Why, yes! I will plan my life!!

Today's post is about something completely unrelated to teaching...well, maybe not completely...


I am a datebook/planner dork!  I live my life by my planner...everything I need to remember is written in there.  Call it age, memory loss...I'm ok with that!!  But my college-aged daughter is the same way! 

Well, a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to conduct a staff development on my campus.  A couple of teachers came to the meeting with planners (date books, calendars...whatever you want to call them!)  One teacher had a lesson planner; the other, a standard calendar/planner.  They were personalized. They were so very cool...I had to get one for myself!!  Since then, many of the teachers on my campus have purchased planners!  I bought one for my daughter, Megan, as well!

When I came home from a "girls date" with Megan, my Erin Condren order had arrived!

This is my planner!

This is Megan's!

 You HAVE to check out these planners!! They are sold by www.erincondren.com !!  This company has every kind of planner you can imagine...life planners, notebooks, lesson planners, notecards, etc.  If you're organized, whatever you need can be found there!!  The month tabs are laminated and everything is held together by a thick, sturdy metal spiral.  I looovvvveeee the personalization part of it!  You can add a photo to your choice, sticker photos, etc.  This. Is. So. Fantastic.

I don't work for or get anything from this company.  I am strictly a customer.  But, sometimes, when you find an item that is so great, you just have to share with your followers!  I have to admit, their prices are a little high, in my opinion.  Especially on note cards, stationary, and the like.  BUT, you could spend just as much on a store bought planner.  It really comes down to what you want and what you are willing to spend on yourself!  I am actually going to by a couple as Christmas gifts for family  members. 

The cool weather has hit Texas, so I am off to bundle up and watch a movie or two.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thinking well is wise; planning well, wiser; but doing well is the wisest and best of all. -Persian Proverb

Always,

A Little Note about Writing...

 Hello, all!!  It has been soooo long since I put up a new post on my blog!  I've been so engrossed in learning about my new position, and trying to do it well, that I have neglected the usual things that give me joy!  Updating this blog is one of them!

I am really growing into my new position as a Campus Instructional Specialist.  It's been challenging...I now deal with grades 3-5, instead of just fourth, so I have had to become familiar and comfortable with the different curricula.  The bonus side:  I no longer have grades or papers to grade!  My weekends are a lot less stressful because of it!!  I get to see the ways different teachers do their thing and I've seen a lot of great lessons and ideas!  The negative side:  I miss working with students, every day and on a regular basis.  That being said, I have had the chance to model lessons for a couple of teachers.  The student interaction has been wonderful!

Well...enough about me!! On to my reason for posting!!

Writing is one of my favorite subjects! (Go figure!) It's always come easy to me...the grammar, the vocabulary, the structure... I love putting ideas on paper.  I've always dreamed of being a writer...I even began a book, adding things over the last couple of years. (It's a work-in-progress, though.  It will probably never see the light of day!)  But it's fun and it's mine! Haha!  Anyway, I also love teaching writing.

Our district curriculum focuses on using Units of Study by Lucy Calkins .(This link will take you to Amazon.) Lucy is the be-all, end-all writing guru.  While I find her units difficult to follow, the ideas and methods used are solid. It's based on great ideas, if you can manage the fluff. But, that's just my lowly opinion.

I believe writing can be taught as a method.  There are steps to writing, especially with beginning writers.  When writing is taught methodically, students begin to pick up a pattern for composing a piece, whether it be a narrative, expository, how-to, etc.  We all learned to do this, in some form or fashion, when we were in school!  (Remember outlines?????)

I've had the chance to model narrative compositions for third graders (based on Lucy's units).  The group I am working with began their planning page with a "storyboard".  I love using the term; I told students how storyboards are used by the creators of their favorite movies!!!  Despicable Me, Finding Nemo...all of those movies began with a storyboard!!

Students drew pictures in student-made boxes for a story that they wanted to tell.  Then, out to the side of the box, they wrote about what the boxes were trying to show.  The next day, students used a green pencil to add to the picture...then to the sentences.  (See the pattern?? Picture..sentence...picture...sentence...)  The green pencil idea came from the teacher I am working with...she had students use green to show that they are "growing" their composition!!! Neat, huh?

Since I don't have my own classroom this year, I made an "example" so you can get an idea of the pattern...

Tomorrow, we plan to put our "storyboard" onto paper without the pictures. We will edit/revise from that copy (sloppy copy, rough draft, ...).  We will then make a final copy.

We are doing one step each day, so that students can work without pressure.  My hope is that when they revisit narratives, this process will be part of their routine.

I promise (to myself) to get back on the blogging track!  Oh...and back on the blog-hopping track, as well!!

What is written without effort is in generally read without pleasure.
–Samuel Johnson

Always,

Just Gotta Share...

The  word "love" is over-used in the following post.  I did NOT use a thesaurus! Consider yourself warned! Ha Ha!

Ok...I have to admit...I am a staff development/workshop geek. Do they have a support group for that? Blasphemy, you say?  I know, I know...we all dread the development days at the beginning of the school year, especially if we've been in the same district for years.  I agree...things get really repetitive. But, I love the curriculum workshops.  Sorry.  I like getting a new scope and sequence; I like getting new ideas (that I sometimes forget the following day...but hey); and I absolutely love ordering books mentioned during a workshop from Amazon on my phone. Yes, I am indeed a geek. And since I'm blogging this year, I'm passing on some info to you!

As many of you know, my new position involves working with teachers and students in grades 3, 4, and 5.  So, for the first time ever, I went to a workshop to hear 3rd grade ideas. It was a two day event that dealt with bridging the gap some students show when they move from a non-testing grade to a testing grade. (In Texas, students take the state test for the first time in 3rd grade.)

Well...I loved this workshop primarily because we received two FREE professional books.  Yes. Too. Cool.  I love free anything or peppermints on the table! So imagine the JOY of getting an actual BOOK!!! Two of them!!!  My Geekdar was off the charts!  I just have to share the best one!

It is called Independent Reading:  Inside the Box by Lisa Donohue.  Here is a pic of the cover:

I love this book because it combines skills lessons with fiction and non-fiction ideas with higher level thinking with station ideas with the independent reading part of balanced literacy! Get. Out. Of. Town.  Awesomeness!!!!!  Here is just one picture of the many ideas shown in the book:

The really cool thing about this is that I can use the ideas to create my two favorite things...anchor charts and foldables!! (If there was an Olympic medal in those areas I would sooooo win  gold!)  Part of our "activity" during the workshop was to show other teachers our interpretation of different sections of the book.  I created examples of an anchor chart I might create based on visualization ideas from the book.  I created two.

Fiction

Non-fiction

In the first one, I love that students learn visualizing is not just a "picture" in their head...we use all five senses to understand characters and events! Great chart for shared reading! The second one encourages students to draw a picture of what is being studied and label it.  My sticky notes are ideas of different ways I could use this chart!  I would draw a diagram ahead of time and prompt students to help me label as we read!

Students can use these ideas to then respond to text during independent reading! I just love it!  This book can be ordered from www.qepbooks.com.  I don't know if it's available on any other site...this address is on a sticker on the back of the book.  I just know it's perfect for those looking for new ideas for anchor charts and text response.

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along! --Arthur C. Clarke

Always,