Mazel Tov! to learning something new!

Yesterday I attended a coworkers wedding.
My former 3rd grade team member Megan married an amazing guy.
All my former team members were there.

I have been to a number of weddings, but none like this.
It was my (and my former team members) first time attending a Jewish wedding.

It was simple and beautiful.
Rich with traditions I had never seen before.

As I sat there with my hubby watching the ceremony I was trying to understand the symbolism of each ritual.

As we sat down in the reception hall, one of my former team members said what I, and apparently the other ladies, had been thinking the whole time.

"I just kept thinking about Patricia Polacco and The Keeping Quilt."

The chuppah, the 7 circles, the breaking of the glass

Yep...  you know you are a teacher when life events remind you of books!


I am now reflecting on that statement.  Thinking that I am thankful for Patricia Polacco because she offered my team members and me background knowledge into a world we hadn't known.
(BTW, Megan is a HUGE Patricia Polacco fan, so I am sure she would see this as a compliment.)

Have you ever had a life event that reminded you of a book you read with your students?

EmilyK

It's Summer... Or is it??

Hey All-

Last Friday was my last day of school!
YEAH!!!
If it's not yours yet, I hope the last days goes by quickly for you!

So what have I been doing with my days off???
Let's see...
Monday- Revisions to 5th grade Writing- Launching Unit
This unit includes...
procedures for getting writing workshop off to a successful start.
Setting up writer's notebooks
Reading like a writer.
Building writing partnerships
Taking a piece through the writing process

Tuesday- Revisions to 5th grade Reading- Unit 2
This unit includes...
CCSS RL.5.1 and RI.5.1 Quote accurately from text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, setting, or events in a story or drama, drawing specific details in the text.
CCSS RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Wednesday- Revisions to 5th grade Writing- Unit 2
This unit includes...
Writing feature articles
CCSS W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly
CCSS W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach

Have you ever taught feature articles?
I would love to hear some of your great ideas!!
I found this website with amazing information.
Check it out if you are interested.
Feature Articles 3-6

So is it summer when I have worked every day so far this week?
I think not!
Maybe if the weather was nicer, my attitude would be more positive.

But...
I have tomorrow off and I am going to eat Indian food with Emily!
Exciting!!!
After that, I am going to hang out with my adorable nieces.
Love them!!!

On the positive side...
Tracy, my co-writer for the units of study, and I should be able to accomplish a ton by only meeting a couple times a week.
That's not too bad, right???
See- a little sunshine!
Wish mother nature would follow suit. lol
She seems to think Missouri is in desperate need of rain.
Rain, rain go away!!

Are you on summer break yet?
How are you enjoying your time off?

Antoinette :)

Currently...June!

Antoinette and I love Currently!
We might break the top 210!  (LOL)
Maybe not... lol
It's my (Antoinette's) fault!
Emily texted me but my internet has been misbehaving.
Bad internet...
Unplugging the router finally saved the day! :)

We had our last day of school on Friday!  Holla!
Those of you who still have more to teach, good luck and Godspeed!

For the Currently Emily's answers are in red. Antoinette's answers are in blue!

I love a good summer movie! "Major League" reminds me of being a kid and watching movies with my dad.  

Oh Jobu!

On my first weekend of summer vacation, hubby and I went to see The Mowglis, Cold War Kids, and The Lumineers.  It was a great show!  

I am also taking a grad school class this summer. Policy and Decision Making.  Doesn't this topic just sound riveting!  (I know you are jealous!)

Last week my dad had an angioplasty.  (To see how open his arteries are.)  The test results were better than expected.  The challenge is after the test there is a chance some of the plaque can break loose and cause a stroke.  (This happened to my dad 20 years ago, and he almost died.)  

Well it happened again.  

He suffered a minor stroke.  He is using a walker to get around and his left hand isn't as strong.  

I am going with him this week to talk with the neurologist about what that means for his future.  

Also he starts physical therapy this week.

My hair needs help.  

It is just hanging there.  Time for a cut and color.  

Anyone else need to go get their summer hair do?
Sorry to interject, but I bought dye from Sally's and dyed my own!  I have black hair now. lol

Summer Essentials

Books- It's time to read for fun!

This summer I am planning to start out reading The French Lieutenant's Woman.  Then my mom insists that I read Gone Girl.  

Any suggestions after that?

It's also time to read for professional development!

Antoinette and I are going to be creating a series of posts about Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst.
Another interjection, sorry...
I am loving this book so far!
It is a must-read for Common Core teachers.

We hope you will join us in the discussion!

So summer is finally here!!!
I am not a huge country fan, but I'm lovin' the song Cruise!
The song just feels like summer!
Summer is a song
It makes me wanna
roll my windows down
and cruise!!!
(Creative huh? lol)

So about this currently...
I just got off the phone with a fellow TLC (Teaching and Learning Coach)
So at this very moment,
I am listening to absolutely nothing but my ceiling fan.
I like that it needs to be on though
because winter seems not so long ago
(oh wait a minute it snowed in April, so it wasn't too long ago)
and I am loving the nicer weather.
It's been in the 70's lately
which is A OKAY with me!
I like Spring-like weather.
Not too hot and not too cold.
Juuuust right!!!

I am loving that it is summer.
What teacher doesn't?
Well maybe those teaching summer school.
It's not really my thing.
I am working on revisions to ELA units of study.
So I am kind of working.
My summer kickoff was a end of year party with my OH SO MISSED co-workers from my old school.
I had so much fun hanging out with all of them.
Especially my co-blogger, Emily!

June is a special month.
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!!!!!
I come from a super HUGE family.
I am one of 11 kids.
So there is only ONE day outta the ENTIRE year
THAT IS ALL ABOUT ME!!
And that day is June 29th!!!
Birthday's are a huge deal and my family.
So it doesn't matter how old I am...
I love me some birthday fun!

So as you all know, I have been on a weight loss journey.
Things have been moving pretty slow lately.
Lots of ups and downs.
I am still plugging away though
and there is no way in h*** I am giving up.
I am so so happy to announce... (insert drum roll)
I have lost 59 pounds.
YEAH ME!!!
I joined a gym but am so busy that I only make it a couple times a week.
Better than nothing.
I went tonight expecting this hip hop workout (which I'm actually getting somewhat better at... somewhat lol)
Substitute workout lady tonight...
Some kind of Turbo Kick or something like that.
IT "KICKED" MY REAR!!!
But I'm loving it! :)

My Apartment is in desperate need of cleaning.
That is all I wanna say about that! LOL
Except... Why can't magic be real??

VACAY ESSENTIALS:
BEACH
SUN
FLIP FLOPS
Sounds good to me!
The phone is a given.
But the last two places I went to actually had horrible service.
I survived. ;)

Some pics to end with...

Can you tell how dark it is??

I'm more of a chestnut brown, normally.

Excuse the messy hair and lack of make-up.

I took it down from a ponytail.

And I worked out, remember???

These here are a surprise for my blogging buddy, Emily!

For your patriotic classroom!

SURPRISE!!!

Because I LOVE YOU!!!

End of the Year and Summer Learning

Tomorrow is Emily and my last day of school!!!
FINALLY!!!
Our original last day was suppose to be last Friday.
But...
Missouri seemed to love the cold weather and especially SNOW!!!
So three and half additional days tacked on.
But Summer break is upon us...
FINALLY!!! lol

So summer plans for me???

June will involve a large amount of revising to the 5th grade reading and writing units that I co-created.
I am sure I mentioned in early posts about how I spent the last year or so writing units of study, based on the ELA Common Core Standards, for my district.
It has been such a tremendous learning experience and overall I am so happy I embraced this challenge.
But...
I am SOOO ready to be finished with them. lol
Not sure if they will ever truly be finished though because as I learn more about reading/writing workshop and Common Core, I want to change them for the better.
My friend Tracy, who is writing them with me, will probably want to or probably already has wanted to strangle me throughout this process. lol
(LOVE YOU TRACY!!!)
We finished the revisions to the launching unit for writing last night and I already texted her today about changes I want to make.
Haven't heard back from her yet...
Hmmm...
It's probably because it's the end of the year. lol

Here is what triggered today's desire to revise the unit...
once again:

I started reading Notebook Know-How Strategies for the Writer's Notebook by Aimee Buckner.

A friend of mine sent me this book today and of course it got my mind going.

It has some great information about why you should use notebooks and also some valuable lessons to use when launching your writer's workshop and notebook usage.

My district sent me Notebook Connections Strategies for the Reader's Notebooks to read and incorporate in the the reading unit revisions.

I absolutely LOVE this book.

I posted about it not too long ago after I had just started reading it- Reading Workshop- Notebook Connections.

So halfway through the book, my district asked the Teaching and Learning Coaches to write literacy related modules to use next school year, for professional development.
Guess what module I was chosen for???
One would hope reading notebooks because I was already reading Notebook Connections, right?
Not so much...
I was chosen to write the writer's notebook module.
Of course...
LOL
No worries!!!
Now I am reading Notebook Know-How.
I'm not writing the module until July.
So I am all good!
Plenty of time to get the writer's notebook one read. :)

I am halfway through chapter two.
Chapter One was titled Why Notebooks? and discussed just that.
It was great information and I have some wonderful quotes to use in my Powerpoint.
But the number one point I took from this chapter is what is a writer's notebook.
Here's what I read...
"A writer's notebook creates a place for students (and writers) to save their words--in the form of a memory, a reflection, a list, a rambling of thoughts, a sketch, or even a scrap of print taped on the page."
"It a place for students to practice writing."

I am not finished with chapter two yet but it is titled Launching the Notebook.
I had a huge AHA in this chapter.
Oral Storytelling...
So often students don't know what to write about or they feel they have "nothing valuable or of interest to others to say."
Aimee Buckner's first goal is to get her students to believe in themselves as writers.
She does this through oral storytelling.
Spend time right off the bat telling stories to the students and listening to their stories.
One story will trigger other students to connect through their own similar stories.
We all know this to be true.
One student tells about how he went to a water park and then suddenly 5 hands go up with similar stories.
This is the perfect time to introduce the notebook and send them off to tell their stories.

The next take-away from this chapter is taking the time to teach students strategies for finding things to write about.
Now this is nothing new to me.
I've done this in my launching units over and over...
But not the way Aimee does it.
In my launching, I would spend a day, maybe two, collecting writing ideas.

When I first started Balanced Literacy, it was simply jotting down idea after idea after idea.
Similar to this...
sports
family
hobbies
school
etc.

Then I moved to writing territories which looked more like this...
Sports
- baseball
- KC Royals
- Not a Cardinals fan (sorry St. Louis people lol)
Family
- one of ten kids
- noisy Italians
- my dad passing away
etc.

I liked my second approach much better and still do not feel it is a bad way to collect writing ideas.
But I really liked the way Aimee uses strategies for finding writing ideas and spent longer than a day or two to teach them.
Her first lesson is talking about the History of a Name.
She read the book Chrysanthemum and then discussed the role of the main character's name in the book.
The importance of it...
She then has the students write about their names.
Maybe why their parents chose that name
Nicknames
special meanings
etc.
This could lead to how pets were named, names they wish they had, or characters' names in books.

The second strategy is so far my favorite.
(I haven't read any others, though because my mind took off after this one and I began taking notes all over the draft of my launching unit.  I also wrote a sample lesson for launching, based on this strategy.)
This strategy is called Writing from a List.
In this lesson, the students create lists (quite similar to my writing territories) on individual topics.
These could be things they are experts on, best/worst events in their lives, favorite words, hobbies, etc.
Now for how Aimee's takes what I did to the next level.
Next the students star or highlight things on their list they could write more about.
So simple...
Yet a duh moment for me, lol.
From here, the students choose something from the list to write more about.
Now that part I did do. ;)

She spends time teaching them strategies, like writing from a list, to come up with things to write about.
It is not something she does in a day or two.
Since it is something she wants them to continue to use throughout the year, she takes her time with it.

I look forward to reading the rest of the book.
I actually have to post this, so I can read some before bed.
So I must say goodbye! :)

Are you on summer break yet?
Do you have plans for some summer learning?

Antoinette :)

Melt my heart

Yesterday we had our 5th grade recognition.
It is a time full of singing, speeches, and smiles.

And tears...
Let me say I like all my students.  They all have their own personalities, and talents.

But every once in a while one of my students just melts my heart.

"April" is that student.
 If you have read our blog before, you know I've taught 3rd grade for the past few years.
April was in my class 2 years ago.  She had a myriad of challenges that lead the special education team and I to believe that she was autistic.  There were many tear filled conferences with her amazing parents.
During her 4th grade year, she went through INTENSE intervention.
She made great strides.
So, when I moved to 5th grade one of the conditions I gave my principal was that April needed to be in my class.
This year, she and I have smiled, talked, and joked.  (Huge for a child with autism.)

One day, April asked me, "How much are you going to miss me?"
My answer, "I will miss you every day."

Then at the end of the week, she had a bad day.  I got mad at her.  I have never done that before.  I was DEVASTED.

So tonight, when her mom and I were talking that day came up.
Her mom said to me, "You know the other day when you were mad at April.  I want to thank you for being mad at her.  It was the first day that April ever came home and talked about her day with me where I didn't have to prod her."
MELT MY HEART! (Plus many tears and hugs.)

I know we all have stories of that special student who could melt your heart.  Thanks for reading mine.

EmilyK

Next year, I will

We are joining up with Joy in 6th grade for her linky party.
The end of the year is such a reflective time.

Emily's answers are in purple.
Antoinette's answers are in blue.
This year, I am feeling so exhausted just trying to get to the end of the year, but I am never too tried to look ahead!
Here are the things I am definitely going to change.

This is the first year in 6 years that I won't be moving classrooms!!!!!!!

That means in the fall I don't have to create bulletin boards.  They just need to be updated.

I am really going to try to maintain my bulletin boards.

That is usually something that falls by the wayside.

How will I do this?

I am planning to create the rough beginnings of many of my anchor charts.  This is the time of year where I can look at the charts I created and see what worked and what needs tweaking.  

I admit it, I am a PILER not a FILER.  : /  It is one thing that irritates me the most about myself.  
This year I used 2 tables instead of a desk.  It turns out the table that was supposed to be my "desk" just became a giant mountain of paper.
  I am hoping next year to get rid of that table, because I need the space.
How can I eliminate my piling problem?
I got some great ideas from Ladybug Teacher Files and Fun in 4B's recent linky party.  

I need to actually USE the items I have more efficiently.  

If you have followed our blog, you know our district took on Common Core and Balanced Literacy this year.  Plus, I moved from 3rd to 5th grade.  It is like being a first year teacher again.  That means I was often planning as I was teaching, with no idea where my students were actually supposed to be.  What did mastery look like?  Well now I have enough of an idea to at least refine what I did this year.  Plus my wonderful co-blogger is helping to edit my grade levels units of study, and I know she will share with me as soon as she can!

This is a goal of mine every year.  Any one have this goal?
I am busy being a wife, dog owner, grad school student, volunteering at my church and trying to become a mom (in the fall).  
I LOVE being a teacher and working with kids, but that can no longer eclipse the rest of my life.  Maybe if I can make some of the changes I listed above I will have more free time!  :)

WOW!!!
What a year it has been!
Lots of ups and downs.
But I have to say...
Overall, I feel it was a success!

Always room for improvement, though.
So here are my thoughts for next year:

 In my position, as a Teaching and Learning Coach, I have to be on the ball in regards to what is new in the district.  Gone are the days where professional development days were laid back and easy because now I am always presenting.
To help me be in the know, I did a TON of professional reading.
I've read from Lucy Calkins, Matt Glover, Debbie Miller, Fountas and Pinnell, Aimee Buckner, Katie Wood Ray, Richard Allington...
Just to name a few...
I am involved in a monthly book club with some amazing ladies from the first school I taught at.
Guess how many books I have read for book club!!!
If you guessed ZERO, you would be correct.
NEXT YEAR, I AM GOING TO READ FOR FUN ALSO!!!!

 I am SOOO not a morning person.
I love my snooze button. (Well not actually, but I sure do swipe at it often. lol)
With my new job also came lots of early morning meetings. LOTS!!!
I am that person...
I know some of you are cringing...
I sometimes usually show up a few minutes late.
AND...
I drive really fast to get there when I do.
AND...
I got a ticket the other day!!!
So...
NEXT YEAR, I AM GOING TO ALLOT MORE TIME IN THE MORNINGS SO I DON'T SPEED AND SHOW UP, NOT ON TIME, BUT A FEW MINUTES EARLY!

I have gotten better with this one, but only after a large portion of the year was over.

Once again, with my new job, I found myself spending LONG hours reading, planning for professional development, meetings, etc.

I was also writing units of study for the 5th grade teachers in my district.

I sure got a ton accomplished, but I sort of lost out on some me time.

I finally decided that enough was enough and did a ton less once I left school.

NEXT YEAR, I AM GOING TO FIND THAT TIME FOR ME THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR AND NOT JUST THE LAST FEW MONTHS!

My final goal for next year is to continue to do what I feel literally saved me this year!!
I plan to continue to focus on the positive.
I don't deal well with negativity.
I wish people understood how it doesn't really solve anything...
It only makes matters worse.
So throughout the year, I really tried to focus on the positive and hold me head up high.
Some of my favorite "Antoinette" sayings...
"It's a means to an end, and I'm gonna love the end!"
"I can't control the cards I'm dealt, but I'm gonna play them like I have the royal family!"
"Life pitches you curve balls every once and awhile and sure you might miss from time-to-time.  But doesn't it feel amazing when your bat actually makes contact?"
Cheesy, I know.
It kept my spirits up for the most part and has been a huge factor in how my year has panned out and my weight-loss.
NEXT YEAR, I PLAN TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE!!!


With the end of the school year approaching, what are you definitely going to change?

Thoughts and Prayers

Just wanted to send out a post to say our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who is suffering as a result of the tornados lately.  Our hearts ache similarly to how they did when so many innocent lives were lost at Sandy Hook.
Though the two are a result of different circumstances,
fellow Americans are suffering right now
and that is what truly matters.
We so much wish there was more that we could do to help everyone in this time of need.
Know that our hearts are heavy for your suffering
and our thoughts and prayers are with you.

We hope and pray that none of our followers live anywhere around where these tragedies have hit.
Especially with those poor schools in and around Moore, Oklahoma.