Happy Birthday, Mr. Schu!

Today is a day I’ve had marked on my calendar for some time. August 28^th is not only the release date for Brown Girl Dreaming, but it is also John Schumacher’s birthday. I’ve known John for many years, although we only first met in person in 2011. John is easily one of the kindest guys I know. I have absolutely no doubt if I were to call him up and tell him I had an emergency, he would help in any way he could. My students from the past few years know Mr. Schu too. He always reaches out for a Skype visit and helps our classes to connect.

When thinking about how I could possibly celebrate this day, it was suggested that giving away books would be the perfect idea. I have no idea how many books John has given away over the years. He surely has handed out more copies of The One and Only Ivan than anyone in existence. So what should I giveaway? I debated – I could give away a copy of Ivan. Or maybe Flora & Ulysses would be a better choice. Then again, it is the release date for Brown Girl Dreaming. Instead, I went with two books I recently purchased from John’s favorite bookstore, Anderson’s Bookshop. I am honored to give them away in the name of Mr. Schu. If you’d like one, please let me know which you would prefer in the comments. I will pick one person for each book randomly by the end of the day on Friday and will mail it to you.

I encourage you all to celebrate Mr. Schu today. Take a photo of yourself reading in a random spot. Talk up a book to a friend. Wear a sticker celebrating books on your shirt. I plan on telling my class about this fabulous friend I have, Mr. Schu, and being grateful that he is in my life.   

If you tweet about John today, please use the hashtag #mrschubday. Thanks! 

Giveaway:

Which book would you like in honor of Mr. Schu? 

Edited to add - the winners have been selected. Thanks for participating! 

 

Slice of Life - Time

                Slice of Life is sponsored on Tuesdays by Two Writing Teachers.

The relief was immediate. Cool air hit my skin and my body relaxed. I moved into the kitchen and sat down in one of the armchairs by the window.

“Ahhhhh…”

Did I say that out loud? The start of the school year always seems to bring the hottest temperatures of the summer, and today was no exception. I pulled my laptop on my lap and looked up the weather. How long would we have to endure this? Glancing at the site I saw that the current heat index was 113 degrees and we were still under a heat advisory until 7pm Tuesday night. Terrific. Teaching in a building built in 1894 has its perks – character, tall ceilings, large rooms. Air conditioning is not one of them.

I began to look for my responses in Google Drive from a survey I had my students do at school that day. It had frustrated me, was it worth it? I wanted to get to know them as fast as possible. I wanted to get to know each child, not just the ones that came up and talked to me frequently. But the survey had taken so much longer than I anticipated – netbooks that are slow, accounts that don’t want to be logged into, students who haven’t typed in three months. What I had naively thought would take fifteen minutes took seventy, almost our entire period. One glance at the results made me glad I had taken the time.

The start of the year never goes fast enough for me. I want to jump ahead to mini-lessons that are truly mini; classrooms that have a strong community; small group discussions; students who quietly move between reading, tweeting an author, blogging a reflection, and writing. I so want to be there, but I have to remember all of the work it takes to get there. Part of that work, a huge part, is the relationships I build with the students and the community I help to create. It takes time. And while it frustrates me because I feel that I never have enough of that elusive time, I know it will be worthwhile in the end.

So as I pulled my laptop onto my lap, enjoyed the cool air and a glass of ice cold water, I visibly relaxed as I read their answers. Some made me smile, some made me cry, several made me laugh out loud. Yes, we’re on the right track. We’re just setting out and I cannot wait to see where this year takes us.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Be sure to visit Mentor Texts  or Unleashing Readers to learn more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Racing in under the wire to post my It's Monday! post. Completely forgot and realized I had left it off when I got to school this morning. Last week we started back to school, so not as much reading time as usual, but I did get to these fabulous books:

I enjoyed them all but I LOVE Ghosts of Tupelo Landing. LOVE IT! 

Right now I'm trying to finish these two and they both rock. We'll see if I get to anything else this week.

Have a fabulous reading week!

Celebrate This Week - Back To School

I’m joining up with Ruth Ayres for her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week. Check out all of the posts linked up at her blog HERE. Thanks for starting this, Ruth!

No post for almost two weeks? How can that be? Darn back-to-school time strikes again. I don’t know if every teacher shares the same issues I do. Back-to-school comes around and I am giddy with excitement and treading water like a maniac trying to stay afloat at the same blooming time. However the year has begun, the first week, albeit a partial one, is over, and I feel like I can breathe once again. Phew!

I had to post today, truly had to, because it is the weekly celebration on Ruth Ayres’s blog. I have so much to celebrate that I am staying up late to write. (Which says a lot.) When thinking of what I wanted to celebrate, I came back to this:

Students

I love meeting my new students. This new group seems like so much fun!  They love reading, they love writing, they are kind, they are considerate. Truly, after three days I am in awe.

This year I wanted to try a few different things. I started off the year with no assigned seats and asked them to please try and sit by someone different each day. Day three and we’re doing well. In my homeroom I asked them to greet each other each day – by name – and ask how each person is doing. Again, they are rocking it. At lunch I’ve asked them to talk to their table and learn something new about someone else each day. Awesome. Each idea I throw at them they’ve taken and ran. I’m so excited to see where this year takes us.

Reading and Writing

As much as I adore my students, the first few days/weeks of class are not my favorite.  I often feel like so much frontloading is necessary to make our year run smoothly. I need to teach them what I value and hope that I can make it what they value. I need to explain that our year will be about reading and writing together and show them what that looks like. I have to take time to teach Tweeting, Blogging, checking out books, iPads, laptops, video creation and so much more. I desperately want to dive into the workshops I know that are a few weeks down the line, but I hold back. As a good friend reminded me the other day, this work is important. My students have all checked out books this week. They’ve read. They’ve done quick writes off of a YouTube video. They’ve learned about Slice of Life and are writing their first slices this weekend. They’ve heard three picture books read aloud and had the first chapters of Absolutely Almost read to them as well. They know what our year is going to be about, what I am about. We’ve had three days together – two with my switch classes. I think we’re doing ok.

My Boys

Luke and Liam are in such different places, but both make my heart soar for different reasons this week. Liam has shown me how much he’s grown. He’s beyond joyful about school, friends, teachers, and learning. Each day he comes home and chatters on about what he loves and what made his day awesome.

Luke has moved on to middle school. He has made it through momentary panics about not getting to class on time, forgetting homework, forgetting combinations, worries about time management. He hasn’t actually had any of those problems, but he worried he would. My child who has not had a late assignment in six years of elementary school was certain he would have one now. We’ve talked it through, planned strategies, and relaxed a bit. Friday he came home and just seemed taller, more confident. I think he will have some growing pains as he adjusts to middle school, but they are what he needs to move to his next stage. He reminds me that as hard as this growing up stuff is on a parent, it is also unbelievably cool to watch it happen in front of your eyes.

So much to celebrate in the past three days, I could go on and on. Instead I will stop here and simply say, it is going to be one amazing year.

Remembering What's Important

The start of a new school year is filled with conflicting emotions. I love the beginning of school. I love new school supplies, setting up the classroom, and thinking about lesson plans. I love receiving my class lists and first emails from parents excited about our year together. Exhilaration runs through my bones, the year can’t come fast enough.

Except when it doesn't. The flip side of this impatience to begin the year is a panic that I won’t be ready. Looking around my room I’m hit with an ever-mounting to-do list that I know I can never complete.

This panic threatens to overshadow my joy about a new year. Luckily a few reminders today put the true importance of a new school year back in focus. I have been mainly working on my room at night during my son’s football practice. It seemed to make sense, I figured I had to be there already, why not use my time wisely? I realized today what was missing. 

Dropping by school to do just a couple of things in my classroom, I had the chance to visit with fellow teachers, custodians, secretaries, and my principal. I realized how much I had missed these friends this summer and how excited I was to get the chance to spend another year together. Of course, this meant I didn’t get as much done in my room as I would at night alone, but it was time well spent.

The other reminder came from a former student, Aaron. Aaron was in my reading class two years ago and had offered to come vacuum my carpet. Aaron has several passions. When he was in my class he educated me in the finer points of electric pencil sharpeners and vacuums on a regular basis. When Aaron found out that I was setting up for the year, he had his dad send me a message to see if he could clean my carpet with his vacuum. His dad, Dan, told me he has over 40 vacuums in their home. His favorite is a professional grade Electrolux. I’m not exaggerating to say that I think Aaron knows more about the Electrolux vacuum than their sales people do. I had a blast talking to him about it, seeing how appalled he was that I own a Dyson, and catching up in general. When I asked Aaron what advice he’d give my son who was starting 6^th grade this year, he wisely shared that Luke should do his homework immediately after school each day and not put it off. Common sense, short and sweet, that is Aaron.

Friends, students, learning, and more. That’s what the school year is about. My panic is subsiding and the excitement is building. August 20^th, it won’t be long now.

Slice of Life is sponsored on Tuesdays by Two Writing Teachers.