Spring Flowers and Great Teacher Books

Iris are my favorite spring flowers. My mom has so many that she has shared with anyone who will take them. But that's not the theme of this blog. So I guess it's time to get back to my stated purpose-sharing good stuff I'm reading. I am really excited about two books: The Daily 5 and The CAFE Book by The Two Sisters. These books outline a great structure for getting kids to read and write more. The Daily 5 explains how to set up five different independent literacy times in a school day. The directions are very clear and are helpful to old pros and newbies alike. The CAFE Book explains how to confer with students about their reading goals and gives examples of skills that all levels of readers need to improve. Even in my limited time of 45 minutes per group, I have set up the read-to-self routine. I plan on adding more next year. I may work one of the five each day of the week, in other words the weekly 5 for ESL. Or I may focus on just a couple of the routines like read-to-self and writing. Lots to think about. If you are looking for a book to improve your teaching, I recommend these two.

Quick Curtains

Saturday the to-do list kept us running all around. Martin fixed the kitchen light. Hallelu! It's been dark in there for over a week. I knew he could do it and he finally decided he could match red to red, yellow to yellow, etc. He was very proud to have done something electrical without calling a repairman.
In our running we found some bright yellow fabric for curtains for the corner bedroom and a whimsical curtain rod with little birds on the ends. I got busy and made simple unlined curtains in less than two hours. Clipped them on rings. Martin battled the wall and got the curtain rod up. Voila! New look in less than one day.
It was a great feeling to get two projects finished.

Music and Kids

I spent the day with eight young singers. They didn't pay much attention to me as I sat in the row behind them while they rehearsed and sang at choir festival. They knew the songs much better than I thought. After the worship concert we drove to the movies in Madison. Again, I got to listen as I drove and they talked. The conversation illustrated quite nicely an article I read yesterday on the difference between third and fourth grade students. It seems that at around age nine children begin to look more to peers for information and affirmation than they did at age eight. Much of the conversation seemed aimed at impressing the other kids. Kid watching-so interesting.
On the long range memory side of the day, as I took the last two kids home they were both humming/singing one of the praise songs they had sung in the concert. That is the part of the day that I hope stays with them.

Trying to Understand

The shocking death of young mother, teacher, daughter, sister- Brooke - leaves us trying to understand. Our minds cannot wrap around the fact that she is gone. We won't see her lovely smile again. Her children have lost their loving, talented mother. Last night at the funeral home there were photos from her short life reminding everyone of the fun-loving child and beautiful young teen that she had been. There were photos of the blossoming woman, waiting for the birth of a child.
I didn't know Brooke very well. We worked together. I was old enough to be her mother. My daughter is the same age. I can't imagine how much her mother misses her. But as I read Milton's blog, something he wrote made me think of Brooke. She lives in our memories of her, in the memories of her children, in the memories of her former students. Brooke's life was much too short. We grieve for what she will miss and we will miss her. I hope we will remember her wonderful, creative life and not dwell on any other part of her passing. We should be glad we had this time together.

Emotional Chameleon

A long time ago someone I worked with told me I was an emotional chameleon when I teared up after hearing a touching story. I wondered what exactly she meant by that. I wasn't insulted but I don't think she meant it as a compliment. I recently repeated the phrase in a conversation with Vicki. Hi, Vicki! And that started me thinking about what being an emotional chameleon means to me. I think it allows me to have empathy for others. When I read or hear a story, I feel the story is happening to me. This may be why I like to read aloud to my students. I can make the story come alive with my voice. I was sort of a shy child but I always like to have a part in school plays. I think I liked the freedom to be someone else. I guess I could use this ability to make people feel sorry for me or exploit my ability to cry at the drop of a hat. But I won't. I'll just keep on reading books to kids, using funny voices, and hope some of them find this makes books more enjoyable and fascinating.

Redbuds Again

Okay, I have to write again about redbud trees. Today I saw the first pinkish blooms on the redbud trees on my way home. I love the way they look against the bare tree trunks and branches. They also remind me of my favorite aunt. She helped me plant a twig of redbud in our front yard on Robinson Street when I was about nine. That would be about 50 years ago-but the memory is quite clear. I miss her.

Trees are blooming again

I think this is where I started about a year ago-writing about the lovely blooming spring trees. I started writing because I really hate writing and need to get better at it. I'm not much better but I don't avoid it like I did before.
Lately I have been absorbed by technology. New desktop computer AND new Nook Color E-reader. I just downloaded 100 classics and an anthology of children's fairy tales. I'm trying to learn how to navigate the interweb on a tiny screen. Most frustrating. But like I tell kids-can't give up just because it's hard to learn new stuff.
Oh, and on to what I'm reading-the best article on teaching reading is in the March Ed Leadership. Very sensible and well-researched. If only we could follow the suggestions Richard Allington wrote about, we could have most kids reading by the end of first grade! What an idea!