Stronger

The end of my school year was filled with lots of emotion! My little angel started Kindergarten this year, and boy oh boy, her first year of school was the best year of her life!

I tried so hard to soak up every moment...every new word read...every blend, every digraph, every diphthong. When I taught first grade, I loved seeing my students learn to read and become fluent readers...this year, I was able to experience this from the parent's perspective! I enjoyed every milestone and every accomplishment of my angel becoming a reader!

I loved seeing Ave and her little friends develop friendships that will last a lifetime. I soaked up the smiles, giggles, and amazing personalities of these girls! At times my heart hurt when Ave and her friends had to deal with "trouble on the playground" with some girls who said hurtful things...all the while knowing that these tough situations will make them stronger.

Sometimes, stopping to truly cherish each moment is hard and life can get in the way! This is where my emotions took over, I saw an entire year of Ave's life flash by! That last week of school, I cried more than I think I ever have before. If one school year can fly by that fast, I want to slow down even more! I want to bookmark and snapshot each and every moment of these memories and file them away so that I can hold on to this precious time! I want to surround Ave with amazing people and teachers who will be involved in every aspect of the development of my wonderful, caring, and talented little lady! I want to encourage her, support her, and push her farther than she may think she can go...I want to be her biggest cheerleader while teaching her that life simply isn't fair. I want to show her that hard work and dedication can help her chase her dreams and that losing or falling makes you STRONGER! I want her to know that getting up after you fall is what shows character! I want her to be proud of who she is and stand up for what she knows is right...and not let anyone tear her down. I want her to dance her heart out and sing at the top of her lungs...not worrying about what anyone says or thinks. I want her to know she is loved.

Some may say I'm too involved or I care too much. I say, how can you be TOO involved? Isn't that what being a parent is all about?

To you "helicopter" parents, keep on hovering...these are your babies! You only have them for a little while! You are your child's first and BEST teacher! Show them how to love, care, and treat others with kindness, stay involved and ask questions...lots of questions! This is my goal...so that when Avery graduates, I will know that I stopped to smell the proverbial rose. I will know that I was able to truly see her grow...that I didn't blink...that I LIVED every minute with my precious gift from above!

The time has come to close a chapter in Ave's life...GOODBYE Kindergarten...HELLO 1st grade!
I can't wait to see what amazing memories we make this year!

June Currently

It's been awhile since we've joined in a Currently Linky party with a great blogging mentor. We have missed sharing and exploring what a blog friends are CURRENTLY doing. Check out Farley's blog: Oh'Boy 4th Grade when you get a moment. 

Here's what is happening in my heel of the boot:

* There are times in my life when I do not realize how much noise whether it be productive or counter productive surrounds me. As the family is off in bed, I am enjoying the silence... oh and the occasional snore of my cat who has decided to join the post. 
*Summer Break, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break are the only time I can truly become lost in literature. My poor Nook is on constant charge these days. I always set a goal and I am far behind where I want to be. 
*As I began this process, our 13 year old cat decided he would snuggle NOW. Never mind that I am attempting to use the keyboard. No ma'am... Ozzy says the he wants it to be his turn. He does this all the time. "Oh you're grading those tests? Wait let me rest on them. " You don't need this iPad right now. SO I shall sit on it" All in all, I laugh every time and enjoy his company. 
* Can I get an AMEN on wanting a slow July?
*I had some major & much needed surgery almost three weeks ago. I was given strict instructions about resting my body. However, I am made of a stubborn cloth and think I can manage. Then I pay for it later. Doers are not good at this resting business. 
*Yesterday was such a joy. My little sister, her three sons, and our baby sister's two year old daughter came for a swim yesterday. Along with my sister, I sat (RESTING) in one of my lounge chairs watching our children playing and laughing as they did when they were younger. Now that my oldest will be going off to college in the fall, I am trying to take in the moments that are the last of all four of us under one roof each night. The day was beyond words as my sister and I took in the afternoon as we did years ago... it was as it should be! 

Thanks Ellen DeGeneres

So I have been spending quite a bit of time on the couch. More than I wish to be, but it has been necessary and required. I had me a little surgery last Wednesday which limits me for the next few weeks. A great deal of the time has been spent sleeping. When I am not sleeping, I have so many things to do.... NOT! Let's see.. I read, I check email, I respond to my wonderful friends via text, I read some more, and I indulge in the entertainment that is day time television.

I am so very embarrassed to admit that I am a horrible creature of habit. For five days a week of nine months of my life, I am dictated by a schedule. Of course that dictation has bled into my summer of recovery. I discovered I have developed a television watching schedule. Shamefully, I must start my day with People's Court. It then leads to one of my most favorite people in the entire world.... ELLEN DEGENERES! I love her humor, her love of life , and her generosity. She's a Louisiana girl!!!! What's not to love?

OK... so I digress! I was watching Ellen during one of my wakeful moments. At that time, she was playing a game called Heads Up. She has played the game thousands of times, but this time I saw her playing the game on a tablet!!!! I was so very excited. They made an APP.... oh my goodness.... an APP!

The techie teacher that I am immediately began thinking of ways to use the app in my classroom. How cool could it be to have my students develop ways to express themselves verbally and using description to play. I grabbed my iPad to look for the app. I have to admit it was a little difficult to find the app at first. The key to finding the app is placing an exclamation mark at the end Heads Up or go to Ellen's website.

With the app, there are 18 themes, "decks", to choose from. It even records the person who is giving the clues. It's a $0.99 app, but I think it can be well worth it. I haven't gotten my family involved in testing it yet.... YET!!!! But I can not wait to try it.

Just goes to show you, you can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can NEVER take the classroom out of the teacher. That's just what we do... finding the fun for the fundamentals of learning. It just doesn't stop.

APPy Summer my teacher friends

Techie Teacher Takes a Trip

After much planning and anticipation, my family and I hit the road to spend a week in the city we once called home, Raleigh, North Carolina. It has been a busy 11 years since we left Raleigh to move back to our hometown of Moss Bluff, Louisiana.

With the spark and enthusiasm of Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Vacation, we decided to hit the road in our SUV for a 16 hours trip. Our family would be spending the better part of a day and a half in close quarters. Excitement at its best for our two grown boys, right? Sure!

We hit the road with a great amount of technology to keep everyone fully entertained for the long haul. As I took inventory of the technology that would make the trip, I was taken back to a time when these boys were entertained by coloring books, travel games, small toys, and books made of paper. Eleven years later, the car was filled with an iPad. two Nexus tablets, Nooks, and cell phones with hundreds of charging devices and car adapters. Tons to do.

I, myself, took time to download my favorite magazines from the public library's website, checked to ensure my latest summer must reads were downloaded on to my Nook, and typed in addresses for our points of interests into Google Maps. What would this techie teacher be without her techie tools in hand?

During our trip, I slowly began to realize how much technology played an intricate part of each day. The Garmin GPS alone was the best resource. Pop in the address and away we would go. With its polite British lady cluing my husband to his next exit safely, the Garmin navigated us to and from the Asheboro Zoo, Southpoint Mall, and Wrightsville Beach. It was a tremendous help as we searched for lunch and dinner solutions during our journey. With a few taps of the screen, we were never lost!

The kids finished four books which were tucked away in their little Nooks. Even after receiving my first generation Nook years ago, it is still amazes me how quickly I can be reading a book and how much room I have saved myself since switching to an e reader. Everyone in the family has officially converted to Nooks. We have even converted my oldest son's girlfriend with a Nook as a graduation present.

There were so many times during our trip when I was thrilled to see a Nook propped up on a knee or the door. Reading was happening in my car. Now that I think back to last week's trip, I really didn't see games being played or apps being used. I saw reading...lots of reading!  Not because someone had an assignment. Not because it was required. Reading for the sake of reading. And the educator in me was overjoyed.

We also found ourselves "googling" everything. What time does that store open? Where is the nearest drug store? How much are the zoo tickets? I found it funny that the words I use quite often with my students when they are stuck on a question were the same words I was using on my vacation. "Let's look it up" turned out to be a great help during our little vacation.

I think I could surely go on and on about the little things technology did for us during this trip. This is the world that our Digital Natives are growing up in as they become adults. And I begin to question whether these are the things we are teaching our little natives when we have them for 9 months of the year. Technology helped me problem solve during my family trip. Am I teaching my students to problem solve using the technology that is so useful?

Always thinking,

And so ends the year

Here I sit in a quiet classroom. Just the sounds of my coworkers prepping their rooms for the summer. The room once filled with children preparing for a test or discussing the character traits of the latest subject of study. These cinder block walls once covered in anchor charts, motivational words and student work stand bare. Another school year has come and gone.

As I sit in this quiet room, my thoughts remain with the heroic educators in Oklahoma. Hearing their stories and seeing the devastation that was once their cinder block walls and the remains of what was once a room filled with students preparing for a test and in deep discussion makes me mourn for their loss, but it makes me proud to call them colleagues in this world of education. These teachers are the truest of heroes because of their efforts and their ability to keep it all together as the world comes crashing down around them.

In the end, among all these crazy changes in education, let us remember we are all people who chose this profession because of children. We chose to teach, nurture, and protect children. This job is more than a number on a page or score on a test. Teachers in Connecticut are a testament to that. The teachers in Oklahoma are as well. Whether it be a bullet or an F5 tornado, teachers will stand, huddle, and even hide his or her students because those children are OUR children too.

So as I close up this room to await a new school year, I will place my hand on a cinder block and thank God for the brave teachers of Oklahoma.

Many blessings on a summer of recovery and strength

Happy Mother's Day to You... the teacher

I know it sounds odd to wish a Happy Mother's Day to a teacher, but you are just that. For 7 hours a day and 9 months of the year, you are a mother. No not in the traditional , technical sense of it all, but you are in some way to those little faces who enter your room everyday. You are the hugger, the cheerleader, the supporter, the stern disciplinarian, and the maternal figure for those few hours of the day. You pray for them, counsel them, and even scold them as any mother would do to her child when she or he may need it. You secretly leap for joy when your children accomplish something you knew they could do if only they put forth a little more effort. You secretly cry for them when they have been given bad news or suffered some type of set back in their education or even in their personal lives. Yes, you are a mother!

You may not have children of your own, but you do have these beautiful creatures for some time. Or you may have your own children, but always stop yourself when you are asked how many children you do have because you do find yourself adding the 25 or so precious boys and girls you have in your classroom. Yes, you are a mother!

For me personally, the children that enter my room ever year never truly leave my heart. I am blessed to teach in my own quiet community where I see most of the them from time to time. They either play football along with my youngest son or they are soon to graduate along with my oldest son. I see them in grocery stores, at a school function, or when they come for a visit with one of my boys. I feel that I am forever bonded to their lives, because for a short time I was responsible for what they were learning and helping to develop them into strong citizens of our community. For those that I do not see as often, I am shocked to see them so grown. In my mind they are perpetual fifth graders. And it astonishes me when they are shocked that I remember them so clearly. How could I not remember them when they were in my room just a few short hours ago (even though it truly has been a few years)?  When I see them, I groan at them for getting older, but then praise them for who they have become and encourage them to keep up the great work. Or I silently pray for them if I see the path they have chosen isn't what I had hoped. All in all, I do tell them that I love them and think about them often.

So whether we truly realize it or not, we are mothers to the children we teach every day of every year and then beyond those years. In reflection of this time of year when we are winding things down and preparing to move them on to the next grade, our students have affected us and made us who we are more than we affected them and made them who they are. And that is one of the many reasons why I return to that room every year... to learn from them and to love them like only a mother would. Even if it's just for a short time.

Happy "Mother's Day" to teachers everywhere.

Pomo Whato?

A few months ago, my husband came across an issue with his work load. He had so many projects and tasks that he had some difficulty dedicating the needed time and focus on one given item at any one time. He found he could easily get thrown off track about the ping sound indicating a pending email or the piles of documents that screamed for attention.

As always, he went in search of something to help him with the time management issues of having multiple tasks that all needed to get completed in a timely manner. Being the techie guy, he immediately pursued the app world. After exhausting the trial and error of task lists, he came across the Pomodoro technique. The technique promotes the elimination of time anxiety and promotes better concentration and focus. 

With the Pomodoro technique, he makes an inventory of all the the tasks he needs to accomplish. He then breaks the inventory into "To Do" items for that day. When he has completed his list, he then sets a timer for 25 minutes. Within that 25 minutes, he focuses on completing as much of that one simple task as he can. After his time is expired, he provides himself with a 5 minute break. The break allows him to check his email, get another cup of coffee, or text me to tell me how much he loves me. Then he gets back to work either on the next item or continuing the current task. 

Here's the Pomodoro cheat sheet that provides more detail of the technique. The website also provides Inventory Sheets and To Do task sheets for free.

The technique calls for any basic timer. However, he found an app that supports the Pomodoro technique. 

There are quite a few free timers out there on the market, but he found that he liked Focus Time by Peer Assembly. The app costs $4.99, but the customization of the timer and it's ability to give the user some great data on productivity make it well worth the price.

The timer ticks down for the task and provides the use with star "stickers" when you have completed each task. Who doesn't love a star "sticker"? You can also pick from a variety of 'ticker' sounds, from a grandfather clock to an egg timer; or no ticker sound at all.  Whatever is most soothing for you.

The app provides the user with many setting options in order to maximize greatest productivity. 

The Pomodoro technique has really been beneficial for him and has me thinking of how it can be useful in the classroom setting. We as educators know that attention to tasks can be a student's worst enemy. It can be even more of an enemy in a student-directed classroom where there are days spent working within stations. Studies show that our students work best when given small "brain breaks" as their day progresses. I am seriously considering using the Pomodoro technique with my fifth graders. It would make for an interesting study on these Digital Natives whose attention spans seem to be shrinking by the day.