday Reflections - Karen
What a busy week! It was hard to know where exactly to start until I read Bill's reflections. It made my #1 reflection much easier!
1) Right now, I'm not very happy at how grateful Bill and Franki are about no class parties and no progress reports, as they hang out in their lovely, quiet libraries, and don't worry about grades. :)
2) I got a student teacher this week. She is a lovely person, and my students love her. Unfortunately, the Ohio Department of Education currently has a license for 4th - 9th grade teachers that forces them to specialize. My student teacher's specialty is math/science, 2 subjects I haven't taught for the last two years because of my curricular support position in language arts. This year, I am in a self-contained classroom and teach all content area subjects. It would not be a stretch for me to make an argument about why math and science teachers need to have a strong literacy base of knowledge. However, rules are rules, and guidelines are guidelines, so my student teacher will be with me for just 4 more weeks, and then will move on to a middle school for her total immersion into teaching. I am trying to impress upon her how important workshop model is, whether it's for literacy or for math and science. Students need to have lessons, and then they need lots of opportunities to do practical applications of what they have learned. The other part of workshop I'm stressing is, during this work time, the teacher needs to be meeting with individuals or small groups to help them with skills that are giving them difficulty. This is good teaching practice, no matter what the subject area.
3) Two of the reading strategy groups I met with this week are students who need to be stretched a little. I taught them how to annotate, and most of them loved it! Since they are naturally strong readers, they sometimes read quickly through texts. They shared with me that annotating forced them to slow down and pay more attention to details they might have missed. It also helped them focus on vocabulary they didn't know; words that they only guessed at before. Now, they've tried to use context clues, and actually make a habit of having a dictionary by their side as they read. Next week, we'll be chatting about theme, author's message, and inferring the motivations of characters. Cool stuff!!!
4) I started a new read aloud with my students and they are loving it -- The Gollywhopper Games (see my review). We're going to have a lot of fun with this one. It's a good contrast from our last read aloud, The City of Ember.
5) My youngest daughter, a senior in high school, had a very difficult cross country season -- she contracted mono, and for all intents and purposes, her season ended after the 2nd race of the season. After being a varsity runner for 3 prior years, this season was incredibly disappointing for her. Then, 2 lovely recognitions came her way this week:
a) Her x-c coach nominated her to be an OCC (Ohio Capital Conference) scholar athlete, and b) She was named a member of the Student Athletic Council for her high school. One senior athlete from each sport is represented.
After such a tough season, these are two very nice recognitions.
6) Finally, I'm wondering why I'm having such difficulty getting to read books and blog about them. I hope I figure it out sometime soon!
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
1) Right now, I'm not very happy at how grateful Bill and Franki are about no class parties and no progress reports, as they hang out in their lovely, quiet libraries, and don't worry about grades. :)
2) I got a student teacher this week. She is a lovely person, and my students love her. Unfortunately, the Ohio Department of Education currently has a license for 4th - 9th grade teachers that forces them to specialize. My student teacher's specialty is math/science, 2 subjects I haven't taught for the last two years because of my curricular support position in language arts. This year, I am in a self-contained classroom and teach all content area subjects. It would not be a stretch for me to make an argument about why math and science teachers need to have a strong literacy base of knowledge. However, rules are rules, and guidelines are guidelines, so my student teacher will be with me for just 4 more weeks, and then will move on to a middle school for her total immersion into teaching. I am trying to impress upon her how important workshop model is, whether it's for literacy or for math and science. Students need to have lessons, and then they need lots of opportunities to do practical applications of what they have learned. The other part of workshop I'm stressing is, during this work time, the teacher needs to be meeting with individuals or small groups to help them with skills that are giving them difficulty. This is good teaching practice, no matter what the subject area.
3) Two of the reading strategy groups I met with this week are students who need to be stretched a little. I taught them how to annotate, and most of them loved it! Since they are naturally strong readers, they sometimes read quickly through texts. They shared with me that annotating forced them to slow down and pay more attention to details they might have missed. It also helped them focus on vocabulary they didn't know; words that they only guessed at before. Now, they've tried to use context clues, and actually make a habit of having a dictionary by their side as they read. Next week, we'll be chatting about theme, author's message, and inferring the motivations of characters. Cool stuff!!!
4) I started a new read aloud with my students and they are loving it -- The Gollywhopper Games (see my review). We're going to have a lot of fun with this one. It's a good contrast from our last read aloud, The City of Ember.
5) My youngest daughter, a senior in high school, had a very difficult cross country season -- she contracted mono, and for all intents and purposes, her season ended after the 2nd race of the season. After being a varsity runner for 3 prior years, this season was incredibly disappointing for her. Then, 2 lovely recognitions came her way this week:
a) Her x-c coach nominated her to be an OCC (Ohio Capital Conference) scholar athlete, and b) She was named a member of the Student Athletic Council for her high school. One senior athlete from each sport is represented.
After such a tough season, these are two very nice recognitions.
6) Finally, I'm wondering why I'm having such difficulty getting to read books and blog about them. I hope I figure it out sometime soon!
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday Reflections - Oct. 24
Happy Friday!
Some things I am reflecting on this Friday evening:
1) My youngest daughter, the same daughter who brought home a cap and gown order form two weeks ago, will be turning 18 at midnight tonight. It certainly makes me reflect on how fleeting time can be. She may be a legal adult now, but, for me, she is still my little girl.
2) After spending much of the first 6 weeks of school getting to know my students as readers and writers through interviews, assessments, and conferences, this week I started reading and writing strategy groups with my kids. In our reading workshop, strategy groups take place during the independent work phase of the workshop. I feel that the work we do in these smaller groups really helps each child grow as a reader. I absolutely love this learning opportunity with my students.
3) I found out yesterday that I will be getting a student teacher this coming Monday. This weekend, I am going to really reflect on what I want her to know about reading workshop and writing workshop. In fact, in our school district, we have adopted the "literacy workshop model" as the vehicle for teaching language arts. I want to share as much as possible with her about some of these best practices in literacy teaching.
4) We have been looking at revising together in our classroom during writing workshop. I rely heavily on Georgia Heard's, The Revision Toolbox, when I teach revising. I love her idea of breaking the "toolbox" into 3 sections: words, structure, and voice. This week, we looked at the "word" section of the toolbox -- we talked about specific nouns and powerful verbs. We also tried to improve sentences like, "It was fun," and "I had a nice day."
5) I have a busy weekend ahead of me -- my goddaughter's wedding open house, my daughter's 18 birthday tomorrow, going to the movie The City of Ember on Sunday and meeting part of my class there, a family birthday celebration for my daughter my parents, my husband's dad, and my brother. All fun stuff; just busy.
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
Some things I am reflecting on this Friday evening:
1) My youngest daughter, the same daughter who brought home a cap and gown order form two weeks ago, will be turning 18 at midnight tonight. It certainly makes me reflect on how fleeting time can be. She may be a legal adult now, but, for me, she is still my little girl.
2) After spending much of the first 6 weeks of school getting to know my students as readers and writers through interviews, assessments, and conferences, this week I started reading and writing strategy groups with my kids. In our reading workshop, strategy groups take place during the independent work phase of the workshop. I feel that the work we do in these smaller groups really helps each child grow as a reader. I absolutely love this learning opportunity with my students.
3) I found out yesterday that I will be getting a student teacher this coming Monday. This weekend, I am going to really reflect on what I want her to know about reading workshop and writing workshop. In fact, in our school district, we have adopted the "literacy workshop model" as the vehicle for teaching language arts. I want to share as much as possible with her about some of these best practices in literacy teaching.
4) We have been looking at revising together in our classroom during writing workshop. I rely heavily on Georgia Heard's, The Revision Toolbox, when I teach revising. I love her idea of breaking the "toolbox" into 3 sections: words, structure, and voice. This week, we looked at the "word" section of the toolbox -- we talked about specific nouns and powerful verbs. We also tried to improve sentences like, "It was fun," and "I had a nice day."
5) I have a busy weekend ahead of me -- my goddaughter's wedding open house, my daughter's 18 birthday tomorrow, going to the movie The City of Ember on Sunday and meeting part of my class there, a family birthday celebration for my daughter my parents, my husband's dad, and my brother. All fun stuff; just busy.
That's all for now. Have a great weekend!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friday Reflections
In our 5th grade classroom, we do something called "The Top Ten" every Friday. We reflect on the things that were important to us as a class in the past week. We chart all these ideas, and then prioritize them into a "Top Ten" list that reflects our best from the past week. It gives us shared history as a class.
I've also been reading Katie's (Creative Literacy) posts about her "Friday Four". I've been intrigued as I've read her posts. Her willingness to take a few moments to process some of the major events of her week always makes for interesting reading. I think the concept of looking back and reflecting on what came before is an important activity, so tonight, borrowing from my own class and Katie's Friday Four, I'd like to start my own Friday Reflections.
So with no further ado, welcome to my first Friday Reflections:
1) I met individually with the parents of all 24 of my students this past week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The conversations we had during these conferences were so important. I shared all that I've learned about each child in the past six weeks, and then we started to chart a course together of where we will go from here. What a powerful way to build a community of school, teacher, parent, and child! I have such a fabulous class this year, and this is one more opportunity to learn how to push these students to be even better than they were before. The conferences re-energized me to focus on each student's individual strengths, weaknesses, and plan my workshops to best meet their needs.
2) My father-in-law came to live with us, for at least a month, this past Sunday. Because of a recent surgery he had, he still has trouble swallowing, so there are some dietary adaptations we need to make for him. Watching him during this transitional time, makes me very grateful for the good health I enjoy.
3) My youngest daughter, who is a senior in high school, brought home an order form today for graduation caps, gowns, announcements, etc. Where did the time go?!! I swear it was only yesterday that I saw her playing in her sandbox, learning to walk, running around the house in her walker, swinging on the swing for hours, heading off to kindergarten carrying her Pocohantas book bag, wearing her favorite Little Mermaid dress.
4) My students and I are immersed in the read aloud, The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau. The plot's twists and turns in recent chapters has their full attention. In addition, the movie of the same name opened today in theaters. I showed them the trailer, and we are planning a weekend trip to the movies in 2 weeks to watch the film together. They are so excited about this! I look forward to the prospect of the rich conversations we can have after the movie as we compare the book and movie.
That's all. I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.
I've also been reading Katie's (Creative Literacy) posts about her "Friday Four". I've been intrigued as I've read her posts. Her willingness to take a few moments to process some of the major events of her week always makes for interesting reading. I think the concept of looking back and reflecting on what came before is an important activity, so tonight, borrowing from my own class and Katie's Friday Four, I'd like to start my own Friday Reflections.
So with no further ado, welcome to my first Friday Reflections:
1) I met individually with the parents of all 24 of my students this past week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The conversations we had during these conferences were so important. I shared all that I've learned about each child in the past six weeks, and then we started to chart a course together of where we will go from here. What a powerful way to build a community of school, teacher, parent, and child! I have such a fabulous class this year, and this is one more opportunity to learn how to push these students to be even better than they were before. The conferences re-energized me to focus on each student's individual strengths, weaknesses, and plan my workshops to best meet their needs.
2) My father-in-law came to live with us, for at least a month, this past Sunday. Because of a recent surgery he had, he still has trouble swallowing, so there are some dietary adaptations we need to make for him. Watching him during this transitional time, makes me very grateful for the good health I enjoy.
3) My youngest daughter, who is a senior in high school, brought home an order form today for graduation caps, gowns, announcements, etc. Where did the time go?!! I swear it was only yesterday that I saw her playing in her sandbox, learning to walk, running around the house in her walker, swinging on the swing for hours, heading off to kindergarten carrying her Pocohantas book bag, wearing her favorite Little Mermaid dress.
4) My students and I are immersed in the read aloud, The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau. The plot's twists and turns in recent chapters has their full attention. In addition, the movie of the same name opened today in theaters. I showed them the trailer, and we are planning a weekend trip to the movies in 2 weeks to watch the film together. They are so excited about this! I look forward to the prospect of the rich conversations we can have after the movie as we compare the book and movie.
That's all. I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.
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