Celebrating Firsts

It’s time to celebrate and I had two firsts in my world of education this week. One involved a new student in my class and the other our new interim assistant principal, Gabe. He constantly wanders into my classroom right when I’m ready to throw in the towel. He asks, “How’s it going?” and I start with my thoughts…..continue talking….and finally stop.  He is a great listener and has an encouraging smile even when I can’t find a smile. He always follows up with how can I help?  Having time to talk, and sometimes not even knowing the answer, is ok. Sometimes there may not be an answer or at least at that particular moment. Gabe has taught me an important lesson that I never learned in 26 years of teaching. Thank you Gabe, you’re making a huge difference at BES.  

The second "first" absolutely stopped me in my tracks.  Choosing (OLW) to allow those little moments the chance to flourish was exactly what I chose Thursday afternoon at 2:30. We were in the middle of math class, and it started snowing for the first time this year.  My students rush to the window. I of course said, "You've all seen snow before."  My new student from Bangladesh says "I haven't." He stands there staring out the window. To heck with math, I tell my class to get their coats on, and we're going outside to catch snowflakes.  He had a bright red sweater on and the flakes fell gently on it.  He looked at them with huge bright eyes and responded,  "They're beautiful." That is why I became a teacher.

Saturday is my day to take a moment and celebrate. I am thankful to Ruth for encouraging all of us to focus on our own special moments of celebration.  Click HERE for the roundup

Late Day Celebrating my OLW: Choice

A friend asked me yesterday, "Have you been writing lately?" 
I thought that was an interesting question.
I asked, "Why are you asking?" 
She replied, " Because I checked your blog."

I pondered this question, and I truly appreciated her inquiry.  I knew my answer in my head, and I explained a little that I just haven't felt like I had anything to share. I had some great moments in class this week but none of them were on the lesson plans. I wonder why I don't feel the need to share these moments. There were moments with my students that I had to make a choice. Choices that included not taking the first grade on a math quiz because he needed to know that studying for the first time at home meant something. His mom had emailed me and told me it was the very first time that he did not fight her to study for a math quiz.  Another student needed to know that she will be a reader. Using her book as my mentor text was powerful to her.  There are choices I make everyday in my class and this week they focused more on building my students' self confidence. Recently I just haven't felt the desire to write.  It's a new position for me to be in, and I am still trying to figure it out.   Thanks to Ruth for encouraging us to Celebrate every Saturday. Click HERE.for the roundup. 

Celebrate: The Best Lesson Plans

Back to school this week, three day with students and I am already remembering where the best lesson plans come from.  Not from an on line Common Core document, a district mandated pacing guide, or a box of I can statements.  The best lesson plans come from my summer conversations that I see clearly now as I implement the new idea with my students.  The workshop that I attended in Indiana and brought back several new ideas but the one I chose first is using the  same mentor text for reading and writing workshop and if I'm lucky I can pull out a few delicious words for word study observation.  The very best lesson plans come from my 23 students sitting on the floor enthralled with the video that I shared from Ruth Ayres in which she talks about her own writer's notebook.  She shared that a WNB can be and should be a collection of objects including poetry, comics, ticket stubs, play bills, lyrics etc.  Along with the idea that my students  can draw, web, create lists was very exciting to them.  After discussing the video and sharing my own writer's notebook, my class was begging  to write.  But we didn't just write in our room, we wrote around our school.  I told my class I trusted them to write anywhere on the first floor.  I gave them 10 minutes and to report back to the library at 11:45.  One student exclaimed, "I never have had a teacher that trusted me to write and not be sitting in the same room withe me."  Another question, "Are you sure about this?"  Yes I said with a huge smile - go write. At lunch one of the 4th grade teachers told me that one of her past students said as she took her class to lunch, "Don't worry I'm just writing and Mrs. Caplin knows I'm here."   Finally as we were getting ready to go home for the weekend, three students asked if they could take home their WNB so they could decorate it because they loved the second video I shared.  Wait one more celebration, another student came back upstairs to get his WNB because he forgot it and just thought maybe he would write some this weekend.  My celebration is for writing both my own and my classes, and a special thanks to Ruth Ayres for making her amazing video and continuing to encourage all of us to celebrate every week. You can link up HERE. 

Sometimes a photo says it all.

Celebrate: In ALL Sizes

This has been a week of celebrations from the minuscule to gigantic.  It's amazing when I live my week wondering which event I will be celebrating on Saturday. I am thankful to Ruth for the encouragement of celebration. Also her honesty in her blogs which always cause me to pause and reflect. You can link up HERE. 

Truth confessions I love Starbucks.  IT is just is a little piece of heaven wrapped in a Non-Fat Chi yet the nearest Starbucks is 20 minutes from my home unless you count Krogers.  I have been thinking and thinking and talking and talking to friends about purchasing a Keurig and you would have to know me to realize what a monumental decision this was.  I finally purchased one from Kohls after I spent weeks waiting for them to go on sale, collected a coupon from my friend, Kelly, and saved my Kohls cash.  The full prices was $124.56 and I paid $77.94.  A minuscule celebration.

Thursday I was running errands and I went to get out of my car, and  I had locked my doors and realized the store was not open yet. I got back in my car, closed the door and the car alarm went off.  I could not unlock my doors, open my windows or do anything.  It was a little scary, so I just started my car and thought that might stop it. It didn't so I drove around the parking lot with the alarm blaring finally it went off.  I went into the store, came out and started my car - beep beep beep!  Ugh what do I do now? Finally a kind older gentleman told me to turn off the car and he'd pull the wire on my battery.  When he did that he thought it would reset the alarm but it didn't.  He then pulled the fuse for the horn, and I finally could drive home. No horn and my flashers flashing.  I wish this blog had sounds and videos kind of like Smellavision on the Cooking Channel. Now it's funny then not so much.   Keep celebrating even the minuscule and the gift of a stranger.

Celebrating: Full circles

This past week was perfect and came full circle for me yesterday.  Our week started with a quick (12 hour turnaround) decision to go visit our daughter in South Carolina last Sunday.  Anna had been asking me to come down and help her set up her classroom and was pretty positive that would not probably happen. She is an intervention specialist with 33 students on her caseload. I can't even begin to explain how wrong that is so my husband and I decided to surprise her with a quick 48 hour visit. We spent Monday not on the beach but in her classroom moving furniture out (use to be a preschool classroom) and helping her set up for a new school year.  I couldn't have been happier helping set up her classroom library, putting up her word wall and organizing cabinets.  My husband was amazing and a real trooper and nothing made me happier than seeing all three of us in her classroom supporting her as she begins her third year of teaching. We're so proud of you Anna!

Another celebration-my 50th birthday 

We got home late Wednesday night, and I realized I needed to spend one more long day in my own classroom to finish up - all those little things that take so long. I text my mom coming home from SC and asked her if she was free Friday to help me in my classroom.  She of course said yes, later learned she changed some plans that she had for the day.  We spent yesterday cutting laminating, organizing my news bulletin board, building an iRead phone which Anna gave me the idea, finished organizing my library and ending the day cleaning out my book bins so the next class can build their own library. Our conversations were fun and another opportunity to share special memories. I sure know where I get my love of books thanks mom and Grandmother Ro.  I only have one problem I chose 27 books for the first week of school. Do you think that is too many?  

This is an example from Pinterest.  I am going to put the book covers  on it that I
 will use as my mentor text this year in reading workshop. Our button is a
small white paper plate. A little 3D action. 

Thanks to Ruth Ayres for her weekly reminder to Celebrate. You can link up HERE. 

Celebrations from Friends to Pie

Knowing that I want to post on Saturday, celebrating my week really helps me slow down and reflect. Thanks to Ruth Ayres for her weekly link-up. You can link up HERE. 

Every day I spent time visiting with different friends. My circle widened this week because two of them I knew through other friends, but we had not spent time visiting one on one.  Celebrating time to talk and share fears, passions and hopes is powerful. It always helps me when I know that someone else feels exactly like I do.  I’m not an island, as I get overwhelmed with three weeks until school start.  I have a thousand ideas floating around, and I need to get to a hundred soon and finally down to ten and as one friend suggested, “Choose one and do it well.” 

Sharing books….How can you go wrong?  I love visiting my favorite bookstore, Fundamentals, in Delaware, OH. It’s like my little piece of heaven. Every time I walk in the door and Tami says, “What are you reading?” or better yet “Have you seen this ARC?” I actually get a happy feeling. I met a few friends there this week and shared my piece of heaven. We had such fun previewing, reading, laughing and of course finding the perfect gem for our classroom. As you can see from the photo when you find a great book, you just sit down on the floor and start reading.

Finally I am embarrassed to say but I think I made my first homemade pie from scratch.  The reason I think it is my first because if I had made one in the past I don’t remember so I am considering this the first.  It was more about the process than the eating it, which describes who I am pretty well.  I love the organization starting with finding the recipe, purchasing the ingredients. Who knew there was special cake flour? Making the crust and then cutting strawberries and rhubarb seemed perfect. I did learn to cut the rhubarb smaller next time. Lessons learned from baking a pie really made me stop and realize the importance of taking time to celebrate.