Finding Summer

I have almost found summer, I can see it poking over the horizon!

I don't know about you, but it takes a few days or weeks after the school year ends each year before I can really unwind and enjoy summer.  At first, I find myself still thinking about the school year that has just ended, heading back to school to organize just one more thing, etc.. Also, the fact that for the first while, I need daily naps to recover from the exhausted state in which I finished the year

Then there is the organizing at home. Let's just say that I neglect the cleaning and tidying at home even more in June than the rest of the year. Once school ends, I must try to get on top of things. I try to motivate myself with the threat of having to spend the last weeks of summer in intensive cleaning mode - ick! I'd rather do it now.

But I can see summer peeking at me and I know it is not far away now. I am beginning to be able to consider cooking interesting meals for supper rather than the quick, stand-by meals that dominate the menu during the busiest times. A garage sale in two weeks offers hope for removing some of the unnecessary clutter in our house. I even looked at a teacher book beside my bed yesterday and almost felt ready to dive in.

Here's hoping summer will arrive next week. (Maybe it will even bring some sunny weather without so much rain! I like a rainy summer day spent reading as much as the next person, but it sure has been hard to keep the lawn mowed this year!)

I hope that you are finding your summer groove too.

Are We Teaching Kids to Dislike Writing?

We were away from the house all day today, so I gave my son a day off from writing. I thought that I should write anyways.

I wonder why some kids who can write don't like to.

I am talking about students who don't have fine motor issues, have a decent vocabulary, don't struggle with expressive language, and who have reasonable enough phonemic awareness to sound out readable text. There is no impediment to these kids writing, and yet, they don't like to.

I worry that this mainly has do do with the opportunities and experiences that we give these students to write at school. Have we stifled their willingness to write about interesting things with interesting language by requiring that every word be correctly spelled? Have we killed their imagination for what could be written by always giving prescribed topics and prompts? How about forcing them to write in a particular genre (when was the last time you wrote a fictional piece?)?Are we teaching kids to dislike writing?

Most importantly, I wonder how to reverse this situation. Each year, I begin grade 4 with a big focus on draft writing that does not emphasize spelling, and personal choice of topic. This usually helps several students unstick and open up to writing as an enjoyable activity. Never-the-less, some students find this very difficult.

I will be searching this summer for more ideas to motivate reluctant writers, including my son.

The Best Reason to Write

Okay, so my plan of blogging 365 was a monumental fail. I have barely even thought about my poor lonesome blog since the early days of January. At first, there was guilt that I had not blogged, then I put the whole thing from my mind.

So, I am NOT going to make another blogging commitment. I do, however, want to use this space. I have a plan that I think just might work. My son is entering grade 3 in the Fall. While he is an excellent reader, he does not like writing very much. Part of our summer plan is to spend 20 minutes writing each day. We have both chosen to do our writing on our blogs.

I am hoping that a little practice gaining fluency when he has complete control of the style and content will help him to enjoy writing more. I do enjoy writing, and I believe that it is important, but I seldom show it by making the time to writing. Just as parents should model reading at home, so should we model writing if we want our children to value it.

This time, my commitment is to helping my son become a writer for life. I think that I can make time to blog a little each day with that kind of motivation.

1/365

Two years ago, I read in admiration of Zac Chase's commitment as he blogged every day for 365 days. This year he is doing it again. Earlier today, someone posted a New Year's quote on Facebook: A year from now you will wish you had started today. (Karen Lamb)

Well, I am going to try and I'm starting today. I think that regular blogging is what I need. I need to be writing more because I feel better when I write regularly, whether in a journal, blog, or elsewhere. I need to organize myself for more reflective practice. I need to have a place to share what I am trying with colleagues to get feedback, and also to document for others who might find it useful.

So, here we are at 3:40am on January 2nd, but I have not yet gone to sleep, so this will count as January 1. I plan to blog a combination of what I've been doing in my class, stuff I'm thinking about about teaching, etc., but pretty much anything goes since I want to see this through, so I want to remain flexible.

I am looking forward to seeing how committing to blogging every day deepens the ways in which I reflect about teaching!

Change 2011 MOOC Goals

So, the first thing I need to do to for the Change 2011 MOOC is to think about my goals for the course.

* First, I am hoping that this experience will lead to interesting exchanges and connections with other educators in general and especially other elementary school teachers.
* I have not taken any formal courses since graduating from university. I hope that this course will help me get my brain back into better academic shape.

* I hope to stay with the course for the whole year, even if I do have to skip the occasional week. My goal is to generate at least one thoughtful blog post each week.

There are others, but these are the main ones. Connecting with others, thinking deeply, and regular blogging throughout the school year.

Wish me luck!

(Yet) Another Try

Okay, so blogging regularly over the summer didn't pan out the way I thought it would. I didn't manage to keep to the blogging challenge at all.

It seemed like suddenly my six year-old was home for the summer, and baby got a whole lot more mobile and active all at once. After a couple of failed weeks, I decided that I would prioritize family and spend quality time with the kids instead this summer, but I know that is an excuse. I know I spent 15 minutes lurking on Twitter most days. I just need to commit to posting regularly, and spending 30 minutes a week to write a blog post! Surely I can find 30 minutes a week!

So here is the new plan. I really, REALLY want to participate in the Change 2011 MOOC this year. I will be trying to set aside at least 15 minutes for reading each evening after the kids are in bed, and a blog post each week.

To help me get organized, I have created a Posterous space to collect my thinking. I am trying to keep this learning experience as transparent as possible. I will still post my weekly post here, sort of a summing up of my week's thinking. If you are interested in reading the bits and bites as I collect thoughts toward that post, you can visit meacherteacher's musings to see the process.

I hope it will be an interesting ride (and that I won't fall off the wagon yet again!)

Proposed Peripherals

I spoke to my principal today about the expected roll-out of the Technology Infusion tools. They should be here next week, but we will probably wait until I return to work after Thanksgiving (Yikes! Just over three weeks of my maternity leave left!) so that I can take the lead.

Then I asked the right or the wrong question, depending on your perspective. I asked about the peripherals. If you remember my proposal, it included 4 digital cameras and 4 digital audio recorders per class of 24 students. The policy here is that the school board supplies the laptops, Netbooks, iPads, what-have-you, but the school is responsible for all peripherals. When he got behind e pilot project in June, my principal way very supportive and promised to supply these. Now that September is here, reality has set in.

So I must now search flyers for good deals that we will not be able to purchase. I must use the best numbers I can find to write up a request for the money to be allocated. My principal will bring the request to the governing board for approval in early October. Once approved, I will be allowed to search the flyers again until I find a good deal and make the purchase.

Arg! These tools were on sale in August as we went back to school!

Oh well, I guess I should just think of it as shopping on someone else's dime!