Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

It’s Saturday, time to celebrate at Ruth Ayres Writes.

ONE

Five days of tracking my food.  I try to be mindful of what I eat.  I want to track my food and exercise.  Tracking exercise is easy. Food? Not so much. Been I have been using “My Fitness Pal” app this week and it’s pretty painless.

TWO

This orchid which bloomed. I received the plant two years ago from a school parent.  It bloomed, blooms fell off, and it was ignored.  Two months ago I noticed the blossom shoot.  That’s pretty amazing.  I think it’s even prettier than the first time it bloomed.

THREE

Going to the Northwest Council of Computer Education conference in Portland, Oregon.  So great to be able to attend a conference and be with your peers.  It did make my head spin with possibility.

FOUR

The poems that are being written by fifth graders.  The are writing “Deeper Thinking” poems in response to their classroom nonfiction unit.   My two Friday classes were quiet like mice in their work. This idea came from Michelle when she had the Ditty of the Month Challenge in January.  It was based on Joyce Sidman’s poem in Winter Trees.  they will be on postcards and shared at this blog in April.

FIVE

One more spring photo:

What are you celebrating?

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Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

Thank you Ruth for offering a place to connect and share celebrations.

ONE

THIS.  I have a poem in it.

TWO

Students are writing poems for their poetry postcards.  I love this time of year when I prepare to send out post cards.

Would you like one?  The information gathered will only be used by me to send you a poetry postcard in April.

Go to this FORM.

THREE

My after-school Poetry Rocks group. They are learning poems to share at a celebration in April for National Poetry Month.

FOUR

A successful Cat in the Hat night at my school on March 3 (further back than this week but it has to be mentioned). I love that families come to hear teachers read.  You never know how many there are until they come from the classrooms for cake.  This year 76 families attended.  We have a student population of almost 500.

FIVE

Happy birthday, Albert Einstein.  One of my favorite people.  Love this quote by him.

  What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

I always love that Ruth Ayres Writes provides a place to share about the goodness of the week.

ONE

Letting Go.  I am letting go of my hope for a snowfall and embracing our springlike weather.  We had the warmest February in the history of weather. How can you not celebrate spring with these in the yard?

TWO

Time with Husband

My days are long at school.  I am tired when I get home during the week. So yesterday, it was lovely to have a day with DH and go to lunch at a little ma and pa place, drive out to Estacade, OR to a fabulous second hand store, Mikes.

THREE

Poetry Rocks: Performance Poetry is my after school activity this year.  We are planning to perform at the local Barnes and Noble in April. This will be the kick off to a five day book faire.  I hope it goes well.

FOUR

Reading Shel Silverstein out loud.

FIVE

Hopefully located a long lost friend.

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

Thank you Ruth Ayres for providing a place to celebrate our week. There has been much goodness in the week.

ONE

The CYBILS Awards have been announced! Head over to see the full list.  But I am so happy to announce that Voices From the March on Washington by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon. Here’s the blurb:

Voices from the March on Washington by J. Patrick Lewis and George Ella Lyon takes the reader on a journey to August, 1963, when thousands converged on Washington in a march for civil rights. Through eloquent prose and verse poems that showcase a range of poetic forms and voices, the poets have recreated the individuals, both historical and imagined, who participated in the march and were changed by the experience.

A thoroughly engaging introduction by Lyon, a “Guide to the Voices” at the end, and all the interwoven stories in between combine to give us an authentic and accessible glimpse into the period and this important event — and offer older readers the chance to meet and imagine the widely diverse marchers, their personal backgrounds, and the private hopes that enticed them to join the march.

The immense amount of factual information contained in the poems invites further research, while the themes of civil disobedience, community protest, and racial tension serve as a mirror for current events regardless of where readers live.

The book’s timeliness–and timelessness–is summed up in this short verse, the title of which could easily be rewritten with the date 2015.

For All, 1963

If you contend the noblest end
of all is human rights, amend
the laws: The beauty of the sun
is that it shines on everyone.

Thanks to the judges:Diane Mayr, Renee LaTulippe, Matt Forrest, Laura Shovan, and Linda Baie.  They worked tirelessly to determine the winner from the Spectacular Seven Finalists.

TWO

Author Day at Silver Star. Author, Deb Lund, spend the day with us on Tuesday:

 

THREE 

Top Readers and Author Lunch:

Four

Having dinner with Deb Lund and other friends from my writing community.

FIVE

This week I leaned on my OLW: OPEN to address a work situation.  I hate conflict and it’s very difficult for me when there is conflict but it was a situation I in which I needed to be open.

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

It’s Saturday. Time to celebrate the goodness of the week. Visit Ruth Ayres Writes for more celebrations.
ONE

This rainbow after a very long day on Thursday.

TWO
Fifth graders typing the poems of first and second graders for me. These are the poems from Susan Blackaby’s visit. The plan is to put them in a book.

THREE
Series books have been order for the grant I received. So has a new rug for the library.

Four
Over 150 poems were submitted to the Young Poets Digest, a part of the National Schools Writing Project.

Five
Spring is finally here! Enough said.

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About This Week

 

Hooray for Saturday!  Hooray for celebrations.  More can be found at Ruth Ayres’ blog.

ONE

Making progress on my re-shelving project in the library. It’s providing interest in the kid because the books are not in the normal places.

TWO

 

Reading the CYBILS’ Graphic Novel Finalists.  A judge needed to leave because of a family emergency.  These for for both elementary and young adult.

THREE

Try-outs for the school play!! I have about fifty students trying out for Mowgli: Boy of the Jungle.

FOUR

Sunshine! After several weeks of an inversion and socked in fog, I am happy to see the sun.

FIVE

A kinder told me that an “author paints words”.  Another kinder wondered why the mouse didn’t just burrow out of the deep, deep hole in the book, Oh, No! by Candice Fleming.

What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About this Week

         

It’s time to look back on the week and celebrate all the goodness .  Find more at Ruth Ayres.

ONE

The return of my library volunteer.  She’s a retired teacher librarian.  I am so happy when she can come to help as she is one busy woman these days.  Well, she’s always been a busy bee and retirement has nothing on her.  But she was able to put up a bulletin board for me to publicize those who had recorded minutes of reading in November. (I do this bi-monthly).

TWO

Discovering websites and apps.  Whole Brain Teaching thanks to the link from the music teacher. It has great strategies for working with challenging students.  My challenges are with the K-2 crowd.  They seem to arrive at school with few social skills.
I also discovered Follet Destiny and Destiny Quest apps for both my IPad and my phone.  The library is with me always.

THREE

My friend and colleague visited my library week to do a serious reorganization of the fiction shelves.  I believe in easy access for students so my goal is to weed my fiction collection so it will fit along that wall.

Series and possibly a shelf for Award Books will go along this back shelf.

It’s a lot of weeding of books.  Our budgets are so limited that getting rid of water damaged and ratty books is difficult.  But it helps to have a friend with you.

FOUR

Getting back to teaching.  I loved my two-week break but it was good to get back into a routine. I like being able to rise early enough to get my workout completed before heading to school.

FIVE

Santa gave me an Amazon gift card.  These arrived this week. Thank you, Santa.

Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

Oh it’s been a grand week.  One year ends and new one begins.

1. My New Year’s Eve was filled with a wild rumpus of grand girls, five, eight, and nine.

Playing Uno,Hunting Zombies, Banging Pots and Pans

Precious time together.

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2. The CYBILS Finalists announced.

3. Finished reading The Faith Club by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner.  Onto The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin.

4. The sun and blue skies appeared in-between dense fog this week.

                                                                                                        This pic is of the Fremont Bridge as the fog is lifting.

5. Tea with a friend at Steven Smith Tea.  This is a little tucked away secret. Don’t you just love the packaging?

Head over to Ruth Ayre Writes to see what others are celebrating.

Celebrate: Five Star Things About the Week

1. The week did not start well. My friend and former colleague died of brain cancer. But the response from the online community of writers with poems made the list especially this ONE.

2. Preschool Read and Play continues to grow and we have consistency with families who attend. We now have bells and shakers for music. This week the local public librarian presented the program.

3. My friend, Barbara, came to spend the day with me. We student taught together. I had no license so she was my driver to school. She stepped in to read when I had to help a student.

4. Our School Showcase on Tuesday evening. We gave away over 500 pieces of pizza! Some many families came to hear the band, orchestra, choir, and to see what was happening in the classrooms.
5. The annual present exchange at my friend, Carol’s home. Carol is a retired teacher librarian. We have known each other for over 28 years. She gathers the people from all parts of her life for an evening. There’s food, drinks, and holiday adornments which we all must wear. This year we shared stories from Christmas past. My favorite was the woman who was raised in Hong Kong and what she would do in Christmas Day with her Catholic dad. How they would go to service, then out to the villages to see friends, and finally to a bakery. Her mother, a Buddhist, stayed home.

My friend, Carol.

My adornments.

More celebrations can be found at Ruth Ayres. What are you celebrating?

Celebrate: Five Star Things About This Week

1.Co-teaching in a second grade class. Leading up to writing haiku by having students observe the out doors using their senses.

2.The beauty berry bush. Aren’t these berries gorgeous? We are so fortunate to have a lovely garden to greet all every morning at school.

3.Our monthly assembly to give out awards. We started this last year and it has helped to change the tone of the school. I give out the ‘Silver Star Bookworm Award’ to grades K-2 and the ‘Bibliomaniac Award to grades 3-5. They represent the best class for the month.

4.This kinder who wrote about being selected to get the award. I love the illustration of me.

5.Today, my friend Susan Blackaby read her new book, February Groundhog and the Wintry Surprise. It’s so much fun. And Susan is going to be our featured author for
school this year.

More celebrations at Ruth Ayres’ blog.