Celebrating: Summer and #cyberPD

Summer has arrived officially two days ago. Call me crazy but the first celebration is gearing up for summer learning which involves #cyberPD which is my favorite event of the summer.  Gathering together virtually through blogs and twitter is a perfect combination.  I have kept my professional reading pile small this year.  Seems like I never make it through all the books that I purchase. I am a hands on reader I like to write in my books, highlight, sticky note it, collect all the important vocabulary basically devour it.  Another celebration is once we start "talking" about the book then I go back and reread for a different point of view or better yet for points that I missed the first time I read the book.  I am excited for the announcement on June 3.  Hopefully the book is already in my TBR pile. 

I am excited to celebrating summer and  my virtual summer learning.  Thanks Ruth for encouraging me share my celebrations. 

Celebrating: Last Week of School

We just completed our last full week of school. Celebrations were abundant this week as we started to close out our fifth grade year together. The highlight for me was taking down all the book covers from the books we read this year.  As one of the students took them down and matched them with the books, there was a constant buzz in the classroom.  Conversations including “I remember” “That was my favorite” “I heard that story before, but I loved hearing it again” 

Thanks H. for always helping me and making strong decisions. 

I celebrate books!  A core value of my teaching is that I will read with my students everyday.  Posting the covers on the wall for my readers to refer to all year helps create a culture of readers.  I believe picture books need to be read K-12. The power of picture books open windows for all students. Allowing every student to see themselves in the books I have read this year is another core value for me. 

I celebrate summer reading!  Starting next Friday, I will be sitting on our new screen porch and starting to explore my TBR pile.  Life is going to quiet down, and I’m ready for summer. Honestly I am more than ready for summer.  Plus there will be more time for blogging, reflecting and savoring my time with #virtualPLN.  Oh did I mention gardening, walking, traveling and spending time with my family.

Every Saturday morning, I always read something that helps me breath deeper and reminds me of the importance of having a virtual community of learners. Thank you Ruth for encouraging us to celebrate every week.