#31 out of 31 Made It to the End

31 out of 31!! SOL

It is the end of the journey. Well, that's if you think journeys have ends. Some believe that journeys are about transformation. We take journeys to transform ourselves. I'm not sure journeys ever end. Maybe we reach our designated transformation and it's time to start a new journey. Can I call myself a writer? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because I have a different definition of writer. Maybe it's because I'm not sure my writing serves the right purpose. All of my post didn't entertain or inform. Some of my posts were just for me. And, maybe that is what being a writer is ... someone who writes for themselves.

#30 out of 31 SOL Friday Evening

It is Friday evening. However, it is not just a normal Friday evening. It is the Friday evening before Spring break which makes it a very special Friday evening. It is a completely stress free evening. I have to DO NOTHING this evening. I don't have to prep for a lesson. I don't have to catch up on emails. I don't even have to start the laundry. Why? Because it is the Friday evening before Spring break. There is no other Friday like this Friday evening. It is home stretch Friday evening. We are closer to the end of the school year than we are the beginning. I have been overcome with a complete sense of laziness! I think it will last for a week.

#29 SOL Unless Random Facts about Shoes!

Tonight I was looking around for something to write about and landed on shoes. I love shoes! I started to form something to say about shoes and realized I know very little about shoes. So, I went searching for some information about shoes. I've been spending tons of time in informational reading, so I used my recent teaching to go digging for some facts about shoes. I love Google!

The earliest form of shoes can be found in Spanish cave drawings from 15,000 years ago. Humans were shown with animal skins wrapped around their feet.

An ice-man that was found well-preserved and estimated to be 5,000 years old wears leather foot covering.

Sandals are the oldest crafted foot covering known.

Matzelinger was the first to mass produce an affordable pair of shoes.

Lyman Blake invented a sewing machine to sew soles to the upper section of shoes.

Shoestrings were invented in England around 1790.

Shoes are meant to protect and comfort the human foot.

The foot contains more bones than any other single part of the body.

Until 1800 shoes were made without differentiation for left and right.

A pair of Ruby Slippers sold at Christie's in 2000 for $666,000.

Stuart Weitzman designed a pair of shoes for the Oscars costing $3 million.

#28 SOL Post Observations Questions

I made it through my formal evaluation today. Now I have to answer the post observation questions. There are several questions, but I can only muster the energy for one answer tonight.

1. In general, how successful was the lesson? Did the students learn what you intended for them to learn? How do you know?

I feel the lesson was successful. The lesson required higher-order thinking on the part of the students and I feel most students pushed themselves to attempt the task they were given. The students have a very clear understanding of the expectation for learning within their classroom. I believe the students are beginning to understand that concept of synthesizing informational task which is a skill not learned / mastered in one lesson. While conferring with the students I noticed partnerships that needed assistance in forming a big idea about the American Revolution and partnerships that formed a big idea and needed assistance deciding on a text structure to use to present the information. Evidence of student learning can be seen, or not seen, in their notebook entry.

#27 SOL Questions for my Pre Evaluation Meeting

Tomorrow I have my formal evaluation. I have a Pre-Observation Meeting which requires I respond to a set of questions. So, tonight's post contains some of my answers.

What are your learning outcomes for this lesson? What do you want the students to understand?

The learning outcomes for this lesson are: students will decide what they want to say about a topic (American Revolution) and organize what they know; students will read to develop opinions about past events; students will use reading skills to learn content.

How does this learning fit in the sequence of learning for this class?

Students are progressing through the history GLCEs and need to understand the sequence of events that led to the American Revolution while forming connections between historical events and current events. Students are progressing through the skills needed to read multiple types of texts and gain background knowledge in a content area. Students are also increasing the amount of reading in informational texts.

Not much tonight considering the fact that I'm preparing for my evaluation lesson tomorrow.

#26 SOL Parts of a non-ficiton reading lesson

I'm working on another non-fiction reading lesson and in the connection I need to share some narrative nonfiction text about my weekend. So, here it is.

Over the weekend my husband and I went out "on a date" and we had dinner and we also worked around the house and Sunday we went to visit some friends and we went to bed early to get a good night's sleep before a long week ....

So, the lesson connection continues by eliciting feedback from the class. Was the text I wrote narrative nonfiction? Students should share the missing elements: meaning and coherence. Was that a true story, a bit of narrative nonfiction?

What was missing? Hopefully the students notice that there are no facts, no information. So, I share another story deliberately studding the text with irrelevant facts.

Three days ago, at 7:10 my husband and I went out "on a date" and we had dinner at Jerry's and, then, we went to see a performance at the Portland Playhouse which was 1 hour and 45 minutes long and on Saturday we also worked around the house doing four loads of laundry and emptying the dishwasher. Sunday we went to visit some friends wearing blue jeans and t-shirts. We went to bed at 9:15 pm to get a good night's sleep before a long week ....

Am I on my way toward "writing" a good narrative nonfiction text about my weekend?

Hopefully the class realizes that I have NOT. The connection continues with, What was wrong? I told one thing we did, then the next, then the next and I included lots of specific information, facts, and times.

Hopefully the students realize there is not topic and that it doesn't really say anything.

Exactly, I didn't really say anything.

Again, I'm using the Navigating Nonfiction in Narrative and Hybrid Text by Lucy Calkins and Kathleen Tolan session X Seeking Underlying Ideas in Narrative Nonfiction

#25 SOL Today I ...

Today I ...

woke early.

prepared for a busy morning.

was part of a team.

smiled at some of my favorite people.

played in the bell choir at church.

shared with my congregation about the MEF.

did one of my favorite things, sang with the Praise Team.

drank too much coffee and didn't eat enough breakfast.

made music.

finished the laundry.

counted the blessing of a dream kitchen as I prepared lunch.

exercised patience.

felt the love of a husband.

spent time reading.

tried to keep up with my racing mind.

forgot to take my allergy meds.

paid some bills.

scolded myself for too much retail therapy.

practiced my guitar.

took a nap.

thought about the future.

listened to the sounds of the lawn mower.

snuggled with my dogs.

thanked God for the life He has given me.

thought about my hair style.

Today I ...