March | 2016 | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for March, 2016

SOL16: #21 Spring Sunrise

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged bayou, nature, poetry, red buckeye on March 21, 2016| 11 Comments »

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Spring sunrise by Margaret Simon

First morning of spring, my husband said, “You’re missing a show outside.” He was right. I grabbed my camera and went out on the deck in my PJs. The air was cool, but the sun was coming up sending a beam of light down the bayou. There was a slight fog flying over the bayou. My mind wandered to poetry.

When the fog floats above the water
like it is today, I believe
I could walk on water,
strap on my angel wings
and move toward the light.

Could heaven be as beautiful as this?

–Margaret Simon

My friend Susan brought me a seedling of a Red Buckeye tree. Her note said, “I sprouted this seedling from a buckeye in our yard, so it should do well in yours also. I would recommend leaving it in its pot until next January keeping it watered and in partial shade. Hope that it thrives for you. Happy Spring!”

I have high hopes for this little tree. The problem is I usually kill plants. But this one came to me in the spirit of spring, new life. It must live, right? It has angel wings.

My red buckeye seedling

Blooming red buckeye

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SOL16: #20 Look at This!

Posted in Digital Learning, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged discovery, student Slice of Life Challenge, Wonder on March 20, 2016| 11 Comments »

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My husband says to me, “Look at this!” He is not on any social media, but he reads USA Today on his tablet every day. He is a learner who always wants to know more. Yesterday he showed me this amazing video about a tiny poodle in a nursing home. Get your tissues out.

I want my students to know that learning is a part of life. Last week I brought in a snap circuit kit and just let them play with it to try to figure it out. My administrator was observing me, and I am hopeful that she understands the lack of instruction on my part. Discovery was the point, and the answer doesn’t always come immediately.

Discovery is an important aspect to any learning. Because we have so much available at our fingertips, discovery is easy and constant. “Look at this, Mrs. Simon” are words I hear often. Jacob wanted to know how many moons Jupiter has. That’s not something I keep tucked away in my brain. “Check NASA’s site,” I tell him.

Each week my students are engaged in discovery about whatever interests them. During the Slice of Life Challenge, their Wednesday Wonder has become a Wonder SOL. I ask them to write a paragraph about how they became interested in their topic and to conclude with ideas for further learning. Their research is now framed by a personal connection.

I wonder about a lot of things. Do tree trunks grow fungus to make their colors?

Were the leaves flowers at first but it just lost its petals?

Chlorophyll is a large molecule. It absorbs light from the Sun and because it is a green color it makes the plants green.

I was very surprised that Chlorophyll was a word and that it even existed. I didn’t know it made plants green. I wonder why plants are green and not different colors like,pink,black,brown,red,green,orange, or tan. I think that there is another planet out somewhere that has a atmosphere and has different colored plants.
–Jacob, 2nd grade

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SOL16: #19 Celebrating Authors Skyping

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, tagged Janet Sumner Johnson, Laura Shovan, Skype on March 19, 2016| 11 Comments »

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Each student has a chance to ask a question.

Laura Shovan and Janet Sumner Johnson are on tour as “Sweet Sixteens,” debut children’s authors of 2016. I love any opportunity to connect my students with authors, so when I heard they had some openings, I jumped at the chance.

To prepare my students for this visit, I have been reading aloud an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. We are getting to know Hannah, Sloane, Sydney, Kate, George, and other students in the fifth grade at Emerson. The school board plans to sell the school for demolition and a new grocery store. Under the guidance of Ms. Hill, who must be a wonderfully kind teacher, the students protest and use poetry to get their voices heard. Laura Shovan creates a compelling story with her intricate knowledge of each character carefully depicted in the craft of poetry.

With Laura was Janet Sumner Johnson, author of the The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society. We had time to read only one chapter of this book before our visit, but Janet packs so much into that first chapter that my kids were full of questions. Janet said that she wrote the first version of the book 15 years ago. It’s been through lots of revisions. My students enjoyed learning about how Janet got her idea for the PB&J Society.

Janet and Laura on the Promethean Board

As an aspiring author myself, I took a special interest in what these wonderful women had to say about their writing and publishing experiences. Laura showed us her huge binder full of tabs in which she kept every draft of every poem for every character. I was amazed!

Both authors connected with the kids and were respectful of each and every question, even the silly ones like “Do you know about narwhals?” Kaiden loved being the first to notice that the homeless girl in Laura’s book had the last name Holmes. I believe that there are many more clever details in these two books. They come out in April. Get ready to add them to your classroom library.

Sharing the love of reading and narwhals on St. Patrick’s Day.

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

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SOL16: #18 Writing is like Praying

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged broken, nature, Sister Helen Prejean on March 18, 2016| 22 Comments »

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Poetry Friday round-up with Robyn Hood Black.

Writing is like praying, because you stop all other activities, descend into silence, and listen patiently to the depths of your soul, waiting for true words to come. When they do, you thank God because you know the words are a gift, and you write them down as honestly and cleanly as you can.

– Helen Prejean C.S.J.

Broken Pottery by Sweet Tea

Broken
shards of unwanted
clay, rock, soil
litter the ground.

There, unharmed, her hidden heart–
once protected by
earth mother, soft and dark,
now bravely

open like the flowers
in an abandoned field,
reaching for light.

–Margaret Simon

When you open yourself to the world, it will reveal itself to you. I opened two different emails. The first from Laura Shovan. She sent me the Sister Helen Prejean quote. A gift of a gift.

The second was Tabatha Yeatts’ blog post here. This image of the broken pottery grabbed me, and I opened the note on my computer and composed this poem. I know it comes from my heart that aches for a child whose home is not as it should be. Yet she is exactly who she should be, open and kind and full of joy. This broken pot. Her full heart. My attention.

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SOL16 #17: Simplify

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged bridal wreath flowers, OLW, simplify on March 17, 2016| 8 Comments »

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I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus Christ lately. In the past two weeks, I saw “Jesus Christ Superstar” at a local performance theater twice. Even though I continually had to tell myself that the man on stage was really Billy (I’ve known him since he was in elementary school), I couldn’t help but feel the presence of Jesus. Not Jesus a savior, but Jesus as a man. A person who had very complicated feelings. A person who had a calling to do something that was out of the ordinary.

Today, for Spiritual Thursday, we are writing about Linda Kulp’s OLW, Simplify. I look to this image of Jesus as a man. I look at the flowers blooming in my yard. Nothing is simple. God’s call is simply “Love.” Yet there is nothing simple about it.

The bridal wreath is so beautiful, white and simple, yet close-up you can see the complicated pattern of tiny blossoms in a cluster. Even nature isn’t simple.

Bridal wreath flowers

What can I do to Simplify?

I can let go of senseless worry. I can look for ways to show love every day. I can pray “Abba” with my breath.

I can also realize that beauty and love are not always simple. I can accept that answering God’s call isn’t an easy task, and I can look to Jesus to show me how.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

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SOL16 #16 Don’t be too Serious

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged student poetry on March 16, 2016| 10 Comments »

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I am an adult, and sometimes I just plain take myself too seriously. The last few days have brought some heavy news: The loss of someone who was once an important mentor to me, the observation from my administrator in order to give me a score for my teaching expertise, and the necessary surgery for my dog on an infected mole. The list adds up and weighs on my shoulders. I start to feel stressed and worried and somewhat out of control.

Then a child, one who faces what comes each day with absolutely no control, comes to me for a hug. Another child realizes a gift that she has for music is being recognized. And this child, a first grader, writes a ditty on her blog. I discovered it when I came home and started checking my Kidblog site. It brought a smile to my face and lightened my load. I hope it does the same for you.

I look outside, It is flooded. It is not that bad, but it is still flooded. When my mother told me to go get the mail, I could not even get by the mailbox. That is bad! There was water all around the mailbox. It was terribly crazy. When I saw it from window view, I thought this song up.

It is raining,

It is pouring,

I wish I was snoring,

I wish I were in bed,

So I would not bump my head,

And I would be able to get up in the morning.

Macaroni and Cheeze,

Yes, please!

Goodbye, Popeye!

–Lynzee, 1st grade

Reading time

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SOL16 #15 She Gave me a Rock

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, Today's Little Ditty on March 15, 2016| 12 Comments »

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Over at Today’s Little Ditty, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes interviewed Amy Ludwig VanDerwater who set out a challenge this month to write about small things. We wrote our poems on Friday and I posted some student poems here.

When my kids write, I write. I looked at my desk for inspiration and found the rock. We had decided to do something nice for teachers, so Emily brought in rocks. My students wrote inspirational words on the rocks and gave them out to teachers. This was a Halloween treat, so this rock has been sitting on my desk for a while. I think it was supposed to go to the art teacher, but whatever, there it sat…and inspired this prose poem in me.

She gave me a rock,
a smooth small stone
on which she wrote a quote
from a book about a boy who was bullied.

If you have a choice
of being right or being kind,
be kind.

Thirteen words to turn
my attention everyday
to the world
of choices, that choice
within myself to be kind.

I take her small kindness
into my hand and wonder
about the river bank
the stone lived in before,
a place where violent waves
smoothed rock.

I wonder
about the larger truth:
Can violence smooth out
the edges and leave behind
kind?

–Margaret Simon

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SOL16 #14: Green is Here!

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged cypress tree, green, nature poem on March 14, 2016| 11 Comments »

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New growth on cypress.

After all the grey clouds and rain, rain, rain,
green appeared today,
waking up from a long sleep,
twinkling in the sunlight.

The cypress trees are happy now,
their toes dipped in the water,
their needles as bright
as a neon sign.

“We’re waking up!” they say.
“Come see our new growth
soft as a baby’s forehead,
sweet as honeysuckle.”

Even the weeds are perky today,
pushing out tall stalks
beyond the brown grass,
topped with yellow buttercups.

Turn off your worrying mind.
It’s a day to open
windows and sneeze
Hello to Spring!

Resurrection fern on the old cypress.

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SOL16 #13 DigiLit Sunday: Transitions

Posted in Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged independent learners, student transitions on March 13, 2016| 13 Comments »

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As winter transitions to spring, there is an argument in the skies. High winds, thunder, rain, and more rain. In parts of my state, flooding. Transitions can be ugly, hard, and unpredictable.

In a digital classroom, transitions come slowly and with less fanfare. In fact sometimes the transition is barely visible. You have to look hard to see it happening.

On Thursday, when winter was fighting with spring outside, inside the room was quiet. Every student was focused on the work of reading and writing. I didn’t want to breathe. I was afraid to make a sound for fear this was a fleeting moment.

When I look at this scene through the reflections of my students’ faces, I realize that they have become exactly who I had hoped they would be…independent learners.

Later that night I took some time to read their blog posts. I saw independent writers making craft moves, writing with voice, and creating complete stories. While I wasn’t looking, the transition happened.

There are some reasons for this growing independence:

Routine: Students thrive on routine. They like to know what is expected and when. Within a routine, students feel comfortable to be themselves.
Writing Daily: We have been participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge. Anything that you practice daily gets better and better. My students are no longer afraid of the blank screen. They usually walk into class knowing what they will write about that day.
Freedom: Within the framework of routine, my students have freedom of choice. They know the checklist and expectations, but they can choose what they write about and how they respond to learning.
Safety: Building a safe environment for students is at the top of my list. I respect (and love) each child and expect them to treat each other with kindness and respect.

March may be a turbulent time in the weather forecast, but inside things are calm and running smoothly.

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SOL16: #12 Celebrating Chalkabration

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Chalk-a-bration, Poetry, Slice of Life, tagged Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, chalk poetry, marbleized paper, Today's Little Ditty on March 12, 2016| 13 Comments »

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Chalkabration is a favorite in my class, but we haven’t done it in a while. This great way to write and share poetry was created by Betsy Hubbard, one of the Two Writing Teachers’ Team. It usually falls on the last day of the month. I like to have something special happen on Fridays as a reward for a week of hard work. My students have been writing every day. They are reading and working hard, so yesterday I brought in chalk and art paper.

First we had to write poems. On Michelle Barnes’ site Today’s Little Ditty, she interviewed one of our favorite poets, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, about her new book Every Day Birds. Last year we Skyped with Amy on the day she had received the proofs for this book. We had an exclusive sneak peek at the book. Amy’s Ditty of the Month Challenge is to write about something small. (And I just happen to have a treasure box full.)

After we wrote and shared our poems, my students used Sharpie markers to write out their poems on art paper. Here comes the fun part. Into a bucket of water, we scraped chalk, placed the paper in and Viola! marbleized paper! We used Prang Freart Large Drawing Chalk.

Here is a collection of chalked poems.