Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Linda at TeacherDance is our hostess this week. She has a review of the adorable new Sleep, My Bunny by Rosemary Wells and a giveaway opportunity. Don’t miss it!
While my 20 Kindergarten writers were the original inspiration for Brave Writer, as I pondered, poked, and prodded my poem in place, I realized all writers and poets will identify with the emotions one goes through when staring at a blank page.
I intentionally excluded a joyous eureka moment at its conclusion. Every time I open my notebook, I wonder where to begin. Don’t you?
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Thanks for visiting and join us on this Poetry Friday!
“Data meetings? We’re doing data meetings?” “What’s a data meeting?” Yes, that was pretty much the range of responses from colleagues when our district announced late this past summer that we’d be embarking on a new journey — data meetings. One more thing. Ugh!
Last week I attended my first data meeting…ever. I know for some of you this is a regular routine, but in our district it’s something new. Sure, we’ve always assessed kids (have we ever!), discussed results in grade level meetings, and the odd Child Study Team meeting. We’ve implemented interventions here and there, but what’s different this time is that everyone is coming to the table. And I mean everyone. It’s no longer just the grade level teachers, an administrator or two, and a service provider that happens to be available after school. In these meetings we are looking at the whole child, not just one area of need. Our team consists of:
Principal (meeting convener)
School Adjustment Counselor
Team Chair/SPED Coordinator
Occupational Therapist
Physical Therapist
Speech/Language Pathologist
Math Curriculum Specialist
ELA Curriculum Specialist
Science/Social Studies Curriculum Specialist
Instructional Coach
Math Interventionists
ELA Interventionists
Grade Level Team Members
The team is enormous I know! Everyone on the team, apart from the grade level teachers, attended for the entire day — from 8:00 AM-4:00 PM. Grade level teams attended for 90-minute blocks, a team of substitutes moving from grade to grade providing classroom coverage. It really was quite something.
Prior to the meeting, each classroom teacher filled out a Google Sheet with required assessment data and additional information for each child we had concerns about. By the end of our team’s 90-minute block, we left with a plan for each child we had concerns about. In January, we’ll return to share updates and make new plans. The cycle will continue two more times as the school year progresses. Fingers crossed, we can make a difference and support students better than we have in the past.
Does your school conduct regular data meetings? I’d love to learn about your process!
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Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here each Tuesday. Won’t you join us?
Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Michelle Barnes at Today’s Little Ditty is our hostess this week. As she notes, it’s been a challenging week for so many. I found solace in focusing on my joyful Kindergarten students, parent conferences, my writing, and creating this week.
The stunning trees bursting with color that brighten our school grounds and my drive home each afternoon inspire me. While sitting at our classroom art table with a tray of fresh watercolors the other day — fun for my students, therapeutic for me — an image of a new watercolor palette brimming with gorgeous fall hues came to mind.
I’ll be sharing this poetic seasonal postcard with Carol Varsalona for her #AbundantAutumn digital gallery. Might you have something to offer? To find out more, click here.
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Thanks for visiting and join us on this Poetry Friday!
Please vote. Need I say more? What a privilege it is to have an opportunity to make a difference. So many are robbed of or denied this very same privilege the world over. I’ll never take this for granted.
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Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here each Tuesday. Won’t you join us?
I stood up and made my way to the session board. The hot pink stickies were calling to me. What shall I call it? Teacher Writers? Being a Teacher Writer? How about Teacher Writers: From Blogs to Books. That’s pretty catchy, right? But will anyone come.
For those of you who have attended an EdCamp somewhere, you’ll recognize the familiar set-up of the session board. Attendees post topics of interest and hope someone turns up to join in the conversation. I couldn’t possibly be the only teacher there at EdCamp Seacoast in Portsmouth, NH that was interested in talking about being a teacher writer. After another big deep mindfulness-trained breath, I headed for the assigned room, settled in and waited.
One person came. And then another. And then another two. And, well after five minutes or so, there were eleven of us ready to talk writing. You never know where an EdCamp conversation will go. It all depends on who turns up and what everyone brings to the table. How do we fit writing into our busy lives? Who do we share our writing with, if at all? What should we write about? What are our writing goals? Why do we write at all?
Sixty minutes flew by, and we were still talking, laughing, following each other on Twitter, and sharing our blog urls when it was time to move on. I didn’t see that coming. Eleven educators — classroom teachers, a librarian or two, and even a principal — working in public and private schools, elementary through high school, from three New England states. All interested in one thing — moving forward with a life that includes writing. Now that’s something to be excited about.
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Many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here each Tuesday. Won’t you join us?
Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! My dear, but feeling under the weather, friend Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm is our hostess for some poetry goodness this week.
Today we finished our first week of full day Kindergarten and I’m beat. The kids are beat. The parents are beat. I haven’t posted in a while, but it’s Amy’s turn, so I’m rallying. I’m not going to lie. This week was hard, but we’ll get there.
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Thanks for visiting and join us for some Poetry Friday fun!
Note: Poetry Friday is going live a tad early for our friends on the other side of the world where it is, in fact, Friday!
Welcome to Poetry Friday, everyone! I am excited and honored to host PF today for the first time. I’m crossing my fingers, eyes, and toes that the link up works!
(Photo: BlurryMe/Shutterstock)
This summer, I’ve been a tad bird obsessed. I’ve always been an ornithophile (it’s a thing!), but this summer I took my love of feathered friends to new heights. In July, I spent a week studying Citizen Science with 50 educators from around the U.S. at Cornell’s renowned Lab of Ornithology in the stunning Sapsucker Woods of Ithaca, NY. The BirdSleuth Educator Retreat was not only one of the best professional development opportunities I’ve explored, but it was personally fulfilling because I got to hang out with birds in their natural habitat and knowledgable bird nerds for a whole week. ‘Nuf said!
A week or so ago, I threw out a bird-related poem challenge to anyone willing to fly along. Poems can be about a particular bird, birds in general, a dislike or fear of birds, and can be in any form. Like I said at the time, just wing it! Here are two haiku that made their way to me over the last week or so, as I’ve enjoyed time reading, rocking, and observing on my porch.
And then these friends joined us.
Lastly, in a moment of sheer madness I embedded a Padlet of the bird-related poetry I’ve written over the last year or so. To read each poem, just click on the individual image. To go directly to my Padlet, click here.
Now it’s time to grab a bevvy of some sort, curl up, and get ready for some Poetry Friday magic!
Please click my frog friend below to link your Poetry Friday post or to just enjoy what others have to offer this week. Thanks, everyone!
