Changing seasons...

I love long walks. Especially on days with blue skies, nothing scheduled, and I don't have to wear long underwear anymore. I love walks because it's time for me to just think. Think about life. Think about connections to people I'm watching, things I'm observing or wondering. It's almost this wierd complex inside my head with a 2 year old always asking "Why?" and then me trying to find an answer to my own questions. At least I don't talk to myself...not in public that is.

I had a moment where it felt like I was standing in two places at once. A part of me was observing bundled layers, frozen river, dirty snow...Winter. The other half was feeling warm air, hearing birds chirping, and seeing more people outside...Spring. The idea of seaons changing is so magical. Watching the dead come to life with a new purpose and new meaning. My thoughts trailed to the Nicole Nordeman song Every Season when she sings:

"And everything that's new, is bravely surfaced

teaching us to breathe

and what was frozen through is newly purposed

turning all things green

So it is with you, as you make me new

with every seasons change

and so it will be, as you are re-creating me

Summer, autumn, winter, spring."

What a joy it is to notice the perfection and timing of His plan. How everything, every time and season, every storm and trial are in such timed precision. Looking forward to the new things that will blossom in this year!

Nothing to do = room for creativity

One thing I do love about breaks is that I finally have a chance to step back and look at how to make things more effective in my classroom. On the day to day schedule of things, I will easily notice when things are not as effective or smooth, yet I simply do not have the time to just sit back and ponder a creative way of changing it. I need a lot of empty unscheduled time for my brain to really just....well, for lack of a better word...brainstorm.

1) Handling the random/off-topic questions in the middle of the day:

"Mrs. Evans, can you publish my paper during recess time?" or "I have to stay inside today because I am sick" and "I think I need another homework paper because I lost it" are all perfectly fine statements/questions from 1st grade students. The only problem is that they are all usually asked when I am either teaching a lesson or talking with someone else. What oh what should we do about this problem??? All of my students are pretty familiar with working with post-it notes to reflect their opinion about books and such. Why not use them to ask Mrs. Evans all of the questions that can maybe "wait until later"? I decided to make my filing cabinet the destination for all of their post-it requests so that I will make sure to see it throughout the day. I will respond to their request or statement by answering it in marker and putting it on their desk. Who knew you could teach patience and communication through writing while keeping my sanity all at the same time?

2) Managing Mini-Lesson Material (Reading/Writing workshop):

I had no idea that just by adding two students to my reading/writing group I would have to rearrange and change my whole system for doing things. I thought the whole "making a procedure" for things would be a one time deal in the beginning of the year, badda bing badda boom....apparently not. When we would read and "dissect" a read-aloud or shared reading together, I would normally have the students take their clipboards, post-its and pencils from their books boxes to get ready to respond (book box is like a cardboard magazine holder). My reading rug is not that big, and now with the students and book boxes, it is a bit more snug than we would like....and then less manageable. Instead of wasting time, and possible arguements from the lack of personal space, I decided to get innovative with my materials. I wanted to create a "catch all" clipboard...but out of cardboard (to save money of course). In just seconds, the students now have all the materials they need. A piece of cardboard is their clipboard with a pencil already clothespinned to the top. On the front I covered the post-it codes with contact paper while having a handy pocket with their post-its on the back. No more wasting time! No more "Wait Mrs. Evan's I can't find my pencil!" or "What is the code for Text to Text again?". And without the book boxes sitting beside them, that is practically 3 students wide of space we are saving!

The awesome thing is that my mind is all fired up and we still have one full week left of break...how comforting :).

The 110 rules of Uno

What do you get when you put seven adults around the table with the game UNO? Why of course! Seven (deeply rooted) childhood traditions of rules and regulations that all collide at the same time.

Although it created for a few moments of confused tension, it was extremely fascinating to me how there are truly SO many ways to play UNO. The most intriguing part of it all was how dibilitating it was when none of us were on the same page. We all had a different way of going about each step, and held on to it like it was the very fabric of the UNO game.

1. When you don't have a card, do you pick up just one or keep picking?
2. When you don't say UNO when you have one left, do you pick up two cards or the whole discarded deck?
3. When someone lays a card against you (draw-2 or draw-4) can you stack it with the same card?
4. After an action card is played against you, do you still get to play a card?
5. If you have two of the exact same card, can you play them at the same time?
6. Can you lay a card out of turn if it is identical to one that was played?

These were just a few of the questions that humorously roadblocked our efforts in playing a simple game. With so many perspectives colliding at the same time, it was nearly impossible to continue playing without a pause in the game to clarify how something is played. The irony of it all is that when someone actually looked at the directions, NONE of us followed them! Every single "rule" that was mentioned during the game was created down the line one way or another. So very intriguing. I almost think that the simpler the game, the more people put a twist on it with other add-ons and rules. But hey, why not make a game more interesting?

The Best of Both Worlds

Last night was the infamous Chinese New Year celebration. All of China comes together with their celebratory firearmor and simutaneously lights them one after another. The result you might wonder? Let's get this mental picture: You're seeing and hearing the finale to the 4th of July firework performance and everyone is clapping and cheering. Yet after 10 minutes of exhuberant applause, everyone looks at each other realizing the same thing "Let's save our voices and energy, this is not stopping anytime soon".

This is my second year of marveling at the firework display. The awe factor of the "never-endingness" of the celebration was a bit less dramatic, yet my experience was given a new perspective. Since the tradition of staying at the hotel was still alive and well, we were able to get the best of both worlds. We could watch from the 10th floor witnessing the fireworks literally at point of explosion while getting a more "ear-protecting" muffled sound. Or we could run out onto the street in an adrenaline rush filled with "on the scene" energy and excitement. I felt like a little kid running from one activity to the next "Now let's do this! And now that!". Even when you give adults a variety of stimulating activities, we all react the same....unless we are so tired from trying to stay awake until midnight that the only energy left is "Wow......cool."

I was able to actually capture a few pictures of the fireworks that were hitting our window that night. While you may think to yourself that it is just a picture with the flash glaring off from the window, it is actually the middle of the firework exploding inches from our faces. Enjoy!

I took quite a few videos from the night, but the internet is being stubborn and won't upload them. Once I figure that out, I will share with you all!

Motivation...where are you?

I have realized something about myself. Without the physical presence of someone around me, I seem to lose all drive to move forward. It appears that I don't even need to be talking with these people for my whole sense of "purpose" to be there. It could be random strangers only seen in my peripheral, a close friend sitting by working on similar work, or even my husband sitting in the next room. Whoever it is, being around people just drives me! I have tried to change this mental state I find myself in when left alone for hours on end, I just don't think I can change something so deep in the fiber of my being. I remember even as a kid, my mom would punish me by sending me to my room. While my other siblings might have thought "Hey, we can sit here and play with our toys!", I would just sit there and sulk "Everyone is downstairs, and I'm all alone!".

It's just that without needing to serve, love on, or mentally share with someone else, my purpose slowly disappears....and so does my motivation.

Since it has only been a couple of days without Dave here, I keep forgetting the huge role he plays in making this "teamwork" of a marriage work. When we go grocery shopping together, we are obviously always able to carry more things home (logically). I didn't quite realize this until I had all the bags in my hand and stood staring at my bike in bewildered confusion. "Hmmm....how am I supposed to carry four bags of groceries when I only have a book bag and a basket on the bike?" Let's just say I used every bit of that bike (handles included) to lug that stuff safely back our apartment.

Don't worry honey.....I'll survive......just with a heck of a lot more appreciation for you :)

Ch...check! One less thing for the bucket list.

So I did it.

I finally checked off this bucket list item "Sing in front of a group of people larger than my family (with an actual microphone)." I think the room filled with over 100 people should count. Could I have sang a more upbeat song? Sure. Could I have actually looked out and smiled while I was singing the song "Smile"? Sure. But hey, I was pretty proud that I went up there without fainting in the middle of it. I never fully understood how people could get physically messed up by getting in front of people until I actually did. All was well until Dave started playing the guitar and then a sudden heat wave, crazy stomach, and shaky fingers began. At least my voice didn't leave me.

This all started with the Chinese New Year party invitation. I excitedly read the line "Sign up for the Talent show!" Immediately my assumptions were planted thinking that with all the people going to this party, a lot of them (inlcuding my friends) would sign up. So much for assuming....I should have known better. Luckily I was able to get my two good friends Liz and Hannah to sign up to at least take the pressure off from being 1 out of 6 performers. Sorry girls for getting you into this....

All in all, even though it wasn't a "perfect moment" by any means....I did go to bed smiling. Just that sound in my head of "Ch-check!" (on the bucket list...haha). One thing down, plenty more to go. Just to put it out there, Cassie Chase was my biggest motivator.....sorry I didn't do "Stand by you". Maybe next time.

Closer to 2nd grade...yikes

It is that time of the year. Now over the "hump" of the half-way point, the emotions of excitement and panic set in. Encouraged for how much my students have learned this year, yet concerned with how much I still need to prepare them! I hope this is a real fear for more teachers than just myself. After the words of "you are now closer to 2nd grade then you are to Kindergarten!" was said to my students, my mouth and stomach simultaneously dropped with the reality. Although the work to be done is a very present awareness with every passing day, I wanted to document some of the progress they HAVE made this year!

With our new "Big Book" shelf put in, the students use pointers, big glasses, or post-its to interact with or respond to their reading. Here one of the students was marking up the book Stellaluna with questions he had about some interesting words. He was so interested that he asked if he could look them up in the dictionary during recess! What dedication!

By now, we have learned MANY word families (-ight, -ell, -ake, etc.). I pinned a particular word family to everyone's back and let them have at it with coming up with as many words as they could. I was so impressed with what they discovered together!

During our writing workshop, this student is choosing to write a non-fiction piece. He found his own resources from our classroom library, came up with great questions in his brainstorming web, and did not need my help for any of it! Is it possible to feel bored during the day when your kids are so independent they don't even realize you are there? Maybe this is a good thing...I definitely don't miss the beginning when I wished I was cloned with the demands of all my dependent learners.

Sometimes the connections that my students make when they are reading just crack me up. This student feels that he made a valid "text-to-text" connection because the fox's teeth in the book The Mitten were sharp like the shark teeth in his book Hungry Hungry Sharks. While it IS a connection, this shows we need to work on finding more meaningful ones...

Well...I feel encouraged already. Just by posting about it has reminded me of how far my students have come. Thank you Father for allowing me to see the joys of this year. YOU alone have accomplished quite a work in these students. Thank you for letting me witness your handiwork.