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

Poetry Friday -- Giving Thanks

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by prettywar-stl

In Praise of My Bed

by Meredith Holmes

At last I can be with you!

The grinding hours

since I left your side!

The labor of being fully human,

working my opposable thumb,

talking, and walking upright.

(read the whole poem here, and sigh at the end)

Whew! Made it to the intermediate finish line known as Thanksgiving Break! First trimester report cards done and sent, we have at least a shell of a plan for second trimester instruction, and while the multiple final and pre-assessments given over the past two weeks have not been graded, at least there is a bit of breathing room to do so. 

I'm giving thanks for breathing room: time for sleeping in and napping, time for writing and reading, time for slowing down to a more reasonable pace.

Carol has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Carol's Corner.

Reflecting on NCTE 2013

I can't find the one perfect metaphor to describe what it's like to attend NCTE's annual convention.

There's the obvious -- NCTE is a family reunion. Not your biological family, your professional family: your peeps, your tweeps, your colleagues; your blog followers and blog idols; the authors whose books you've read and read aloud and used to grow readers and used to grow yourself as a teacher. Like a family reunion, NCTE is full of joyful squeals, warm hugs and handshakes, food and drink, and conversation long into the night.

But NCTE is more than just a family reunion.

NCTE is the loom where we weave the tapestry of our professional life. The people we meet there and the people we reconnect with there are certainly threads that make up part of who we are as teachers, but so are the ideas that we explore in our sessions (both giving and receiving). Our committees and groups and affiliations are also threads in our cloth. For the week we are at NCTE, we weave like crazy -- sometimes outlining a basic pattern we'll fill in once we return to our lives and our work, sometimes adding detail to an existing pattern.

But NCTE is more than just a loom.

I imagine all of the teachers who attend NCTE as glass jars. Some are fancy, others are plain and functional. All are filled with marbles that represent who they are and all they do in their lives. Every jar is filled to the top with marbles: family, teaching, writing, reading, friends, hobbies. Every life is filled to the top, and yet here they all are, at NCTE. NCTE is like a fine sand that can fill the spaces between the marbles. The thinking, the learning, the connections to teachers and authors -- all of that filters in and surrounds the rest of who we are. Instead of empty spaces between our marbles, there are people and ideas and books we can lean on throughout the year.

But NCTE is more than fine sand.

My professional life is one room in the house of Me. Actually, my professional life wants to be the whole house, but for right now, I'm just giving it one room. It's a big room, spacious enough to fit all of the people who help me to be a better teacher. The ceiling is high, to accommodate lofty ideas and ideals. The walls are lined with books that grow me and that grow my students. There's a large wooden table in this room (probably as filled with stacks of papers and books as the table before me right now), and there's a lamp in this room, shedding light on it all.

NCTE is the lamp in the room of my professional life.

Pomegranate

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Minneapolis Moose

POMEGRANATE

I was so very ready 

to leave it all behind.

A red-rinded pomegranate waits 

on the kitchen counter:

insurance that I will

return.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

Let's welcome Katya back to the Poetry Friday fold! In spite of her crazy fall, she's hosting the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Write. Sketch. Repeat.

Celebrate This Week!

A few quick celebrations from the week! So fun that this is already the 5th week of this great tradition--one I already look forward to each Saturday! I try to spend lots of time reading others' celebrations linked at Ruth Ayres Writes as it reminds me there are so many reasons to celebrate!

We got lots of comments to last week's Celebrate This Week post and I used random.org to choose the winner of the Trashy Crafter's Dr. Seuss necklace. And the winner is.....#5! Congratulations Leigh Anne!

For some reason, I haven't found much time to bake this year.  But I baked a basic muffin/cupcake recipe that's been in our family for years.  My grandfather used to like them every day and so they were always around.  It is one of those quick recipes that is easy to make and that everyone in the family seems to love. I have one cupcake pan that I've used for these for years and I only use it for these (they don't work well for many other muffins and cupcakes.) As I was making them, I couldn't help but celebrate how lucky I am that I grew up with baking (grandmothers, mothers, aunts). Everyone has their own recipes and then there are a few that we all love and make.  Love this!

I discovered this great Ted Talk which I love as it makes learning something (anything) new seem doable!

I love Battle Bunny but just discovered this Book Trailer this week

I got lots accomplished this week.  The week leading up to NCTE is always busy with sub plans, report cards, getting presentation together, etc.  I feel like I am almost ready!

I did a podcast with Angela Maiers for Choice Literacy several weeks ago. It was published today in Choice Literacy's Big Fresh. It was nice to revisit the podcast as I have been thinking so much about all that Angela talked about.

I have been thinking lots about Genius Hour and plan to start it in a few weeks with my 3rd graders. I love that I sent out a question and got so many responses from people with links to help me think through the idea!  So exciting to see all that people are doing around this idea.  (I started a Pinterest Board on the topic to help collect thinking but haven't had time to add much yet.)

One of my students asked me for the Slice of Life logo for one of her Kidblogs posts! I love that kids are seeing so many of the things I share with them as  the invitations and possibilities for their own learning lives.

The kids did October's Solve It Your Way! in the classroom on Friday.  It was amazing. Their thinking was amazing, their collaboration was amazing, the growth since the first Solve It Your Way was so clear! It was joyful learning. It was AMAZING.  I couldn't capture everything that was happening but one group decided to videotape their experiment.  So much to celebrate in their video!