conversation

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Words of Wonder…

  • Child:  Mrs. Van!
  • Me:  Yes sir?
  • Child:  I wonder…can you name one important thing you didn’t have 8 years ago?
  • Me:  This school (not open yet).
  • Child:  No, silly; you didn’t have me!  🙂

Sunshine QuoteSuch was the start of a most intriguing conversation today!  For example, did you know that good readers form pictures in their mind as they read?  My friend tells me he is a great reader because he “can usually guess what the illustrations will look like before the teacher shares them” (and he said ‘illustrations’ and not pictures).  This friend likes to build paper bag cities at home (from lunch sacks decorated and stuffed with newspapers) to create new communities “so I can see what to do to fix things later.”  He also likes “thinking games for fun” like “Would You Rather?” where two options are given and you choose one and tell why you like it.  From riddles to learning tips to thinking games, our conversation covered a wide variety of extraordinary topics.  I wandered on feeling lighter, sparked with JOY, and bursting to face the next challenge of this busy day, especially when he shared his final thought:  “Kind words do not cost much but they fix so much!”  Here’s hoping we all take a moment to savor these words of wonder…so very thankful to have this child (and many others) in our care each day too!

 

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STOP in 2015…

Happy-New-Year-2015-balloons-Heart-shapeA group of fifth grade writers meet monthly to ponder life, share ideas, and enJOY general conversation about all manner of topics.  We sat down before the holiday break to reflect on our new resolutions, one word goals, and more…our chance to start fresh, leave the past behind, and move forward in a positive way.  The interesting consensus of the group during this discussion was how a new year takes great courage, strong conviction, and a growth mindset to move forward because the best is yet to come!

During the course of our conversation, we also noted how Happy New Year 2015. 3dimportant it is to STOP doing things no longer in our best interest.  Here are a few of their thoughts to STOP in 2015:

1.  Stop telling everyone everything on social media.  Leave some things to chance and imagination.

2.  Stop comparing yourself to others and worrying about what others think.  March to your own drummer and the positive path you create.

3.  Stop focusing on self and more on others; help others and be good to each other…kindness matters! (#LoveServeCare)  🙂

4.  Stop making everything a competition in life.  Compete with your best self and not with others.  Make your choices, accept responsibly, and deal with the consequences (good and bad) of your choices.

5.  Stop being like others; own who you are, where you are, and tell YOUR story in a caring manner.  There is only one “YOUnique” you…  🙂

6.  Stop fearing failure; no one has it all figured out because nothing in life is perfect, especially on the first time.  Failures bring powerful clarity and change in the most positive way; embrace failure to find personal success.

I think they’re on to something grand as we close out 2014 and move boldly forward in 2015 at LME!  Here’s hoping you create your own STOP list as the new year begins.  Happy New Year!  🙂

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WRITE on…

I shared a delightful time this morning with a student who asked to see me…she wanted to share her latest writer’s workshop example, knowing I LOVE to work with young writers.  🙂  She shared her BB1example first, reading with great intonation, voice inflection, and enthusiasm, carefully drawing a visual image in my mind of where we were and exactly what was happening.  When I asked her how she developed this piece, this was our conversation:

  • Me:  WOW, I feel like I am right in the middle of the action!  How exactly were you inspired to develop this powerful written response?
  • Writer:  Our teacher made us listen to the historical conversation to set the stage but refused to show us the pictures.  She likes to do that to us you know.
  • Me:  So, the idea developed from your own mind’s picture of the action.
  • Writer:  Exactly!  See, I knew you would get it.  When I said right here, “…but America didn’t surrender, what we did was put up a bigger, brighter flag…we lost some of our troops and I was sad…but now America has freedom and peace…,” I was wanting the reader to feel what I felt had I really been there.

You can determined which battle (based on the content clues in her writing) she was writing about today, but the message is clear:  young writers need multiple opportunities to experience not only historical but real-life, everyday events in order to process them.  Writing is a wonderful personal outlet for processing, sharing thoughts, expressing feelings, and recording responses for any event.

Just like our teachers do in class everyday (yes, even in Kinder rooms), we encourage you to start a family journal or notebook where everyone contributes something everyday–whether a picture, a story, a joke, or just a list of ideas, it’s something the entire family can share together and look back on in the years to come.

In the meantime, thanks, Briley, for sharing time, deep conversation, and your obvious enthusiasm for writing with me today.  Thanks for also giving me permission to share your smart work with others too!  🙂  WRITE on…