Author Archives: Jen Bearden

TRIBES!

We have a new theme in the room this year–WILD about learning.  I will add pics to show it later on, but just picture lots of animal print.  Believe me–it’s FABULOUS!

So one thing that I always do at the beginning of the year is create a set of groups that we use all year for a variety of activities.  These groups don’t change, unlike many others in our class.  I always have a name for the groups, which is usually based on our theme.  They originally started back when I taught 4th grade and needed to have groups to vote on laws that we made for our class state.  They were legislatures, in effect.  Back then they were called Districts, and then last year (during a construction theme) they were Zones.

As I thought about this year, I latched on to the “wild” part of our theme, and that lead me to thinking about tribes.  That tribe idea lead me to Survivor.  You know, the show on CBS?

Originally I was just going to use the idea so that I had something clever to call our groups, but then I realized that there was actually more of a connection to that show than I had realized.  We made a link to the purpose of the tribe on Survivor–to help each member of the group “make it,” to focus on the strengths that each member brings to the situation, and to work together to solve problems.  Then I remembered how on the show, each tribe gives themselves a name–a name that tells something about the group as a whole.

So a new tradition was born.  One of our first activities together was to create tribe names and explain what that name meant about the group.

May I introduce to you, the 5 tribes of Rm. 202:

 

 

 

 

 

I’m going to save the explanations for another time, but I wonder: do you think you can figure out what they may mean?  And if your kiddo is in one of those tribes, can you figure out which one?  Teachers: do you have groups like these in your classroom?  Tell us about them!

Wonder why?

I was thinking the other day about all of the posts I had made already by this point last summer.  We hadn’t even started school and I had probably racked up close to 10 posts on our blog (at least that’s what I think–I didn’t actually go back to count!).
So then I started wondering why I hadn’t done that same thing this year.  I’m just as excited as I was then to start school.  Probably more so because of all of the cool things I learned last year that I want to try new or try again this time around.  I’m more knowledgeable about blogging than I was then.  And I still want my new friends so learn about me and our classroom.  So why no new blog posts since July 25?

 

I know you want an answer….but I don’t have one.  😦   Wish I did.  Maybe I just have been so busy getting ready for school that I haven’t been able to tell you about it.  I’ve taken alot of pictures of our classroom spaces but haven’t taken them off of my camera.

 

So…we’re a couple of days away from the first day of school now and there’s no way I can post all the things I wanted to before that big day.  But how ’bout I promise to just try to fill you in on a couple of the “before” things–like classroom setup, schedules, etc.  Then I can make sure I stay on top of all of the GREAT things we’ll be doing in our classroom once we finally get started.  I’ll make it worth your while to stop by!

 

What are you most looking forward to reading about on our blog this year?  🙂

Welcome to Rm. 202!

Welcome to Rm. 202!

I am so excited you’re here!

Please proceed with caution, and read carefully….

The following letter contains 2049 words that will begin to shape your fifth grade year. Be sure you have time to read them all carefully. You may like to have your parents sit and read with you so you can all be excited about fifth grade together.You should also have dancing shoes on (true story) and a video camera handy (extra credit).

Ready? Of course you are! Because you are about to become…

Fifth Grade and Fearless!

I am excited for the year ahead – but first, I need your help in knowing what next year is going to look like.

 

Yes, your help!

What next year holds, is, in large part up to you. I have my plans, my ideas, my goals….what about you?

I know some of you may have sneaked a peek at the letter I sent your parents, or may already know me, so this next part may be a bit of a review.  Too bad.  Keep reading anyway. 🙂  I have been teaching for 12 years and every one of them has been at Robinson!  I even did my student-teaching there long ago, so Robinson is definitely my home-away-from-home.  In my real home–which is in St. Peters–I have a fabulous family that I love dearly.  My husband, Grant, is a teacher, too, in Wentzville.  He is starting in 3rd grade this year, but has taught 4th and 5th grade like me, too.  Fun, right?  We have a 5YO, Riley, who will be at Robinson, too.  I am sure you’ll get to know him really well as we got through the year together.  We also have a little girl named Allison–we call her Allie–who is 19-mo-old.  We LOVE (yep, love) Disney World, and travel there often.  We also just like to hang out together at home (or anywhere, really) and spend time with each other.  So that’s me.  What about you? Can’t wait to learn more about YOUR family!

Like I said, I have been teaching for 12 years, and every year, I begin the school year as a different person. I decide on that first day and then every day thereafter, who I am as a teacher. What is important to me. What I want to accomplish. What I want my students to see when they come to school. I choose that. I don’t let other people tell me who I will be and I don’t just be who I think other people want me to be. I read, I think, I write and then I decide.

Who Will You Be? (This is a big question – take your time to think about this!) Will you be the kid who has brilliant ideas? The kid who loves math? The kid who looks to help other people? The kid who……? Fresh start. Clean slate. We all get one (that includes you!) and we all get to begin fifth grade as the person we want to be.

What is important to you? (This is another big question and one I am really curious about so I will ask it twice.) What is important to you?

There are lots of things that are important to me: my husband and my kids, sharing ideas, reading, writing, being able to have a conversation, making things, discovering things, sharing what I know, sleeping in, staying up late and knowing when to say sorry.

As a teacher, there are a few more things that are important to me:

* YOU!:   You’re the reason I’m there, after all right?  It is important for me to get to know you, and know you well.  Not just as a learner, but as a kid, too.  I want to know what you like, what you don’t like, what makes you tick.  Who you are.  That’s ok, right? 🙂

* Respect: If you’ve been around Robinson for longer than 5 minutes you know that respect is a HUGE part of our culture.  It’s pretty much what we’re all about.  I expect respect to be a huge thing in our classroom.  I will respect you, and I expect you to respect me, as well as everyone else in our community.  This counts when we agree and even when we don’t.  I have a saying that I learned from my good friend Mrs. Ford years ago, that is really important with this whole respect thing.  It’s this: You are not the sun.  In other words, the world does not revolve around you, and there are lots of other people in our classroom that have needs, wants, likes, dislikes, etc., that we need to take into account.  I love you, but I love everyone else, too!

* Mistakes:  I expect you to make them.  Yep, I said it.  I want things to be hard for you.  I want you to struggle.  If you need more than one try or lots more practice with a concept, you’ll get it.  If you need to show me what you know in a different way, then we’ll figure it out.  If  you need me to repeat something or explain it for you in another way, I’ll do.  If you need a big, fat challenge–watch out, you’ll get one! No, I’m not crazy, I just want you to try things that may be tricky at first.  I want you to learn to work through it when it’s hard and figure out what to do.   I want you to feel the joy and success when you learn something new and it’s because you persevered!  Not everything will be easy here. And that’s ok. We’re in it together and I’ll help you all along the way. 🙂

* Collaboration: I love to share ideas and get ideas and try new things and even when those things fail, I know I am just one step closer to finding what does work. I love to work with other teachers to figure things out and find new solutions to old problems.  But just as much as working with adults, I love to collaborate with students.  I love to hear what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling about things, what you think would be the best way to learn something.  Even when you don’t agree with me, or have a plan that is completely different than mine, I want you to share it!  It’s our classroom, and often your ideas are WAY better than mine.  I know I’ll share lots of examples with you about how that’s happened to me over the years.

Aside from collaborating with me, though, you’ll be collaborating with each other!  You will have lots of opportunities to share with your classmates, to give your ideas, ask questions, prove your reasoning and challenge each other.  I expect that we will work together to help EVERYONE in our class be the best they can be.  Together we’ll achieve much more than we would if we tried to do it on our own. 🙂

* Questions: I found a quote I love by a guy named Tony who loves learning. “No one cares what you know. What the world cares about is what you do with what you know.” Think about that. Chew it over. We can all google and find stuff out – but then what? After we know stuff, what we do with it = inquiry. And that is what the world cares about. Me too. You?

* Time is precious: So are you. I don’t like wasting time and I especially don’t like wasting your time. That means I try to come to school ready, fired up, and prepared to make a ruckus (I like to think that a ‘ruckus’ is the sound your brain makes when it is challenged to be creative, thoughtful, inquisitive and world-changing – it is a beautiful sound).  I hope–and expect–that you will come into our classroom every morning ready to learn, ready to work hard, ready to put your very best foot forward.  We only have so many days together, and we need to make the most of every single one of them.  We’ve got so much to do! 🙂

* Technology : I  love technology because it allows me to connect to new ideas. I like to think about what I want to do and look for tools to help me do it. I want to hear your ideas on technology and what works for you. We will be using technology in many new and exciting ways this year, so get ready!  You’ll be blogging, using iPads and laptops, working on the ActivBoard, making videos of your learning and trying out many new things that we may not even know about yet.  Whatever we do, though, the goal is always learning.  We will use technology in meaningful ways to better create new knowledge.  Excited?  I know I am!

* Community: our class, our families, our school, our neighborhood, our city, our state, our country, our world. There are so many amazing people doing amazing things. I bet you can think of ten amazing people who do amazing things right now. We need to hear those people’s stories. Your mom and dad should be on that list. They are awesome. (Assignment one; email me List of Awesomeness about people in your family* -*family = people you love and are connected to even if they don’t happen to live in your house or share your last name).

* Taking risks: I like to take risks.   I hope you do too. It is scary sometimes and it fails sometimes but sometimes, more often, it is just A-MAZ-ING! Usually when you do something scary you do things you never thought you could.  You surprise yourself.  And then you want to do more! Someone smart once said “Fear and Excitement are shades of the same color”. Cool, huh?

HANG IN THERE….THE END IS NEAR!

OK…if you made it this far and are still with me, congratulations, you are a rockstar. Stop reading right now and do some kind of victory dance.  No really, go ahead.  Dance.  I’ll wait.  Better yet, have someone video tape your dance and send it to me!  I’ll even post it on our blog!

So….what now? How can you best prepare for the extreme awesomeness of fifth grade?

  1. Have a great summer! Be extraordinary.
  2. Read something.  Write something.  Wonder something.  This’ll get your learning muscles warmed up. 🙂
  3. If you have any questions you can always email me. Anytime. No question to big or too small.
  4. Think about what I said about being who you want to be. Most importantly, remember that everyone else in our class is thinking about that too. Be gracious to those who are brave enough to set lofty goals and make the effort to become an even better version of themselves.
  5. Look around your house (or your computer, maybe) for a picture of your family.  I’d love to be able to decorate our room with us–pictures of all the people who help make us who we are and who encourage us to do our best.  If you want to email it to me, that’s great (I’ll add my contact info to the end of this post), or you can print it and bring it to school on the first day.  And if you don’t have one, don’t worry!  We’ll take your picture!

Despite having now used about two thousand words, there are no words to describe how excited I am about working with you next year!

Here’s To Being Fifth Grade and Fearless!

♥ Mrs. Bearden

PS. If you didn’t get up and dance before and are now wishing you did, there is still time to do it. Anytime. Send me that video with your best moves (extra credit).

When you have had a chance to relax, digest this letter (maybe talk about it with your family or friends) and get your fifth grade brain tuned up, I would love for you to write to me to introduce yourself, ask questions, maybe respond to something you read in this letter that made you think.

I look forward to hearing from you before the end of the summer!

Mrs. Bearden: Email–jennifer.bearden@kirkwoodschools.org; Phone–314-213-6100 x4214 (after August 15); Twitter: @jbeardensclass

**Thanks to @terSonya and Mrs. Hong for help with writing this post! Like I said, I love to share ideas!**

It’s My Blog-i-versary!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to me!  I cannot believe it’s been a while year already!  Ok, actually it’s been a year and a week or so, but I was on vacation for the actual day.  So let’s celebrate now, how ’bout it? 🙂

I’m sure you were around since the beginning, but if you haven’t checked out the early days of 20somethingkids, here are a few posts from way back then–here, here and here.  It’s so funny to look back at the beginning of a journey, because it’s then that you realize how far you’ve come.  I laugh out loud when I read the first posts I wrote, because they’re really crude.  Not really written about anything.  But then, at that point I wasn’t really sure where my blog was going.  Or even where I wanted it to go.  And what’s funny is that it has gone places that I wouldn’t even have expected.

I’ve learned and shared things about myself over the last year, shared learning with my families, my colleagues and the world, and experienced so many new and exciting things with my class.  Even though I didn’t really have any expectations back then–expect that I’d try out the whole “blog” thing–I have to say that they’ve been exceeded.  I’ve had fun along the way and welcomed many new readers.  Hopefully one of those is you!

So as I begin another year in cyberspace, I welcome you to join me on the journey.  If you read and like what you see here, please share with your friends.  Invite them over for a read.  If you’re a reader, and you haven’t followed or commented yet, please do so!  I love to get feedback on what happens here, and I reply to every comment I get. 🙂

I’m excited to see what happens during the next year, as I begin another exciting learning year with another great bunch of 5th graders!  This year will also bring a whole new team of colleagues, a smaller class than I’ve had in YEARS (I’m starting out with only 20–nice, right? 🙂 ), Masters classes for me, and the beginning of incorporating Common Core standards.  I have many new technology ideas to try out, and I know I’ll have lots of lessons from kiddos that I’ll learn and will want to share.  You’ll want to be here for that, right?  Can’t wait to share it! 🙂

What’s been your favorite post from the first year of 20somethingkidsand1kookyteacher? What suggestions do you have for me? Leave a comment and share your thoughts! I really appreciate it!

I Love Jerry Spinelli!

…but don’t worry, my husband’s totally ok with it. 🙂

Remember when I told you about me as a reader?  And as a writer?  Well, as #10 on both lists (which is a strange coincidence!), I mentioned that Jerry Spinelli is one of my favorite mentor authors.

I was introduced to Jerry Spinelli’s work via my good friend Michelle Simmons, and her love of his book Crash.  We taught together many years ago, and she introduced me to it as one of the first read-alouds of the year.  But not only did we read it to enjoy it as readers, we incorporated it into our writing unit on Reading Like a Writer.  We’d reread parts of the text that we’d already heard, this time digging for nuggets and craft moves we could use in our own writing, teaching our students to do the same things.  You can find amazing things in that book if you pay attention.  And because Crash is such an amazing book on so many levels, it is a must-read every year in my class now.

The reason I write about this today, though, comes from inspiration of another colleague of mine.  I have a new teammate, Bridget, who shares my love for Spinelli and his many great stories.  We were talking about some of our favorites, and I had to sheepishly admit that while I was aware of, and even own most of his books, I have only ever actually read Crash.  I know–that’s just silly.  So they became the majority of my to-be-read pile this last month.  Only makes sense, right?  On so many levels.

First I read Eggs–one I’d actually started at the time I first bought it, but never finished.  Just today I finished Maniac Magee.  I know–how could I have never read that one?  It’s a classic.  And it won the Newberry Medal.  Sorry!  I’m lame.  But I’ve made up for that now, right?

I have Loser and Wringer here in my pile, still waiting for their turn.  I hope to get to them soon, as well.  And while now my list of Spinellis-I’ve-read is only 3, my initial opinion on his writing holds true.

I know–you wonder, “What is it that love so much about his writing?”  It’s many things, really.  I love the way his writing sounds.  I know that’s hard to explain, but I’ve heard it many more times out loud than in my head, since I read it to my students, and every word just has such a great ring to it.  Like he chooses each and every one specifically to be there together.  I like that he seems to break every established rule of grammar and mechanics and still ends up with an amazing story that makes sense.  He writes sentences that have only one word, chapters and paragraphs with only one sentence.  But because he does it on purpose, it works.   I like how the characters in his stories have real conversations.  They actually sound the way that kind of person would sound in real-life–not some sweet, idealized, sugar-coated way because they’re in a book for kids. Raw and real.  Sometimes saying things that shock you, because that makes sense for the character.  I like that he writes about things that matter, things that both kids and adults can relate to.  Bullies. Friends. Racism. Families. Things that aren’t so pretty.

So like I said when I started, I love Jerry Spinelli!  I learn from him every time I pick up a book he’s written, and he’s a mentor even though I’ve never met him.  That’s pretty cool, I think.

How ’bout you?  Who are your favorite authors?  Who do you have as mentors for your writing?  What books are your favorite to read? Share with me. 🙂

100 Things About Me as a Writer

I am a writer.  I wouldn’t say that I am an author, because I haven’t been published, but I definitely write.  And I write a lot.

So here are 100 things about me as a writer:

1. I started my writing journey way back in kindergarten and have loved it ever since.

2.  When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an author when I grew up.

3. Writing has always been one of my favorite subjects in school.

4. I still have writing pieces from when I was a kid.  I think they’re saved in my mom’s dresser.

5. In junior high, I wrote mostly short stories about girls who were babysitters or who had crushes on boys in their classes.

6. As an adult, I usually write expository text or to tell my opinion/thoughts on a topic.

7. I officially started my Writer’s Notebook in June of 2005.

8. I am now filling up my 10th notebook.  Each one is different and tells something about my life at the time I was writing in it.

9. My favorite authors as a reader are my favorite as a writer.  I like the way their words sound.

10.  Sharon Creech, Ralph Fletcher and Jerry Spinelli as mentors of mine even though I don’t know them.

11.  I write mostly for myself.

12. Sometimes I write so I can share it with my students.  My Writer’s Notebooks and my students’ needs are the main resources I use in my teaching.

13. I’d love to publish a book someday.

14. I write better when I have choices about what it is (i.e. format, length, etc.)

15.  If I have an assignment, I will always write longer than is asked.   It’s probably really annoying to my teachers!

16. I learn a lot from my students when I read their writing.

17. I like feedback, but only if it’s positive.  Hey, we’re being honest here, right? 🙂

18. I read almost everything like a writer, looking for things I can use in my own writing.

19. I love words.  I collect quotes and often write down the things other people say.

20. The outside of my Writer’s Notebooks are covered with things that inspire me.

21. I am a “pen” person.  I could shop for hours for just the right one.  What it looks like when I write is really important.  Well at least to me. I’m kind of obsessed. 🙂

Wow–that was harder than I thought it would be.  Didn’t get as far as I thought I would.  Hopefully I’ll come back to add some more soon.  Check back again, will ya?

What would you say about yourself as a writer?  Could you add anything else to my list?

 

 

Confessions

Hopefully you’ve already read about me as a reader.  If not, I’d say it’s worth a few minutes of your time.  Please?  🙂

And so as I sat down to write about myself as a writer, I decided I needed to start with a confession instead.  Remember when I first posted about that really cool summer online writing camp I was doing?  Well, at that point I was really excited about the prospects of learning and writing with amazing teachers/writers/librarians (and I still am) and was anxious to see where the process would take me.  I really had no expectations.

I dug in, and was finally comfortable enough to post the first two things I wrote.  And that’s when it all went downhill.  Somehow the wind came out of my sails, and I have not done a single. assignment. since.

In many ways that bothers me.  I don’t like to not succeed.  I am naturally a perfectionist, and I usually take that to the nth degree when it comes to school/writing/reading/anything professional.  I am an all-or-nothing kind of girl, and so if I can’t do it all and do it right, I don’t want to do it.  But with this, I only did two assignments and then I hit a brick wall.

But after I got over the initial disappointment in myself (annoyance, really), I sat down to reflect on what had happened.  I think part of my problem was that I write mostly for myself.  I write when I need to write–which is usually to process feelings or to collect moments I don’t want to forget.  So when presented with a “job” to do, I had a hard time figuring out how to do that.   Since I write for myself, I had a hard time when the assignments/exercises were related to developing characters or settings, or outlining plans for a story.  I did not go into the camp with the plan of writing or finishing a novel.

Ok, so what matters here?  Does it really matter that I set out to do something and didn’t finish it? Or does it really matter more that I walk away with something that I learned?  I say the latter is more important.

I learned to be okay with not being perfect.  I learned that sharing your writing with strangers is hard.  Especially when you don’t really have a choice or you’re not quite sure what it’s “supposed” to look like.  These are both really important seeing as how I ask that of my student writers every day.  I know I’ll think of those times really differently in the future.  Yes, I’ll still ask them to share, but I’ll obviously have more understanding of how difficult it is.  I learned that sometimes you just need to put yourself out there and not care so much about what people say about your writing.  What’s the worst that could happen? 🙂

Oh, and just for the record, I do have plans of jumping back into Teachers Write! at some point.  The great part is that it’s all archived on the blog and I can do it at my own pace.  So yes, I’d like to say that somehow I will finish what I started, even if it looks a little different than I first thought.

Did you do Teachers Write! this summer?  How is it going for you? 

 

100 Things About Me as a Reader

Ahhh….as I sit here on my bed boat with Riley to my side “reading” his next Magic Tree House book, I am happy.  I’m under the covers, and the only thing that would make it a little bit better was if that breeze was blowing overhead right now (aka the ceiling fan that is almost always running).

So hopefully you came by a week or so ago to read my posts for Teachers Write.  I HATE that I haven’t gotten back into that–sorry, summer took over–but hey, I HAVE been writing.  Just not what I’m “supposed” to be writing for my assignments.  Instead I’ve been writing for me.  Which is what I find the most joy in doing.  Yes, someday soon I’ll get back into that again.  Maybe.  And if not, then I need to be ok with that, too.  🙂

Alright, so back to business.  You can tell by the title that I’m writing this post to tell you about me as a reader.  I got the whole idea from Franki Sibberson on her blog, and even carried it over to describing me as a runner, as she did on another blog that she writes.  So when I got the “things about me as a runner” idea, I figured I’d have-a-go at the reader and writer ones, too, and see where it takes me.

So that’s why you’re here now.  Hopefully I’ll get close to 100, but I’m pretty certain I will not.  Let’s find out together, ok?

So….100 things about me as a reader:

1. I was a big fan of the Berenstain Bears when I was a kid.  I am told that the first book I read on my own was The Berenstain Bears and the Sitter, and we still laugh to this day how I pronounced between like “beet-ween”.  I think that’s not a bad attempt actually.  It has the word “be” in it, after all.  🙂

2. I read every Babysitter’s Club I could get my hands on during my junior high years.  And yes, I had dreams of starting my own.  It didn’t happen.

3.  I also read Nancy Drew.  Mystery is one of my favorite fiction genres still today.

4.  As an adult, I read mainly to learn.  I could read a professional book every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy.

5. I sometimes have a hard time remembering details when I read.  My husband hates it that I can’t tell him everything about what I read.  I kind of hate it, too.

6.  In the summer, I read as much as I can, and it’s usually juvenile fiction.  That’s kind of my bridge between professional and pleasure reading.  Best of both worlds since I’m a teacher.

7. I like books that are set in classrooms.

8. Sharon Creech is probably my favorite author.

9.  Walk Two Moons is one of my all-time favorite books.

10.  Jerry Spinelli runs a close second.

11.  I read Crash by Jerry Spinelli every year in my classroom.  Another favorite of mine.

12.  I have an easier time reading books that has short chapters than long ones.  Granny Torrelli Makes Soup is a great example of that–the chapters can be just one page.  The One and Only Ivan is, too.  Oh, and Because of Mr. Terupt.  And…(I could probably go on and on, but I won’t.)

13. I don’t like to read books that are longer than about 200 pages.  There’s something about it that makes me discouraged.

14.  I prefer to read the whole book in one setting.

15.  I often write about what I read when I’m finished.  It’s usually about questions I have, or how the story made me feel, or even how I could tie that book into something I teach in my classroom.

16. I don’t think I would like to have an e-reader.  I need to be about touch the pages.  And maybe even write on them.  With a real pen.

17. I love the “smell” of a book.

18. I visit the library every week religiously.

19.  I hate to admit this, but I pay huge late fees to the library because I often keep my books too long. (Don’t tell anyone, ok?  Probably not good since I’m a teacher!)

20. I have checked out over 60 books at one time.  (See why I have such horrible late fees?  Believe me, it adds up fast!)

21. I like to read on my couch or a comfy chair.

22.  The first fantasy book I read was The City of Ember.

23.  Sometimes I see the movie version of a book first, and it actually entices me to read a book that I might not have been interested in reading.  Two examples are The City of Ember and I Am David.  Saw the movie first, then read the books and LOVED THEM!

24. I love to listen to some books instead of reading them.  It helps me better understand some things.  Harry Potter is a good example of this.  Didn’t read a single one, but heard them all and loved them!  And yes, then I saw the movies. 🙂

25. I like courtroom stories.  John Grisham is a favorite.

26.  I would probably have a hard time doing many of the things I ask my students to do with their books. (Again, don’t tell anyone, ok?)

27. I love to read, but don’t really like to hang out in bookstores.  Is that weird?

28. I have more books at school in my classroom library than I do at home.

29. I like to recommend books to others.

30. I love to read books recommended by other people.  Lately, I’ve found lots of amazing stories from my PLN on Twitter.

31. I need it to be really quiet when I read.  No distractions.

32.  I’m getting better at being able to read in the car and not getting sick.

33. I often read a book because it’s won or was nominated for an award.  Right now I’m working reading the Mark Twain nominees for 2012-2013.

34.  I think read-aloud is one of the most powerful times of the day in my classroom.  No lay-down-and-rest-after-recess kind of reading here.

35. I like to read with my kiddos.  Yes, my ones at home and at school. 🙂

Ok, so not 1oo. Yet.  Eventually. 🙂

What would you put on your list of 100 things?

The Bed Boat

Teachers Write: Day 2: Tuesday Quick Write

Directions for today (ok, well yesterday 🙂 ):

Write for two minutes to describe a very specific place.  If you’re just free-writing, it can be a place that you love, or have visited, or a place that frightens you.

Then…When your two minutes are up, stop writing.

Now…if your place is real and you can go there, go there now.  I’ll wait….

If it’s far away, find a picture of it. If it’s not a real place, put yourself there in your mind. Now write for one minute about each of the following:

  • Everything you SEE – Pay attention to big things and tiny things. Search for concrete details.
  • Everything you HEAR – Be specific. Don’t just say “a scraping sound.” Say a “high-pitched, raspity-raspity-screeeeeaking noise.”  You can make up words if you want.If you aren’t in the place, try to find a video. Or guess what you might hear.
  • Everything you SMELL – Especially pay attention to the smells that surprise you. If you’re not in the place, pictures can help you smell. Look carefully…what would that dumpster smell like?
  • Everything you FEEL – Weather, wind, things that land on you or brush against you. Again – pictures help you imagine if you’re not there, and if it’s not a real place, try imagining images and then assigning sensations from a similar place that might be real (desert, tundra, etc.)

Now, go back and rewrite that descriptive paragraph. Include your best tiny, surprising details, and work on senses other than sight. Better?  More vivid?  This is a fun activity to do with kids, too. Have them write about the playground or gym or cafeteria; then go there and hunt for sensory details!

Wow.  If I thought yesterday was hard, then today was worse.  I tried the exercise.  And then I tried it again because the first go-round was so lousy.  I think the problem was that I picked a place that was too big, too broad, so I had a hard time specifically describing those details.  I do have to admit, though, that there was some really important teacher-learning that happened in that first try: I totally get it now how my kids feel when I tell them to share their words with their partner or with the class.  I thought I understood it, but I don’t really think I got it until it happened to me.  Priceless experience really.

So I tried again, and this time tried to focus in on a smaller–and closer–place that was important to me.  It is an actual place, and it is in my house, so that made it easier.  Well a little bit.

So here it is:

We own a boat.  But it’s not made of wood and nails or fiberglass, either.  It’s big, squishy and white–just the perfect combination of soft and strong, and there is always a breeze blowing overhead.  It’s a bed boat, and while it goes nowhere, it takes my family on magical journeys together.

Sometimes I sail there alone,  just me with my thoughts or a good book to keep me company.  Solitude is welcome.  But more often than not, the boat is filled with other passengers on the journey with me: one who is the captain and two who are smaller (and much louder) versions of myself.  As we sail on together, we might share a laugh, a story, a snuggle or even a snack.  We sense the safety of the boat brings; just being on it is enough.

The big, squishy bed-boat is where we begin and end most days, our safe harbor through the storms of life.  Problems are solved, plans are made and great days are joyously relived.  Tears are shed, questions are answered and the sailors are made stronger just by being there.  Together.  Nothing seems too big to tackle.  The bed-boat is safe, it’s strong and it’s special.

What is your favorite place?  Where do you go that’s special to you?  🙂

Other People’s Kitchens

Teachers Write Day 1:  Monday Morning Warm-Up:

Ok, Day 1.  Like I said, I can do this.  So the directions today were to describe the kitchen of our childhood using as many sense as you can.

So I sat down willing–and hopefully able–to do this.  But the more I thought about it, I realized that some of my most vivid memories from childhood are actually not from my own house.  Not that the ones I have form home are bad ones, they’re just not really there.  So I thought of other people’s kitchens that I spent time in as a child, and my assignment came together:

Bowls.  Small bowls made of wood-looking plastic filled with salad.  And that salad is covered in French dressing.  Yep, one of my clearest memories is related to Catalina-drenched lettuce eaten in Christy B.’s kitchen.  Dark kitchen.  Why?  Because we’d eat that soggy plastic-wooden-bowl-salad as a midnight snack after everyone else was asleep.  No Oreos or ice cream for us.  Health food all the way.  Well, covered in salad dressing.  Take the bowl memory several years forward and about 100 miles up I270 and you’ll be in Sheila’s kitchen.  This time it wasn’t salad, but tomato soup.  Why does tomato soup bring such a warm, vivid memory for me? Because it’s tied to a brand new experience (don’t think I knew tomato soup existed before I ate it in Sheila’s kitchen in her big, yellow house on Mignon Dr.) and a close, loving family.  I ate so many meals in that bright, sunny kitchen over the 5 or 6 years we were friends, every one of them lovely.  I can still picture every square inch of that room today–some 20 years after.  Memories of the smiles, laughs and late-night snacks shared in that space warm my heart. So what about my own kitchen as a child? It was hard to pinpoint just which kitchen to tell about, because we moved around alot.  And even when we were at home, my parents didn’t really cook.  Everything came out of a box.  So maybe that means my childhood kitchen smelled like cardboard? 🙂

What are your childhood “kitchen” memories? Tell me about them. 🙂