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.

Vacation!!

Colorado Rocky Mountain High~

Can I say how much fun we had?? Nope.
Can I say how cool and green it was?? If you must.
Can I say how hard it is to come back to reality?? Never!

Denver is trendy...they're fit and under 40!
I swear!
Everyone rides bikes and walks dogs.
I felt like I was missing out by not having either one with me.
We loved it - the city is awesome!

We were so impressed by the kindness of everyone we met in Colorado.
We adventured daily and ended up on spur of the moment side trips.
I feel bad that there are no photos of our Segway tour.
I was camera-less.
It was my favorite event.

We visited The Tattered Cover Bookstore in downtown Denver
and spent 2 hours there searching the aisles.
In their honor I leave you with two short reviews on books I finished on vacation.

Savvy
by Ingrid Law

I don't think I can put into words how poetic this book is.
What a sense of voice!!
I was bowled over.
The book description does no justice to this book.
You just have to dive right in and get ready for some great writing.

Mibs is turning 13. That's the age when folks in her family get their "savvy" - their special powers. Mibs is waiting for hers. Will it be electrical, like her brother, Rocket's? Will it be a hurricane like her other brother? Will it be to always be perfect, like her mom? When Mibs gets hers she finds that it is not an easy one to live with, but like life, she learns to listen to the right voices at the right times.

This book was quirky and delicious - all at the same time!

I loved what the author had to say when she talked about sitting down to write the book -

" Well, when I started writing Savvy, I sat down one day and decided -- I knew I was going to write a new book. I didn’t know what I was going to write and I simply decided I was going to write the craziest sentence that came into my mind without editing it or judging it or anything. And so I wrote, “When my brother Fish turned thirteen, we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he'd caused it.” And it turned out to stay the very first sentence of the book. From that one line, the story sort of grew. That one line was the seed for the entire story.

However, I did have some other thoughts that went along with it after I came up with that line. I have been reading a lot of tall tales and I liked the idea of creating a story about magical children that never used the word “magic” and relied much more on a sense of big fish stories, tall tales, this sense of Americana magic, really, which is based more in the individual finding strength within them to overcome whatever their challenges are."

I recommend this one to teachers, writers, 4th grade and above students and those willing to read some delicious writing!

(PS - The author is from Colorado - what a great way to start the vacation!)


The Violets of March
by Sarah Jio

A heartbroken woman stumbled upon a diary and steps into the life of its anonymous author.

In her twenties, Emily Wilson was on top of the world: she had a bestselling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of GQ, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after.

Ten years later, the tide has turned on Emily’s good fortune. So when her great-aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. Researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal startling connections to her own life.

Pleasant and engaging. I enjoyed this companion of a book as we traveled. I really enjoyed how the book evoked my feelings and memories of growing up on Mercer Island in the Puget Sound. Predictable? Yes, but I was ready for that.

Welcome back to the surface of the sun!!!

(And on to paint at J&K's new house!! I guess that means the vacation is over....)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Honey!!

Good men are like diamonds. Real valuable. They must never be taken for granted, because they make the world a much stronger, safer, happier, easier place for e.v.e.r.y.b.o.d.y. AND, they need to be told how valuable they are. Rich you are a diamond and you are valuable to me!

You're my best friend, confidant and support.

You're a great provider. Rich can work on three computers at once too!! He's worked and labored over the years, sometimes working 2 and 3 jobs to provide for us and make sure that we are taken care of. He never complained about it either. What joy to see a man work so hard for us. A true diamond.

You are a great teacher. Rich can explain almost anything. What a gift.


I love how you relate to the grandkiddos. Rich enjoys his family. I cherish that quality in a person. Rich enjoys folks who want to 'play' with him....and his version of 'play' can vary from race cars to gardening. He enjoys sitting around and talking and sharing and time with the family is high on his priority list. I love that about him!

Thanks for being flexible. Rich can roll with the punches and say, okay, what's next. Like, green paint, no wait, yellow paint, no wait, grey!! He's flexible.

You like to make your own paths!! Rich is not a good follower when he is in a car OR on a trail OR following instructions to assemble something BUT when it comes to following in the footsteps of a good leader, Rich is a champ. He has followed his father in righteousness . He follows his church leaders. He follows the prophet and that makes my little heart about pound out of my chest. What an honorable man.

You are a WORKER - hardest one around. When Rich works he works hard and when he plays he doesn't work at all!! He pushes himself to the limit and enjoys being busy. I am in awe of what he can do when he sets his mind to it! Now that's a diamond in the rough!

Anyone need some help? See the car, packed to the limit? This was about the 5th moving trip to Tucson that you made for our daughter-in-law. Rich gets right in and takes care of what needs to be done! He's focused and generous and pretty amazing.

You are an adventurer! We've gone on many 'adventures', much to my chagrin, but in the end I typically like the journey and the fun with you! Thanks for being the Indiana to my Jones!

Yep, you're competitive and like to win. Rich loves to race and drive fast. I figure it's good training for winning the race in life against yourself! You're fun to play with.

You are always prepared...you see, you even have your towel on Towel-Day! Rich never wants to be caught without something...bungee cords, toilet paper, light bulbs, projects, garden stuff, PVC pipe. The guy can never buy just one of something... But I love a guy who thinks ahead. He's prepared for most anything.

I love how you want to celebrate a birthday. Rich doesn't want special attention on his birthday or special presents. He just wants your 'presence'!! The birthday celebrations he loves best are the ones where the kids come and give of their time and muscle!! We prepare a big breakfast and he loves to go racing. What an easy dad he is to buy for. He doesn't want to burden any of the kids with having to get him something. He just loves having them around to help him.
Smart man.

I am definitely your 'ball and chain'!! Rich will take me anywhere, help me with any project and supports me 150%. I sometimes I feel like I hold him back from his progress. I'm just glad that he holds on tight to me.

Rich, you are my forever-diamond. I'm glad I got a high quality one like you!!
I love you!
Happy Birthday!!

Library Luck

See those babies?
Nope, not the ones in the picture frame...
the other irresistibles!!
That's my "Library Luck" from this week.

To the right we have the books I checked out:

The Violets of March
&
Scumble

To the left, in the carefully crafted pile, are the books I found for the grand total of $4!!
Yep, I am a bargain shopper.
I only had to trample over 1 little white haired lady, 1 small child (who got in the way)
AND
1 large man, but I won him over with my wit and my wallet!

Oops...
State of Wonder was not a "Library Luck"...
it was a clean-out-my-purse-luck.
I found a Border's gift card from 2 years ago.
I figured I'd better run right out and spend it before another store closes down.

I guess I was just all kinds of lucky this week!

So what's in the pile, you ask?

The Devil in the White City
Gilead
The Night Before
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
These is My Words ( I love this one - I like to keep a spare to share!)
A Countess Below the Stairs
The Space Between Us
Nineteen Minutes

What kind of lucky were you?