Weekend in a Blink@

Outside my window: It's dark and delightful. Of course that could be because it's almost MIDNIGHT!! Go to bed already!

I am listening to: Silence. It's been a full day. It feels like a full-belly....

Favorite Things of the Week: Vacationing. Finding my own bed. Conferencing. (I know it's surprising, but I love meeting the parents of my students. I was tired but it was exciting.)

I am thinking: about organization. I was NOT in that line when we were given gifts for this life in Heaven. I wish I was the kind of person who was inherently organized. It is my goal!

I am grateful for: My job. I am falling in love with teaching all over again. I am grateful for apples. I had an apple this week that was bigger than a baby's head!!! It was incredible AND delicious!

I am reading: A State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and The Phantom Tollbooth for my 4th graders.

I am listing: Lesson plans. Projects. Costume ideas - for ME!


I am creating: A Halloween thank you gift for a friend who translated 7 of my conferences and she was great. Putting together a little something for her has satisfied that urge to create that rears it's head around this time of year.

Some of my favorite things: Bracelets. Coke Zero.


Plans for the week: Church with a few of my kiddos tomorrow. Teach Science. Prepare a Halloween Costume for ME!! At my new school it seems like Halloween is a National Holiday. I have to think of something clever for the parade on Friday. I am thinking of going as the Paper Bag Princess (Jennie did it this week and said that it was fun and clever AND key word - EASY!!

Plans for NOW : SLEEP!

A Quick Update

I'm in the middle of a LONG week of Parent -Teacher conferences.
13 hour days ....
33 students ..... lots of parents!
It's fun to 'connect-the-dots" when I meet everyone.
It's been a hectic week, but it's sure going fast AND making me realize how great Fall Break was. So what am I doing up so late?!?!?
Ahhh, yes, I wanted to show-off a little of where we've been and what we've been doing.

Just a short glimpse back at a few photos from our trip to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama!! You can't see it well, but we had Gator on the menu at the Seafood Market a block away from our son's house! I was a "chicken" that day and opted for something a bit tamer....
(I did try Sushi later that night and loved it!!! I'm such an adventurer.)

Two tired men after paddling in the Gulf for an hour!!
They look cocky but they were worn out!!

The beach was beautiful and always uncrowded. You'd think they were all in school or at work or something! Hurricane Katrina wreaked such havoc in the coastal cities of Biloxi and Gulfport. It's apparent everywhere. All that green in the background used to be hotels and restaurants. Now there are miles of abandoned homes or vacant lots. The Air Force Base, however, was rebuilt and is beautiful. That's one real benefit for our Airman and his wife!

We ended our week-long stay in the south by returning to New Orleans. Our fun journeys took us through the French Quarter and to this bookstore, Faulkner House Books, where William Faulkner lived and wrote. We explored several old and used bookstores in the Quarter and seemed to run into the same people as we tramped from place to place. It was great fun. We drove through the Garden District and explored the Riverwalk and decided that vacations are great things.

I loved it that one of my students made ME a reading log for the break. I took great advantage of it and finally finished a book. Of course I came home with an extra suitcase full as well....oops!

And here's my book companion for the trip.

"Lauren Belfer's panoramic new novel is a love story wrapped around a spy story with a pivotal medical breakthrough at its center. ( I love that sentence!!) A Fierce Radiance begins days after the attack on Pearl Harbor propels the United States into World War II. Claire Shipley, a savvy Life magazine photographer, has been assigned a photo essay on a young father whose life might be saved by the new miracle antibiotic, penicillin. The divorced Claire has a particular interest in the case, both because she is still mourning the death of her 3-year-old daughter from blood poisoning, which the drug might have cured, and because she is drawn to James Stanton, the doctor overseeing its clinical trials." (Oprah.com)

This was a chunskter at over 500 pages, but it read like a breeze. I swear I learned something new on every page and I never wanted to put it down. I thought I was reading Historical fiction when all of the sudden, on page 250, it turned into a mystery! Wow, I didn't see that coming. The plot shifted and my take on the book had to change. I was totally invested in this book and loved most everything about it EXCEPT.... the ending!! Thanks to Jenn for passing along this addicting read.

Yep, Fall Break is over, bring on Halloween!!

Out from Under a Rock....

It's hard, but I think I can say that I've finally
crawled out from under these rocks and can see the sky again!!
Life has been more than hectic...



I LOVE Fall Break.
I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting....

Report cards are done and put to bed. Parent-Teacher conferences await.
I have officially survived the first 9 weeks at my new school, in my new grade
AND
so have the students!

NOW, it's off to New Orleans and Mississippi.
Yippee!

One of my students made a Reading Log for me so I'm taking it on the trip.
First up:


A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer
(So far it's fantastic!)

Next:


When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

NEXT...

Whatever takes my fancy!
I intend to visit bookstores in New Orleans and get my type of souvenir!!

In the meantime....

Outside my window: It's dark and cool. I think this is Arizona's version of Fall! We have actually worn long sleeves and sweaters in the mornings. Be still my heart.

I am listening to: Silence. The clock is ticking, but everything else is asleep. It feels peaceful tonight. Ahhh...

Favorite Things of the Week: Discovering Charming Charlies. Shopping with Jenn. Instructional Rounds at work. Differentiated class. Hearing my students whisper, "She has the nicest clothes!" "She always matches!" They made me smile all day.

I am thinking: About all of the things that need to get done tomorrow. It's not stressful, I am on vacation, yet I still want to make sure I cover all the bases before we leave. I can sleep in and take my time. Doesn't that sound wonderful?!?! I think so.


I am grateful for: Family. They are the best. I'm excited that I got to talk to #1 son in England, that #2 son got hired on with a permanent job, that I got to see #3 son at Keesler AFB this week, that #4 son is working so much and doing so well in school, that darling-daughter, otherwise known as #5, is a wonderful auntie and is a great example for me. I feel blessed to have darling grandbabes and an amazing DIL who is a kid-whisperer!! I try to be like her! How lucky I am that my kiddos are healthy, happy, and married to wonderful people that I adore. AND last but not least I just am still so in love with my handsome hubby. Our vacations together are a blast. This will be a fun week.


I am reading: A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer. Science Journals, Brain Based Research books, and Teaching Math by Marilyn Burns.


I am listing: Things to pack, do and plan....


I am creating: Organized notebooks for my classroom. I've collected lots of great ideas, now to organize them so they can be right at my fingertips. I hope it works. I organized some things in my new classroom at the first of the year and I STILL can't find them.


Some of my favorite things: Cool mornings. Thunderstorms. Sweaters. New clothes. Half-Priced Books Teacher Days! Clouds. 1/2 Days at school. Date nights. Fall Break!!!!!!!!


Plans for the week: Vacation in New Orleans and Mississippi!!!! Hug my Airman and his wife, stroll the beach, read and just have fun.

I know the rocks will pull me under a bit when I return, but my calendar looks wonderful this week. So until then.....

Labor Day Update

It's a GREAT weekend!!

We've been furniture shopping this weekend for our Home Library...Wow, creating this little retreat looks like it will be a bit more expensive than a paperback book but it will sure be awesome!! Scottsdale has some pricey but fancy stores and it was fun to dream a little. I'm afraid I'm a little more humble in my decorating approach but whatever we decide it may not come to fruition for a bit longer. Who knew this would be so complicated?!?!

In the meantime, I've squeezed in lesson planning, movies, curriculum redirection, popcorn, yard work (that was Rich, not me), Math RTi, SmartBoard lessons, football, lunch with a friend, and the library and WalMart with Jase. Tonight we are off to the PoisonedPen to listen to a new author and then pizza for dinner. Yep, this is a packed weekend, but it is full of things on MY schedule and on MY terms. After 10 days of no recess I was ready for some weekend....

I am surrounded by my lovely books and really have only been reading school-tomes. I am actually thrilled to be doing it though. I feel the same satisfaction from doing some science prep that I usually get from a good novel. How weird. A friend says that when she follows her passion, she feels the same way. Should I admit that right now my passion is science?? Ack! Don't tell a soul. My books might get jealous.

I have started the Newbery Award winner, Moon Over Manifest, by Claire Vanderpool and it is delightful so far. What a great sense of voice and character. I'm reading slowly to enjoy it all. I also started James Rollins' new book, The Devil's Colony, and it already seems like this is his best work yet. Some of his passages are delicious. His word crafting is truly improving. I'm reading this along with my Airman in Mississippi. He is much farther along than I am, but then again he is in the midst of Tropical Storm Lee and is getting 15 inches of rain with no chance to go anywhere. Don't ya wish you had some rainy days to read in?!?!

Labor Day has always been one of my favorite holidays...time to put away the white shoes, fold up the beach towels and ready my mind for fall. After the heat of the last two weeks I am ready to feel a nip in the air and smell the crispness of fall. It may not happen for a long time yet, but I am ready! Happy Labor Day.

First Days

Oh, these first days of school are killers!!
(How do I forget so quickly?)
33 kiddos
Classroom set-up
Meetings, meetings, meetings...
Piles of papers
Routines and Procedures
Classroom rules
Schedules
Sleepless nights
Folders, notebooks, pencils, glue
Bulletin Boards
Word Walls
More meetings....
Homework folders
Data on everything!!
Textbooks galore
New Team, New committees, New grade, New curriculum
Meet the Teacher Night
Open House
SmartBoard
Dibels-Next Testing
Still MORE Meetings....
33 kiddos

F.U.N.

I will read a non-teaching book, I will read a non-teaching book, I WILL...........

Where Did it Go??

Wow! Where did the last month go?

Oh, I know....

Visiting the Sahuarita kiddos


SLiG classes (that means post-grad science courses for the Grant I'm involved in!!) - 2 weeks from 8-4 made me have sympathy for my students....



Visiting San Diego
with 36 friends









Moving into a new school

a new grade

and

a new classroom

I've got H.O.U.R.S. of work left to do to prepare for Meet the Teacher tomorrow evening but it always gets done!

My new staff is warm and friendly. My team is awesome !! And for today it feels perfect.

I have done very little reading but what I have completed has been terrific!



Such different books for such different days.

Ruby in the Smoke was from the personalized recommend list my librarian did for me. It was YA mystery set in Victorian England involving the opium trade and a young Sally Lockhart. It kept me entertained but it wouldn't be a re-read for me.

Uglies by Scott Westerfield, on the other hand, was a highly entertaining ride that made some profound statements about our 'version' of beautiful. The outer cover summations are nauseating and based on them I would have never read the book, but it was a Book Group read and based on some chit-chat with others I persevered. Scott Westerfield’s Uglies is a young adult dystopian novel that pits conformity against individuality, security against freedom, and betrayal against loyalty. In Uglies, all sixteen-year-old children are required to have cosmetic surgery that will make them “pretty.” Tally Youngblood cannot wait to become pretty, but her life changes when she meets Shay, a girl who wants to remain “ugly.” I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read the sequel. I found so many life lessons embedded amongst the words, ones that I need to re-remember daily.

Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was a transport to another time and place. I loved it! What am I saying, I love all of Shannon Hale's books! This ALA synopsis says it well...

She can whisper to horses and communicate with birds, but the crown princess Ani has a difficult time finding her place in the royal family and measuring up to her imperial mother. When she is shipped off to a neighboring kingdom as a bride, her scheming entourage mounts a bloody mutiny to replace her with a jealous lady-in-waiting, Selia, and to allow an inner circle of guards more power in the new land. Barely escaping with her life, Ani disguises herself as a goose girl and wanders on the royal estate. Does she have the pluck to reclaim her rightful place? Get ready for a fine adventure tale full of danger, suspense, surprising twists, and a satisfying conclusion. The engaging plot can certainly carry the tale, but Hale's likable, introspective heroine makes this also a book about courage and justice in the face of overwhelming odds. The richly rendered, medieval folkloric setting adds to the charm.
Anne O'Malley
Copyright © American Library Association
I will say it again, I loved this book!! Rich knew how much I was enjoying it that he asked to read it next!

One of Ours by Willa Cather has been my constant companion as I set up my classroom. Move some stuff- read a page-move some stuff-read a page.... Not really, but I have read it at lunch and taken it on every teacher-supply running errand. So much so that I LOST the book (a library book, no less!!) AND, I wasn't finished!! Argh! It was a scramble to find this book again and finish it for my Pulitzer Book Group this week. I have loved this book. How I love me some Willa Cather. It takes time but her words and sense of place are worth the wait. I end up pondering why she chose every word and wondering what she really wants me to understand. Leave it to Willa Cather to write the most peaceful book about war I have ever read. One of Ours is not my favorite story about World War I or my favorite Cather, but it is truly beautiful. Cather's description of the destruction caused by war and America's participation in global economy is fascinating. Set in the WWI era, Claude Wheeler is a disaffected young man in rural Nebraska, living the conventional life his father wants him to live, and also stuck in an unhappy and ill-conceived marriage. Eventually, his thoughts turn to the battlefields of WWI as both a way out, and a possible source of purpose and meaning. The book was written in 1922, only a few years after the end of the 'great' war and is said to be loosely based on Willa Cather's cousin's experiences. So many find this a controversial portrayal of war - too romanticized. Yet even in the day many war veterans flocked to read this book and endorse it. Compared to a few of the other Pulitzer's we've read lately this is highly deserving of the 1923 prize! I loved it.

My book stacks are still whispering to me, but I am trying to ignore them as I work on future lesson plans. I will however, have to find that perfect read-aloud for 4th graders. I wonder if it's among my book stacks. Gosh, I'll have to go get lost in the stacks and find out!!!


Yep, in Arizona I can't believe I am saying this, but ..."summer, don't go!!! I will miss you so!!"

Reunion!

Where the Roads Come Together!
Craig Plotner and me
July 2011

Gosh it seems like only yesterday that this man was leading music and I was singing with him for 2+ hours everyday. How he helped mold my life. I know that I sit up straighter and enunciate more clearly because of him. HaHa!! Ahh, but that's just the little stuff. Yep, I was THAT choir geek and I loved this man more than words can express. He came to our choir as a still-wet-behind-the-ears 24 year old and led us to National championships! He was and is wonderful. At graduation he proposed that we sing a song he hoped would mean a lot to us in future years. It became the song that classes would sing for the next 19 years. Once again, he would never know the influence he had....

It was a joy to sit in a corner of a restaurant this week and join close friends in a reunion with Mr. Plotner. Craig strummed his guitar and we sang again. We've still got it!!

Where the Roads Come Together
by Paul Colwell

None of us
is born the same.
We don't know why
it's the way we came.
Every heart
beats a little differently.
Each soul is free
to find it's way
Like a river that winds
it's way to the sea.

For life
is a journey
And there are many roads
beneath the sky
and there are many
good people
who don't see eye to eye

Everyone is different from our brother
Could that be why we need each other as we go along
None of us is partly right
And none of us is partly wrong
Not every man, can stay the same
I don't know why, it's the way we came
With every turn, we're learning more
And perhaps we'll find, that the walls we build
Are only, are only in the mind

There are many roads, to go
And they go, by many names
They don't all go the same way,
But they get there all the same
And I, have a feeling, that we'll meet someday
Where the roads come together
Mmmm, up the way

And I, I have a feeling, that we'll meet someday
Where the roads come together
Up the way.