I love this
weekly tradition of celebration that Ruth Ayres is instilling in us. I prefer
to look for the good in my day on a regular basis. I have found that if I focus
on the negative, it begins a downward spiral that I see more and more of the
bad parts of life. I’m so glad Ruth is encouraging us all to choose to
celebrate instead.
This week
there were so many things to celebrate!
This lovely
little sound machine is at the top of my list. I could write about it for
pages, but suffice to say the “ocean” sound makes my boys sleep fabulously. The
added benefit is that I’ve dreamed of living by the ocean for years – and now I
go to sleep and wake up each day feeling that I do.
My
classroom has been blessed with Skype visits this year and I am more grateful
than I can say to everyone who comes to “visit.” This week we had two amazing
authors – Ame Dyckman and Linda Urban. Both spoke to us about their writing
process. My students were excited to write after each visit, which is one of my
goals this year. We’re really trying to live like readers and writers inside –
and outside – of our classroom. I focused a lot on the “reader” part in years
past. This year I want to focus on both. Interestingly, I had the majority of
my parent-teacher conferences on the afternoon of Linda’s Skype. So many
parents asked who these authors were that were giving their kids writing advice
– because they were writing non-stop at home. YAY!
Luke, Liam,
and I have been listening to The Real Boy by Anne Ursu in the car and
are at some exciting parts right now. Yesterday Luke gasped as Oscar and Callie
made a discovery about the wizards and said, “Mom, do you realize what that
means?” Love experiencing this book with him. Leah, Sari, and Josie are all
reading it in my classroom – and all at different spots. I love talking to them
about it. Leah is the farthest along. She came over to my room the other
morning and said, “Mrs. S., it is all coming together and oh my gosh.”
I smiled
and said, “Just wait.”
The boys
and I made a quick trip to the pumpkin patch after school on Friday. I remember
bringing Luke when he was three months old, and we haven’t missed a year yet.
We gathered pumpkins, cider donuts, cider, apples, and bread mix. The boys
laughed at how small parts of it seem now. I cannot believe how quickly time is
going. This makes me a bit sad, but I do love the age they are now.
We
ended our night shivering at the last regular season home football game. Senior
night makes me teary each and every time. I look at these kids I remember and
wonder how eight years has passed since I had them in my class. I got to see so
many former students – a lot that are in middle school. I had countless book
talks, conversations about expectations, hugs and words of encouragement, and
more. It was a wonderful day to wrap up my week and remind me of just how lucky
I am to live where I do.
Finally - my students are working on our classroom blog. If you have time in your weekend, would you mind popping by and adding a few comments? We have four newer posts up and they would love to hear from you!
Have a
fabulous weekend!
