28.5...of How Many?

Wow!  Another semester completed.  So many changes.  So much still the same.

I have quite the high aspiration to chat more here...would seem that I plenty to say about all things literacy, especially with this many years of experience and still enjoying my vocation/vocation.

Signs That I Still LOVE Teaching:

1. Mentally beginning to plan for Semester 2...with still a week of Christmas Break remaining.
2. Meeting peers for lunch and work time...one day next week...while still on Christmas Break.
3. Learning students' backgrounds...and using that info to make a difference.
4. Decorating my room for the seasons...still in love with the vintage truck theme!
5. Reading professional books and magazines to be ever better prepared.  Love learning!

Speaking of planning for 2020...our principal has shared a book with all students and is encouraging each student's choosing One Word.  Several of my advisees have chosen their words...and the group has a Group Word...Oh!  Yes, oh...with an exclamation mark, which is just so cool!  That word represents epiphanies that occur during our daily times together.  

Between now and going back to school, I am going to create a piece of artwork, on which "Oh!" is the center word.  Then, I will print each of their words in outline form.  They, then, may color/decorate their words.  As they complete their words, we will decoupage our words around the Group Word.  I have the vision!  Hope it turns out as I foresee the final product!

My One Word?  Restore. Such an interesting word for me.  

• bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate.
• repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition.

Hummm...really an interesting word.

Now...to read Murder on the Orient Express for a book club this week...:)

ALA Lit Conference 2019...an inspiring time

I sit now in my comfy recliner, reflecting on the previous two days, an amazing time, a time I so needed.

First, our ALA board, they are amazing; they inspire me to be more than I was.  A group of 14 leaders, these focused individuals work hours to ensure that the love of literacy continues to spread across our state.  I am privileged to be a part of this endeavor.

The scary thing?  This conference was almost NOT.  Due to declining numbers and other obstacles, the Board had concluded that the time had come to no longer host a state conference.  Until.  Until we met and chatted and just could not leave this tradition behind.  There, then, began the work to bring the 47th Annual Fall Literacy Conference to our state.  And.  It.  Was.  Amazing!

To be continued..

Take Eight...Completed!

Eight days already completed of my first year at Southside Charter High School!  In summary, so far...fun, family, happy, fast, two preps.  Yes!

Changes for Me

• Seven classes a day + advisory:  For the first time in my entire teaching career, I only plan for two classes.  Sweet!  These will...eventually...be the best  I have ever taught!  
• I have larger classes this year...but such good kids! Should say here...kids are kids.  I have taught many...and when they walk in (no matter where I am)...they appear the same...males/females...short/tall...too skinny/healthy!...of different races...different faces...loud/quiet.  Always the mix...which makes them kids.  :)
• I am assisting the Key Club sponsor.  I have much to learn, as this is  a new club for me.  I do miss Beta...and I might...maybe?...ask to "assist" the Beta sponsor...maybe?  Giving this one some time...thinking...
• Leaders in and out of my class...listening, sharing, laughing...several times already.

Sad Days

On the second day of school the assistant principal and the resource officer arrived at my door and said I had a phone call in the office. 

Never a good sign.  Yet such a sign of tremendous support.

My daughter had called to inform me that she and a brother-in-law had found Granny Barbara's soul absent from her body.  A double whammy there:  accepting the loss of my mother-in-law and wanting to reach out to The Girl who had too many images swirling in her mind.

Thus, on the second day of school, I left my new babies in very capable hands to head to the family home and face the beginning of a new normal. 

I would miss another day for her service, resulting in my feeling like I was behind at school...especially in learning names for all these new faces.  Getting there!  Much compassion shared by all. 

Day Eight Goals Achieved (Somewhat)

• Learning certain kids' names on day one.  Yes, you know/have those kids!  
• Learning who could sit together all year and remain on task...and those who should have already been moved!  Bless them...they just have so much to say!  Especially off-topic comments!  Nothing inappropriate...but bird walkers they can be!
• Norms established...notebook tabs created, Writer Notebook expectations covered and practiced three times, writing sample submitted, writing jargon shared, technology used (Google classroom, Remind, blogs...take two needed, as the site was blocked...but no more!), four vocab practiced (respect, collaborating, analyzing, facilitating, elaborating), lots of smiles given and received. Going to be good!
• Room layout attempted...and Rearrange 2 completed yesterday...now have soooo much more room!
• Sticking with pre-designed lesson plans...modifying and changing some as I go.  My mind's full of popcorn right now of ideas and plans and activities...to achieve that end-in-mind goal.
• Students are checking out books!  Love it!  This I want to continue!  Bought two more at the Dollar Tree this week.  Good place to find some young adult books...yes, for $1!
• I have a great Advisory Group...am planning to take my first pan of Gillmore Brownies to them on Monday.  They seem excited about this.  Of course!
• Found this note in my teacher mailbox...made my heart happy.

Hope your year more than meets your positive expectations!  Good luck...and blessings!

That Excitement!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...when I begin to look forward to attending professional development, meeting and greeting with peers, and returning to school and the built-in routines.  Yes, the excitement has returned!

Good thing...as, beginning tomorrow, I have five straight days of in-service; then, the following week, Open House and school starts on August 14.

What a busy summer I have spent making and creating for my new classroom!  Fun!  Pics...coming soon!

But...what did I not complete?

1. While I did read 12 books (so far) this summer, I had planned to read nearly double that number.
2. I am reading four...yes, four...professional books concurrently, with two set aside, which may explain why none are finished!  Need to focus and complete...Joy Write by Ralph Fletcher, The Unstoppable Writing Teacher by Colleen Cruz, Workshopping the Canon by Mary Styslinger, and We Got This by Cornelius Minor.  Sitting on the side...Atomic Habits and All Learning is Social and Emotional...Yes, I need to focus!
3. I signed up for Book Love...and have read only one of the four books in its entirety, although I have started them all. (Again...focus!)  I will complete two; one I may set aside for now.  I am pulled into the pages of Reading with Patrick, Michelle Kuo's memior of her time spent here in Arkansas with Teach for America.  Interesting.
4. My lesson plans are not drawn up in detail; this, I had envisioned completing, and, now that my classroom sets ready, I do intend to focus on this next step.  Excited!  I only have two preps.  Never have I had so few.  Wow.

Yet...what I did complete?

1. I moved many of my young adults books and created an in-class library.  While I love books, those books simply sitting on my shelves at home would be so much better put to use with my new groups of students.  As I shifted from shelf to shelf, I did note gaps in book genres.  Need to work on that.  Oh, to have the $$$ to buy and build an even healthier student library!
2. I painted...and painted...bookcases, tables, boxes, a podium...as I attempted to color-coordinate my room.  I do so like my new classroom...and its huge window!  Awesome!
3. The brain is more rested and rejuvenated and ready.  :)  Well, the brain is busy...so much to plot and plan!  
4. I am back to waking up earlier...and the brain kicks in immediately with mental to-do lists...and sleep takes a hike!  Just that time of the year!  I like it.
5. I did order Katherine Howe's new book The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs, a sequel...or would it be a prequel?...to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, a very favorite book on mine.
6. Number five makes me laugh, for it sounds as if I only acquired one book this summer!  Gentle reminder:  I am a book addict.  No hope of recovery.  Two more are in the mail right now...Gordon Korman's Restart and Brene Browns' Daring Greatly.  No hope of recovery.  :)
7. Praying already for these students I have yet to meet.  May we each be better for journeying through CAFE 114 together through 2019-2020.  

Yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Here's hoping your summer as been slow...and productive...and full of many wonderful reads!  

An Unintentional Haitus

Drawn, I am to begin reflecting again here on all topics literacy.

Much has changed since I last jotted down ideas here.  I completed year 28 in education and also finalized my last year with the district for whom I had taught for the previous 14 years...and began preparing for year one in my new school district.  Much more about this soon!  And pictures, as The Husband and I have been working diligently to make and create a few items for my new classroom...which has a large window!  For this, I am most excited, as my previous room had no access to natural light.  Yay!

For the last two days, I have attended the Media and Literacy Conference, partially hosted by my professional organization, the Arkansas Literacy Association.  On the first day, I also hosted a session entitled Learning...CAFE Style, all about my classroom and the acronym I created for the word cafe.

One of my favorite parts about such conferences is the networking, the meeting of fellow English teachers who have the same passion I have for the classroom...still...as I prepare for year 29.  I so enjoy listening to their passions and walking away with nuggets that I will incorporate within my own classroom (need to research Kagan...loved the presenter's passion for what she attributes making her the teacher she is today.  UPDATE:  just purchased three books from thriftbooks.com, so I may check out this tool for myself!).  Another positive of this networking is the connections I made from this conference for ALA's fall conference...asked three presenters to bring their ideas and share with this fall's attendees.  Yay!

This time away also grants me more memories with my dear ALA friends, women I admire, respect, and with whom I just enjoy spending time, plotting and planning and eating, as we further plan for upcoming events.  The synergy that comes from such relationships encourages me to be more, to be better than I have ever been.

One last perk...click here...where I blog about all things books...to learn about how I have even more immersed myself within books...brought home eight more books!  Love it!  (Also, I asked one of the authors if he might participate in a book club for his soon to-be-released MA book.  He said yes!  Yay!)

More thoughts to come!  Until then, what literacy highlights have you enjoyed this summer?

Poem 10:

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Poem 9: Narnia

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________


Narnia

This area I created
As a place to gather and hide
My belongings as they inflated.
My career they glorified.

Or did they?

For that one item kept
Because I might one day utilize
Never have I needed to intercept
My hoarding I do now chastise.

Or should I?

For now Narnia lies depleted.
As weeks passed,
Her item removal completed
My approval unsurpassed.

Or should I plan another?

As this room empties,
Plans began circling
As as this academic year begins to ease,
As a new challenge comes hurdling.

Already, planning.
Already, designing.
Already, hoping,
Already, knowing.

A new Narnia to create.
Smaller.
This time for a shorter stay.
This time, though, I do embrace.

Poem 8: The Rock

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________


The Rock

Ten years there I taught.
Thirteen years did pass.
Then in a moment sought
Memories in a mass
To meet again and reminisce.

Connections made, texting one, then two.
Years flew away, seeking name after name.
A place determined, eating must be a priority.
Calendars rule, choosing who may attend...or not.

"How are you?"
"Hello!"
"It has just been too long."
"So good to see you."

Then, across the way,
Recognition.
Could it be?
Yes, another joins us.
To meet, to greet,
To reminisce.

This group became and remain
A family.
Brought together by years at The Rock.
Years that slip away as these connections are made.
Stories now told that fill in the missing years.
Stories now told that fill in those not attending.
Memories.
Laughs.
Sighs.

Committed now to meet,
Committed now to be,
Committed now to continue,
Meeting,
Greeting,
Smiling,
Chatting,
Leaving...just for two months...
Then, time again, for this Rock Family
To gather again, for once
Family,
Then always family.

The family from The Rock.

Poem 7: Three Days

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Three Days

Thankful I am
For three days spent
with The Girl.

Thankful I am
For three days spent
with 4000 women.

Thankful I am
For three days spent
Going to the cross,
Dying on that cross,
Residing for those three days.

Thankful I am
For three days spent
for me
to know
One Day
Spent for All Days.

Thankful I am
For three days spent
Reminding myself and The Girl
Three days spent
Just for us.

Poem 6: A Rose

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

A Rose

Twinkies, we may be.
Born two weeks a part.
Both now living our destinies.
Teachers of English our part.

Traveling from two parts of the state,
In another state to meet,
Gathered 4000 women,
Just to get our joy on.

Catching up,
Remembering, 
Discussing, 
Clarifying,
Knowing.

Our goals similar:
To raise test scores.
To further discover His Will.
To complete our tasks at His Design.
To plan for future gatherings.
To chat as we gather around food.

Short sessions so treasured.

We part.
Already looking forward, I am
To...
Traveling from two parts of the state,
In another state to meet,
To gather with more women
Determined to get our joy on.

This rose,
She blooms where God
Plants her.
Sends her.
Uses her.
Her spiritual fragrance is sweet for Him.

May I her twinkie be.

Poem 5: Back Seat of the Van

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Back Seat of the Van

Women of Joy 2019.
Friday Evening.
Angela Thomas Pharr.
The Holy Land.
A Van.
The Voice.
"This is not about you."

How many times on this ride of life,
How many times not about me?
How many times caught up in strife?
How many times His Will my reality?

Slow down.
Breathe in.
Listen for that small, still voice.

Slow down.
Breathe in.
Listen to the voices in my path.

Slow down.
Breathe in.
The very air He put there.

His Plan.
My Life.
Taking that seat in the back of the van.

Poem 4: Packed Bags

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Packed Bags

Two outfits.  Check.
One pair of shoes.  Check.
No, two pair. Check.
Okay, three.  Check!

Plastic bag for shampoo. Check.
Make up bag. Check.
Bags within the bag.  Check.

Curling iron. Check.
Glasses.  Check.
Extra contacts...just in case.  Check.

Two computers.  Check.
Charging cords.  Check.
A book.  Check.
Another book on Kindle.  Check.
Sticky notes. Pens.  Check.
Bible.  Check.

Tomorrow,  a girl trip.
Tomorrow, packed with The Girl.
Tomorrow, an escape with her...
And 4000 other women,
Ready to get their worship on.

Poem 3: Playing with Ears

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Playing with Ears

Three times a week.
52 white keys.
36 black keys.
Some accessed.  
Many never.

Three times a week.
One bench.
Four songs.
Or more.
One leader.
Several participants.

Three times a week.
Black dots
Unfilled circles.
Several lines
And words.
Blessed words.

Three times a week,
I gather with family
To sing
And
Sing
With words I know
And
Notes I do not.

Three times a week,
I play the piano
By ear.

Poem 2: Gillmore Brownies

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

Gillmore Brownies

Why does chocolate hold such an appeal?
The desires seems so very real!
"Mrs. Gillmore, when are you bringing those brownies?"
"When you earn them, my dear smarties!"

They will work and work,
Brains now on high alert,
For that reward so tasty, you see,
As knowledge gained and so closely contained.

Once told, I was affirmed:
Food, your love language confirmed
By the stacks of brownie mix
Swirled together with teacher love intermixed.

Class by class,
Birthday by birthday,
Chosen by most amass,
These they would certainly eat everyday
If only time and budgets allowed
And if with brownie mix I were endowed.

Why does chocolate hold such an appeal?
"Hunger," you say?
"Maybe", I convey.
More, though, than hunger I am convinced.
Motivation exists, remains fixed,
For they now know The Teacher in them believes.

Poem 1: I Went Home

Here, I will publish my poems for National Poetry Month!  Excited, I am!
Please join me here for the TG PoeTRY Challenge!   Learn more here.
__________________________________________________________

I Went Home

Today, I felt like I went home
To a place I do not reside.
Are these emotions on loan?
No, too real to not claim as my own.

I stood and gazed.
Excitement continuing to grow.
A window I did praise,
Through which I see many tomorrows.

New faces, former faces.
Smiles, handshakes, and embraces.
Today, I felt like I went home.
Are these emotions just on loan?

No, a permanence I sense,
Solidified by that sense of inner peace.
Years waited as dreams commence
To become reality as expectations increase.

This prayer I prayed
That my last be as my first.
The answer came, with just a short delay,
With grace, not a bit coerced.

Today, I felt like I went home.

TG PoeTRY Challenge 2019

The TG PoeTRY Challenge is back!  The idea is to write poetry.  Just that simple!

Without further ado, please read on.  Won't you join me this year?

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Dates:  April 1-30 - Yearly

Choose an Option:

1. Challenge 1 - The Epic:  A poem a day...yes, everyday!  You choose the topics and types of poetry you prefer.
2. Challenge 2 - The Sonnet:  A poem every other day (evens or odd) and write at least 14 days this month.
3. Challenge 3 - The Limerick:  A poem at least five times, for you are just here to have a good time and learn about yourself as a poet (aren't we all, though?)
4. Challenge 4:  The Haiku:  Three poems...as short as you would like them, for you just prefer to dabble a bit and want to attempt this challenge.

Winners!

One winner from each category will be awarded a prize!  Either in the form of a book OR Gillmore Brownies!  :)

How to Sign UP:

Sign UP below in the comments by giving your name (first name is fine!) and a link to where you will be publishing your poems.

OR

Post a link in any TG Poem Post (I plan to post daily!)  in the comments, being sure to include a link to your blog.  Add another comment when you have completed the challenge.  

I look forward to your endeavor and the spirit behind the challenge being met.  

Good luck!

Class Culture...Reflecting

A focus that the Arkansas Literacy Association wants to take during the fall conference this year is culture within the classroom.  This topic "lives" close to my heart.  (Pun intended!)

For example...today...in Cafe Gillmore...we began watching To Kill a Mockingbird, and their homework consisted of bringing a bag of microwave popcorn, for what is a good movie without popcorn!?

They were soooooo good!  Loved it!  Good kids!  Smelled so good in my room today!  Like I was wrapped up in butter!  :)  Then, they cleaned up the "house" and everything!

My theme next year will return to a more intense focus on the word CAFE...collaborating, analyzing, facilitating, elaborating...as we cook up all sorts of literacy dishes.  AND...does this not tie in nicely with what a friend says is one of my love languages...food...?  :)

This was all reiterated as I sat and listened to author/speaker Dave Burgess (Teach Like a Pirate) yesterday morning...thanks to our district for bringing him in to speak to our faculty.  I need to teach more like a chef...and I will! 

Love Burgess' energy!  While his style is not quite mine, I do not want to be that boring teacher, either.  My students should see and hear my passion for what I love to do.  Yes...planning some menus now!

How do you build and cultivate culture within your classroom?  Would love to hear from you!

The Empowerment of Rereading a Text

As I finished a three-meeting book club last evening where we chatted with author Colby Sharp about his and Donalyn Miller's book Game Changer...and then as I completed a multiple re-read of To Kill a Mockingbird last night, the topic of empowerment of re-reading a text tugs gently. 

I cringe a bit when I recall my response at times when students have asked if they could reread a book...then the memory clears as I recall that non-reader wanting to read Gary Paulsen's Hatchet for the tenth time...and the second time that year.  Know that kiddo, do you?

Then, I recall the students who wanted to reread the Harry Potter series...and how much fun we had diving back into several of those books during lunch and meeting Harry and all his friends at a different stages in our lives.  Fun...and totally different books! 

This semester, I again reread To Kill a Mockingbird with my sophomores.  Such a powerful book.  Always engaging with current events...ever since the first time I taught the book 20+ years ago.  Why?  Will we never learn from history?  I am getting very close to being able to answer that definitively...with, no.  No, we are not learning...not as much as we should, at least.

In Game Changer, the authors, too, encourage rereading a text...and encouraging students to do so after some time has passed.  Fun listening to them meet their "friends" again on the pages of novels that remain dear to them.

Another reread I am currently enjoying is Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest.  A powerful book full of nuggets, this one speaks to me again.  I am also enjoying the discussions centered around this book with my Bible Study Gals, as this is the book they chose to read and discuss for 2019.   

So tell me, what book have you reread lately?  Or a novel you would enjoy diving into again?

Happy reading!

Trying Something New!

I love National Poetry Month!  Don't you?

This year, I want to try out another Kelly Gallagher idea (have been hosting a faculty book club for years...and last week, my student read on of his students' Article of the Week) and host a Poetry Tournament...with brackets...and one winner by the end of April. (Pic of Gallagher's here...on Twitter.)

My Plan?  To create the first round of brackets during March Madness and host the competition in April.

Gallagher divides his brackets into Spoken Word v Written Word.  I like that.  Plus, YouTube is huge, so some students will enjoy finding a poem for us to consider placing on the bracket.

Still brain-storming...but as March is quickly approaching...the storm is brewing more intensely! 

Thoughts?  Please share!

Sharing the Blogging Love

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be awarded the opportunity to share the love of blogging with some literacy pals across the state of Arkansas.  Fun!

Why blog?

• to reflect...on my day...on methods utilized...on what did not go as planned.  This is my favorite reason for blogging.  Whether anyone ever reads my thoughts, 
• to model...good writing...bad writing...horrible-no-good-oh-my-word writing.
• to connect...with other bloggers...other literacy teachers...just connect!

Where do I blog?

• Personal Blogs
• Treasure Chest of Thoughts
• Book Reviews
• My Prayer Walk
• Class Blogs
• English 10
• English 11
• Teacher Cadets
• Secondary Methods

Why so many blogs?

Rather than throw all my thoughts into one pile, I attempt to organize and separate the areas of my life:  school, books, church, classes.  This makes finding a post so much easier...yes, if I would label every post that would help, also!   NOTE TO SELF:  Work on labeling!

Now to finalize plans for meeting and greeting with these literacy leaders...who are about to add blogger to the many hats they already wear!  :)

Creating, Thematically

This year, I have three preps.  One prep is for 11 students...another one is for five students.  Much work to create for just one class...but I do enjoy creating thematic units.

The texts for the English 11 class are two short works and the novel The Awakening...just have to have to say that of all the works that a junior could be exposed to...this would not be one of my choosing.  I am going to focus on the shorter works and grant a request of my class:  that we learn about mythology. 

I hesitated, for I already has an idea for a thematic unit.

Then, the two thematic topics collided.

To be continued...