Slice of Life Day 21~ New Challenges, New Opportunities

Today marks the beginning of an adventure that will challenge and fulfill me in ways I can't yet envision.  This opportunity will take me on a journey through instructional decisions, planning and teaching,  pushing my thinking to it's core.  I welcome the challenges of this project, I will be become a stronger teacher, mentor and person.

As we met today to discuss the details of the project I found myself sitting in Ramseyer Hall at Ohio State University and already I knew I was being changed.  I did not attend Ohio State University, but I have always respected the university and stand proud that I am an Ohio State Buckeye by birth!

Sitting in Ramseyer Hall listening to dedicated teachers (teachers who agreed to meet on a beautiful Saturday) share their teaching stories, asking questions and digging deeper in a desire to better understand the art of teaching, I was feeling energized.  Each question led to another, none of them easily answered, none of them with one simple answer.  We were asking the questions teachers grapple with daily, the questions that drive our decisions and set the climate of our classrooms.

So, today I  dipped my toes in the water of my newest, and definitely scariest, challenge of my professional learning to date. The water was warm, supportive and inviting,  I am looking forward to the big dive!

Julie shares more about this opportunity on her blog.


Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for hosting the Slice of Life March challenge.  I will be joining other bloggers and writing every day in March.  Please visit their site to read other slices and please remember to let the blogger know you read their post, sure the love in the comments! 

Slice of Life Day 17~ Connecting and Reconnecting

For the month of March I will be participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge hosted at Two Writing Teachers.  It will be a busy month of writing and commenting with this community.  

I am looking forward to a very unexpected trip and it isn't where I am going that has me so excited, it's who I am going with and why!

You see, just this summer I was prusing my Facebook wall and noticed a friend request from two of my aunts that I had not seen since I was about 10 years old! After I accepted the friend requests I immediately saw another request. This request was really puzzling, I didn't know the name, but I noticed we had mutual friends in my aunts and my mom so I accepted.

This is where the story really begins, the request was from Katyana, who turned out to be a cousin I never  know existed. This was unbelievable... Katyana is the daughter of my favorite uncle and my ONLY female cousin. After a few direct messages Kat and I transferred our conversation to the phone. Kat's story is fascinating.  She had been researching our family history in an effort to locate her father who she hadn't seen since she was a year old. Unfortunately, her dad passed away before she could reconnect. the passing of her father left Kat feeling defeated but she also found she had a BIG family waiting and ready to welcome her.

Our conversations grew and Katyana and her husband were on their way to meet me and my family.  The visit was amazing, I felt like I had grown up with Kat.  Listening to my dad and his brother share stories of their childhood and memories of Kat's father was like living in another time.  The sparkle in my dad's eyes and the flush in his cheeks were something I had not seen in quiet sometime.  Dad and his brother laughed for hours as they shared stories of their ornery childhood.

It was amazing to see the family resemblance in Kat, she looked just like her dad and her uncles.  The visit was amazing and all too short.

So…in just a few days Katyana will be returning to Ohio and we will be taking a road trip! My family, my uncle and my cousins are taking a trip back to where my dad grew up to connect and  reconnect with family!

Slice of Life Day 15

A brave attempt to capture our day in just a few words…


3 Generations

4 manicures
Pushing Pink, Sea Foam Green
Margarita Pink and Coaralie

Conversations
Laughs
Reunions

Lunch
4 choices
1 Decision
Whoes will win?

Youngest wins…
No Surprise

Dessert
Oldest chooses

Cold creamy
Chocolatey
Gooey

1 day
Endless Memories

~Sunday

Slice of Life~ My Maker Space

Tonight's post will merge two of my digital communities. I hope neither community minds the merge…

Tonights post is day 14 as a member of the Slice of Life writing community created by Two Writing Teachers and in this post I want to share my "make" for my Digital Playground community created by Julie And Cathy.

The members of the Digital Playground are giving a biweekly "make." I don't really know how to explain what a make is, it's a task we are challenged to complete, the directions are open. The ambiguity of this task is exactly what makes it's so fun! Members set out of the task in a variety of ways and each one is unique to the creator. Along the way I am learning new tools, new friends and new things about old friends, it's all a win!

Julie's direction for this make are~

However you identify yourself, there’s probably a special spot that is your “space to make.”  Is it your kitchen, your garage, the cityscape, or someplace else where you can let your creativity shine?

For this week’s make, we’d like you to show us your maker space.  How you show us is up to you.  There are no limitations...write a poem or story, create a movie, build something and take a photo...use your imagination!  Try a new tool, or stay with something familiar because you want to get better at it.  It’s your choice!

I struggled to define my maker space. Then I heard my daughter's dance instructor Martine Clark express what the dance studio means to a dancer, loosely quoted from my memory-

"...the studio to a dancer is a sacred place, a place where we can be ourselves and a place where we can let it all go and express ourselves."

As I listened to these words I knew what my maker spaceS were... a place I hold sacred, (my classroom), a place I feel free to be myself, (in my classroom, my home and at a mall. Yep, I feel creative and inspired at the mall. I grew up working in the mall and have always felt the mall grounds me, it's a creative space where we dream and create spaces and images) and finally, the recliner with my laptop. This is where all my thoughts come together and are turned into expressions and wonders!

Click to view my Maker Space

I used Nutshell to create show my maker space. Nutshell is VERY simple to use, but I took sometime trying to polish a few pieces. The music and picture quality continue to be my challenges with this tool. 

What's your Make Space…?

Slice of Life Day 13~ Watching, Listening and Stepping In

Yesterday I sat back in my classroom I watched, I listened and I wondered as my student teacher taught. I watched, I made notes, I noted kids who need to work with on specific skills, kids who might need more support than I can do alone, kids who might need more encouragement, kids who need to know they are doing a great job and kids who are ready for enrichment. 

So today, I stepped in ~

I grabbed books on odd and even numbers for 3 boys who were exploring odd and even yesterday in meth.

Started a book group

Called a parent

Emailed 2 parents

Reassessed a few readers 

Commented on several blogs

Conferred with support staff 

Conferred with a few students 

Read with a couple of readers

And started "Mystery Blog Commenting" between all three 1st grade classes. 

What a busy kid based day!  Today, I hoped balanced  my involvement and my student teachers freedom.  Imagine what we could do with two teachers in the classroom all the time! 

Slice of Life Day 12~New perspectives

Our class is fortunate to have a student teacher join our class for the year! It's such an honor to learn and grow alongside a student teacher, but it's not easy. This week I am taking on a new perspective…

sitting back, listening, watching and thinking….

I Hear~
Kids commenting on the lesson
Kids talking quietly as others share with the group
Some kids repeating the same answer over and over and over
Some kids laughing
Someone making sounds with their mouth
An excited teacher talking with the class seated around her


I See~
Some kids raising their hands
Some kids sitting quietly
All kids looking at the teacher
A student teacher glowing in her opportunity


I Wonder~
Do they do this for me?
How would I deliver the lesson?
Would it be the same as I envision sitting here?
Does the noise maker know they are making sounds with their mouth?
Will the noise maker ever stop?
What are the intentions of those repeating the answer over and over and over again?
Does the teacher teaching hear the samethings I hear?
Do they know I still care?

this is undoubtedly the HARDEST thing I have ever had to do.

New Adventures Slice of Life Day 11

As I write today's slice my daughter sits on the floor of our den sniffling as she pours over college applications already submitted and the thousands of letters and brouchers that have followed. I asked what she was looking for, she grumbled an answer only she knows.  I offered my help, I was declined. I offered my support, she mumbled a longer stronger grumble. I walked away, I waited... soon she came out of the den, walked over to me and began asking her questions. 

This is a difficult in her life, so many opportunities and so many unknowns.  I remember being her age well, but I don't remember the fear and pressure that my daughter is feeling.  Is it the high stakes testing, the competition of college acceptances, or the violent change of everything in her life today? 

I feel her pain more than she knows, but I know as much as I will miss her her opportunities are only just beginning! I know she will take all she has experienced and everything she has built and make her mark!  My wish is that she could see what I see in her future. 

Break-a-leg baby girl!