one little word 2018

Hola friends, happy new year to you and your families!

I hope you had a fantastic break! I'm reveling in the fact that I'm still on mine (we practically worked up until Christmas!) and so now I'm home from Christmas travels and have a few days to relax and prepare for January. We go back on the 8th!

Last year, I picked abundance for my word, hoping that I would create a lot of that in all aspects of my life, but it didn't really go anywhere. My 2016 word, forward, was so much better. I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about this and I'm so excited to reset this year with my new word for 2018:

I have found that I go off on tangents with things. Or I have these great ideas, but then I don't see them through. Or I try and take on too much and so nothing gets done. So this year, I want to be steadfast with my goals...pick the right ones and then get pretty focused about accomplishing them.

Looking back at my vision board for 2017, I can see where I've accomplished things and where I have not, or have fallen short:

• Went to Spain, check
• Found a relationship (which promptly ended) but I'll say that one's a check
• Became a Teacher of Distinction with Golden Apple; didn't win, but check
• Wrote 88 blog posts (shooting for 100), I'll call that a check
• Read 40 books (shooting for 50)...so...idk. I will be kind to myself and say check :-)
• Became quite a bit more mindful via yoga, so check
• Did not get a dog (yet) <<-- Notice my growth mindset! :P
• Did not get an engagement ring (yet)
• Did not delete credit card dept (yet)
• Did not get a bikini body (yet) hahha, I mean, I'd like to lose 15-20 lbs but a bikini body would be amazeballs!

So I bring all this up because I need to become more focused. And so I thought if my word was discipline (that's what I started with) then I could pick a goal and see it through to the end. Except discipline sounds so rough. Then I found steadfast and it was love at first sight!

As I continued to think about this, I realized that there were a lot of things I want to do, but I know that if I try and do it all, I'll fail. Already this month, some of the things I want to do:

• Detox from the holidays, and by detox I mean cut sugar, alcohol, caffeine, gluten, soy, dairy
• Exercise (at least 3 times a week)
• Write in my Writer's Notebook

Just those three and I knew I couldn't commit to it all, so I'm just focusing January (and prob Feb too) on the detoxing and exercising. I'm going to keep my focus laser like and steadfast in this area in particular. Unwavering. Loyal. Firm. 

And then, when I have done that, maybe mid February or March I'll get to the writing. Maybe there will be something I feel particularly compelled with at school. Or I'll take dating up again, ha.  I'll keep reading along the way, probably writing, too... I actually become even more accountable with my eating and exercising when I'm sharing about it! (Did you know I became a blogger bc of a food challenge? Check out those posts here.) But you see what I mean.

So 2018. Steadfast. We're starting with health and who knows what possibilities lay ahead!

I know this isn't exactly teaching related (yet), but I think the better I feel outside of school, the better I'll be for my students. We'll see what I'll get a hold of in school with this #oneword!

they taught me

Most people think that in education, teachers are the only ones doing the teaching. But in an equal amount of our work, it's the kids teaching us. As my 14th year has now wrapped up, I'm thankful to continue to learn from the adolescents who sit in the chairs in my classroom. Thanks to Pernille Ripp for the mentor text, I couldn't wait to write one of my own.

They taught me that how I appear to them on their first day is what matters most, and will certainly set the tone for the rest of our days together.

That they prefer to see me smiling when they come to class, and that even when I am totally annoyed by behaviors, I have to call forth even more patience.

That while it's important to read and write regularly, honesty, integrity, and kindness are always what is at the top of my list objectives.

That in light of a particular political climate, I have found that if needed, I would definitely do anything to keep them safe.

That in my classroom, all cultures, languages, family histories, and stories will be not only valued, but also honored.

They taught me to pick my battles, that having them in their chair rather than walking out my door is always more important, even if it means that they don't engage with me for part of the time.

That they prefer the classroom to feel like home, with different options for seating, and with reflections of themselves in the books in our library and in work lining our walls.

That I need to find far more opportunities for them to create things - to have the space and freedom to work - in an artistic way - from their hearts.

That I should not make up my mind about them so fast, that you can still be surprised by them in the best possible ways.

That it's okay to hug your middle school kids, because sometimes, that's just what is needed to calm some anxiety or show a student that, no matter what, you are there for them.

They taught me (again and again) that they're always watching, and my choices, my words, my actions tell them who I am and what our class is all about.

That consistency and unwavering high expectations really do make a difference, even if they cannot get to that understanding for a few years.

What have your students taught you?

disrupting thinking: bhh framework

I just got through the second part of Disrupting Thinking - all about their BHH framework and I'm so excited to share it with you! (Check out part one of my review here.)

But first, something I loved, something I'm taking to heart. (I'm practicing the strategy!)

I really appreciate the teacher researchers, Kyleen Beers and Bob Probst who came up with this strategy and are sharing it with all of us in their new book for a multitude of reasons, but first because they are vulnerable and funny, and it's so refreshing. As they began to share the story of how their BHH framework came to be, they talked about the first instances when they tried - and failed - at it with students. On page 62, they shared how their first lessons went with kids, and how they didn't work.

This was so refreshing to me because it's so teaching. You have this idea, and you want to experiment. You try it out with kids and it totally flops - we've all been there. It takes weeks and months and years to refine our craft, and so it's so nice for me to see that I'm just like them in trying new things out and seeing them fail sometimes. And I'm especially engaged by their writing, as it comes with words from the mouths of babes - responses to their first attempts at sharing these lessons with students: 

Will you be here all week? one student inquired.

Is this for a grade? another asked. 

I  love the vulnerability they show, which translates to me, a teacher thinking, "Hey, Michelle, it's okay to try new things even if they fail. That's how we get to greatness..."

And now that I've shared my heart, we can get on to the framework!

BHH is Book, Head, Heart.

You share with kids that good readers consider what's in the book, this work coming from many teacher researchers, but my faves to the likes of Fountas and Pinnell and Kelly Gallagher:

• What's this about?
• Who's telling the story?
• What does the author want me to know?

Next, you teach students to think about what's in their head, this work coming from Lousie Rosenblatt, Nancie Atwell, and Donald Graves:

• What surprised me?
• What does the author thinking I already know?
• What changed, challenged, or confirmed my thinking?
• What did I notice?

Finally, you add a third component, my favorite part! Penny Kittle, Georgia Heard and others help us look at what's in your heart:

• What did I learn about me?
• How will this help me to be better?
• What life lessons did I learn?
• What did I take to heart?
• How did it make me feel?

So part two of the book includes a few chapters that call up past work that led Beers & Probst here, strategies that fit with BHH, samples of student conversations from first, fourth, eighth, and college freshmen, a sample for you to try out on your own with a poem, misconceptions that were revealed as they did the work with students, examples of anchor charts, funny anecdotes... definitely enough to cause me to think about how I can try this out...and I did, yesterday!

The more I read from this book, the more I continue to feel that it's a great framework for helping students think through text, thinking that includes their own feelings and thinking that can make them more compassionate people, which will lead us to create even better citizens.

Do you have a copy of the book yet? If not, I have a book to give away! If you'd like to be considered for the give away, leave a comment with your thoughts and ideas about this framework, or a response to one of my favorite questions from this part of the book:

Do you think its important for students to think about how a text is changing them? Do you share with students how reading changes you?

Leave your thoughts, let's keep the conversation going!

one little word 2017

Gosh, it's been 5 weeks since I published a post. This really makes my heart ache, because I think about writing all the time, but for a variety of reasons I haven't been. But, I'm here to share my One Little Word for the year, and I'm thinking this little word will snap me out of my funk!

I love using a word as an intention to drive everything I do for the year. This year...

I love this word. I think it was Brené Brown in Daring Greatly that said that so many people look at life with a scarcity mindset - there's not enough money, there's not enough great men to meet, there's not enough time in the day. Really, there is so many amazing things in this instant of a life we are given. So my goal this year is to look at all the great stuff rather than dwelling on the things I don't have. Let me break it down for you.


Abundance of Mindfulness
It's got to start here. We've got to realize that our thoughts that run on autopilot all day - they shape the way we view the world. So, they can be positive and see all that is available or negative and ruin our days. I'm training myself this year to see the positive in everything, even when I'm stressed, even when I'm pissed off, even when things aren't going my way. Buddha said, "Rule your mind or it will rule you." So much truth there.

Abundance in finances
After last year's car accident, one of my biggest goals is to create financial freedom this year. I've been on Pinterest looking up financial freedom and find pins that say things like, "Money is just energy. It flows to me and from me. This year money will abundantly flow in my direction."

Now, I'm not expecting to do nothing and have tons of money flow in my direction, quite the opposite actually. I'm putting money into savings first, then spending no more than what I have left. Picking up a few extras at school and also getting to work with Arbonne. I'm creating financial abundance this year.

Abundance in Reading and Writing
50 books and 100 blog posts. I can do it. I love writing so much, it really helps me to understand my world better. And reading, reading teaches me tons of things I would otherwise not know. I'm unplugging from my TV and Social Media more this year so I can achieve these goals.

Abundantly Focused
How many times do you hear yourself say, "I'm really good at multi-tasking!" and there you sit, doing 14 things but not having a lot of connection with any of them? Yeah, me too. So, this year, I want to pick just a few and do one thing at a time. Do one task till it's finished, and even though it's so easy to get sidetracked and begin something new, all I want to do is finish one thing at a time. No more half-assing things. I want to whole-ass them and check them off my list.

Abundance in Health and Wellness
Time to start taking care of my health and wellness, too. Continuing to eat pretty clean and adding in the exercise. Beginning 2017 with no drinks in January, and getting back to the treadmill a few times a week. I feel so much better in all areas when I'm getting exercise and that will really help me achieve how I'm hoping to feel (and look!) this summer. Clean eating 80% of the time, throw in some exercise and some meditation and I'm good to go.

2017
Have you seen my vision board? A daily reminder of everything I want to accomplish this year!

What are your goals? Get some pictures, post them up, set your intentions, share it with the world. Let's make it an amazing 2017!

Cheers!

bigtime reflections

We just finished up a short week and I wanted to share and reflect on it with you!

Pineapple Chart
This has been a long time coming, but it finally launched this Wednesday!

The Pineapple Chart concept is from Mark Barnes and Jennifer Gonzalez who wrote Hacking Education. It's a way to invite teachers to your classroom in a space (our lounge) that everyone hangs out. Then, teachers can check out classes that are on the chart.

We just launched it on Wednesday, and there were four teachers to put up an invitation - to a band class (trumpets!), Math Class, to see a cool app called Class Kick, a Social Studies Class to see a learning platform called Summit, and my ELA class to see Quick Writing.

What's awesome about the Pineapple Chart is that there's no subs involved, no paperwork, no formal reflections - just teachers visiting one another's classrooms to learn and collaborate together.

I visited the math class to see Class Kick and the app was super cool, but it's also cool to just be in another teacher's room to see how the students interact, to see how they organize and structure their class, to talk to kids, and 100 more reasons!

I highly suggest this form of on-demand, personalized PD - check out Hacking Education for this great Hack, and so many others! (My next project is Teacher Quiet Zone!)

Quick Writing
I've been doing Quick Writing for about 6 weeks now and it's making such a difference in the kids stamina for writing. (Check out the details here.) We are about to launch our first writing unit, and I know the Quick Writing will lend itself to the writing they will do for me coming up! I'm just so proud to see kids really getting to business with their writing, this example was just about 7 minutes worth of writing! This strategy helps kids get out of their head, stop the writer's block, and just let thoughts flow on to paper, because we know that the real writing lies in revision.

Progress Reports
One area I've been struggling is communicating grades with parents. Like, I have grades in my book, but I am not super sure how to use our online management system and so until yesterday, I hadn't done much of that. I tell you this not so you'll be judgy, but because what I'm learning as a teacher and coach is that it's so hard to do everything. The last few years when I was just a coach, I would attend meetings, and to me, it seemed simple the plans that we would make for instruction. But then there's assemblies, and shortened schedules for PBIS kickoffs, and days off, and then there's a day or two when none of your students do their homework, so the plan that you've created, it doesn't go as you had envisioned.

But then something amazing happens anyways, and I'm so mad I didn't snap a picture of this - my kids doing self-reflection on their progress reports.

We have moved to Standards Based Grading. I like it. So I created progress reports for kids, where I had it broken down into seven categories, listing the scores I had recorded for kids. Then, I asked them to reflect on scores, share something they're doing well in each area, and also something they need to improve. And I had them spend about 20 minutes on self-reflection, using my notes and grading themselves. And it was amazing.

Kids made comments like,

• "I need to study my vocabulary more."
• "I need my handwriting to be neater."
• "I should share my ideas with people I sit with more."
• "I wasn't taking this seriously, but now I will."
• "I need to be kinder to others in my class."
• "I have a lot of tardies, I need to come on time." (Side note: yesterday this student *was on time!)

I have always been a reflective teacher (like, here on the blog) but I am going to make this self-reflection for students an ongoing process. Oh, and then my principal (who initiated this whole idea for me) shared how I could take it to the next level - have parents rate themselves for things at home like,

• My child gets 8 hours of sleep a night.
• My child eats a good breakfast each morning.
• My child reads 20 pages of their book each night at home.
• My child has routines and a quiet space to work on homework.
• Electronic devices are turned off at 9pm each night.
• Electronic devices are kept out of my child's bedroom, especially after 9pm.

This kind of rating and reflection on behalf of the family seems like a great reminder for all involved, and really creates that space for teachers, students, and families to do the work together!

Award Nomination

Finally, pretty cool that someone nominated me for a Golden Apple Award:

I got this last Friday and at first thought it was junk mail, but upon further examination and research, it is legit. This is an award for teachers in Illinois, in a few of the counties around where I live. This year, it's for 4th-8th grade teachers. Winners receive

• A paid spring quarter sabbatical to study tuition-free at Northwestern University
• Induction into the Golden Apple Academy of Educators
• A cash award of $5,000
• Recognition on an hour long Awards ceremony program on WTTW/Channel 11 in May 2017

I have no idea who nominated me - I asked some people at work and a friend who is a Golden Apple Scholar, but have not figured that out, but I am super thankful and honored someone thought of me!

That's about all for this week! I really enjoy sitting down to write and am so thankful blogging and writing is a consistent part of my life! Have a fab weekend, I'm off to the Apple Orchard and then will be watching the Sun Devils and Cubbies tonight!

Any thoughts on the Pineapple Chart, Quick Writing, Student Self-Assessment or your weekend? Keep the conversation going in the comments below!

i delight in you

Friends, I don't think I've told you, but I started the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) with Old St. Pat's Church in Chicago back in September. I'm baptized Methodist, but decided I'd like to learn more about the Catholic faith and I love it!

Tonight, I went to mass and the homily was all about how God delights in us. The whole thing was just so uplifting and it got me thinking about how much I delight in the work I'm called to do each day. And in with that being said --

To my former students, my first class, those kiddos who were there as I was finding my way as a new teacher...

I delight in you.

To my students at Heritage, the ones who spent a loop with me for seventh and eighth grade; the kids who were there with me as I learned to teach reading and writing as a Social Constructivist and the Holocaust and Social Justice studies, the students who created projects to raise awareness or money for various causes...

I delight in you.

To Team Heartless, the team who continues to keep in touch, to have a breakfast all together and reminisce on our memories, talk about our present, and dream for our futures...

I delight in you.

To the teachers I work with each day at Emerson: for our planning meetings where we construct meaning of the standards and of our curriculum; where we share stories of our students that surprise and validate the work we do...

I delight in you.

To the new teachers - those in my building, around D100, and beyond: for your passion, your energy, your fresh new ideas, your openness to collaboration, for the friendships you've allowed to grow with me...

I delight in you.

To the teachers who came before me: you know the ropes, you have perspective and a knowledge I can't touch; thank you for sharing that with me, helping me to see things I may not have yet, for being patient as I learned the lessons all teachers are destined to learn...

I delight in you.

To my team who shares an office with me; for the times you've been there to help me solve a problem, just listen, share a resource, or give a hug...

I delight in you.

To the students of Emerson, the ones learning to read with me in Guided Reading, the ones being a little too loud during indoor recess, the ones reading with flashlights under their desks, and sharing their writing at an Author's Chair...

I delight in you.

To the Literacy Coaches: you are the friends at my side who inspire me and teach me and allow me to make mistakes and then show me the way...

I delight in you.

To the teachers in my PLN: those who are real friends I've made in real life, some are friends who I only know because of Twitter and Instagram, some are near, others are far, but all are those who keep me on my toes wondering how I can continue to grow in the company of excellence...

I delight in you.

To my Literacy Idols, Atwell, Fletcher, Calkins, Gallagher, Kittle, Lane, Fountas & Pinnell: I would never have made it to where I am without the work you've done and shared as you came before me. It is my hope that I can share your work with colleagues and deliver the kind of instruction you model, and for that...

I delight in you.

To my blog readers: you come over here to BigTime Literacy where I mostly ramble on about fluffy nonsense, but who, none the less, have become my friends through writing...

I delight in you.

Happy Sunday Friends!

Who or what are you delighting in on this long three day weekend?

looking back

This month, the #compelledtribe is talking about year-end reflections. It's crazy how fast each year goes by, but here we are again, ending another. So, professionally and personally speaking, here are some reflections of my year...

Illinois Writing Project
One thing I am most thankful for is my work last summer with the Illinois Writing Project. I took part in their Summer Leadership Institute and participating reaffirmed everything I believe about writing and writing instruction. One would think giving up 12 days of summer break would be a drag, but it was by far the best PD I've had outside of my graduate program. Through it, an important friendship grew closer and I made some new friends too. And now I'm helping out with the Social Media for IWP. This was a wonderful investment of time and energy, and I highly recommend the Writing Projects - in Illinois and all the states!

Literacy Coaching
What a difference a few years can make... I'm really enjoying the work I get to do as a coach. Seeing the wonderful teachers in my building on a consistent basis and collaborating with them to best meet the needs of our students is so rewarding. I've come up with some better organizational systems and learned more about guided reading at various levels. I can see the growth of our students as they continue to receive instruction from a Reading and Writing Workshop approach and it's because of the hard work of our teachers each day that our students are flourishing as readers and writers. As a fourth or fifth grader, I never knew anything about Author's Craft, but our students sure do. Thank you Emerson teachers for your trust and collaboration...I love to work with you! (Check out what's going on in our building by searching #tigerslearn on Twitter!)

Blogging Club
I'm in my second year running a blogging club with fourth and fifth graders and I just love it. In March, we completed the Slice of Life challenge with Two Writing Teachers and I had four students write every day for the entire month. Have you ever done a month-long challenge? It's not easy, especially during the school year (and it was testing season, too!) Now that we've started this year, I love how the fifth graders who are on year two are coaching the new kiddos - I totally understand why Nancie Atwell's ELA class was a 7-8th grade combo class that looped. This year, kiddos have already refined their practices with commenting, and we're using a goal setting chart to focus our work!

Personally Speaking
Lots of great things happened this year! I got to visit friends and family in Florida, California, and Arizona. My niece came for a week in the summer and we had so much fun together doing things all around the city. My sister came in November and brought my new nephew Jack so I could meet him. I went to two weddings of great friends and celebrated first steps in their new marriages. We watched some ASU games together, I had an awesome 35th birthday party and a really fun Friendsgiving, and Bernie Sanders is picking up some traction during this primary season.

It's kind of upsetting that unless I'm actively going through all these memorable occasions all I can really seem to keep in mind is the breakup, but luckily that is getting further and further away from me each day, and so it gets easier every day. And I guess that even though there was an ending in 2015, I'm always going to abide by this:

There's my year in review. Hope you had a great one, too. Coming next are goals for the new year; stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

july in review

I had such a great July! This challenge, of course, was part of the reason why. What I love about blogging are the connections we can make with one another. It's so nice to have friends in the blogosphere and also when people I know in real life write, too!

Writing this month has been fun, and challenging at times. Sometimes I was just not in the mood, at all, so I had to publish something I was not super fond of. Other times, I couldn't get motivated to get the post out early, so sorry for those late days, guys! But then there were some great posts, too. I wrote poetry and liked how it turned out, and I'm most proud of my post There's No App for That. I also really enjoyed writing the letter to first year teachers.

I learned lots, too! I added screencasting and a vlog to my repertoire. I've also been creeping around Periscope a little bit and will be excited to give that a try sometime in the near future! One other thing - some friends on my Good to Great Twitter Chat taught me about Canva, a super cool website you can use to design images, like the one above! Some of the stuff is free, other stuff you have to purchase ($1 here, $1 there) but it's a great way to make your own images rather than lifting them from google. Be sure to check that out!

Of course, July was also amazing because of my work with Illinois Writing Project. At our last lunch together, we were talking about how we would describe it to our colleagues, and someone said, with a laugh, "life changing." We all shook our heads to agree, but then we thought, "No one will understand us." Be on the lookout for some reflections from our group members coming up later on in August!

Thank you to all of my friends who linked up with me - it's been such a pleasure reading your posts over the course of the month! I'm so thankful for the new friends I have now, too!

So the month ends, and as it does, I'm heading out for a vacation. I've been thinking about totally unplugging because I've been too immersed in social media, but I do love writing. So, I'll be around but on a much more limited basis than I was during July. If you don't see me around as much, that's why. Plan to see me back full time mid-August!

What did you learn about yourself as a writer this month?

Get the details for this challenge here!

An InLinkz Link-up

daring greatly book study 1 of 5

Hi there! Welcome back to the BigTime Blogging Challenge! For details of the challenge, check this link, and so we are onward with today's post: Book Study!

Today we being our talks of Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. (If you want to blog about another book, feel free, or blog about whatever you want! The challenge is just about writing every day!) We're booktalking the Introduction, Chapter 1: Scarcity: Looking Inside our Culture of "Never Enough," and Chapter 2: Debunking the Vulnerability Myths. First, let's start with the quote that is at the heart of the book:

This is the second time through for me on this book, and I'm so happy to be revisiting it! Brené Brown is convinced we live in a culture of scarcity:

• Never good enough
• Never perfect enough
• Never thin enough
• Never powerful enough
• Never successful enough
• Never smart enough
• Never certain enough
• Never safe enough
• Never extraordinary enough

She says this is because it's a tough world to live in - there's been so many tragedies: 9/11, multiple wars, recession, increase in random violence and school shootings (p.27). She says all of this stuff makes us angry and scared, and rather than coming together to heal (which takes vulnerability) we are instead at each other's throats.

She lists three components of scarcity and some questions to consider for each:

1. Shame: Is self-worth tied to achievement, productivity, or compliance? What about favoritism? Is perfectionism and issue?
2. Comparison: Healthy competition can be beneficial, but is there constant overt or covert comparing and ranking?
3. Disengagement: Are people afraid to take risks or try new things?

The anecdote to all this is what she defines as wholeheartedness. She says at it's core, wholeheartedness is vulnerability and worthiness: facing uncertainty, exposure, and emotional risks and knowing I am enough.

Some quotes that I just loved from Chapter 2:

Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity (p. 34)

To put our art, our writing, our photography, our ideas out into the world with no assurance of acceptance or appreciation, that's also vulnerability (p. 34).

After being on this blogging journey, I couldn't agree more. It totally takes vulnerability to write on a blog and share it widely! Your fears are that what you have to say might not matter, might not be good enough, or there might not be anyone who cares.

Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage (p.37). 

Yep, totally feels like courage. It takes courage to put your ideas and thoughts out there, unsolicited! It takes courage to love unconditionally. It takes courage to tell your colleagues, "I don't know the answer..."

The willingness to show up changes us (p. 42).

I've been changed. Blogging changed me - for the better. I don't fear judgement anymore, but will take constructive criticism appreciatively, from those who are putting themselves out there with me. Blogging has also made much such a more informed writing teacher. I understand what it is to live the "writerly life" - a life I want my students to lead.

Nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that is's a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands (p. 54).

This book has made me feel okay to tell myself, "I am enough. I am smart / kind / compassionate / thin / happy enough." I no longer care about the opinions of others - opinions of the people who are not in the arena with me. People who don't walk in my shoes, they get no air time in my thoughts. And when those thoughts do come, this book has helped me be able to let them go so much easier!

So those are just some of my thoughts from the beginnings of the book. Next week on Thursday, we will be back to discuss Chapter 3: Understanding and Combating Shame.

What are your initial responses to the text? Be sure to leave your post here!

An InLinkz Link-up

year 12 reflections

Crazy, I've been teaching for 12 years. TWELVE! This year, I finished my second as a Literacy Coach. Sometimes I feel like I'm really doing a great job, other times I feel like the school would be just fine without me. Either way, I'm going back for a third year next year. But before I get to that, here are some year 12 reflections so I can remember this journey I've been on!

Best Memories

Well, first, my principal encouraged Christine and I to present with her at the Illinois Reading Council Conference this year and we did! Although I was really nervous, I did enjoy sharing and I'm already signed up to present again this October! Anyone going to the IRC? I'm presenting with Colleen about using Social Media to personalize your PD. It'll be great fun, please join us!

The next one was getting to mentor two great teachers:

As a coach, it seems pretty natural that mentoring is one of my favorite things to do! While there were definitely many hard days, sharing the sense of accomplishment they felt when the finished their year was awesome. They are such great girls, and I'm so happy to call them my friends now!

I'm also super excited that I started a Blogging Club.

The kids who joined me and completed the year really do such a fantastic job! I know next year will be even better - there's already a few kids who I know will join us, and with some kids returning, they will make great mentors to the new kids. Additionally, I'd love to give the kids some detailed mini-lessons to make their blogs even better!

Family Writing Project

I got a slow start to this and didn't begin until after Spring Break, but once we got going, this was an awesome experience! Parents joined their kiddos after school for a Writing Workshop. We ended the six-week project with an Author's Chair. Parents and students read their writing and we shared great food to celebrate. I'm really looking forward to expanding this opportunity next year and have a few more teachers join me in giving the experience!

Missed Opportunities

Our fourth grade team has done a PHENOMENAL job on this year's summer reading project. Dennis set up a new gmail just for this project to communicate with families - last I heard they had over 200 parent email addresses there. Parents are already emailing in pictures of their kids reading - reading right when they wake up, on a plane to a family trip, and at the public library - and this is only our first Monday of break!

I put this in my missed opportunities because as Literacy Coach, I'm not sure why I wasn't driving this initiative, but honestly, I don't think I would have done it as well as Dennis, Michelle, and Alexa had. So thank you all, for doing such an amazing job on this. Our students are so, so lucky to have such dedication on our Emerson staff!

Game Changers
Twitter - definite game changer. This year I really got into sharing on Twitter and in doing so, I've connected with some great people. I've done a few Twitter Chats, too. It's so awesome to collaborate with teachers, literacy coaches, and reading specialists near and far!

Union Rep - I was the union rep for the first time this last year. Sometimes it was really, really hard. I always want to do my best to negotiate with our admins about the teacher's thoughts and feedback, but sometimes I take things too personally and...well, I'll just tell you. Cry. So I'm so excited to have a partner in crime next year, someone who will help balance me out! But, being union rep gave me a whole new lens to look at things through. Definite game changer.

Focus

I had a huge focus on Guided Reading this year. I wanted to learn more about it, and then, Christine and I presented what we were learning with the staff. This also helped me create a checklist for observing classrooms, and I was able to see this work being executed across the building. I know our work will continue to grow next year, too.... I'm really looking forward to our kinder teachers using Jan Richardson's Pre-A lesson plan to give our youngest kiddos just what they need to become successful readers!

This year we also focused a lot on creating rubrics to guide and evaluate student learning. We are moving towards Standards Based Grading, so reading On Your Mark (Guskey) really helped me understand why I spent many common plans with teachers talking about student work should look like. In some cases, classroom teachers used the rubrics and then revised them to make them even better for next year. I'm looking forward to expanding this work next year!

Forgot

Maybe not forgot, but didn't do enough.... Our school has a Sunshine club, it's for teachers - not sure if it's a club or what to call it? Either way, it's made of teachers and we plan socials for the staff. It got off to a late start, we didn't ask for a big enough donation from each of the staff, and we didn't do much with it. Next year, I hope to get a good group of teachers together to plan monthly outings so we can have some time away from all the work of teaching and just enjoy one another's company!

Reflections

Speaking of socials, one thing I've learned about myself is that a positive school culture is so, so important to me. Yes, salary is an important piece of why teachers work where they do, but I believe people will keep working where they do - no matter what the pay - if they are happy to be where they are. So, I'm hoping to be part of a great Sunshine group that keeps the positivity going all year long!

Something else I've realized: I'm not super qualified to mentor kinder teachers. I don't know enough about that grade level to be helpful. Of course, there are definitely many ways I can support, but I found myself outsourcing for many questions Gissel had. So, in the future, I'll stick to the intermediate grades!

How was your year? Please share your reflections by writing a post about your year and then linking it up with me here!

An InLinkz Link-up

year end reflections

Chello friends! I'm hosing an end-of-the-year reflections linky... and I wasn't planning to write this just yet (I'm not done until the 5th of June) but after I put an announcement out about it yesterday, today I found someone already wrote their post, so I must get something going here! Shout out to Allie, for being the first to write with me!

The format of the blog post goes like this:

Best Memories

What were a few of your best memories from the 2014-2015 school year? Share a few!

Missed Opportunities

Did you start some things and didn't see them through enough? Anything else that you were disappointed by? This is the place for those.

Game Changers
What did you learn this year that changed teaching for you?

Focus

Where was your focus? Share some things you put a lot of energy and effort into.

Forgot

It always happens that some things slip by us....what did you forget about this year?

Reflections

End with general reflections on your year to help you plan for next.

I'm going to revise this a little later and include my reflections because (1) school's not over yet and I'm a creature of habit with my 'ritual' being that I write on my first day off when schools out and (2) I don't have all my ideas down just yet. But for anyone out there who's read to share, link up your reflections with me on this post! Excited to hear about your year! :-)

I'll be back. (Read that with a Schwarzenegger voice!)

An InLinkz Link-up

announcements!

Hi everyone! Hope you're doing as well as I am! Finally things are winding down and wrapping up and I have just a few moments to share some exciting news with you!

On Your Mark Book Study
First, my final linky for the On Your Mark Book Study will be this Thursday. Please link up with me if you'd like to share about the book!

Year End Reflections Linky
Next, I will be hosing another linky for Year-End Reflections. My last day is Friday June 5th, so this linky will be up on Monday, June 8th. As soon as you get some time to reflect on your school year, put those thoughts into writing and link them up with me! I'm going to format the post with these categories:

Best Memories

What were a few of your best memories from the 2014-2015 school year? Share a few!

Missed Opportunities

Did you start some things and didn't see them through enough? Anything else that you were disappointed by? This is the place for those.

Game Changers
What did you learn this year that changed teaching for you?

Focus

Where was your focus? Share some things you put a lot of energy and effort into.

Forgot

It always happens that some things slip by us....what did you forget about this year?

Reflections

End with general reflections on your year to help you plan for next.

BigTime Blogging Challenge

And last but not least....and what I'm so super excited for:

BigTime Literacy celebrates it's two year anniversary on July 4th, and to celebrate the occasion I'll be holding the BigTime Blogging Challenge once again - write with me every day during the month of July! The goal is just to write each day for the whole month on any topic of your choice, but I've also put together a calendar of prompts you can follow if you like. Check that out here.

New this year!

This year during July I will also be hosting a book study. We will be reading Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way we Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Check out the author, Brene Brown here, at one of her Ted Talks discussing vulnerability:

Well, that's all I've got for tonight! Hope to see you around in the coming weeks for lots of writing and sharing stories!

Happy Tuesday!

all in?

One of my Tiger Bloggers was telling me the other day, "I'm sorry I haven't been to Blogging Club, I've just been too busy!" That's the thing about life - there are so many choices, so many possibilities. And life is too short. The older I get, the more I realize that you have to be very selective in what you say yes to - in your personal life and in your professional life.

For the past two years, I have said yes to Literacy Coaching and I have really loved it and learned so much. When I left the classroom in 2013, I had this feeling that I wasn't done there, and this is something that continues to take  up time in my inner dialog. Last weekend, my very insightful friend asked me, "Well, Michelle, are you all in with your coaching?" And I asked myself, (and am still asking myself) "Am I?"

Classroom teaching is a crazy experience - so overwhelming, so busy, so rewarding, so powerful. Coaching, too, is all of those things, but obviously different. The thing with coaching is that it won't get me relationships with students that can yield emails like this, four years after the fact:

First Author's Chair with my 6th group of 6th Graders

Katia was one of my sixth grade students during the 2008-2009 school year, my last in Phoenix as I worked on completing my Master's degree at ASU. This particular group got my very first attempts at Reading Workshop, back when I really didn't know what I was doing, but was trying like you-know-what to make it all work. Because of the work we did that year in reading and writing, that was my first class to be so bonded over stories and conversations about books and our quarterly Author's Chair writing celebrations. In 2009, I came to Chicago, but when that group in Phoenix had their promotion in 2011, my colleague (and one of best friends) Liz and I went back as a surprise to all the eighth graders who were being promoted to high school:

Katia and I, 2011

Liz, one of the best teachers I know!

May is a time of celebrations: end-of-the-year trips, memory books, retirement parties, graduations. It's a time to reflect on our work and remember all those people who have guided us and helped us along our way. It's a time of the year that I just love - seeing former students as successful graduates and moving on to their future goals is the reason I do what I do.

It would be a lie if I told you that I was fine missing out on all of this. Please don't misunderstand: I love my coaching position! It's just not the same because I'm missing those super invested relationships with kids. Is this something that should concern me? If, two years later I'm still thinking about it, am I meant to be a classroom teacher? I know there are no easy answers, but I know I won't keep receiving emails like the one above should I continue coaching. And if I'm being totally honest, that email - that's the reason I continue to be passionate about public education.

Coaches, admins, former classroom teachers: Do you struggle with the same thing? Please share!