Celebrate This Week!

Is it possible for #Nerdlution to change my whole attitude?  I think maybe it did.  Not only was it fun to watch people jump on board, but I have loved following everyone's first week of their #nerdlution. The Twitter feed is almost addicting! So many great stories.  Really, actually getting up every morning and walking, working on my writing for 30 minutes a day, and eating an apple seems to be making my days better. But, the whole idea of so many people coming together in this and the fun we are all having with it, makes it all such fun. What I love most is that we all jumped in and do what we do. Colby created a hashtag. Kevin created a song.  Kristi created a logo and a #nerdlution font.  There are playlists and jokes (love the photos) and encouragement and joy. Chris made a FAQ list for #nerdlution with fabulous answers! And you can find #nerdlution on Pinterest.  There is even talk of a #nerdlution Tweetchat.   It just seems like #nerdlution is good for all of us. A definite celebration.

We started our own version Genius Hour in our classroom this week. Kids can learn whatever they want every morning from 9:05-9:30.   I realized that I had slowly taken too much control in the classroom and it wasn't working. I don't teach that way and I know that. Not sure exactly how it happened but it did. Seems to take me a while to find my way when I start a new grade level.  Anyway, we started Genius Hour (along with other things--changed up a few routines that weren't making sense to me) and it's been great!  My favorite celebration was after 3 days, we were chatting as a class about what they liked about starting the day this way and one child said, "I didn't know I could help people. I always just thought I needed help." A big message for me and so glad I followed my gut about what wasn't working in the classroom.

I shared #nerdlution with my kids and told them that I had started the year with the intention of reading a picture book every day--just because. I read lots of picture books throughout each day but they all tie into something we are learning about. I have let go of the habit of just sharing great books on a daily basis, just because.  So I told them my classroom #nerdlution was for me to do that, every day after lunch.  And from their reaction, they will hold me accountable to this!  On Thursday, I pulled out Guess Again! by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex. I had meant to share this book earlier but had forgotten.  The kids made me read it twice because it CRACKED THEM UP! They laughed and laughed. Even my kids who try not to laugh out loud, couldn't help it.  Great fun!

And JoEllen shared a new title with us at NCTE called Winter is for Snow . I shared it with kids this week in Writing Workshop and we had an amazing workshop.  I thought the book might be too simple for workshop but I was amazed at how many craft decisions the kids noticed in the book and how many they wanted to play with in their own writing.  And it was the perfect week for a snow book, right?


We had a Snow Day!

And finally, I found this video this week and loved it:

I so love living my weeks paying attention to the celebrations. Thanks, Ruth for starting this great tradition! (And visit Ruth Ayres Writes for more Celebrate This Week posts!)

Poetry Friday -- Ode to My Big Toe

Dear Big Toe,

We've been together since before I was born.
You've helped me balance;
I've taken you for granted.

Now I'll give you the pampering you deserve...
at least until the bandages come off
and we get back to normal.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



You gotta love a podiatrist with a sense of humor! Because of a recurring infected ingrown nail, I had an eighth inch strip of toenail removed yesterday, and the doctor "signed" my "cast" with these Spiderman (or alien) eyes.

Here's to healthy toes!

Robyn has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Life on the Deckle Edge. The call for roundup hosts for January for June is here.

Poetry Friday Call for Roundup Hosts

It's that time again. Six months have passed since last we queued up to host the Poetry Friday roundups.

If you'd like to host a roundup between January and June 2014, leave your choice(s) of date(s) in the comments. I'll update regularly to make it easier to see which dates have been claimed.

What is the Poetry Friday roundup? A gathering of links to posts featuring original or shared poems, or reviews of poetry books. A carnival of poetry posts.

Who can do the Poetry Friday roundup? Anyone who is willing to gather the links in some way, shape or form (Mr. Linky, "old school" in the comments-->annotated in the post, Jog the Web, or ???) on the Friday of your choice. If you are new to the Poetry Friday community, jump right in! If you've never participated, but you'd like to get started, choose a date later on so that we can spend some time getting to know each other.

How do you do a Poetry Friday roundup? If you're not sure, stick around for a couple of weeks and watch...and learn! One thing we're finding out is that folks who schedule their posts, or who live in a different time zone than you, appreciate it when the roundup post goes live sometime on Thursday.

How do I get the code for the PF Roundup Schedule for the sidebar of my blog? I'll post it in the files on the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group, and I'd be happy to send it to you if you leave me your email address. Speaking of the the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group, I'll set up reminders on the calendar there. Plus, I'll send the schedule to Pam to put on the Kidlitosphere Central webpage.

Why would I do a Poetry Friday Roundup? Community, community, community. It's like hosting a poetry party on your blog!

And now for the where and when:

January
3   Betsy at I Think in Poems
10 Donna at Mainely Write
17 Keri at Keri Recommends
24  Tara at A Teaching Life
31  Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect

February

7   Renee at No Water River

14 Linda at TeacherDance

21 Karen at Karen Edmisten

28 Anastasia at Poet! Poet!

March

7   Margaret at Reflections on the Teche

14 Kara at Rogue Anthropologist

21 Julie at The Drift Record

28 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

April

4   Amy at The Poem Farm

11 Michelle at Today's Little Ditty

18 Robyn at Life on the Deckle Edge

25 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference

May
2   Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat.

9  Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup

16 Liz at Elizabeth Steinglass

23 Violet at Violet Nesdoly / poems

30 Diane at Random Noodling

June

6    Catherine at Catherine Johnson

13  Carol at Carol's Corner

20  Buffy at Buffy's Blog

27  Jone at Check it Out

Thankful For the Public Library!

The first thing you notice when you walk into my room is the books -- six shelves there (with tubs across the tops of all of them), a homemade cinderblock and plank shelf there, two tall ones there, two short ones under the chalk tray there, the one behind the small table that serves as my desk...books are everywhere.

And yet, as I worked on the details of how I would approach the nonfiction unit we were set to start this week, the details about what other kinds of learning I was going to aim for beyond the standards that guided our planning, I realized I didn't have enough nonfiction books.

Praise be for the ability to place reserves online!

Praise be for TWO library cards -- a citizen card plus an educator card!

I have 17 different volumes in the Scientists in the Field series checked out. I want to explore with my students what kind of stamina it takes to read longer nonfiction. (No, these aren't the only longer nonfiction choices they'll have, but what a great place to start, eh?)

I have 22 books by Steve Jenkins checked out. These books support a range of readers. And they are already noticing what I hoped they would -- the very narrow and creative topic choices Jenkins makes. I want him to be a mentor for their topic selection when we get deeper into the writing portion of this unit.

I have 9 books by Don Brown checked out (this is his newest ...with a name like Don Brown, it's hard to do an author search on Amazon!). He's coming to the Dublin Literacy Conference in February! He writes more literary nonfiction, without the internal text features we often see in nonfiction and with more of a story arc as the structure. He has great "stepping stone" books that might get a reader interested in a topic that they will explore further. This is another sub-goal I have for this nonfiction unit.

(If it feels like I'm stopping this post without fully explaining everything -- like I did with my word study choice time post yesterday -- blame #nerdlution. This is my 30 minutes to write and if I don't stop now, I won't get showered and a lunch made and to school on time! At least this one is better edited than yesterday's [I hope]. I'm planning to update the word study choice post with information that answers some of the questions in the comments. What else are you wondering about our nonfiction study?)

Choice

Giving students choice time in Language Arts takes a lot of trust.

I have to believe that setting aside my agenda for a half an hour every day will not result in lost instructional time.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Yesterday, when it was reading choice after a writing workshop focus day, a handful went back to the nonfiction they had begun in our new nonfiction study, but the two who are listening to The Lightning Thief as they read along happily plugged into the iPad minis and were lost in the story in an instant. Books that were in process before Thanksgiving came out to be finished. Several students had begun or were beginning next books in series: Clementine, City of Ember, Lunch Lady.

Because we had spent all of our word study time defining and beginning to explore our new roots, we hadn't had any word study choice time. We ended Social Studies with 15 minutes to spare, and the question, "How about some word study choice time?" was barely out of my mouth before this happened:

All I had to do was get out of the way...and play a game of Boggle...and figure out some tricky 4 Pics 1 Word clues.

A Visit from Artist, Steve Harpster

The day before I left for #ncte13 we had visiting artist, Steve Harpster, at our school. He is a local illustrator with lots of great books for kids on how to draw. After our class visited his website and watched some of his videos, we were really excited about his visit.   Here is what Harptoons is all about!

His work is perfect for elementary kids. I loved the way he made drawing complex things accessible for kids and I also loved the videos as mentors for the how-to videos kids might make during the year.

His sessions were as engaging as his website as he got kids drawing right away. We were told to make sure kids had paper and pencils because they'd be active. It was a great session as kids were engaged and laughing most of the time.

One thing I loved was that he used an iPad to present with.  I'm not sure what the app was but already my kids are playing around with draw tools in new ways, based on what they saw Steve do.  Even though the iPad was never mentioned, kids learned about another possibility with digital tools.

Steve Harpster's session was a great one and I love his drawing books. I have lots of how-to drawing books in my classroom but it is hard to find books that are as accessible to young children as these are.  My kids love them and they are already circulating around the class like crazy.


Visuals are becoming so important and I think it's important that kids play around with drawing as much as they play around with writing. Steve Harpster's session really gave my students confidence in their drawing abilities. Everyone left feeling like they could draw and I imagine I'll see that in their work across content area.

From what the website says, Steve Harpster does free Skype visits and free local school visits. I'd highly recommend checking out his website and his books!  I'm so glad we got a chance to learn from him!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Thanks to Jen at Teach Mentor Texts for inviting us all to participate in It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Visit her blog to catch up on everyone's reading this week.

So, I had a few hours free last week to browse Barnes and Noble. I haven't had time for book browsing in months and I forgot how much I love just looking at all that is new on the shelves. During my browsing, I realized how little Adult Fiction I've read lately.  I did read The Light Between Oceans: A Novel , which I loved, but not much else in 2013. I realized, as I was browsing, that I like my life much better when I am reading adult fiction. I love children's books, I love my professional reading and I love YA. But I also love adult fiction and I've let that part of my reading life go. So, even though I am not making this a #nerdlution, I am thinking I want to make more time for adult fiction in my reading life for 2014.  So, today's "It's Monday! What Are You Reading?" post is dedicated to adult nonfiction and books I am hoping to read in the near future.

I picked up Barbara Kingsolver's book, Flight Behavior: A Novel . I love her books and haven't read enough of them.  I am not sure how long this one will take me to read as I am reading for CYBILS and for a few other committees.  But I bought it and I have many adult fiction books on my TBR list. Here are some that looked good to me during my browsing.  I took photos so I would remember the covers and the titles.  I'm not sure I'll read all of these or if I'll read any of these, but I do want to get back to reading adult fiction more regularly.  This book browsing reminded me how much I am missing it!

Life After Life: A Novel by Kate Atkinson (I actually have 2 by this title that I want to read-they sound very different but equally good--Life After Life: A Novel

The Husband's Secret ,  The Outcasts: A Novel , The Light in the Ruins

Let the Great World Spin: A Novel (I've been meaning to read this one!) and Flight Behavior: A Novel .

And, Samantha Bennett always has great books to recommend. They are always a bit long but I can trust her when I say, "Tell me the ONE adult fiction title I need to read."  This time, she recommended The Goldfinch so I've added that one to my list too!

#NCTE13 Round Up

The power of attending NCTE's annual convention cannot possibly be explained in a blog post or two. We each have our own experiences and because none of us can be at two places at once, we can't possibly experience all there is at any one convention. So, the best way for me to get a sense of all that NCTE was and all that I missed, is to read everyone else's reflections.  Every year, for weeks following the annual convention, I read and reread posts of friends, old and new, who I continue to learn from through the year. Every year as I do this, I am reminded of all that I learned and I am also able to add new thinking from sessions I missed. The conference isn't over when it's over.

And, I think this week is the week that my list of people I follow on Twitter grows as I continue to discover new people to learn from.  So, in today's round up, I hope you find some new thinking as well as some new people to follow on Twitter. That way, we can all chat until we can meet in person again at #ncte14!

Every time I read a new post, I was reminded of why I am so happy to be part NCTE!

(Add an NCTE badge to your blog by going to the NCTE site.)

Below are links to several posts reflecting on #NCTE13!

Reflections on NCTE 2013 from @MaryLeeHahn

The Magic of NCTE from @guerrette79

20 Random Thoughts From NCTE Boston from RAMS_English

Notes From NCTE Ignite Session from @dogtrax

Slice of Life: NCTE 2013 from @katsok

Unpacking NCTE 2013  from @teachingfactor

NCTE Takeaways from @utalaniz

Raising Our Words: (re)Inventing the Future of English Education #ncte13 from @CathyMere

Thank You, NCTE! from @brenkrupp

The One With Awesome People from @mentortexts

NCTE 2013: Teachers Matter, Kids Count!  from @ClareandTammy

Celebrate This Week #NCTE13 and Celebrate This Week:A Primary Perspective! from @Deb_Frazier

Slice of Life NCTE Edition from @Flynn_Catherine

On Broken Door Handles and Butter Knives from @iChris Lehman

Thankful for NCTE from @MaineMeryl

Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher From @mariacaplin

New Generation from @busch_mariah

A Storify from @elisabethelling

NWP and NCTE: Collegial Conferring and Conversation at Its Best from @JanMeEwing

NCTE Recap from @barbaraoconnor

Falling Down the Up Staircase (NCTE Talk) from @NeumannicTimes

Reflections on NCTE: How My Work Will Change from @JessicaRae929

NCTE Rookie from @Jasontes5th

Vicarious Professional Development: Censorship from @judyjester

NCTE 2013: My Presentation from @WeinsteinDaniel

Thanks for a Giving Conference, NCTE and CEL 2013 from @teachcmb56

Teaching the Lessons of #NCTE13 from @litreader

NCTE13-A Note of Appreciation from @JustinStygles

NCTE Highlights (via Smore) from @MaryBellavance

What Teachers are Reading This Year from @SuzanneMcCabe1

The E in NCTE stands for Empowering Energizing and Enlightening from @BethShaum

Reinventing the Future at #NCTE13 from @AndersonGL

National Council of Teacher of English Convention 2013 from @MarcTNobleman

NCTE 2013-Boston from @megangreads

Celebrate Saturday from @MuellerHolly

Slice of Life Surprises at #NCTE13 from @GigiMcAreads

A Cornucopia of Ideas and Wise Ideas from NCTE from  @VickiVintonTMAP

Igniting NCTE 20O13 from @rholland5

NCTE in Boston-Amazing Weekend! from @LynMullalyHunt

Celebrate This Week! NCTE Version  from @frankisibberson

Coming Back from @nilegulm

My NCTE 13 from @medinger

Learning and Connecting at NCTE from @raisealithuman

NCTE: Reflections on Fear and Hope from @YABookBridges

NCTE and ALAN: Hardly Relaxing but Always Rejuvenating from @CBethM

Celebrate This Week! NCTE Version

Thank you, Ruth Ayres for giving us a reason to celebrate each week! For the link up, visit Ruth Ayres Writes.

There was so much to celebrate at #ncte13. As always, this was the professional highlight of my year.  Below are a few highlights from this year's convention.

My term on the Executive Committee ended and that's a little sad, but I am so thankful to have worked with such an amazing group of people.  It was an incredible experience--I learned a lot and made some great friends.  The mission of NCTE is one that is important to me and I loved my years on the EC.  I am in awe of the leaders of NCTE and feel honored to have worked with them.

The Elementary Section Get-Together Kick-Off was great. It is always so fun to see everyone and to kick off the convention together.  Jarrett Krosoczka was incredible as always.  The room was packed and within minutes I noticed my friends tweeting away!

First Wave was an amazing Opening Session on Friday morning. If you did not see the group, I don't know how to describe it.  It was the energy and the message we needed.  Ernest Morrell (@ernestmorrell) was this year's convention chair and he put together an amazing weekend, with First Wave being a wonderful surprise for me, as I'd not heard of them before this.

I met Peter Brown. I actually got to have lunch with Peter Brown at the Books for Children Luncheon. Not that I'm trying to make my friend, Deb Frazier jealous or anything.  (Even though this picture of me is hideous, it was worth sending out to Deb:-)  Meeting Peter Brown was on my list of important things to do at convention, as I am a huge fan. If you have never attended the Books for Children's Lunch, it is a highlight of the conference for me. A great place for author fans as there is an author at each table and you get to sit with one the whole time!  A real NCTE convention perk for author stalkers:-)

Speaking of the Books for Children Luncheon, Ann Marie Corgill and I were assigned to check in the authors. Welcoming and meeting all of the authors we love was quite fun.  So many amazing authors in one room!

Friday night, I attended the Choice Literacy dinner. I am reminded every time I am with Brenda Power and the Choice Literacy group how lucky I am to be part of this community. Another hideous picture but one that really summarizes the weekend of friends, learning and laughter.

I went to some great sessions that really helped me learn lots.  I started Friday off at Kidwatching in the Digital Age which was incredible. I tend to avoid roundtables but this session changed my mind. I started at a table with Katie Keier and learned so much in 10 minutes. Every 10 minute rotation gave me more to think about!  So many smart presenters, sharing so much about learning from their students. So much energy in one packed room!

I was thrilled to get a seat in the Close Reading session by Chris Lehman, Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts.  They are so smart about all that they say about children and reading.  It was definitely a highlight and I am looking forward to rereading Falling in Love with Close Reading now.

I loved getting a chance to go to an Ignite session with some amazing speakers. Like the roundtable, I loved the energy and all of the thinking I did.  And how can I not celebrate Penny Kittle, whose Ignite reminded us of the power of classroom libraries. She is so passionate about this that she has started The Book Love Foundation.  Such important work.

There is nothing like traveling with friends. I am reminded of that over and over again. Whether we are in a car for hours driving to #nerdcamp or in the airport for hours waiting for a plane, some of my best pd happens traveling with friends.

More than anything, NCTE is so much about learning from and thinking with each other. I happened to luck out and be sitting next to Patrick Allen and Sara Kajder met.  I love when 2 of who have learned from each other meet in person.

NCTE, A True Celebration!

#Nerdlution: When Mr. Sharp Creates a Hashtag, You Know He Means Business

It happened so quickly. I committed so publicly...to writing for 30 minutes each day and walking/running 20 minutes each day for 50 days....Here's how it happened.

After working through our book draft at #ncte13 and trying to figure out how to move forward, Bill and I left convention with a commitment to write for 30 minutes a day. I write that much now, but I am loose about what I write and  I needed to commit to 30 minutes a day on working on the book.  It seems if I don't write every day and I try to write on the weekends, I spend half of my weekend time trying to regain my thinking from the week before.  Writing every day seems like something worth trying.

Then I read Colby's post about his commitment to write every day.  Then as I was browsing blogs, I read about someone's running streak.  I decided a streak sounded like a good idea.  I was hesitant to think about actually committing to it because I did not do so well on my 2013 goals.

Streaks seem to work to change habits.  People write about lifestyle changes because of Run Streaks, Runner's World sponsors several streaks throughout the year. Sherry blogged about her experience about her Run Streak at Reading Teachers Running.

But streaks work for more than just running. I've seen that over and over again with Kate Messner's Teachers Write, Ruth Ayres' Slice of Life Challenge and Nanowrimo.

I have been looking for a way to get back to a more balanced life as my 2013 goals did not go so well.  My concussion caused me to stop too many things that I had committed to. But, I figured Katherine would be up for a streak, as she was one of my original running partners,  so I sent some tweets.

Then, Chris Lehman jumped in with his push-up resolution turned streak.

And then Bill realized that I had publicly committed the writing part for him too:-)

And then.....Colby created a hashtag!

And, when Mr. Sharp creates a hashtag, you know he means business....

Join us!

Pick a #nerdlution and check in each day on Twitter!

50 Days!

December 2-January 20 #nerdlution