This week, like so many this year, is full of things to be thankful for...
EdCamp - We're 22 days away from EdCamp St. Augustine (REGISTER NOW, we're filling up!), and things are humming along nicely. We have donations coming in so quickly these days. We have some logistics to work out, and some things to determine, but it looks like we're going to be able to host a wonderful day of conversations, idea sharing, and networking for Florida (and beyond!) teachers. We have some really cool surprises that we're working on as well.
On the same topic, I'm thankful for everyone who helped me fund my upcoming trip to EdCampUSA in Washington DC on May 29 - just 42 days away! I am so excited that I can't stand it.
Blogging - There's this blog, which I've been pumping out daily for #AprilBlogADay. I'm hoping to keep it going daily during the school year, and twice a week over the summer. I've really enjoyed the ability to reflect on my profession, my classroom, and my career.
Even more so, though, I'm thankful that my students have been writing so much that I can't keep our blog drop cleared. If you click on Student Blog to the left, you'll see the things my students are writing. Because they don't have the password to this site, I've got them putting their blogs on a Padlet page that we call our Blog Drop. Some of the stuff on there is brand new, but some of it I'm planning to send back to the students. Now that they're writing regularly, I want to see better conventions in their writing, so some of the stuff over there isn't ready for this page yet. Even so, I love that they're working so hard that I'm getting behind. It's leading me to need an outlet for student work in the future that gives them more control.
Student Responsibility - Speaking of student control, I've been reading Paul Solarz's fantastic new book, Learn Like a Pirate. It's a perscription for putting responsibility in your students' hands, and creating a classroom that runs itself. This week, my students have been given control of running our hallway line, cleanup time, and so many parts of making things happen in our classroom. In addition to that, we've started using Accountability Partners to help each other meet the goals that students need to work on throughout the day. In a short amount of time, I've really watched my kids work together in a caring manner. It's really exciting to see at this time of year, when I'm so used to kids who are beginning to shut down for the summer.
You Matter - After we made our #YouMatter video, I realized I wanted to explore the words of the You Matter Manifesto (by Angela Maiers) more deeply. The kids are making posters to go with each line of the poem. Once we're done working on our posters, we'll be having a book printed of our work, and I'll make an e-book available here for free.
The thing is, my kids are making such gorgeous work that I am so excited for our upcoming book. I told the kids this year that I was looking for them to be amazing this year. Well, that keeps happening, over and over.
EdCamp - We're 22 days away from EdCamp St. Augustine (REGISTER NOW, we're filling up!), and things are humming along nicely. We have donations coming in so quickly these days. We have some logistics to work out, and some things to determine, but it looks like we're going to be able to host a wonderful day of conversations, idea sharing, and networking for Florida (and beyond!) teachers. We have some really cool surprises that we're working on as well.
On the same topic, I'm thankful for everyone who helped me fund my upcoming trip to EdCampUSA in Washington DC on May 29 - just 42 days away! I am so excited that I can't stand it.
Blogging - There's this blog, which I've been pumping out daily for #AprilBlogADay. I'm hoping to keep it going daily during the school year, and twice a week over the summer. I've really enjoyed the ability to reflect on my profession, my classroom, and my career.
Even more so, though, I'm thankful that my students have been writing so much that I can't keep our blog drop cleared. If you click on Student Blog to the left, you'll see the things my students are writing. Because they don't have the password to this site, I've got them putting their blogs on a Padlet page that we call our Blog Drop. Some of the stuff on there is brand new, but some of it I'm planning to send back to the students. Now that they're writing regularly, I want to see better conventions in their writing, so some of the stuff over there isn't ready for this page yet. Even so, I love that they're working so hard that I'm getting behind. It's leading me to need an outlet for student work in the future that gives them more control.
Student Responsibility - Speaking of student control, I've been reading Paul Solarz's fantastic new book, Learn Like a Pirate. It's a perscription for putting responsibility in your students' hands, and creating a classroom that runs itself. This week, my students have been given control of running our hallway line, cleanup time, and so many parts of making things happen in our classroom. In addition to that, we've started using Accountability Partners to help each other meet the goals that students need to work on throughout the day. In a short amount of time, I've really watched my kids work together in a caring manner. It's really exciting to see at this time of year, when I'm so used to kids who are beginning to shut down for the summer.
You Matter - After we made our #YouMatter video, I realized I wanted to explore the words of the You Matter Manifesto (by Angela Maiers) more deeply. The kids are making posters to go with each line of the poem. Once we're done working on our posters, we'll be having a book printed of our work, and I'll make an e-book available here for free.
The thing is, my kids are making such gorgeous work that I am so excited for our upcoming book. I told the kids this year that I was looking for them to be amazing this year. Well, that keeps happening, over and over.