Author: Andrea

I am an instructional technology coach in a middle school in Milwaukee, WI. I have been teaching for over 20 years in many grade levels ranging from first through eighth grade. I am a lifelong book nerd.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/14

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

I didn’t get a chance to do much reading this week. It is so busy at this time of year with all the holiday preparations. I would much rather be at home reading than in the crowded stores on the weekends, but alas, I have had to be in the shops. 

Books I Finished This Week:

I really enjoyed Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs. I picked it up because I have some boys who would be interested in this type of story, but I wanted to make sure they would be able to handle the storyline. This is a great adventure book that really highlights the challenges of immigrants and the real struggles of families in Mexico. I am looking forward to sharing this title with the boys in my class. I would recommend it for grades 4 and up. 

Books I Am Currently Reading:

I am almost finished with A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin. It is one of the books in the Mistress of Art and Death series. I really like these books about a woman who is a doctor in medieval times but has to hide it in England because it is seen as heretical for a woman to be practicing medicine. Her specialty is doing autopsies, which is also unseemly in that time period. 

What’s Next?

I will choose from my shelves according to my mood. That is about the best plan I can come up with right now. 
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

Celebrate This Week 12/12

It’s Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

My biggest celebration is just a fantastic week at school. Our classroom just seems to be clicking into place. We did the things that matter this week. My students sustained their independent reading and are finishing more books and thinking deeper about them. Our math times went well. Our writing times are fun and productive. We are all enjoying our days at school. Does it sometimes get crazy? Yes, of course. Do the students still manage to drive me nuts some days? Yes. However, the majority of my day is a pleasant and enjoyable experience. This is such a nice situation and it doesn’t always work this way. There are two things I did in the last two weeks that I think made a big difference.

First, I changed our morning schedule a bit to start our day with morning meeting instead of starting with quiet work and then doing the meeting. I think this focus on starting with our community has helped some students to center themselves during the day and to work on our shared goal of learning. This little change in our timing seems to have given us a more productive day each day.

Second, I have been working my way through the first Unit of Study for Teaching Reading. I am adapting it slightly since I already had my workshop pretty much set up. However, the language of the unit and the lessons about reading intensely are definitely helping my readers to focus. I need to improve in making sure readers in my classroom have goals that they are working on and keep track of. I also need to improve my record-keeping routines. The Units of Study are helping me with this because they give me the coherence in my teaching to help me get there.

The other fun thing at school is the holiday celebrations. We are doing some fun things as we approach the holidays, including a door decorating contest. It was really fun to brainstorm with my class and to come up with our idea. Yesterday, we spent a lot of the afternoon making the snowflakes and toys and presents and candy canes to put in our North Pole scenes. We also made some elves and Santa and Mrs. Claus. The students are so proud of our efforts and confident that they will win the hot chocolate party. It is a lot of fun!

What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 12/7

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Oh, my goodness! It has been so long since I last linked up! This Fall has been a tough one, but I am hopeful that the rest of the year will be a little more sane and normal.

I have been doing some great reading during these few months! There are so many fabulous books out there and I happen to have a bunch on my shelves. I am just going to highlight a few of my favorites because it has been so long.

Books I Finished:

I reread Throne of Glass because I had my Kindle with me while staying with my mother and I had it on there and needed a good distraction. I knew I wanted to read the rest of the series and thought this would be a good time to read it. I also was mistaken thinking that it was a trilogy. I devoured these three books and got to the end of Heir of Fire and was really surprised that the story did not get resolved. Now, I need to go seek out the fourth book which, luckily, came out this Fall.

I highly recommend this series!

I read The Martian for my book club. It is not a book I would usually pick up to read, but I enjoyed the story. I did study engineering for a few years, so the scientific sections were fascinating to me. My husband, on the other hand, could not handle that stuff and gave up on the book. The people in my book club said they just skimmed the technical parts and ended up enjoying the story. This is a book I recommend. Just know that you might have to give it a little longer to hook you than usual.

I loved The Water Castle. It is a great middle grades story that I know a lot of kids will connect to. I thought a lot about how this story would be great to read along with Tuck Everlasting because of the idea of the fountain of youth and water that might make you immortal. I think kids could really sink their teeth into the deep ideas presented here. I highly recommend this book.

I love, love, LOVED The Mark of the Dragonfly. It is a beautiful and intriguing story. I was hooked from the beginning and could not put the book down. I highly recommend this one as well.

Learning to Swim was a fast-paced mystery that I read in one day. I was caught up in the story and trying to figure out what had happened. I did figure out some of the mystery, but it took so many twists and turns that I was not fully sure until the very end of the story. I recommend this one to adults who like a suspenseful story.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am reading Crossing the Wire by Will Hobbs.

What’s Next?

I have The Heir sitting on my desk. I will probably get to that one soon. I am not sure what else I might read. I have been very spontaneous about book choices lately and will probably go with whatever strikes my fancy.

What are you reading? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!

Celebrate This Week 12/5

Come celebrate with us on Saturdays! 
I have had such a difficult time making the time to blog this year. I could give it all sorts of excuses, but it really comes down to not deciding to put my butt in the chair and write. I hope to correct that and continue to write with more frequency in the coming weeks. 
This week’s celebration includes a few things from other weeks in which I had the ideas but did not write them up. Better late than never, right?
First, I celebrate the creativity of my students. I had just finished reading aloud Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin and I wanted to put up a display of artwork. So I thought about it and decided to have my students depict scenes from the book in our watercolor project. They turned out so well! I was amazed also at the details that they decided to include in their art. I love that we have this shared book experience! Then, also there is the one piece of art that gave my colleagues and I a few chuckles after school (look at the pictures and you will see what I mean).

This is a tower with a thorny bush at the bottom, of course.

We have been reading The One and Only Ivan now. I love that one of my students made the connection between Mack and King Barf. We were talking about how Mack seems to only think about money and this student brought up this connection. It was followed with a chorus of “Yeah, I was thinking that too.” So fun to hear their thinking!

This is a carnation that one of my students brought me the day before Thanksgiving break. When I asked her what it was for she said, “because I love you.” So sweet.

In the middle of November, I had the opportunity to attend a day-long workshop with Lucy Calkins presenting about the Units of Study in Teaching Reading. Mind Blown! Of course, I immediately purchased the units and then read and reflected about my own classroom and the workshop environment I had created so far this year. The workshop and the things Lucy had to say really helped me to rethink some of the extras that I had been trying to do. I have started using the first unit for 4th grade, with some modifications since I already had some procedures and routines in place. I stopped trying to figure out how to work in other reading work to look more like other reading classrooms in my building. I lost a huge weight off my shoulders and we have started to sink into the work of reading intensely and deeply. I love it.

My district started something new this year with our calendar. We had teacher work days Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was awesome! I had a ton of time to rearrange my classroom and work on the never-ending work of sorting and labeling my class library. I am very pleased with the amount of work I was able to accomplish in those three days and I really like the new arrangement as well.

This week was full of amazing reading time. My students were able to sustain their independent reading time for 40-45 minutes each day. Even on Monday, which was the day after a week-long break for them. I am loving seeing most of the students really becoming avid readers.

In my personal life, I celebrate time with family and friends, a new fancy Kitchen-Aid mixer, fitting in regular workouts again, HGTV, and spring-like weather in December in Wisconsin.

What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Celebrate this week: Celebrating Everyday Life

It’s Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

This week I am celebrating a return to my normal, everyday life. October was a doozy of a month: my kitchen remodel project was in full swing, my stepfather passed away suddenly, I spent every weekend with my mom and sister to help take care of my nieces while my sister stayed in town with my mother, and through it all I spent most of the month sick with a cold and then a sinus infection.
This weekend I am looking forward to thoroughly cleaning my new kitchen, grocery shopping, cooking, doing all of the laundry in my new washing machine, sleeping in my own bed all weekend, going to TJ Maxx to shop for decor items, and having some time to myself.  (And finally getting somewhat caught up with planning and grading maybe)
The biggest celebration I want to share is my new KITCHEN. Here are the before and after pictures. Please excuse the mess in the before pictures…I was working on packing things up at that point. 
BEFORE

AFTER

I am absolutely loving our new space and I know we will enjoy cooking and eating in there for a long time to come. 
What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments! 


Celebrate This Week 10/24

Things to celebrate this week:

Curiosity I got to go to the Madison Central Library with my 2-year-old niece. The building was completely renovated and the library Children’s room is awesome! It was so fun to follow my niece around as she explored the space. Since the library is a block from my Mom’s condo, she had already been there a few times and knew just what toys she wanted to play with. We also used the iPad that is set up for kids. She did an awesome job using the app Endless Alphabet and did these loud (sort of embarrassing) child cackles as she saw the app celebrating her correct answers. It was so fun!

Learning My classroom continues to be a place that makes me smile every day. I love the fact that this group of kids is so respectful of each other. We have fun with GoNoodle every day and the students are loving many of our learning activities. This week I showed them the fact that our desks are dry-erase surfaces. They LOVED being able to draw on their desks. I also introduced my logic games from ThinkFun and they enjoyed being able to problem solve with these puzzle games.

Doctors I was able to get to urgent care and not have to wait for very long on Thursday night. I am glad to have the antibiotics that will kick my sinus infection to the curb.

Family Out of our awful experience of losing my Stepfather, comes the opportunity to see and spend time with my sister and my nieces each weekend. I am heading to Madison again today to be there with my family and help out with babysitting for my sister to get some of her work done. We get to see them one more weekend before they head off to Savannah to start their life there. I am also looking forward to hosting the family for Halloween trick-or-treat in my neighborhood (and I will have the kitchen finished and ready by then if everything stays on schedule this week).

What are you celebrating this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Celebrate This Week 10/17

It’s Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

 This week was tough. Two weeks ago my stepfather found out that the reason he was feeling so sick for the last six months or so was because he had very advanced Cancer (either stomach or colon cancer). He was working to heal himself through his faith of Christian Science, which is why he had not had screenings or had not seen a doctor yet. We all reeled at the news and were thinking that we would have to cherish the last months with him. He had fluid removed and was eating and feeling a little better so my mom and stepbrother got their hopes up that they would have some more good times with him. Then, last Tuesday, he got really sick. They went to the ER and found out that it was a bowl perforation. There was nothing to be done. He passed in the middle of the day Wednesday. It was so quick and it was overwhelming. So, I started my week this week with a funeral on Monday.  I celebrate the life of my stepfather and the many friends and family who loved him and love us and are supporting my mom and stepbrother in their time of need. I also celebrate the excellent care of the nurses at the hospital. The vigil at the deathbed of a loved one is so very hard. The nurses worked not only to take care of my stepfather in his last hours, but also to take care of us. It was very nice. I also celebrate the good work that funeral homes do. I can’t imagine having that as a career, but it is such a tough time for grieving families and they do such a good job of helping to take care of details. The funeral director that worked with us was so good at helping my mom and stepbrother through the process of decision making.

The rest of my celebrations seem so small in the face of this big event, but they have helped carry me through a tough week.

  • My sister and her family came to town to be here with the family. They are in the midst of their move to Savannah, so it was easier for her to stay here with the girls until their furniture and things arrive at their new house. She is going to be here until the end of this month and I am so happy about the chance to spend more time with her and my nieces. 
  • The little tickle monster
  • My kitchen cabinets are installed. Counters come soon. We are seeing the light at the end of the remodeling tunnel and the kitchen is going to be so pretty! 
Just a peek

  • My students got right back into the swing of things after one pretty rough day. They had a sub for four days and we all know that means mayhem when you return. It only took one day to get them back on our routines. 
  • I only have a cough left over from the pretty nasty head cold I had all last weekend through Wednesday. I am glad it didn’t develop into bronchitis or sinus infection or something worse (knock on wood).
  • The assistant who works with me also happens to be the mother of one of my students. She told me the other day her son told her that teachers are like electricians. He said that since the neurons in your brain fire like electricity, teachers help that happen so we are electricians. What a great analogy! And I am glad that my lessons are inspiring this deep thought about how his brain works. 
What do you have to celebrate? I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 10/5

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished Recently:
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain was much more fascinating of a read than I thought it would be. It was really interesting to read about the inner workings of restaurant kitchens and the sort of unsavory characters that might be lurking in the finest restaurants. I think it would be interesting to hear what another professional cook or chef has to say about the book. 
You just have to read Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan if you haven’t already read it. I loved the way music was a theme throughout the book. It is a magical and wonderful story and you will love it. 
What happens when a magic mirror whisks you away to a fairy tale? That is what the two main characters in Whatever After find out. It is a fun read and I know that some of my fourth graders are going to love this series. 
Books I am Currently Reading:
I am enjoying Hollow City more than I thought I would. I didn’t love the first book as much as some people so I was interested in reading the second book but not dying to read it. So far, I am very intrigued with the story and liking the plot better. I am almost done with this one and will probably finish today.
What’s Next? 
I am not sure what will be next. I know I want to read The Martian so that will probably come off the shelf. I also have a lot of 4th grade books that I want to read so I will probably grab a couple of those. Life is happening at a very fast pace so I am unsure about how much reading time I will have.
What are you reading this week? Have any recommendations for me? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Celebrate 10/3

It’s Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

This is one of those weeks in which I had to dig deep and really look for the things to celebrate. In the middle of the week my family got some news that devastated us and will be a dark cloud over us for a while. I can’t share it yet since it isn’t my news to share, but I’ll just say Cancer sucks!

Things I am celebrating this week:

  • I mentioned to a friend that I was craving pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting and didn’t know where to find them to buy them. She went home and baked me some pumpkin bars that night. I am celebrating good friends who do randomly nice things for you. 
  • We worked hard all week on transitions and by the end of the week things were much smoother. I have a lot of students that are really working hard to do the right thing and use their self-control. 
  • Writing time is awesome. I love hearing the groans when I say that our time is up. They are loving the chance to share their stories and I am so excited about what we will be able to do this year. 
  • Reading went well this week too. I think the timing for my literacy block will work out and I am proud of my students for really increasing their stamina for independent work. 
  • The Scholastic book box came with the easier books that I ordered. I have some students who are significantly below grade level and I was happy to be able to give them better options for books to read and enjoy. 
  • The student who has finished two books in the last two weeks and didn’t finish any books last year. 
  • The student who told me one morning that her mom had to take her book away the night before because she didn’t stop reading and she had to do chores. 
  • Having an administrator who understands that sometimes life happens and doesn’t make me feel bad about needing to be absent. 
  • My sister is moving to Savannah, GA. Her husband found a great job that he is excited about. They have been living out in LA for six years. Although Savannah is not super close to Wisconsin, it is still a lot closer. We can even drive there if we decide to take a road trip. I am excited to have them a little bit closer and to probably see them much more often. 
  • The kitchen remodel starts Monday!!!!
What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Celebrate 9/26

It’s Saturday and that means it is time to reflect on the week and celebrate things both big and small. Join our community and celebrate this week by linking up or just stopping by the host Ruth Ayres’ blog to read others’ celebrations.

How did it get to be the end of September already? How the time flies!

This week I am celebrating…

  • Peaceful Independent Reading time and an increase in reading stamina among my students. 
  • A smooth start to conferencing with my students. Some of them didn’t even notice that I had started.
  • Vitamin String Quartet music on Amazon Prime that helps us have peaceful work times
  • Writing enthusiasm among my students and the variety of genres and topics that they explore each day
  • Enjoying Rump together and hearing the insights and predictions of my students as we read
  • Joyful, happy noise of our weekly board game time–we got out the Hot Wheels cars and ramps this week…
  • A really fun curriculum from Hot Wheels for 4th grade Science. (Speedometry is the name of the curriculum…it’s free and aligned with NGSS)
  • A nice stack of Student Council applications to sort through and the excellent ideas these middle school students have
  • Barre classes and the enthusiasm I have for getting back into workouts because of the studio I go to
  • PUMPKIN everything! I love this season! 
  • The cool fall nights that have brought some relief from hot days in the school
  • GoNoodle—a great resource for brain breaks in the classroom…so fun!
  • My new Birkenstocks and my orthotics that will help me have good arch support and hopefully heal the tendonitis in my ankle (and keep me from needing a boot for the same reason).
What do you have to celebrate this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!