I started this last Friday in class and ran out of time to finish or rather other tasks took over the time to write and think. I try to model writing with my students and Friday is Free Write. They can write whatever they want, as long as they write. Some students write lists, others work on writing a continuing story, and some write about what they have to look forward to over the weekend. Here is what I began…… Continue reading Free Write Friday – Take 2
Tag Archives: writing
Weekends in December
“Every man has only enough strength to complete those assignments that he is fully convinced are important.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German writer and philosopher
Saturday and Sunday all seem to run together. Weekends are busy and filled with unscheduled time to get things done including all of the tasks and jobs left undone from the week. Of course there is the unexpected, the task or job that pops up and needs to be done at that moment. I got pulled into such a job Saturday and am still finishing it Sunday morning. Continue reading Weekends in December
Day 70 and the Search for Excellence
“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”
Tim Duncan (1976 – ) two-time NBA MVP (San Antonio Spurs)
I have noticed over the years, I have two kinds of students in my classroom. Continue reading Day 70 and the Search for Excellence
Happy Thanksgiving
I’m thankful for my rambunctious dog, Ivy. I am also thankful for my family and my hamster, Hammy. I am thankful for Thanksgiving turkey, mashed potatoes, carrots, and ham. I am thankful for my brother and my pets. This Thanksgiving I am hoping that I will get to help my dad cook dinner and my mom bake pies. I am thankful for the Wheaton-Warrenville South Tigers football team and the chance to go on the field after the home game. After home football games, I get to go on the field and help clean up! I helped my mom make pies this morning.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Olivia is a rambunctious 8 year-old in second grade. She spends her time with family and friends. She loves her dog, Ivy. She plays soccer, softball, and loves to swim. This is her first blog post.
Thanksgiving and giving thanks
I have been thinking about this post for over a week and wanted to get started earlier, but I didn’t. Before I began writing, I came across the quote below originally posted to twitter by Values.com.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order; confusion into clarity…Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Day 57: The Writing Process and the week before Thanksgiving
This is the week before Thanksgiving and the past several days have been busy – very busy. My students turned their narratives in Monday and they all look great. I did a quick scan of what was turned in and it seems my students learned from my instruction and did well with their writing. I will begin grading them this weekend with plans to return them after Thanksgiving Break. It takes time to read and respond to writing and I want to make sure I have time. This week has been too busy to even start grading. Continue reading Day 57: The Writing Process and the week before Thanksgiving
Veterans Day and Heroes
- Grandpa, Beth, Olivia, and William pose beside the island on the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet, September 2006
Veterans Day is November 11th and for most schools in Illinois it is a holiday. But, Thursday morning found me at two schools on my day off. William had an honor breakfast and I was glad to attend. He is doing very well in seventh grade as he did in sixth grade. He is a solid young man, respectful and his character shines through. His school, Hubble Middle School, rewards students who display excellent character traits through their actions with ‘Hubble Huskie Coins.’ William had earned a ‘Huskie coin’ in the first quarter of the year and was being honored with other young men and women who had done something similar. Less than hour later, I was working as a crossing guard at Olivia’s school. When I can, I volunteer to be a crossing guard at Wiesbrook. It is always fun. After my crossing guard duty, I attended the Veterans Day flag ceremony.
Day 53: Conclusion and my birthday, #49
Today is my birthday and I had a flashback to seventh grade yesterday. Well, I have flashbacks to seventh grade every day, but this one was different. The headline for the Daily Herald was World War II-era plane recovered from Lake Michigan and I remembered my birthday gift, a plastic model kit probably a P-47 Thunderbolt or some other World War II era fighter. I remember I reading everything I could get my hands on about the WWII, War in the Pacific and Europe, and I enjoyed building plastic models of aircraft from the time period. Continue reading Day 53: Conclusion and my birthday, #49
Day 51: All Saints Day and the climax
Sunday was the church observance of All Saints Day, though officially it is November 1st. It is the time in the Christian calendar to remember the saints as well as those in our lives who have passed away in the previous year. It also helps explain Halloween, which is All Hallows Eve, when the spirits of the dearly departed would come back to visit. Originally, the idea of trick or treating was that tricks were played and blamed on the spirits coming back to visit. I know that plenty of mischief has been played on Halloween and at other times including ding-dong ditching and other harmless pranks. Continue reading Day 51: All Saints Day and the climax
Numbers and Daylight Savings Time
Saturday was over before I knew it, it counted in so many ways: thirty, two, twelve, forty-four, ten, and negative one. All of these numbers are significant because they are related to an event during the day. Yet, the most important number of the day is the rollback of Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. It is always a sad time, yes we do gain an ‘extra hour’ of sleep Saturday night, but we lose daylight in our day. Continue reading Numbers and Daylight Savings Time