What Matters - Reflections After Parent-Teacher Conferences

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I always look forward to the day of parent-teacher conferences. There is something special about sharing what I have come to know about a child's learning with their parent(s) or guardian(s). And with twenty-five years experience of these meetings, I know that talking to someone else who cares about that little person can be powerful -- in sometimes unexpected ways.

Thursday past was no different.

While the stories differed in the details one thing became abundantly clear again.  What we say to children matters.  What we say about children matters.

Trying to capture the strengths and the concerns about academic progress we have observed each term, in the short space allotted on report cards, is always a challenge for teachers.  We are expected to create a record, a snapshot of where the child is, at this point in their school year and share it in terms clear to both families and other colleagues. The words we choose so carefully leave out the many ways we provided opportunities to become engaged with the content and to practice expected skills. It doesn't account for the many ways we now assess learning, the myriad situations in which we directly and indirectly observed the student.

Needless to say, communicating to the parents about that over each term is essential. There should be no surprises when the brown envelope is opened! That being said, sometimes parents react differently when the words about their child's progress, or the concerns about it, are in black and white.

We have to keep in mind that a parent reacts first and foremost on behalf of their child. When a parent tells you that their child thought being asked to writing conferences meant they weren't good enough, then something needs changed. It matters not what actually takes place - that every student has participated in those individualized sessions with me, nor that I know what we do and say in conferences is carefully constructive, somehow that child's perception has been framed a certain way and I have to do something about it.

That parents want and expect the best for their child sometimes is demonstrated in what we would see as unrealistic or unachievable goals. "I want him to get 5s this term."  His teachers know his reading is not (yet) at grade level.  We know he resists writing tasks -work- as much as he can.  Words like "inattentiveness" and "struggling" were on his report cards this year. Encouraging him to get to the level of achievement demonstrated so far has been a regular challenge.

But when we find out from Mom that he really loves to be out in the woods, that he spends time ice-fishing and hanging out with his grandfather whenever he can and that he will watch shows on the Discovery Channel, don't we have a means by which we might now engage him in school-based learning, too? Might it  now be possible to support him in ways not yet addressed and help him attain higher scores than he possibly thought attainable?

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Finding out things about your student that has not been shared through the phone calls or emails can sometimes be hard to hear, as we know their potential impact on a student's success. Separation of parents, a death in the family, a parent leaving to go away for work are not uncommon topics at parent-teacher conferences. Some things need to be shared in person. Such was the case when one mother explained her son's recently changed attitude and effort was a result of him standing up to a classmate who had bullied him for the last three years! That was a shock! We have a co-teaching team in the classroom this year and support teachers as well; none of us picked up that there was anything of that magnitude going on between these two.

It was hard to think that we missed that. It was hard to think of him in class worrying and we missed that. It was even harder to consider what we might have said ( even as nicely put as one does) about his lack of focus on what we were saying and/or doing at the time. It was hard to think how we let him down.

As vigilant as we may think we are, we do not see everything that goes on in our classrooms, hallways and other spaces where students gather. Things happen. And as caring as we know we are with our students, we have to ensure all our students understand how available we really are, how supportive we can really be  ...that our words are not empty. What we say and do every day with every child matters. We cannot ever be complacent about the words we espouse about building a safe and caring school community.

Letting our students know that we care is a goal, part of the everyday experience at the school where I am proud to work. In each and every corner of the school, the staff and students greet each other warmly, ask about and share thoughts about the weather, the hockey game, the lost tooth, the lost pet. From the principal's high fives in the Drop-off zone to the caretaker helping to find a sneaker to the teacher sitting by a desk at recess to review something, I can see countless acts of caring everyday.

As I walk through the corridors each day, I hear many positives from our parent community about how things roll at our school! What we say and do matters.

When a parent tells you that she hears everyday about the way you touched her child on the shoulder, that you smiled at her, that you liked her story... it matters not so much what scores she got on "problem solving" or "uses writing strategies" as it does about how she feels coming to school everyday willing to try her best because she knows we care about her. We gave her that smile.

That matters.

Audrey Hepburn, Eat Your Heart Out!

As educators, we all know, or find out soon after beginning in a classroom, we have many "hats", or roles in our professional lives.

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In taking on a different role this year, one that has me in the classroom, in the Resource Center/library and in the office, I have had hats fly on and off so fast, I can hardly consider which hat I've donned!


While I would love to be able to wear a hat like the incomparable Audrey Hepburn...

and though my "hats" this year may be less glamorous than hers, upon reflection, they are none-the-less attractive to me! 

I love the challenge, the change, all the children that I deal with each and every day. Whether it's helping a student select a great read, discussing areas of concern or accomplishments with parents, reading to a rugful of little ones, rushing off to work with my Grade 5s or co-teaching with other teachers, this year has been quite rewarding!

However, the new job has impacted several things I intend (ed) to accomplish, among them to continue to blog here. With "Blogging From the Edge" this year I had hoped to expand topics and move away from how I began blogging  or my concerns about how it was going.  I wanted to develop more posts about teaching reading, especially in light of all the professional material that is available that appears to provide contradictory viewpoints.

I also hoped to reflect and write about being an administrator by now. It is definitely a more complex leadership role than it seems from the other side of the door!

However, these blogging goals have yet to take off in the way I envisioned in September but what has replaced it has been worthwhile, too.

I have established a website/blog for the school's Resource Center that builds connections between the school and our parent community. I have also shared it with other teacher/librarians in my part of the world as one example of how to make information and ideas accessible.

I have also taken the lead on using Twitter as a means of sharing the teaching and learning that happens at our fabulous school with families and friends. The school's Twitterfeed shows students and teachers at work and play, decorated doorways and walls, as well as notes and announcements! We have our own hashtag to quickly access shared resources at a later date.

Meeting with teachers to plan and to share how technology can continue to be integrated at our school, what new apps can be creatively and constructively used, how blogging with other classrooms locally or globally can be developed, what assessment strategies might be enhanced with digital tools...have been incorporated into my days.

So, in taking stock,  I have decided to pat myself on the back for what I have gotten done instead of ruing the lack of posts here. I will be kind to myself and be reminded that the time to blog (regularly) will happen...sometime.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the hats I do wear! (And just watch the occasional Hepburn movie!)

Until then, all of my hats are off to the wonderful, glamorous teachers who also put on so many each day!

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Pointers From the Playground

It's was one of those conversations that you're not meant to hear, though it was obviously not a private one. Some days sound really carries and this was one of those days.  I could easily hear the discussion between a parent and child at the playground across the street as I was near my fence doing some fall weeding on this quiet Saturday morning.  Though it wasn't until she was wanting to play on the structure nearer to me that I could hear the words of the girl and the replies of her father.

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This image is similar to the structure in the middle of our playground; I include it to help you visualize the choices this little girl had before her.  Unlike the 'kiddy' equipment she had been playing on, this piece has higher climbing surfaces, a fireman's pole and multi-levelled approaches to the various slides to accommodate the differing abilities and daringness of the older child.

At first I didn't notice anything except the laughter from a little girl who was moving around the various pieces of equipment with her dad following along behind.  They had the whole playground to themselves.

I was already struck by the fact that the father and child were talking a lot with each other; frequently parents sit on a bench and watch.  As they moved around to the front of the structure, I could easily overhear the interaction between parent and child. It went something like this:

Girl: Which one should I try?

Dad: Which one do you want to try?

Girl: The big pole.

Dad: Go on then.

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Girl: But I might fall!

Dad: Look, I'll do it first!

Girl: But I might fall. You've done it before.

Dad: I'll stand right next to it.

Girl: You won't move?

Dad: No, if you need me, I'll catch you!

Which he did the first few times.  

Through my fence, I heard her squeal of delight and the sound of her feet running up and around to try it again and again. 

Then I overheard something new; this next time she told her dad to stand back a little. He did. And she landed in a bit of a heap but un-fazed. Up she went again and again.

Her dad reminded her on how to position her body and use her feet but remained back and nearby.

"I did it! I did it!" 

I smiled and was struck by so many connections...so many thoughts:

*Isn't this the gradual release model we want for our kids in so many aspects of their lives, their schooling?

*Isn't it wonderful how he showed her first? (I think he enjoyed himself!)

*Don't we want our children to move confidently from the known into the less familiar, from the comfortably easy to the slightly more challenging?

*Isn't encouraging them to persevere part of our role? Isn't letting them know some things take practice, hard work, stick-to-it-ness? That sometimes there's bumps in life?

*Don't we want them to try new things they are truly interested in, even if they don't know how...yet? 

*Shouldn't they believe we (as parents and teachers) will catch them if they fall? Dust off their knees and help them with the next step?

*Shouldn't they know we have many ways to support them in their attempts ... pointers, information, ideas? 

*Isn't celebrating their accomplishments, especially the little ones, an amazing opportunity to show them we care?  

Dad (next to car): Oh, we said we were only going to be gone half an hour. We're a little late.

Girl: That's alright, Daddy. Mommy will understand when you tell her about the pole.

I'm sure hoping she does!

Shining the Light

A lot has happened in the last few weeks! As a result of our principal taking a position that became available at the Board level (Congratulations again, Dan!), the names on the office doors in our school have changed.  Our former vice-principal was a natural fit for leader of the administration team (Kudos to  LeighAnn) and, after some scrambling to put together and submit my first real CV in over 20 years, I was asked to become assistant principal.

I have to admit I did hesitate for some long moments before deciding to apply. And not because I lacked confidence or doubted my ability to lead others.  As I started to compile notes for my resume, I was sort of surprised by just how often I had been involved in leading professional development at the school level and beyond.  But for me, those opportunities to share and learn with and from others has been a natural extension of being a teacher at Matthew Elementary. Our school has, for a long time now, emphasized teachers working together as grade level partners and across divisions.  The spark of an idea, the light in each others' eyes as we discuss the progress of a student, the warmth of  teachers' affection for each other and especially for their students...all visible in our school!  I was already part of a great team of dedicated teachers...why change direction now?

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BUT...
I have always welcomed teachers into my classroom ...many have dropped in after school to ask a question, seek resources or discuss issues that arose.  (Being the "most-seasoned" elementary teacher on staff helps!)  Others have visited during the day to observe such things as a Writing or Reading workshop or to see grouping strategies being carried out. 

And I love sharing my passion for teaching.  I truly enjoy discussing the big ideas and the small details that go into making the most of the experience for everyone in the classroom. Being a sponsor-teacher to three student-teaching interns was one such experience that provided me with opportunities to nurture a love of teaching and model the reflective practice of life-long learning as a teacher. (One of those young women is my teaching partner this year!) 

Now I welcome the chance to expand my leadership role in our school in perhaps a little more formal way. I look forward to having the time to visit other classrooms and share in their commitment for the work they do each day!  I hope to support them in their professional learning as we aim to implement the best of what is changing about education and teaching practices. 


I also hesitated for another reason ...the position takes me away from the classroom, our classroom,  for part of each day.  I wondered about the relationships I strive to build each year with my students and how they might be affected by my absence. I work with students each year to build a caring classroom community...would that still be possible?

I thought about all the classroom experiences I would not be there for if I wasn't involved in teaching all the subjects.  I also considered the missed opportunity to carry through the full team-teaching model we had intended to implement in grade five this year. 

BUT...

I reminded myself that many of the things that I love to do in the classroom with my students are in the Language Arts/Social Studies block! Book talks, writing conferences, Global Read Aloud, hands-on projects and so much more... I will have lots of time to get to know my students and them, me.  There will be many opportunities for learning/playing/working together!

I also know the teachers who are in the classroom are wonderful teachers in their own right and they will do amazing things with our students.  I will have some time to get to work with them and that's terrific!  

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SO...
I believe this year will be about opportunities to shine a light on the teaching and learning that occurs each day in our school.   I welcome the opportunity to go into classrooms and see (and share) more of what my colleagues are doing!  

I also thought about how my new role will provide opportunities to bring certain activities to more classrooms, especially as I can be there to help set them up! 

And by using part of my new position as Learning Resource teacher to help foster a love of reading and writing for various purposes, I also look forward to getting to know more of our K-6 students and see their zest for learning, creating and collaborating in action!  For example, I have ideas that I would like to put in place to engage our learners in making the most of the technology we have available.  

So yes, I am excited about this school year, in ways I hadn't anticipated.  I love the change of direction for me professionally and the chance for leading new learning opportunities for our school community!  Who knows where sharing those sparks of teaching and learning may take us! 

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 "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." --William Butler Yeats

Getting Back to the Reading Zone

At our school the emphasis is on an individualized reading program, one based on knowing what the students' reading level is and supporting each child to become a stronger, engaged reader over time.  While we use some selections from the authorized resources as mentor texts or for small group instruction, the use of  a whole class set of novels is no longer a par of our pedagogy. One of the key components of this reading program is time to read ...in school and through our expectation of Home Reading.

While teachers have worked to include different approaches in their classrooms to support students' growth as readers such as building large classroom libraries, developing a room of shared levelled texts, establishing guided reading groups, incorporating Daily 5 and encouraging Home Reading with logs, several of us have also adopted aspects of  Reading Workshop.


Fountas and Pinnell's Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6  has framed much of what is done in my reading classroom.  Their suggestions and rationale for establishing a Reading (and Writing)Workshop are well-thought out and clearly described.

Reading Workshop (60 min.)
A booktalk/minilesson followed by groups for  
Independent Reading
Guided Reading and Literature Study/Book Club
Then meet for Group Share and Evaluation                     (Adaptation of Fig. 4-1 P. 40)

I particularly enjoyed how this schedule provides structured time to meet with small groups of students and individuals to strategically teach and support readers at different stages.


But I think I have gotten away from something vital in my organization and expectations for reading. The students who enter my classroom as readers stay readers but those students who have yet to be hooked by a book, many of them still struggling to read well, are not always 'caught' by the whole reading response and reading log requirement. Reading is work for them and I have been adding to that association with some of what I have done.

Reading Groups ...Review, Reflections and Revisions

They did it in The Jane Austen Book Club.

You can certainly do it on Goodreads.

They even do it on Twitter!  See https://twitter.com/nerdybookclub as just one example!

People love to get together and share the books they are reading.  Well, most. If we asked our students, what would their reply be?

So how do we provide opportunities for that kind of sharing and that kind of enthusiasm?  And let's be honest; it's not entirely about the books. It's about the interaction, the socializing, the feedback, the discussion!  That's what motivates! That's why people of all ages participate in Book Clubs, reading groups or become members of forums that talk about and recommend books.

So again I ask myself, where is that in my students' day?

While I do many things I am satisfied with in my Literacy/Language Arts time, the reading part has had me tweaking for several reasons for the last number of years. See part of what I am referring to here.  I hoped to generate interest in books being read by the students by having them share their responses on the walls and to their peers.

I have also set-up "book club" type groups as part of my Reading Workshop.

I usually established the groups based on reading levels. Though that didn't mean that everyone had to be on the same one. As long as I felt that everyone could have success sharing the book, I would mix up the levels a little. Personalities and other pertinent factors often play a role in setting up any groups as we all know!

 I usually provided the students a choice of books from which they could select one they wanted to read together.  These selections could be offered based on genre, author, or what I thought might interest them as a group.

And I usually scripted the follow-up activity and discussion by giving each group a guide. While some of these allowed individual responses within the group setting, I felt the talk around these topics would engage the students before they actually completed the tasks.

This guide I used early in the year or with readers who needed a little more support.

Sharing the Love of Books...A Chore?

Get your pencils ready.

Order your recess and lunch.

Take your books out.

Settle down.

That's the to-do list in many classrooms each morning, including mine on many mornings. While we may not present it as "orders", the routine-ness of it is an established goal and this tone set. And it is this approach to silent independent  reading that I wish to reconsider. But my reflections are going deeper than that.

When you finish your book, you may choose one of the responses to share your thoughts and ideas. I want you to record the title, the number of pages, the type of response you select and the new total of pages read in your log. 

This is the essence of the expectations I established this year. And it worked...for the most part and with most but not all students!

The choices in responses varied greatly and included such things as:

• Illustrate a new book cover.
• Write a postcard to, or from, a character.
• Create a story map, or a comic strip.
• Write a letter to me about what and why you enjoyed about the book.
• Create a glossary of terms related to the non-fiction text you think may be useful.
• Blog!
• Write a Reader's Theatre script about an important scene. (Present it or direct it!)
• Do an Audioboo and share it.
• Create a movie poster for your book.
• Sign up for a BookTalk. (with me or a classmate)
• Use Popplet to create a character sketch (or some other selected topic)
• Create a presentation about the author and what about their book that stood out for you.

As our outcomes include broad statements such as "Students will be expected to respond personally to a range of texts", the above are terrific ways to provide opportunities to make connections to the text with a blend of modes with which to do so.  Students are able to share their thinking in ways that access their particular learning style.  

Win-Win, right?

While I do think I am on the right track, one of the issues I have had was with students not meeting the expectation, the goal, of a response for each book in our reading program. (See here for a little more about that.) Now I have been responsive to students' lives and have not been regimental in expecting a response for all books. And in modelling different activities, I have shown how much fun can be had while sharing the pleasure in reading a particular book and the depth of your connections to it. 

I am wondering, like other teachers about what we are doing to promote the love of reading, the freedom to read, the pleasure in sharing a book.

So how do you promote reading in your classroom?
How do we find the balance between passion and pleasure in reading with the chores and work-related tasks we, as teachers, too often attach to reading?

Reading...Really?

Reading didn't go quite the way I hoped for in my room this year.

We all know some particular combinations of students will make for different experiences from year to year; this class did have more students who were not reading 'at grade level' when they arrived but was that the reason things were not as successful?  I am not sure.

With all the current emphasis on putting the "right book in the right hands at the right time", with our "baggie" books going home in primary grades, levelled texts and guided reading sessions continuing up in to elementary classrooms now, are more students really engaged in reading? Choosing to read on their own?

I'm not so sure any more. I certainly didn't see it this year.  Have we, as educators, missed the boat with how we are 'doing' reading? Is it just a school issue?

I do know parents have become (overly) concerned about the level of the books brought home, particularly in primary grades here and may be communicating the anxiety about 'moving up' to their children instead of recognizing the time and practice that is built into any process of learning. That being said maybe the Home Reading program needs an overhaul in its approach to record keeping and reading logs and  ensuring that its only "just right" books that go home.

I do know that there are many (and major) distractions in our students' lives, enough that even if the only homework (more on that topic later) is reading, it does not routinely get done or is frequently completed under stress and in less than ideal conditions.

I do know more and more students have devices on which they spend hours after school instead of reading ...or reading in different spaces than we normally consider. That's a factor that has to examined.

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I have tried different approaches to foster the love of reading while aiming to ensure our English Language Arts outcome that refers to students' ability to select and read across genres is met.

Letting Go

So here I am ... in the middle of the first week after school finished.  I have time on my hands for a change (especially after completing my Master's) and so I have been musing about the past year and considering what I would like to do with the weeks ahead.

These first few days after school finishes are for letting go!

In cleaning up my desks (and moving classrooms) I have come across notes, sheets, articles and lots of treasure/junk that I have had to decide to keep or let go.  A lot of it I threw out! If I haven't used it or thought about it in the last year, then perhaps it wasn't as useful as I thought.  Let it go!

Letting go this week also means easing out of the care and concern for the twenty-two students who have been "my" kids for the last ten months.

No longer do I have to wonder if they are getting enough sleep or if she is still thinking  about her little brother and the operation he needs or if he is still fretting about the death of his cat. No longer do I have time to support her growing willingness to speak up or his to pipe down! No more time to spend laughing at her jokes or smiling at his stories.

As the summer goes on, no longer will I have to worry about their grasp of multiplication, or reading strategies or...  No longer do I need to find more time to carry out tutorials, to phone home, to meet with the team to plan interventions, and to prepare for mini-lessons and individualized conferences to address this need or that one.

I also have to let go of the doubts. I have to let go the nagging thoughts about whether or not I spent enough time with each child, if I coulda, shoulda said something else ... done more.

I have to let go of unrealistic expectations and use (some of) the time now to reflect on my own practice...what would I do differently? Why?

I also need to let go of my teacher "hat" and put on ones with more personal labels.  Then I will be ready to meet and greet the next bunch of Great Grade Fives in the fall!

So here's to letting go...

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What in particular are you reflecting about? Pondering and planning?
What hat will you wear this summer?

Something's Missing

Something's missing in our blogging!

 As I have been thinking about the blogging with  my Grade 5s (this is my second year) and reflect on recent reading from Will Richardson , Bill Ferriter  and Pernille Ripp to name a few, I realized what it was.

Conversation. Real talk.

My kids are commenting on each other's blogs and keep it going but the deeper reflection that I was hoping for didn't really materialize.

And it's my fault.

In trying to get and keep the flow going by frequently responding in and out of class - me, the kids and some parents, we  (well, me, actually) didn't seek out other student bloggers or spaces to engage in conversations or discussions about things that matter.

Things that might get the kids thinking and responding and arguing and digging deeper.

I didn't get around to availing of #comment4kids (the Twitter hashtag that invites connected educators to visit student blogs with or without their classes) this year to bring readers to my students' blogs. Readers whose comments could have sparked new questions, new thinking,  new perspectives.

That being said blogging did accomplish several things I had in mind...

I feel strongly that a sense of purposeful writing - for themselves and writing for an audience other than me -was established.
I know students experienced the creative buzz from working digitally with the features of Kidblog and embedding other tools they used such as Youtube, Photostory3, and other sites of interest.

I could observe the outing of 'experts' in the class as students called on each other for assistance and I had students teach each other and me how to accomplish what we wanted using various applications!

I was able to provide opportunities for collaboration as students worked together on our Learning Scrapbook blog.

Blogging also supported other observations...

I do believe that using the blogging platform engages more students than the paper-and-pencil route, especially many of the boys who responded to the techy nature of blogging!

I  do know that students who were shy in class found their voice when on the blog.

I do think that the 'social practice' of communicating with me, their classmates and very importantly their families is enhanced greatly through our blogging endeavours.


BUT

I have come to realize that I have to do some things differently when I return to class in September.

If I want their blogging to make a difference,
to have them begin to understand what it really means to be a digital citizen,
to make the most of the opportunities that connecting with others can bring,
then I have to have them get involved in the community of bloggers - develop networks -
and be part of the world in a more visible and interactive way.

From http://bit.ly/LSSiEk

Can't wait to get back.

Looking Back at Blogging

I have been thinking and re-thinking about blogging with my Grade 5s.  Most of them enjoy it. Many of them do it regularly. The majority of the kids chose to write on their blogs without prompting or poking from me.

But in light of some reading and re-reading I have been doing for my grad research, I am wondering if I have achieved what I wanted by having my students participate in this on-line activity.

Will Richardson  says that in-school blogging isn't really blogging, that due to the "contrived" nature of the task, students are not really engaged in blogging. That they are really only writing for the teacher, for the grade (that's another post topic, for sure!)

I get that.  And for some students, that is probably true. 

 But isn't that the case for writing, too; that despite Workshops and Author's Chairs and 'publishing' pieces of  student work, that many, most, will not choose writing as a personal activity?

Christmas Gifts Welcome in the Classroom

                          

As we returned to class this past week and carried out the annual Show and Tell ritual, I was struck by the number of digital gadgets my students had received...

Laptops, I Pods, tablets, Wii systems, e Readers, Nintendo DS contraptions, cellphones, digital cameras...all in the hands of my ten-year old students!

I was also struck how - when I was not much older than they are - reading science fiction, that the fiction included handheld devices that one could speak into and see the other person!  How impossible that seemed back in the day of the rotary-dial telephone.  Web-camming is a new verb and now we can Skype with students around the world in realtime!

When I was my students' age the word computers evoked an image of the roomful of computer framesNASA had to use in order to guide the various space  missions. 

(And yes, I watched the televising of those first steps on the moon on a black&white TV!)  

These days many of my students own personal computers that fit into their jeans pocket!

                           

Back at it!

For a multitude of reasons I have not been posting here for months.  Not that I haven't been working and writing!  I have been teaching in the busy, messy, noisy way Vicki Davis talks about.
And I have been continuing my graduate studies.  And my volunteer work... and my family life!

With two students who have autism and another whose first language is not English ...in addition to the other smiling/not smiling faces in our class this year, I have been extra busy as a teacher since September rolled in.  (There aren't actually enough hours in the day, are there?!)

Or at least I felt busier!  And stressed out a little more too!

Teacher stress is very real but it's not unmanageable.  Recognizing that you are experiencing it and acknowledging that it is a normal emotion in this profession is perhaps key to staying sane!

Begonias, Bookbags and Summer Reading

I have new residents for my perennial beds, patio and table tops! Many of my students, and parents, are aware of my love of gardening and so, among other thoughtful gifts I received last week, were bouquets of varying combinations and several potted plants!
A lovely pink Asiatic Lily is now tucked in front of my pink Monkshood in one of my perennial beds and two pots of hanging crimson begonias now sit on my back step greeting visitors as they knock on the door.  The vases full of cut flowers add a splash of brightness in several spots around my house!

I always feel strange about this tradition of gift-giving to teachers at year end.   I don't expect anything; and I know many of my parents cannot afford a hanging basket. I wish they all knew I'm not judging anything on the size or extravagance of the gift. I remind myself that many of the gifts come from the heart and to accept them graciously. The thank-you card or small box of chocolates they did send was equally touching.  Even the inexpensive but unattractive ornament sent along means something to me;  perhaps they noticed  the little things I did to try and boost their daughter's confidence or maybe it was to say thanks again for spending a few extra afternoons on reading place value charts with their son!

Time Flies

Can't I have a few more weeks? A month? They've come so far! They're just where I want them to be!   Can't I have just a little more time to reap the rewards of my work?  OUR work together. Please?!

 June arrived too quickly and with it  has come the realization that this wonderful, quirky bunch of ten year-olds will shortly be leaving on summer holidays.  I don't feel ready to let them leave...

So Worth It!

You know this kid.  He
~ grumbles about anything that looks like 'work',
~ takes forever to get supplies out of his cubicle,
~calls out across class to his buddy about what's on his mind,
~ slams his exercise book on the table with grunts of "I don't get this" or "whadda we got to learn that for?"
~runs when he's supposed to walk,
~ and is quick to find fault in any situation and  especially with what you're trying to do.

 He regularly tries your patience!

Last week I watched that kid race toward me across the grass with a piece of litter in his outstretched hand and I almost cried thinking our school year together is almost over.