Missing by Catherine Macphail

I picked this book up as a quick read, appropriate for Halloween. I finished it in about an hour, with a lot of distractions. It definitely fits the bill as a quick read and I think my students will enjoy it.
Maxie is angry- very angry. Her older brother, Derek, disappeared on his [...]

Parent-Teacher Conferences

While jumping from blog to blog, I stumbled upon a post at Learning and Laptops. It immediately caught my interest because I am still exhausted from our parent-teacher conferences last week. We have 3 nights of conferences and one afternoon and we make appointments with parents for 15 minutes each. Ninety-nine percent [...]

NaNoWriMo

I’ve been working on my writing curriculum for the year. Our state testing has been moved from March to May, so I am not as rushed as I was in the past. Because of this, I don’t have to teach persuasive writing now, like I normally would. I can push that off [...]

Stress Relief

Last week we had Parent-Teacher Conferences at school. No matter how prepared you feel, this is always a very long and stressful week. I started thinking about how I destress and wanted to share what I came up with.
See, I am still a little kid at heart. When I want to escape [...]

Professional Development

My district has decided to give me district days for my monarch trip in February. That means I have 2 professional development days to put to good use this year! I have spent today scouring the internet for workshops and I am coming up empty! Ideally, I would like two separate [...]

Writer’s Notebook Wednesday

“Don’t drop the ring, don’t drop the ring, don’t drop the ring!”
I repeated the mantra over and over in my head as I rolled the thick, heavy wedding band across my thumb. Below my feet, the wooden planks that made up the dock seemed to have spaces the size of textbooks between them. [...]

Mexico!

I have great news…..this weekend I received word that I have received a fellowship from EIRC/Geraldine Dodge Foundation to visit Michoacan, Mexico! For those unfamiliar with this part of Mexico, I will be visiting the Monarch butterfly sanctuaries right before the butterflies begin their migration back to the north.
I AM SO EXCITED!
Now, I just [...]

Writer’s Notebook Wednesday

This is my first contribution to Writer’s Notebook Wednesday! It is a personal narrative I have been writing alongside my class:
As we pulled into the stranger’s driveway, the excitement in the car grew. The garage door was open and we could see two golden-fleeced puppies playing in a large crate.
“We are [...]

Meetings

I have been thinking lately about the many meetings we have at school. A few of these meetings always focus on language arts and the “best” way to teach. Over and over I hear that while “independent reading is not a waste of time” it is not possible for students to read for [...]

Barnes and Noble Educator’s Night

I am off to Barnes and Noble for their Educator’s Reception tonight. The girls from school are meeting me there and we have been thinking positively all day: we will win something! They will be raffling off books and gift cards. I want to win the $500 Barnes and Noble gift [...]