happy b-day, mom!

=>

love,
your son



she helps out in my classroom, so it counts as school-related, right???

winter concert

the students did a great job this evening at the whittier wizard's winter concert! this was the first year i remember the orchestra (a smattering of instruments--trumpets, clarinets--in the key of b flat, some flutes, and an army of bow-wielding violinists) and the chorus sharing the concert bill. it was nice to see the two musical groups play the same night. i really enjoyed hearing the students play mr. gibson's (orchestra teacher/conductor) own composition.

last year was the first year our new chorus teacher, ms. radovich prepared the students, and they completely blew me away! i think the entire fifth grade team was blown away... we'd never heard the students at whittier sing prettier (those pesky rhyme flows keep seeping into my writing...)!!! this year our track b schedule kind of wreaked havoc with their practice schedule, but they pulled off an energetic and fun-filled show nonetheless. i especially loved the hand percussion!

congratulations to all who participated--especially those in room 75 tribe!!!

and a shout-out to mrs. mank for providing flowers to our great music teachers--so thoughtful!

saturdays

very productive day today.
why do i get so much done at school on saturdays?!
oh yeah:
no distractions + no students + no adults = productivity!

symphony

today the 4th and 5th grade students went to the long beach terrace theater to hear the symphony. it was fantastic! the theme this year was dance music--orchestral dance music, to be a bit more precise--not 808 state! the students were well-prepared: our music teacher played the songs to expose the students to the music beforehand, and she taught them a lesson on concert etiquette. i even taught an art lesson (thanks, linda!) using one of the pieces of music that had some dynamically contrasting parts. you should have seen my students' eyes light up in recognition when it was played...it was priceless!

what was really interesting was that many of the 5th grade students thought that the concert was shorter this year (it wasn't). i told them that it was the exact same length as last year (an hour), but since they were so familiar with the music, it just seemed shorter. they didn't believe me--i could tell--but it was true! i told them i made up an expression that summarized their experience, "time flies when you're having fun!" me and my idioms...

oh yeah, and my dad was a volunteer guide again this year. it was fun to see him there and introduce him to my students...

mentors

we just had a staff development meeting on writing. we watched a "totally radical" (in the parlance of those times--1980's) video on writer's workshop which featured lucy calkins. one of the things that both she and ed (principal) shared was their lack of student-centered writing training in elementary school. how strange that both an accomplished, professional teacher of writing and an accomplished, professional principal (who can also write), turned into such great authors and educators even after only being subjected to teacher-generated writing situations! hmmm...

this got me thinking: how can i explain my love of language and words, my love of writing? i too was taught to write to prompts in elementary school. i too was not encouraged to be an authentic "author," observing, recording, and writing what interested me. (i didn't even enjoy reading books for pleasure until i was in college...) yet i still thought/think of myself as a half-way decent writer...

most people say they've had at least one teacher that they remember encouraging them, mentoring them, guiding them... i wish i could say that. aside from my mother, i don't really feel like i had any teachers like that. my mentors were musicians--their lyrics my "touchstone texts." the wisdom i gleaned through their songs--even in elementary school--is what i remember most:

peek-a-boo!
i can see you, and i know what you do!
so put your hands on your face, and cover up your eyes--
don't look until i signal--peek-a-boo!
laugh if you want to or say you don't care--
if you cannot see it, you think it's not there--

it doesn't work that way!

--from "peek-a-boo," devo

...or how about...

how can you say that you're not responsible?
what does it have to do with me?
what is my reaction? what should it be
confronted by the latest atrocity?
driven to tears

hide my face in my hands; shame wells in my throat.
my comfortable existence is reduced to a shallow, meaningless folly.
seems that when some innocent die
all we can offer them is a page in some magazine
too many cameras and not enough food
this is what we've seen
driven to tears

-from "driven to tears," the police

7/1/4

today in math i reviewed division of fractions. i brought in 7 apples and a knife (shh, don't tell anyone i had a "weapon" at school). i asked my students to "predict" how many pieces i'd have if i cut all 7 apples into quarters. many knew, but some actually gave an earnest prediction. i modeled (that's demonstrated in teacher jargon) the problem numerically on the overhead, then with the apples on a cutting board from home.

this was my latest effort to help students comprehend what they're doing when they're flippin' and multiplyin' fractions that have division signs between them. i hope the realia (that's teacher jargon for real things--apples in this case) helped make the somewhat abstract algorithm accessible to all my learners... at least it was edible--and healthy--for everyone!

a writerly life

it's nice to talk about writing at our staff meetings again--especially since i've been addicted to my notebook as of late...

it started during the break (coincidently when i stopped posting here, hmmmm...) and really hasn't ceased... at first it took some effort to get back in the swing--i was out of practice--now i feel back in the flow, and it feels natural to reach for my notebook when inspiration strikes.

i'd fallen out of this practice at the beginning of 2006, and i think i was really missing the outlet, the space to nurture thoughts. then i started this blog in the fall which forced me to take a long look at my writing process. this medium was so immediate compared with notebooking--press PUBLISH POST, and the world would immediately see my thoughts--that was intimidating. it wasn't like my notebook where my ideas could fester, secreted away from prying eyes. it also seemed a bit "self-indulgent," but i justified it with the knowledge that it was part of my contractual obligations as an educator--reflection--how (literally) narcissistic... anyway...

this was really just an experiment. normally, i would nurture, care, craft, revise, (etc, ad infinitum) each post until i thought it was exactly perfect--every letter, every punctuation mark in the right place--before i'd press PUBLISH. this is the first post i've created that hasn't (at least so far) gone through this rigorous process... i'm learning to let go a little more.

my feelings are mixed about the product...

well, it was worth a shot anyway.


update: (9:00 pm) i had to revise this darn thing--i couln't stand it!

it's hard work

today was the first day back at school after a long winter's nap... boy, did that time fly! not that i was having fun or anything--what's more fun than 5th grade?--i was working!

working on my masters.
working on my house.
working on my classroom.
working on music.

work, work, work, work, work! (some might even say, "it's hard work.")

as a matter of fact, i think i need some vacation time just from all the work i did on vacation!

luckily, i enjoy ALL the work i do. i've even coined a phrase for it: "a labour of love." pretty catchy, huh? i like the alliteration, but others have complimented me on the snooty british spelling.