I just finished the day of NJWP training. It's a little bitter sweet. I would have to say this was probbly the best training I've received s far. Everyday we were given so any great ideas for teaching reading/writing. I highly recommend if you or someone you know is a teacher (pre-k through high school) to take this class. I think my favorite part was all the wonderful picture books they incorporated into the training. My Amazon wish list is ridiculous now. I have so many things I want to get for my classroom.
This class was great, but it was also challenging. It pushed me to write about a variety of differnt topics. Some of which a little out of my comfort zone. The great thing about it was sharing in groups. I really thought it would be awful and embarrassing, but everyone was so encouraging it built my confidence as a writer. I will definitely be incorporating tha into my classroom.
A few days during our lunch break I had my coupons there to cut and file away and several people became quite intriqued by this.So last week when we started our extensive writing piece I was strongly encouraged by many in the class to write a how to paper on couponing. Even though we're done with the class I'm still doing some tweeking, but I'll post it soon for those of you who have not perfected the art of couponing. There is so much you can do.
As a culmination of the week, we (about 30 of us) went to BJ's Brewhouse for lunch. The food was great, as always. However, there were some serious communication break downs between the waiter and our table. After several of us received the wrong food, we were given the wrong tickets, then waited over 45 minutes for the right ticket. It was absolutely ridiculous.
Now I have 2 weeks left of summer break. One of which will be spent in California with family. I'm so excited to get there.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tear Stained Face
In the writing class I'm taking we were given a prompt to write about a sad woman. This is what I came up with.
Tear Stained Face
By Lauren Denman
“Another meal from the church?” She thinks. “I know they mean well, but I do not want their pity.” A daily reminder of what she had lost.
Emily sinks into her chair looking as if she bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her hands hold tight to each other, as if afraid to lose the other. She stares out the window wondering where she will go from here. Emptiness is all she finds in a yard no longer filled with the laughter of two beautiful girls.
“Why wasn’t I there? Why not take me?” She pleads. On her knees again, she cries out to God for answers. For Emily, it felt as though he had turned his back on her. Her prayers seem to be empty.
Slowly, she makes her way to the bathroom. As she waits for the water to heat up, she takes a long look in the mirror. Who is this woman she sees? Her eyes now consumed with a darkness that makes them unrecognizable. As she stands there her face fades away as the steam takes over the mirror.
Leaving the shower, she hears the doorbell ring. Not wanting to see anyone or have to pretend she’s okay, she gets dressed quietly hoping they will just go away. Hearing the key scratching and turning in the door, she knew it must be her mother, the only other person with a key to their house. No matter how much she wanted to be left alone, she knew this conversation could not be avoided.
“Emily,” her mother, Jennifer, said with caution. “Are you home?”
Reluctantly she replied, “Yes. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Trying to cover her tear stained face she dabbed some makeup on, but the redness and swelling still shone through.
“Hi mom. What are you doing here?”
“I’m worried about you, Emily. I haven’t heard from you in days. I tried calling. Are you not answering your phone?”
“What do you expect mom? I’m barely surviving right now. I feel like I’m frozen in time, sitting here waiting for them to walk through the door. The world around me keeps moving and I’m stuck. I have to remind myself everyday they’re not coming home. I should have been with them.”
“Emily you can’t think that way. It’s not your fault. There’s nothing you could have done.”
“I just feel so helpless and empty.”
Knowing that words would not be enough, her mother wrapped her arms around her as if to protect her from any more pain. For the first time, Emily was able to take a deep breath and feel some comfort.
Over the next few hours they told stories about the girls and Toby. Emily laughed and smiled for the first time since the accident. Overcome with guilt and grief, she could barely make it through the day-to-day routine. Finally, she had a reprieve from the emptiness and sorrow.
Seeing her daughter smile again felt wonderful, her mother thought. The past few days she wondered if Emily would ever smile again. Jennifer needed this time to talk and laugh with her daughter, too. Emily was not the only one to lose someone close to her. This had also been difficult on Jennifer. In an instant, she had lost her son-in-law and two precious granddaughters. In the midst of it all she knew she had to be strong for her child.
That afternoon they went to visit the gravesite. Fresh dirt on top, grass was beginning to grow. Another sign that no matter how frozen she felt, time would not stop or even slow down for her. Everything and everyone continues on around her, but right now she finds peace in the still and quiet.
As she closed her eyes, she began to picture her wedding day. It had been everything she always dreamed of and more. The look on Toby’s face as she walked down the aisle would stay with her forever. Her mind jumped to the day they found out she was pregnant. It seemed as if life was perfect. Nine months later she brought two beautiful girls into this world. Remembering the way they loved to dress up in her clothes, she laughed at the thought of them in her high heel shoes and dresses. Suddenly, these joyful memories turned dark. Overwhelmed with emptiness she remembered the phone call that robbed her of her happiness. When the officer on the other end of the phone told her he had some bad news, she could feel in her gut something terrible had happened. Listening with disbelief, this stranger on the other end of the phone began to explain how her husband and two children had died instantly in a car accident.
Dropping to her knees, her whole body began to convulse. Her body overtaken by a pain she had never known. In that moment, she wished she had been in the car with them. What was the point of living without them?
Memories of her mother curled up on the couch and sobbing came to mind. For the first time, Emily realized she was not the only person hurt by this tragedy. She felt so selfish. Since Toby’s parents died when he was young, her mother had taken him in as if he was her own. They loved each other like mother and son.
Like someone had flipped a switch, Emily stopped feeling sorry for herself. Reaching out, she took hold of her mother’s warm hands and whispered, “I love you.” As they clung to each other tight, three beautiful butterflies took flight, soaring to the heavens. They were free. A glimmer of hope streamed in like the sun breaking through the clouds. Her healing had begun. Although she still had a long road ahead of her, she knew she was not alone.
Tear Stained Face
By Lauren Denman
“Another meal from the church?” She thinks. “I know they mean well, but I do not want their pity.” A daily reminder of what she had lost.
Emily sinks into her chair looking as if she bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her hands hold tight to each other, as if afraid to lose the other. She stares out the window wondering where she will go from here. Emptiness is all she finds in a yard no longer filled with the laughter of two beautiful girls.
“Why wasn’t I there? Why not take me?” She pleads. On her knees again, she cries out to God for answers. For Emily, it felt as though he had turned his back on her. Her prayers seem to be empty.
Slowly, she makes her way to the bathroom. As she waits for the water to heat up, she takes a long look in the mirror. Who is this woman she sees? Her eyes now consumed with a darkness that makes them unrecognizable. As she stands there her face fades away as the steam takes over the mirror.
Leaving the shower, she hears the doorbell ring. Not wanting to see anyone or have to pretend she’s okay, she gets dressed quietly hoping they will just go away. Hearing the key scratching and turning in the door, she knew it must be her mother, the only other person with a key to their house. No matter how much she wanted to be left alone, she knew this conversation could not be avoided.
“Emily,” her mother, Jennifer, said with caution. “Are you home?”
Reluctantly she replied, “Yes. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Trying to cover her tear stained face she dabbed some makeup on, but the redness and swelling still shone through.
“Hi mom. What are you doing here?”
“I’m worried about you, Emily. I haven’t heard from you in days. I tried calling. Are you not answering your phone?”
“What do you expect mom? I’m barely surviving right now. I feel like I’m frozen in time, sitting here waiting for them to walk through the door. The world around me keeps moving and I’m stuck. I have to remind myself everyday they’re not coming home. I should have been with them.”
“Emily you can’t think that way. It’s not your fault. There’s nothing you could have done.”
“I just feel so helpless and empty.”
Knowing that words would not be enough, her mother wrapped her arms around her as if to protect her from any more pain. For the first time, Emily was able to take a deep breath and feel some comfort.
Over the next few hours they told stories about the girls and Toby. Emily laughed and smiled for the first time since the accident. Overcome with guilt and grief, she could barely make it through the day-to-day routine. Finally, she had a reprieve from the emptiness and sorrow.
Seeing her daughter smile again felt wonderful, her mother thought. The past few days she wondered if Emily would ever smile again. Jennifer needed this time to talk and laugh with her daughter, too. Emily was not the only one to lose someone close to her. This had also been difficult on Jennifer. In an instant, she had lost her son-in-law and two precious granddaughters. In the midst of it all she knew she had to be strong for her child.
That afternoon they went to visit the gravesite. Fresh dirt on top, grass was beginning to grow. Another sign that no matter how frozen she felt, time would not stop or even slow down for her. Everything and everyone continues on around her, but right now she finds peace in the still and quiet.
As she closed her eyes, she began to picture her wedding day. It had been everything she always dreamed of and more. The look on Toby’s face as she walked down the aisle would stay with her forever. Her mind jumped to the day they found out she was pregnant. It seemed as if life was perfect. Nine months later she brought two beautiful girls into this world. Remembering the way they loved to dress up in her clothes, she laughed at the thought of them in her high heel shoes and dresses. Suddenly, these joyful memories turned dark. Overwhelmed with emptiness she remembered the phone call that robbed her of her happiness. When the officer on the other end of the phone told her he had some bad news, she could feel in her gut something terrible had happened. Listening with disbelief, this stranger on the other end of the phone began to explain how her husband and two children had died instantly in a car accident.
Dropping to her knees, her whole body began to convulse. Her body overtaken by a pain she had never known. In that moment, she wished she had been in the car with them. What was the point of living without them?
Memories of her mother curled up on the couch and sobbing came to mind. For the first time, Emily realized she was not the only person hurt by this tragedy. She felt so selfish. Since Toby’s parents died when he was young, her mother had taken him in as if he was her own. They loved each other like mother and son.
Like someone had flipped a switch, Emily stopped feeling sorry for herself. Reaching out, she took hold of her mother’s warm hands and whispered, “I love you.” As they clung to each other tight, three beautiful butterflies took flight, soaring to the heavens. They were free. A glimmer of hope streamed in like the sun breaking through the clouds. Her healing had begun. Although she still had a long road ahead of her, she knew she was not alone.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
New Jersey Writing Project
I am so excited about taking this class. I have been teaching third grade and will be moving up to fourth grade this year. I have always felt that reading and writing should be integrated into every subject area. Integrating reading was not a struggle I had, but the writing is a different story. It was easy enough to integrate, but teaching the writing process was not my strength. I have never really received much training on how to teach writing.
When it came to teaching writing I really relied on someone else. Our ESL teacher, Becky, is wonderful. She comes into my classroom for 45 minutes a day to co-teach with me. I pretty much just stepped back and let her take over the writing portion because I felt very insecure. She definitely treated it as a process and something that was always in the works. Since she was only there a short time each day we were always going back to things we had already started. I love that she shared with my students that she is dyslexic. When she would write and model for the students sometimes they would catch her mistakes. She always responded so gracefully and said, "Well, that's what editing is for." Her example to my kids, especially those who are dyslexic was that it is okay to make mistakes. I think that really helped to instill confidence in their writing.
When I was told I would be moving to fourth grade I knew I needed to attend training on how to teach writing as a process. That seems funny now that I'm in this class. Yes, certainly I need this training, but why did I think I had to be a fourth grade teacher before I could go to this type of training. What a disadvantage for our students if we wait until they are in fourth grade to really start teaching them to write effectively. We need teachers of all ages from Kindergarten to high school to know how to teach writing in a fun and engaging way.
Although it is never too late, I do wish I had taken this training sooner. It is an incredible eye opener. I'm only one week in and I already feel so much more equipped just with the pre-writing strategies we have learned. There are a lot of trainings I leave wondering how it applies in the classroom, but not this. My mind is going crazy with ideas. I really cannot wait to get back and start using them.
I took a class last summer on science journaling. it was a week long session looking at how to create interactive, science journals. I gathered a lot of great information from that class, but still I was not as effective as I could have been. My students used them to journal and draw pictures, but if I had known more about the writing process they could have learned so much more from it. However, after taking the New Jersey Writing Project training I feel I will be much more effective and will be able to apply it to all subject areas.
A lady in the class mentioned how important it is for the students to know the vocabulary. I believe one of the most important ways to reinforce vocabulary is by journaling. Like I said earlier, I feel silly for not taking this class sooner. For someone who believes so much in integrating writing into every area you would think I would have jumped at the chance to take this class. I guess part of it is I did not know about it until this year, but I also did not seek anything out. I think, especially for elementary teachers, that we need to dispel the myth that fourth grade is when they "learn" writing. Why do we think that is the magic year? We cannot wait that long to start teaching writing as a process. It should be something they see and experience every year.
In the book Acts of Teaching, that we are reading in our class, we see how important it is to use technology with our students because that is the world they are growing up in. How easy would it be for them to blog about what they are learning? Or maybe we can give them the option. Do they want to write it in their journal or blog about it? This way I am giving them the power instead of feeling like I am forcing them to do something. They are choosing what they want to do.
One of our presenters is an high school english teacher. She mentioned struggling to get her students excited about a book. So, one day she told them to take out their cell phones. Of course she had to reassure them that she was not going to take them. She told them to text someone (not in school) a question that related to the story. It was like a light switch. After that they were ready to go. Using something they enjoy is a great way to get them interested or motivated. We have to learn to embrace the technology or we are going to lose our students. They live in a fast paced society. So, why do we think a sit and listen type of classroom will be effective? We have to make the shift. Our students need to be active learners or they will just tune us out. Do we not as adults do the same thing? How many of us have sent a text or email during a meeting or presentation? Probably most of us. So, why do we expect our students to stay focused and on task if we are up there just talking or giving commands?
When it came to teaching writing I really relied on someone else. Our ESL teacher, Becky, is wonderful. She comes into my classroom for 45 minutes a day to co-teach with me. I pretty much just stepped back and let her take over the writing portion because I felt very insecure. She definitely treated it as a process and something that was always in the works. Since she was only there a short time each day we were always going back to things we had already started. I love that she shared with my students that she is dyslexic. When she would write and model for the students sometimes they would catch her mistakes. She always responded so gracefully and said, "Well, that's what editing is for." Her example to my kids, especially those who are dyslexic was that it is okay to make mistakes. I think that really helped to instill confidence in their writing.
When I was told I would be moving to fourth grade I knew I needed to attend training on how to teach writing as a process. That seems funny now that I'm in this class. Yes, certainly I need this training, but why did I think I had to be a fourth grade teacher before I could go to this type of training. What a disadvantage for our students if we wait until they are in fourth grade to really start teaching them to write effectively. We need teachers of all ages from Kindergarten to high school to know how to teach writing in a fun and engaging way.
Although it is never too late, I do wish I had taken this training sooner. It is an incredible eye opener. I'm only one week in and I already feel so much more equipped just with the pre-writing strategies we have learned. There are a lot of trainings I leave wondering how it applies in the classroom, but not this. My mind is going crazy with ideas. I really cannot wait to get back and start using them.
I took a class last summer on science journaling. it was a week long session looking at how to create interactive, science journals. I gathered a lot of great information from that class, but still I was not as effective as I could have been. My students used them to journal and draw pictures, but if I had known more about the writing process they could have learned so much more from it. However, after taking the New Jersey Writing Project training I feel I will be much more effective and will be able to apply it to all subject areas.
A lady in the class mentioned how important it is for the students to know the vocabulary. I believe one of the most important ways to reinforce vocabulary is by journaling. Like I said earlier, I feel silly for not taking this class sooner. For someone who believes so much in integrating writing into every area you would think I would have jumped at the chance to take this class. I guess part of it is I did not know about it until this year, but I also did not seek anything out. I think, especially for elementary teachers, that we need to dispel the myth that fourth grade is when they "learn" writing. Why do we think that is the magic year? We cannot wait that long to start teaching writing as a process. It should be something they see and experience every year.
In the book Acts of Teaching, that we are reading in our class, we see how important it is to use technology with our students because that is the world they are growing up in. How easy would it be for them to blog about what they are learning? Or maybe we can give them the option. Do they want to write it in their journal or blog about it? This way I am giving them the power instead of feeling like I am forcing them to do something. They are choosing what they want to do.
One of our presenters is an high school english teacher. She mentioned struggling to get her students excited about a book. So, one day she told them to take out their cell phones. Of course she had to reassure them that she was not going to take them. She told them to text someone (not in school) a question that related to the story. It was like a light switch. After that they were ready to go. Using something they enjoy is a great way to get them interested or motivated. We have to learn to embrace the technology or we are going to lose our students. They live in a fast paced society. So, why do we think a sit and listen type of classroom will be effective? We have to make the shift. Our students need to be active learners or they will just tune us out. Do we not as adults do the same thing? How many of us have sent a text or email during a meeting or presentation? Probably most of us. So, why do we expect our students to stay focused and on task if we are up there just talking or giving commands?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Reading What I Want to Read
I love summer vacation because it is the time I get to read the books I want to read. A good friend of mine, Melissa, recommended a book by Colleen Coble called Abomination. It was definitely a page turner. It was almost impossible to put down. I'm the kind of person that has to be drawn into the book in the first pages or I won't finish it. This book totally caught my interest immediately. The author does a great job of giving details so you fell like you are in the story. Often times I'll read a book and be able to tell you the ending about halfway through. That is certainly not the case with this story. Abomination had many twists and turns. I love being surprised as I'm reading. It keeps me interested in the story.
The whole time I'm reading this book I'm telling my mom how great it is. So, of course when I finished the book I passed it on to her to read. She loved it as well.
That same friend who recommended the book has a blog, MelissaStuff, with great giveaways and money saving ideas. When she posted about a Barnes & Noble blowout sale I went to their website immediately. I ordered 3 more books by Colleen Coble. Two of which are part of her Rock Harbor Series. I have been getting them in the mail all week. It's like Christmas every time I get a new book. I just started reading one, so I'll let you know what I think soon.
The whole time I'm reading this book I'm telling my mom how great it is. So, of course when I finished the book I passed it on to her to read. She loved it as well.
That same friend who recommended the book has a blog, MelissaStuff, with great giveaways and money saving ideas. When she posted about a Barnes & Noble blowout sale I went to their website immediately. I ordered 3 more books by Colleen Coble. Two of which are part of her Rock Harbor Series. I have been getting them in the mail all week. It's like Christmas every time I get a new book. I just started reading one, so I'll let you know what I think soon.
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