My bode of confidence

My bode of confidence today is brought to you by one of my creative little 6th graders who used me as an example for her figurative language notes. I have a rule in my classroom that students are not allowed to use anyone in the class, or in the school, as an example for anything but today I make an exception.

Miss Ward's eyes are diamonds.
And please, my hair is long, full, and beautiful! Not to mention my bomb-diggity outfit!

ah-chooooo

Everyday when students walk into our classroom there is a journal prompt on the board for them to address. I ask for them to write at least a half a page each day. I try to mix up the prompts and different styles of writing. Students seem to get really excited for photo prompts- and usually some really interesting stories follow suit. Students also really seem to love free write Friday's. Usually on Friday's my free write usually consists of a to-do list. I always write along with my students. Today I am typing this! :)

Today's journal prompt is:
In English, writers generally use ah-choo to describe the sound made by a sneeze. In Russian, the sound in ap-chi. In Chinese, it is han-chee. In Czechoslovakian, its kychnuti.

Create five more ways to describe a sneeze. Then use them all in a paragraph with someone with allergies. 

I saw this prompt in an "Un-journaling" book and loved it! When the prompt went up on the board I immediately had students in my class who spoke another language want to share how to describe a sneeze in their language! One of my students who speaks Chinese at home even corrected the spelling of the prompt's description from "han-chee" to "hut-tee".  It was so much fun! One of my students who speaks fluent Arabic took a while to translate how his dad would describe his sneeze. He does not know who to write or read Arabic. He finally determined that it is ah tshw!  We even all described a sneeze sound at the same time like a Sneeze Symphony!

How would you describe your sneeze?

Do not point!

I really enjoying teaching middle school. Other educators find it hard to believe that middle school teachers can be with middle schoolers all day! I cannot imagine being in an elementary school all day. And even high school! I admire all educators of every grade level. We all have a grade-level that we are comfortable in. For me, that is middle school. I love the quirky, little squirrels in middle schools. They are just young enough to want to still follow directions but they are all coming into their own and discovering what makes them unique. I truly think that there is something magical about middle school. Encouraging students to embrace their individuality and how to effectively communicate with others is so important at this age.

This year I am blessed to have a roster full of hilarious, energetic, spunky, comedians. A few students, in particular in my 6th grade language arts class are true characters. One of my little ones is a fellow shoe lover who's free spirt reminds me of Leslie Burke from Bridge to Terabithia. Another one of my little ones is an interesting little bird who's energy is unmatched. She is strong-voicing all of her opinions, kind and brave, and can always helps me brainstorm "lists of randoms". Another one of my little pumpkins is a boy who is unlike any student I have had before. He is often seen as a student who just blurts out everything that comes to his mind, but he is so far beyond his years. His humor is not matched by his middle school classmates. I was so impressed with him when he acted as the sole translator for his mother during a parent-teacher conference. His professionalism and character was astounding. This student, in particular, was present when one of my dear friends visited our classroom for a read-aloud. After he was done reading to the students, this student decided to make a mystery out of a post-it he found. It was obviously a student trying to calculate his grade, but he was making up an elaborate tail! When he was speaking to our guest, he did address him as Mr.Conner, but then he pointed. I instantly used that as a teaching moment to ask him not to point at other people, stating that it was unkind. He immediately tucked his finger into his body and proceeded to point at our guest with his elbow! Declaring that HE had left the mysterious note. It was just too funny. Both of us busted out laughing at his witty ability to still address him with his elbow instead of not pointing at all! It truly amazes me at the amount of different characters that are in my classroom every day and I love encouraging them to embrace their uniqueness!

Pinterest

After having a conversation with a friend yesterday about the pressures to put on beautifully constructed birthday parties for her children, ,thanks to Pinterest, I was inspired to dedicated today's post to my Pinterest-verse. I spend so much time on Pinterest. It is a great wealth of knowledge. But it is also incredibly daunting. I am in the process of planning our wedding in July and there are so many beautiful, crafty, elegant designs on pinterest that I want to incorporate. But where is the time? Where are the resources?
It is always so interesting to see other people's "interest" boards. I have a few classic go-to's: Decor Some More For my ever present need to design beautiful rooms for our home. Gimme Gimme Which is obviously things I want to just end up in my lap- but more often than not, my closet. Dear Connie, Here is my Christmas List. An ode to my mother who wants to have a list of things to shower us with on birthdays and holidays. :) Shall I DIY? This one is my favorite. My sister and I spent about 30 minutes one day, a few years ago, laughing so hard we were CRYING at the amount of things I have pinned to this board. Let's just say, I am not crafty nor patient enough to even partake in the easiest craft and I have over 500 pins of things I'm "debating" on DIY-ing?! It is so ridiculous. But maybe, one day?

I love looking at all of the different hair color options and styles before I venture to the hair salon. And love the wonderful amounts of clever classroom ideas I gather from pinterest.  Let's not forget to mention the yummy recipes. Pinterest like many things requires a balance. Use it as a resource, an escape but do not let it value the quality of your life experiences.

Even that picture is overwhelming.

Artfully relaxing

Today I spent the day in the city with one of my best friends. We both decided to sign up for a professional development class at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. What a good choice! I was a little hesitant at first to sign up- that meant getting up early on a Saturday :/ But I knew that it would be something that was interesting to me.
We made the trek down to D.C, of course, accompanied by Starbucks coffees. We found what we thought to be a wonderful parallel parking spot right outside of the White House and the Washington Monument on Constitution Ave. However, it was prettttyy far (10+ blocks) from the National Gallery of Art. Did I mention we didn't want to take our coats? When we arrived at the Gallery, we were greeted by a warm hug from the Art Gallery air! Once we found our group, we walked into the Gallery for French Impressionism. We worked on using Art as a platform for Storytelling. It was wonderful to spend the morning observing art, creating stories, and imagining what our students could do will getting to experience beautiful art work.  Afterwards, Christina and I had a spectacular brunch at Founder Farmers.

It was a wonderfully educational and enjoyable Saturday morning!

Welp, I've done it!

Superstition got me good! I have done it! I talked about the snow so you all should know where I am today... sitting in my classroom looking out the window to my own person snow globe. Here in Loudoun, we almost always get off for any type of snow! But, to our decision makers credit, the roads were perfectly clear. So off to work I went.

But isn't it beautiful?

Superstition

My father is extremely superstitious. It has been something that, as a family, we discovered slowly and of course, as any supportive family would do, like to poke the bear when we can! :) He HATES the number 13. He won't sit at any sporting event in a 13th seat, 213th section, or even 31 (13 backwards). My favorite story about my dad's superstition happened on January 1st, 2014 at 12:01 am when my mother went to kiss her love for a New Year's kiss. He made a huge sigh before leaning in and expressed, "We made it! It's over!" Eluding to the 2013th year!

My goodness. Phew! But I've decided that I have caught that little bug. I don't like to look up things before they happen. I do not like to talk about somethings before they have happened, before they are final! For example, when my students were pulling ahead in our Battle of the Books win yesterday (read my other blog post about the battle :) ) I wanted to look up when the finals took place so that I could clear my schedule but I did not want to jinx them before they officially won.

What got me thinking about my superstitious tendencies, is the potential snow-day tomorrow! I hope I do not jinx it by blogging about it, looking up the weather, or, heaven-forbid, talking about it! 

I always believe that there is a special energy to each person, each action, and each thought. I'm nearly certain that kind of energy is exuded into the world and can tamper with what is going to be. 

It is the same kind of energy as positive thought! Positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative, and more happiness.  It is extremely powerful and something I've learned to work towards. I believe in the power of thought. And it can be a compelling tool. 

With all of that being said, I'm still hoping for a snow day tomorrow to catch up on laundry, reading, and cuddling with my dogs!

Get ready, get set, BATTLE

At the beginning of this school year, I was devastated that one of our favorite clubs was not going to be sponsored by our librarians anymore. For the past two years, I have volunteered as Judge for our school's Battle of the Books team. If you do not have Battle of the Books at your school, it is an amazing competition team that we are apart of that encourages children to read outside of their assigned reading. Furthermore, it requires students to know the typically 4 assigned books THE BEST compared to the other competitors. I have loved almost every book selected for the battle, i.e. Lincoln's Grave Robbers, Legend, The False Prince, Trash, Out of My Mind, Ghost of Graylock, Because of Mr. Terupt, Eleventh Plague, and Wonder.  This year our battle books were Cinder, Counting by 7's, Mr. Lemoncello's Library, and Mark of the Thief. I decided to take on this club all by my lonesome this year and the pay off was big! Today was our semi-final competition for Battle of the Books! We competed against one of the other local middle schools. My 13 students were very intimidated by the 50+ odd number of competitors for the other school.

The competition consists of 4 rounds of 6 questions each. It amazes me every year how much these students remember about the books! Minute details that I would forget 30 seconds after reading them, these students recall at a drop of a hat, under the stage lights, in front of an auditorium full of their peers, parents, and teachers. After the first two rounds, we were still tied. NAIL BITTING! Finally, our battlers started pulling away in the third round! First by only two questions awarded full credit to our team, and half credit awarded to the other team. It was so incredibility nerve-racking!

 And then, the final question we were awarded full credit and pulled out a 270 to 190 point win! 

I am so proud of this fierce-some 13! We compete at the finals on March 17th! I can't wait!

SOL Day 1

Here we go, Slice of Life challenge day1. I participated last year and have tried to keep up with posting to my blog but fell short. I even tried to make my own little series of Lesson Share Sundays, which I will now definitely keep up! Yahoo!

 The quote of the day really speaks to me today, "It always seems impossible until it is done," by Nelson Mandela. Right now I am in at a very transitional point in my life. My fiancé has been relocated to Rocky Mount, Virginia and I am living in-between both houses until the end of the school year. Some days, it seems impossible. It seems daunting. It seems overwhelming. But I know it will be over in a few short months and we have a lot to look forward to then.

I am excited about this new blog challenge, and getting the opportunity to share what is going on in a different way.





















I spent the weekend down at the new house with the dogs, and can you believe it? We sunbathed! Well, I got sunburnt. But they sure enjoyed it! Gunner is laying back in the shaded area in our new backyard while Murph Man completed exhausted himself playing catch!

Cheers to Spring-like days full of new opportunities.

Lesson Share Sunday

I got to teach one of my favorite lessons last week under the watchful eye of a hopeful student teacher. I did not know she was going to be here but I was glad that she was able to watch this lesson unfold. 

Part of our sixth grade curriculum is teaching students how to use context clues to differentiate among multiple meanings of words. This allows students to read more complex text and increase vocabulary, right? :) I always find that context clues is not something you can just stand and deliver-- It is something the students have to be taught in exploration. I always tell students that this is something I cannot teach them, but I can give them the tools to learn and teach themselves. 

A few years ago, a colleague gave me a copy of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky". 

Confession: The first year I didn't want to use it- simply because the words terrified me. I love reading aloud to my students and I certainly did NOT want to read these words aloud! 

So this year I tweaked what I attempted to do with it two years ago and MAGIC! 

I start by displaying this picture on the SMARTboard for their journal entries. I really enjoy the mystical tales they create. Students are often really inspired by picture prompts. 

After, students are allowed to share out. This often sparks even more interest into the unknown beast. I still do not lead on to the lesson ahead. 

Afterwards, I give students a quick mini-quiz asking them to define and describe words from the Jabberwocky without telling them where the words are from or what they mean (their answers are quite creative). On the backside of the mini-quiz is an identical copy of the quiz. After they read the poem, I prompt them to take the other mini-quiz (but later on). 

I pass out Lewis Carroll's poem. I prompt students to read it all the way through, without stopping on words they don't understand, without re-reading stanza's, without making notes-- just read to enjoy reading. Before they begin, I ask them to turn over their poem when they are finished (a quick visual indicator for me to move on). Once all students have read over it once, I ask for feedback. Almost always students will say they didn't understand a single thing! Most students seem relieved to see that others feel the same way about the words they just read that seem to be haphazardly thrown on a page. Great conversation usually follows. 

Next, I'll display a quick annotation guide on the board. This guide suggests students to circle words they don't understand (( I usually make a joke that they can't just circle the entire poem and be done with it. Cirlcing words you don't understand is typically for words that you think impact your understanding of the poem)), underline key information or powerful passages, ask questions in the margins, and draw arrows for connected ideas. 

I ask students to read again and practice using those annotation skills. 

Here is a sample of a students annotations. 

Next, I play aloud a reading of "Jabberwocky", by John Green. I love his inflection, his animations, and his voice! 

I prompt students to listen for the second read aloud by John Green but ask them to then annotate when his reading helps them understand the poem more completely. 

Lastly, as mentioned before, students take the identical mini-quiz again.  This time they can use their poem and their annotations to answer. I ask students to clue me into how they figured out those words, now, when they were never given a dictionary. And Voilá--CONTEXT CLUES!  

I usually take a bow and tell them I just taught them context clues without teaching them context clues because they teach themselves context clues and so on and so forth! 

It is really excited to see them make connections, discoveries, and conclusions on their own-- acknowledging their own strengths and understanding. 

Lesson Share Sunday

I've decided to start sharing lesson plans once a week from the previous week. Not just to show how awesome students are, but so that others can steal and tweak these lessons to inspire students everywhere.

This week we are learning and mastering properly punctuating dialogue. It can be tricky. Students don't notice how often they see it, how it works exactly, and how to write their own. They often don't recognize it as dialogue. 

I start by having students analyze objects in the bin. They are then to brainstorm about how these objects would act as if they are humans- as a way to introduce character traits. Some of the objects I put in their bins this year were paper clips, fuzzy pens, pom-poms, and eraser tops. They get pretty creative with the items. 

After that I prompt them to then brainstorm the different words they could use as speech tags to convey to their audience those character traits. (Speech tags like said, yelled, and asked are off limits) 

Notice the fuzzy red pen ("she" will come back into play later on).

Then, in their "table-hoods" they are to create a poster about a character of their choosing (does not have to be from the object bin) and (1) illustrate the character, (2) surround him/her with the speech tags, and (3) frame the picture with 4 examples of dialogue. 

This is the draft I show them:

 And then I tidy it up a little bit.

This year one of my classes really made me giggle. They were so inspired by the character they created of the Fuzzy Red Pen they used her as their character for their poster.

Her name is Beatrice. 

She is a granny who loves tracksuits, eats too much bubble gum, and speed walks around the mall! Their poster was just as hilarious. Please notice some of the dialogue-

 "My chewing gum brings all the boys to the yard," announced Beatrice. 

"Excuse me, I need to buy another tracksuit," informed Beatrice. 

"My chewing gum is losing flavor!" shrieked Beatrice. 

And my personal favorite...

"I'm single and ready to flamingle!"cackled Beatrice. 

Even my principal got to witness that little gem in class.

 Their creativity and enthusiasm was pure magic. 

Our Saturday project

For the past 15 years, about, a ghastly florescent light has attempted to provide enough light for our kitchen. When I'm cooking, I cast a shadow on the stove.  When I'm washing dishes, I cast a shadow on the sink.  When I have a migrane, it is a killer! 

Today we (Matt) spent the day drilling, measuring, and mounting various things for our new light fixture. I've never been one to be able to put things together- especially with patience. But he did an amazing job! 

Let there be light! 

Gunner

Dog post day 2. Because now I have two dogs. Gunner is a goofball. In his heart, he is kind, gentle, playful, and curious. But his body is large, clumsy, and relentless when searching for his next treat. He does the most peculiar things. 

He thinks at 100 pounds that he is a lap dog. I assure you, he is not. 

But he is loyal, kind, and loving.  We would be lonely without him.

The Murphy Belt

As I type, I have on what my dad calls, "The Murphy belt". Stretched across my body is a furry, white mass of puppy too adorable for words. 

I have always loved dogs. In elementary school, in Gahanna,Ohio as a first grader, I once wrote, "I love my mom because she lets me ride my dog around the house." What a great sentiment however, I never had a dog. Believe it or not I drew a picture to further accompany the tale in my head. 

It wasn't until I was in a new state and a new school when my parents finally caved and got me my first dog, Charlie. I enjoyed his companionship for 18 years.  He passed last year. 

In January, 2014, I decided just to casually browse the adoption websites and look for puppies that need a home and I fell in love. His name is Murphy. His short white hair, chestnut patched eye, and adorable little spots suckered me right in! I just had to have him. 

I want to say that it was a Sunday when I sent in my application and by the next Sunday, I had my little bundle of joy all the way from New Hampshire. 

He changed my life. He saved me.  He was a ray of sunshine through the night, the fog, and the clouds.  

Here's to the little Murph Man- the day after National Puppy Day! 

I swear I am an adult

Yes, I attend middle school everyday. Yes, I sometimes lolly-gag in the hallway talking to my friends. Yes, I talk when teachers are talking. Yes, I sometimes forget to do my homework. Yes, I bring pizza lunchables to school, sometimes. Yes, I get nervous when I get called to the main office. Yes, I dream and pray for snow days. Yes, I long for summer vacation. And yes, I currently have a tongue tattoo from my fruit roll up. 

My current guilty pleasure. 

I am an adult- I swear. 

Apple, Blueberry, Cherry, Pumpkin

3/14/15 9:26 

Yesterday in all of my Math7 classes we celebrated the Pi day of the century! And this morning, I am posting in celebration of this auspicious occasion! My students were really excited about the Pi day of the century all week! They were mildly, well, greatly disappointed I did not bring them pies to indulge on! But we celebrated with a few crafts- to include an ode to math poem- that's right! Poems! And a competiton, as to, who could remember the most numbers in Pi. 

Happy Pi day of the century! 

Our Pi day bracelets- the varying colors represent the values in Pi and beneath us is the room long Pi chain we made- again representing the values of irrational Pi. . 

Tomato soup and grilled cheese

The only thing that feels better than my bed is a hot mug of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Cheers from the infirmary! 

Better late than never

So, I've been pathetically curled up in bed with my dogs, sick as a dog. I know they would feel betrayed after staying by my side all day that I'd use that expression! However, after a long nap I am still tired and going to bed. 

Loyal all day and only a tad bit obnoxious. 

Three River City

Today at school it is primary color day. 7th grade, one of the grade levels I teach, was designated to wear yellow. I rummaged through my closet- which is colored coded already- to discover I do not own anything yellow! It is not something in my color pallet. Red- I have plenty. Blue- don't even get me started. But yellow? Nada.  So I opted for a gold, University of Pittsburgh shirt. I have already longed, twice today, to visit Pittsburgh sometime soon. I don't know what it is about that city, but I love it. I still have close family ties to Pittsburgh and visit often; but every time I round the corner on the turnpike and I catch the first glimpse of the skyline (small skyline, that is) my heart jumps a little bit. I love the food- Primanti Brothers and The Original Hotdog Shop-- I crave them daily! I love the sports teams; I don't miss a Penguins game. I get excited when I notice that movies are filmed in the city. Let alone if a movie even mentions Pittsburgh. I get frustrated with people forget the 'h' at the end. --My first reaction after seeing a sign in Northern California for Pittsburg, CA was, "That sign is spelled wrong." I love to see the spirit of the city represented all over the world.

So today, while I am in Virginia, I will represent the city I love so much with a plate full of Heinz Ketchup, donning the black and gold, and adding fries to my sandwich.

Reluctant Writer

Every day as my students enter my classroom, they grab their writing journals and become writers. Often we write about our weekends, things that we enjoy, and things we are looking forward to. For the most part, my students seem to enjoy it. I have some students who are writing books- and other who write about the way the letter “J” looks in the Journal Prompt. Regardless, they are writing.

As the bell rings at 2 pm, my 4th block starts. Pencils begin to make words on the page.. all but one. One of my students, a sweet, quiet- yet energetic girl never seems to want to write. She claims that she doesn’t know how to begin, what to write next, or have anything to say. We have been working together in her journal- often struggling to write more than a sentence. I even began scribbling what she was saying into her journal as she spoke her creative, imaginative ideas to me. She is a bright girl with a lot to say but that translation to print is missing.

Everything changed yesterday. After talking to an experienced teacher, who loves to write, I decided to use one of her journal prompts in my class. Write about the word, Laugh. Laugh. One word. It seemed so simple but something I haven’t thought of yet. I didn’t think that by using this journal entry I would see something new come out of her… but I did. I thought that this would just be another addition to my classroom from a peer.

She wrote an entire paragraph by herself! She even added an illustration.  Her eyes gleamed as I mentioned the word laugh. I could not be more thankful that I found something to get her to start writing. She has GREAT ideas and now I am happy that she is able to express herself!