What Slicing Means To Me

My slice is about the slice itself & how grateful I am for it. Before I started my slice today, I was reading & commenting on other slices. One slice I read instantly brought me back to when my son was little. It is for this reason & well so many others that I LOVE slicing each week. I have met such kind, compassionate, dedicated & sweet educators that keep me coming back each week. I love to read what others are doing in their classes, I love to hear what others are struggling with in their classes, how others are approaching things we are facing in education. This is an amazing group of people & I am thankful for this opportunity each week for the glimpse into each person's world & for the opportunity to receive feedback on what I say. The feedback I receive is invaluable & means the world to me! Thank you slicers! I'm off to read more slices!
Hugs,

Snowmen..

I'm teaching Kindergarten this year, oh my gosh five year olds say & do the darndest things. We've been planning, wishing for, dancing & reading all about snow & snowmen. The day we had hoped for had arrived! We spent Friday going back & forth watching the weather report. Yup! There was snow in the forecast & boy were we excited. We read the book, "Snow Dance." I had purchased a snowman building kit, we wrote How-To's on building a snowman. We even did our very own snow dance. We were ready & now it was all up to mother nature to make our wishes come true! When putting my student's on the bus Friday afternoon I wished them a great weekend & reminded them, don't forget to hope for snow tomorrow & bring your snow gear to school on Monday!
Over night the storm snuck in quietly & I awoke to beautiful white blanket of snow all over my car, trees, lawn etc! Wahoo! I was so excited, just wish I was in school today to share this excitement with my students. I immediately jumped out of bed & ran for my camera in case some of my student's were missing out on this white splendor! Monday just wouldn't be here quick enough...I could just feel their excitement as they entered the room Monday morning! One of my English language learners walks in, big smile on his face & rushes up to me. I can feel his excitement, I can't wait to hear what he has to say about the snowstorm, I wonder did he go sledding, did he make a snowman? snowangel? snowballs? He is giddy with excitement, Mrs. P, Mrs. P, Mrs P, I'm answering & he does not even hear me, Yes, S, yes, what are you so excited about? He whips off his hat & says, "LOOK...no more hair, I have bugs!" Yup...I teach Kindergarten & I JUST LOVE THEM because you never know what they are going to say...& by the way, we did get to make our snowman, thankfully before it rained & took away all the snow! Not sure who was more excited, me or them? I think it might have been me.....which is why I should continue to teach Kindergarten because it is just so much fun!
Hugs,

Making 2012 a Great Year…

I promised myself that this year, 2012 I would make more time for the things that bring me joy and pleasure. This past year was very crazy, very draining on me & time just flew by too fast. Quite frankly, a blur. I have noticed that I am having a hard time remembering things. My memory is going, could be my age, yes, but I think it is that too much stuff, too much stress & not enough of doing things that are good for me. SO I decided that I needed to make some changes in my life in order to de-stress me, I decided it was time to write more and find more time to do the things I love. I wanted to make more time for reading, running and my crafts. I did find some time to get to the store and buy some fabric. I was very excited about picking out fabric. I did download some books that have been on my list to read, but I have yet to begin to read them. Every night since the last day I ran, December 26^th, I lay out my clothes for the gym, but the alarm goes off & I shut it off. I have tried leaving running quotes on my phone, reminders on my phone, motivational blogs are in my reader, I even put new songs on my I-pod, all things to motivate & excite me, I have all good intentions & yet, I still have not gotten to the gym. So, today I decided, I will write about my intentions, I will blog about them, I will make a calendar of my intentions, as well as a calendar of my workouts, Something that I will look at & will hold me more accountable, a schedule that I will need to fit in my life. I need to "schedule" in the things I like otherwise other silly things will get in the way & I will not get to the things I truly love to do! Here it goes, I've written it down…..I hope this works!
Hugs,

Elves, Reindeer, OH MY!

Elves, Reindeer, Christmas music, Christmas movies are all around & while I love all of these things, in Kindergarten they tend to lead to complete brain drain! How do you entertain 26 five year olds 3 weeks before Christmas? I have so much to teach...I've planned lots of fun things, but keeping their attention, keeping them even focused on the fun things is an exercise in futility! OH MY! Today, truthfully felt like the first few weeks of school! What do I do next? I've brought in the Elf on the Shelf! Even the Elf was at a loss today! OH MY! Tomorrow is Wednesday, half-way through the week. I think I will be working in small increments till December 23rd!
Hugs,

Writing & Running

TC has been talking alot this year about setting goals, specifically, writing goals, getting kids to write more. Writing longer & stronger. On two writing teachers, they spoke about it as well. I couldn't help but make a connection to how writing strong and long can be linked to my running life as well! I run, well, I should say, I try to run. I set goals, I try to meet those goals, I do not always achieve them, but I set goals. I believe it is the same in writing workshop. We need to have our student's set goals for themselves in writing. I also try to set goals for myself in writing. Goals that I want to accomplish. My student's need to set goals that they want & can accomplish. When I began to run I didn't set out to run the NYC marathon, I set out small. I ran small races first, then I set goals that were for bigger races, 1/2 marathons, (although illnesses, injuries have kept me from achieving those goals, the training did happen)so the practice was put in place! In my class we began this year setting small goals, when our year began my Kindergartners began reading & writing for 5 mins. Now it is November, they are reading for almost 15 minutes and writing for over 30 mins. They practiced to build up for the long & the strong. Practice is key, but so is the goal setting, knowing where you want to end up.
This year I am not coaching, I am back in the classroom, so I'm thinking of my own writing, my own goals in writing, what ways will I push myself professionally? I do not have access to other coaches where we brainstorm & talk about such things, ways we can push our student's to write strong & long. So my goal this year to find other teacher's on-line & in other venues that are trying to do the same things as myself! I am also thinking of reaching out to other like minded teacher's & starting a writing group. The past 2 years due to budget issues I have not attended NCTE where I learned so much. So again, I am going to think of other ways to grow my thinking.
Hugs,

Parent Teacher Conferences

This week we had parent teacher conferences. I am exhausted I must say! I always find them exhausting! I had 15 conferences in one evening, from 4-9 & then another 14 from 7:30 am till 1:00PM the next day! PHEW! However, I must say, I enjoy my conferences. I know, sounds crazy right? I find conference time most helpful to me as a teacher. It is my time to help me fill the pieces of the puzzle, to help me get to know my students a little more. This is the time to complete the puzzle. How do I get little Johnny to finish his work a little quicker? Why is it that little Suzie does not like gym? It is so important to build the pieces between home & school, the parents are the key to this piece. I leave conference time with my head spinning, filled with the new information that I have learned, filled with new ideas of how, of why...I leave excited & filled with new hope that together we will help all my students achieve & find success. So yes, I'm exhausted! I may not have taught during those conferences, but I sure was working! I was learning, thinking, listening, talking....phew! No wonder our student's are so tired at the end of the day!
Hugs,

I think I'm back....

I have not sliced or written on my blog in a long, long time! I've missed it, very much so, but life just got in the way! Things got in the way as well as people (or should I say family who felt the need to voice their opinion about my writing) got in the way! I never should have allowed that to stop me, but I did, but not anymore! I hope that this first slice will be the first of many! I've noticed that not slicing or not writing most certainly has an impact on my ability to keep my thoughts flowing. Writing each week or everyday most certainly improves my ability to have clear thoughts & to make words come more quickly! It is so good for the soul! It is good to be back!
Hugs,