Just around the corner

Phew. I have a couple of days rest between visitors and I finally have the chance to hop online and catch up on all the posts I've missed!  I have truly enjoyed my slightly hectic summer so far and it is nice to be forced to not think about school and work!  Instead, I have enjoyed the beauty of Washington!

As soon as my guests left, my mind switched back to school.  I have taken on a lot of additional responsibilities this year, aside from the typical "back-to-school stuff," and I am beginning to realize that August/school is just around the corner!  I was reading this list of 21 Things that Will be Obsolete by 2020 and I started to get even more anxious! Number 15 is Paid/Outsourced Professional Development.  My district has taken the leap toward trusting teachers to run professional development for the district and guess whose team was asked to be the first guinea pigs!  I truly view it as an honor that the district I work for trusts my skills and the skills of my teammates to ask us to lead a professional development day for all 3-5th grade elementary teachers in the district.  I was so excited when we started talking about the possibility in April.  Now, now that the date is set and is less than a month away, I am beginning to question my common sense!  I can't believe that I agreed to lead a workshop on August 21st- less than a week before school starts!!  You know, despite the stress that I will certainly feel, I am still very flattered that I get this opportunity and I just hope that my peers treat me and my team well!  We are leading a day on interventions and how to use data to form your intervention.  It should be a productive day with plenty of time for teachers to work with their own data.  I know that no matter how fantastic we will still get negative reviews, but I will need to brush them off and know that I did my best and my team and I have the best interests of the students at heart!

Expect an update sometime this week on A Courage to Teach.  I am almost finished and it has been a fantastic read.  It is one of those books that you read slowly so that you can stop and reflect/remember the amazing words on the page! Looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you.

Teacher's Inky Linky!

Mr. B at Mr. B's Beach Brains is hosting a non-teaching linky party and I have a quick minute to spare before my Mother-in-law arrives so I thought I would join up! *For those of you keeping track, my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law just left Tuesday and I already have another guest--BUSY!!


Anyway, here are the rules: 


1. Please use good judgment when posting pictures of your tat. If it's in a place where we have no business looking at it, then please don't. If it contains profanity or other vulgarities, please do not post it. 

2. Please DO share your pic and story as to why you got it and what it symbolizes. 


Anyway, here is mine!

I got mine when I was 20 and studying for a semester in Costa Rica.  It is not that fun of a story- I e-mailed my family and told them what I was planning.  They didn't get upset- they just tried to pull the "what will your grandparents say???" guilt trip.  I am not easily swayed so I went ahead and did it anyway!  I had always liked the look of traditional tattoos and I picked this one because of what I was told was the original meaning.  I heard that sailors got this tattoo when they had traveled a certain distance.  I felt that I had traveled- both physically and mentally throughout my life and this one would be perfect.  I found a great shop in San Jose and even had the pleasure of making friends with some of the artists for the 5 months that I was there.  

Many people are surprised when they see that I have a tattoo.  I guess it is not something they would expect from me and it is not visible unless I have my hair up in a bun.

And if you have one, don't forget to link up!

Okay, time to get ready for round 2!  Happy blogging :)

An Award!

Is this really summer "vacation"?  I don't know about you but I haven't had a moments rest yet! :)  I am writing a quick post to say that I will probably be absent from blogland for the next 2 weeks.  My father-in-law, brother-in-law and step-mother-in-law are arriving tomorrow for an 8 day stay.  The day after they leave, my mother-in-law arrives for a vacation.  Needless to say, I am going to be busy!!  Before I take a pause in blogging I want to thank the TWO people who gifted me with the Versatile Blogger Award!

Thank you to Darlene at:
And Kaitlyn at:

The rules for this award are as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

2. Include a link to their site

3. Include the award image in your post

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their site

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

I am going to break the rules a bit- please don't take the award away!  I know that this award has been going around and a lot of my blogging friends already have the award but many of you still don't- so please take this as my gifting of the award to you! I enjoy reading everyone's blogs, I must because I spend a lot of time reading what ya'll have to say!  I am continually impressed with the creativity and passion for teaching that I see on your blogs and you inspire me to be a better teacher!

My random facts:

1.  I am left handed

2. My original degree was in English and Spanish Literature

3. I've worked in orphanages in Costa Rica and Peru

4. I sit wrapped in a blanket at home during all seasons

5. I met my husband while working in a bookstore

6. Disney World is one of my favorite places and I hope to go again soon

7. I like to read books in one day.

Okay!  See you soon :)

I'm baaaaaaack!!!

It feels so good to be home and I can't wait to sleep in- in my own bed tomorrow!  I have learned SO much in the last five days.  I can't believe how much information was packed into five short days!  For those of you who don't know, I spent the last five days in Portland, OR studying with the brilliant Anita Archer and preparing myself to be a district trainer in Explicit Instruction (her new book).  I will probably post a couple of things throughout the year- but I am technically not supposed to give away too much information- otherwise you wouldn't need a trainer!  I did want to share some "Archerisms" right away and as I practice my own instructional skills throughout the year I am hoping to post with video and talk about all that I learned!

Easy to remember classroom "Archerisms"

• Easy lesson design: I do it, We do it, You do it
• While monitoring practice: Walk Around, Look Around, Talk Around
• Regarding management: Avoid the void for they will fill it!
• Regarding management (especially for recess/cafeteria): Scan, predict and move toward
• Teach with passion, manage with compassion

That's it for now! Here I am with Anita at her house for a cocktail reception.  Some people think we look alike!  I would love to be as knowledgeable as she is one day- I'm on my way!

More from Daily 5!

I have heard some people say that the structure of Daily 5 doesn't allow for direct instruction.  This opinion has always interested me- especially because I am leaving tomorrow for a workshop with Anita Archer (the master of explicit instruction).  I can see the benefits of direct, explicit instruction and I can see the benefit of giving students the time to practice reading.  Gail and Joan actually addressed this concern during the workshop and I was so glad that they did!

The typical structure of Daily 5 could look like:

7-10 minute lesson (direct instruction)
20-30 minute rotation
7- 10 minute lesson (direct instruction)
20-30 minute rotation
7-10 minute lesson (direct instruction)
20-30 minute rotation
7-10 minute lesson (direct instruction)

That is 4 separate times throughout the day where the teacher is directly instructing students on reading strategies.  In other words, 20% of the day is direct instruction while 80% of the day students are practicing reading.  For me, this makes sense.  Have you heard of the 10,000 hour rule?  This idea comes from Malcolm Gladwell and his book Outliers.  Basically, it means that experts become experts because they practice more than other people.  Specifically, "experts" practice a skill for around 10,000 hours.  Don't we want our kiddos to become expert readers?  I know that my students don't always have opportunities to read at home.  Their house might not be a safe place, they might not have access to books or they might be moving from place to place each night and can't keep track of books.  If I want to close the achievement gap and I want my students to be able to have the same opportunities as any other child their age, then I need to give them the time to practice at school!

My plan for the upcoming school year is to implement the structure of Daily 5 during my 90 minute reading block.  We do ability group our students (which I know is a "no-no" according to the sisters) and that has worked for my team and I in the past.  During my block I will hold 4 7-minute mini lessons and 3 20-minute Daily 5 rotations.  The students don't have to do each option every day.  In fact, read to self and work on writing will be 2 required rotations each day.  The third rotation will be their choice.  They will also be able to choose which order they complete their rotations.

Okay, now on to thinking how I am going to integrate the content areas into my literacy block...

See you in a week! Wish me luck with Anita Archer! :)

Daily 5 Conference

I survived the last day of school!  All of my kiddos are deeply into their second day of summer vacation and I just wrapped up the Daily 5 and Cafe training that I was fortunate enough to attend.  You might not believe that I get to go to so many conferences.  I know that not everyone is as lucky as me, but look- that's me in the scarf (in June- I live in the pnw) with my teammates and the sisters!

The workshop was DELIGHTFUL.  The sisters have such a wonderful rapport and presence that I can honestly say I was engaged 90% of the time (which isn't true for many workshops I've attended).  I have been a newbie on the daily 5/ cafe train and was so excited to learn from the masters and they didn't disappoint! In fact, I learned so much that I will probably stretch out all of the information into manageable chunks over multiple posts...the sisters taught me that!

My first reflection and "a-ha" of the workshop was on engagement and motivation.  The sisters highly recommended this book: In a Reading State of Mind by Fisher, Frey, Lapp

From their research they noted that students are motivated to read when:

• They have access to a wide range of materials
• We (as teachers) trust them enough to choose what they want to read
• They are given ample opportunities to engage in sustained reading
• They are allowed to socially interact with others about the text
• Classroom incentives reflect the value and importance of reading

Well, duh!  As I was sitting there listening to this I couldn't help but think about my own experience with reading especially in regards to the social interaction.  I obviously crave that social interaction otherwise I wouldn't be writing this blog!  How do you cultivate that love of reading if you don't allow your kiddos to talk with each other about books!  I have seen a couple of different ways to do this and I recently pinned an adorable book recommendation chart on Pinterest.  I am thinking about making our book recommendations a little bigger this year and I am curious to know what y'all think! 

My students in the past have written their own blogs.  I use the host site at www.weebly.com and it is free to use and you can sign up students for their own account while you still have administrative access over it.  In the past, I would give them a topic to write about and they would go to the computer and write about it.  Their friends could go to their site and leave comments as well as parents or other family members who knew the web address.  I am thinking that next year I will have the kiddos add a book recommendation page on to their blog.  They can write a review of the book they are reading.  Family and friends can read it and leave comments.  I was also thinking that just like many of us do- the students can leave comments on friends blogs telling them to check out a book review they just wrote because they know their friend will love it.

My wheels are spinning! I learned so much.  If you have the opportunity to check out the 2 Sisters, I highly recommend it!

Classroom re-do

I can see the finish line!  Two and a half more days with the kiddos and then I am attending a Daily 5/ Cafe training Thursday and Friday and then the following week I am attending a week long training with Anita Archer!

Even though I have been swamped with report cards, field trips, field days, etc.  I haven't stopped thinking about how to decorate my classroom for next year.  Some people might think I spend TOO MUCH time thinking about it, but I want to try something fresh and I had a few kinks in the layout that I want to fix for next year.

So the first thing I wanted to try out was a new desk arrangement.  The first photo is from standing in the doorway and the second photo is from front and center!  So far I have enjoyed this U-shape.  It is easy for me to walk around and assist and it seems to add more floor space and open up the room.

I moved my listening center right behind my tech cart.  I actually had no idea what to do with it and I struggled all year to find the perfect spot.  I waited all year to ask my class what they thought about it and I don't know what took me so long!  Right away I had one little cutie who told me exactly what I should do with it.  I let her set it up and she even cleaned it off before moving it!  We have used it a couple times since setting it up and she was so right about this spot, I love it!

Looking at the front of the room.  I am not sure what I am going to do with the big green board up in front.  I will probably post our language arts anchor charts up there so kiddos can view them while doing their seatwork.  I moved a gutter bookshelf up to the front of the room.  I have all the read-alouds that I use throughout the year.

I opened up my library by pushing all the bookshelves against the wall.  I like that it has increased my visibility but it doesn't feel as intimate anymore.  I am not sure if I will keep it like this for second grade, I will probably end up changing it!

My new curtains! I love these!  The pattern is adorable and has all kinds of forest animals/flowers but it isn't so busy that you get dizzy looking at it!

Alright, those are all my new pictures for now.  I have a couple of projects that I plan to work on this summer and I will keep you posted with the updates to the room!