The Post that Went Unposted!

Happy. Happy. Happy. I am so happy to be blogging again!

And I was touched (and honored) to find such SWEET comments from such wonderful BloggyBuddies! Thanks, Pals! You made my heart happy!

Melonheadz BFF bundle HERE on Tpt

Ahhhhhh. Don't you just love a No-School Monday?! I have just enjoyed the TIME! It's been a productive weekend-plus-a-day. I checked in and/or graded EVER last paper from first semester. And I am almost finished filing the papers that will be part of the students' conference portfolios.

I am so lucky to have a friend who comes in and helps me sort, file and grade once a week. She retired after teaching for forty (!) years and still comes faithfully to school each week--even though she lives an hour away. What would teachers do with their friends? (And what would I do without Melonheadz clip art?!)


Tomorrow when I go back to school and my house will look quite different. Why? Because I will be able to see the carpet! I finally moved the back-to-school boxes back into the garage. It's so much easier to walk through the living room when you are not tripping over bins of spiral notebooks, packages of colored paper, and boxes (and boxes!) of books and teaching materials. Yes, I know it's November, not September, but I am celebrating "task completion" rather than lamenting the speed of my success. I just walked in circles in the empty space, saying YIPPEE! Thankfully the blinds were closed. Alas, my neighbors already know I am a little nutty!

This is going to be an odd week. Monday will be a Tuesday (and all day I will be asking: "What day is today?") Then on Wednesday, my students are going to an all-day Environmental Awareness activity while I spend the day in a meeting about "school improvement." And Thursday I will be in Portland, listening to Laura Robb talk about "Smart Writing: Meeting Common Core Standards for Middle School Writers." I am sooooo excited!

OOPS.

An update is in order.
It's FRIDAY and I never posted these sentiments!
Better late than never?

AND... Here's another cool thing...
My friend Mg is having a FABULOUS giveaway... Hop right on over and check out the cool offerings! It could be your lucky day! Just click on that sweet button below to get there!

 I hope that you will check back tomorrow when I share about Laura Robb's workshop. It was such an inspirational day! I can't wait to get back to my classroom to try out some new strategies!

Running Away and Coming Back to Blogging...

One of my friends told a story about running away from home when she was a little girl... all the way to the front yard where she set up her sleeping bag, her pillow, her stuffed animals and some snacks. That was simply as far away as she was willing to go!

Bunny Source and Everything Else Source

The story has been a bit like that with me and blogging recently. My heart was here, but the rest of me was all tangled up in the business called School. After that... well, I just didn't know how to come back.

And then I found this adorable rabbit clip art, and I remembered Emmy's story, and I decided that it was better to jump in and get going again. Maybe I should have found some parachuting clip art instead...

It's really not all that great of an analogy anyway, because I wasn't really "running away" from blogging. It's more like school was stealing or kidnapping my time. But that clip art collection would have been much scarier. And I'm actually rather scared of scary things. So I'm sticking with the rabbit.

This year has been... ummmm... complicated. I can think of lots of other adjectives, but "complicated" seems to sum up a range of feelings. And, just like I said during the summer, I am STILL blaming Common Core--because some of the "complicatedness" falls on their shoulders (whoever "they" may really be!). Reconciling "rigor" with "reality" is not always easy.

I'm not giving up on either of those, but a peek into a part of our day may give you an idea of the paradox.

At this point, we are about five chapters behind in math. But only if you look at the "old" textbook. In the "new version" of math, the scenario is probably much worse. However, since we don't have any new materials and we have had very little training in how to implement Common Core math, I decided that the pacing guide would have to wait. You know why? Because most of my students do not have a solid understanding of fractions. In my little brain, I believe that fractions should be taught before decimals. (It's that wholes-and-parts thing, you know?) So we are doing things out of order, out of the pacing guide, and at this point, out of the curriculum.

What led me to this decision? Some very interesting assessment data.  Here are two examples... (I tried to re-create them on the computer to protect the innocent...)

Draw and color 1/6 of the circle...

 AND

Which is greater 1/3 or 3/4. Explain your answer, using a picture to support your reasoning...

One third is biger than three fourths cause its in the picher.

It's obvious that we have a lot of work ahead of us. But these kids are in a difficult situation. Some have had up to seven substitutes in the past two years. And some have just gotten lost along the way. It's not their fault. And I don't have all (or many) of the answers. But time is precious. And now that I know where we truly stand, we are moving forward. 

And I'm not really blaming Common Core--or giving up on it either. I'm just slowing down and focusing on kids AND standards--not just on standards.

I do have eight kids (out of 32) who have LOTS of skills. It is an added challenge to keep them interested and moving forward, but it is fun and I just consider it an odd version of a "combination grade." There are also some kids in our classroom with different struggles and challenges. This group is coming together in being patient and supporting each other when necessary. Further, my students have shown an enormous interest in our friends in the room across the sidewalk... all of whom have disabilities such as autism. My heart is warmed daily as they find creative ways to interact during recess or to be helpful when the teacher needs assistance or to be quick-footed when one of the students has temporarily left the area.

Sigh.  For all of the challenges that face us, those successes are far more important in the bigger picture!

So, that's where I've been. I don't know why that first step back was such a big one. (Maybe it's because I have such big feet?!)

Tennis shoes from HERE

I do adore being a part of the BlogLand community and I am thankful to be able to learn from such a dynamic group of teachers (and a wonderful counselor-friend too!). 

So... I will try to do a better job of blogging, and visiting blogs, and leaving a comment here and there. And I hope that you know that my heart was always here--even when my keyboard wasn't.

Currently... October!

Hello October!

background paper by Scrappin Doodles HERE... font by Amy Alvis HERE

I love any month that has a holiday that fills my grocery store shelves with CHOCOLATE (It's my favorite food group!)

My year is flying by... yet it seems like it is taking a long time to get into the swing of things. I feel like I repeat the same directions twelve times, only to have someone raise his hand and say, "What are we supposed to do?" At the same time, there are those sweeties who have followed the directions, organized the supply box, politely asked his tablemates to be quiet, organized his tablemates' belongings, smiled apologetically again, only to give up and whisper loudly, "I think she's waiting for you..." Sigh. I just need more patience. A lot more patience. Another truckload or two would be good!

I think it would be easier if there was at least one holiday between the beginning of school and the end of October. Just one. Seems like a small request, doesn't it? After all, a week plus one day off in November is a delight. But... Couldn't we switch just one of those days to October?

As for a trick: I've got nothing, really... Except I did learn something accidentally the other day. I was softly humming a song (from this decade!) while waiting for the kids to line up. One of my students looked at me in astonishment and said, "How do you know that song? You're so old!" To which I replied, "I'm pretty sure my TV gets a lot of the same channels that yours does..." I think he's still trying to figure out exactly what that meant... but I did see him point at me and whisper to a buddy right after that. I pretended not to notice--but it was hard to keep from smiling!

Now, you know what to do! Head to Farley's and share the love. She gives us twelve opportunities each year just to look after each other and share some smiles...

I hope that your October is filled with plenty of patience--and plenty of chocolate too!