This Says It All: Nerdlution

Stop by One Grateful Teacher for this week's nerdlution check-in.  Hopefully your week went better than mine.





This week's nerdlution check in:

via Bitstrips

Enough said!

Rethinking Intervention and Other #Nerdlution Discoveries

We're into our third week of the second round of #nerdlution.  Today's round-up at Michelle Haseltine's blog:  One Grateful Teacher.  Each Thursday participants will link up to share their progress. 

Well, it's time for the #nerdlution check in.  (Picture me with my head hanging down in defeat.)  This week was parent-teacher conference week AND evaluation week so it's been a bit hard to find much extra time in my schedule.  Additionally, I have taxes and FAFSA staring at me each day.  As you can imagine, it's been a rough week to find extra minutes for reading.  It was actually sometimes hard to find time to eat.  OK, I always manage to find time to eat.  I'm going to have to say I haven't really lived up to my goals this week, but I'm hoping I might be better able to find more reading time in the coming week.

This Week's Discoveries

A Book
Despite the time crunch, I did manage to read Rethinking Intervention:  Supporting Struggling Readers and Writers in Grades 3-5 Classrooms by Shari Frost.  This book published by Choice Literacy is one for classroom teachers, intervention specialists, and building intervention teams to consider as they work with students in need of extra support.

It's true that I currently teach first grade, but I found this book applicable to my classroom of young learners as well.  Shari weaves stories of children, classroom teachers, and intervention specialists working together to support learners in their literacy journey.  I appreciated her candor, thoughtful suggestions, and common sense approach.

Shari Frost begins by reminding us, "The most important component of a successful intervention program is a knowledgeable and responsive teacher who can make informed decisions based on students' reading writing behaviors." That's a lot of pressure!  As a classroom teacher, Shari reminded me of the myriad of ways I can support learners across the day while still allowing much needed time for students to read, write, and collaborate with peers.  She shared suggestions for supporting students in need of support in whole group learning, small group work, and individual conferences.

One of the hardest things for me to understand as a classroom teacher is the way students who need support are often pulled from classroom to classroom and work in interrupted periods of time across their day.  Additionally they often lack the time to practice these new strategies and understandings in real reading and writing opportunities.  I'm quite sure if we did this to our most independent learners they would find it quite challenging to keep up.  Frost shares ways classroom teachers can utilize a workshop framework to provide high levels of support for literacy learners.  She reminds us that often there are other students in the classroom who have similar needs.

When I taught Reading Recovery I learned the significance of intentional work to help students transition into the classroom.  Frost shares ways for intervention teachers, classroom teachers, and other support staff to work together toward common goals that help the student to hear consistent messages across learning environments.  Schools are busy with complicated schedules.  Frost considers creative ways school communities have discovered to find time for collaboration, observation, and supporting colleagues as they work to find ways to strategically support students in need of intervention.

A Picture Book

If the book fair hadn't have rolled into our school this week I might not have discovered a good picture book to share, but it did.  My students fell in love with The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf by Mark Teague.  Several of the students purchased the book and insisted I read it.  So, of course, I read it.  They laughed over the antics of the Somewhat Bad Wolf and the choices of the pigs.  In this story the three pigs are busy building their houses….or eating potato chips and drinking sody pop.  Esmerelda, the sheep?, is always offering helpful advice.  What happens when the wolf comes along to huff and puff?  My class was still debating the true identify of the wolf after the book was finished.  

A Post
Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve (or walls or action and) by Chris Lehman:  Chris asks, "Is your heart visible?"  You've probably seen this post by now, but if not you'll want to take a second to click over to read it.

Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin (#nerdlution)

We're into our second week of the second round of #nerdlution.  Today's round-up at Michelle Haseltine's blog:  One Grateful Teacher.  Each Thursday participants will link up to share their progress.   Here are a few of my DISCOVERIES this week as I read for #nerdlution.

This Week's Discoveries

A Book:
Rump:  The True Story of Rumplestiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

As part of my #nerdlution, I'm spending more time reading fiction.  My friends have been sending me link after link for books I must read.  Rump has been on this list for awhile.  I finally lucked into a copy from the library.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a digital copy for my eReader, but an audio copy was available. I'd rather read a book than listen to one, but this audio version was outstanding. Narrated by Maxwell Glick, this audio version was engaging from beginning to end.

Rump is the untold story of Rumplestiltskin.  This story begins when Rump is a young boy being raised by his gran.  Rump is often teased about his name, and he worries about his destiny with the name he has been given.  Rump likes to riddle and rhyme, but his life is complicated by the miller.  Rump and Gran are barely getting by with the little bit of food the miller gives Rump for his work in the gold mind.  Gold is getting harder and harder to find.  One day, Rump discovers his mother's spinning wheel and soon realizes he can spin straw into gold.  His best friend, Red, warns him to stay away from magic as it brings trouble.  It isn't long until Rump's good intentions, and a few unfortunate circumstances, weave a complicated mess.  Rump sets out to untangle his problems, but discovers who he is along the way.

This delightful journey of discovery, as Rump begins to unravel his story and find his destiny, is one I would read again.  The references to fairy tales, the subtle hints to the identity of Rump's friend Red, the interesting characters Rump meets along his journey, the beautiful language, and lines that just call to be reread over and over again all make this book one not to be missed.  I'll never look at the Rumplestiltskin fairy tale in quite the same way.

Liesl Shurtliff wrote so many lines I wanted to read over and over again, but enjoying the book in audio made this quite a challenge.  Thank goodness for the 15 second rewind button.  Beautiful lines like these make it hard to resist buying a copy.

"Maybe destiny isn't something that just happens.  Maybe destiny is something you do.  Maybe destiny is like a seed and it grows," Rump.  

"I could almost feel them with me.  That's its own kind of magic, to feel that people that are gone are still here," Rump thinking about Gran and his mother. 

You can imagine how excited I was to discover Liesl's Twitter page and realize she has two more books coming from Knopf/Random House:  Jack (2015) and Red (2016).  Woot woot!

A Picture Book or Two

This Is the Rope written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by James Ransome
I just loved the idea that an idea story could be written around the idea of a rope.  I enjoyed the way the rope tied the stories of generations of family together.  Beautiful!

Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales
This book reminded me a bit of the Dinosaur vs. ___ stories written by Bob Shea.  I know my students will love it!  Niño takes on one bad challenge after another defeating the enemies.  Then….the biggest challenge of all….his baby sister awakening from a nap!  Can he do it?  This is a fun story with interesting information about Lucha Libre, a popular style of theatrical professional wrestling in Mexico.

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle
My class first discovered this story in its digital version.  We enjoyed it then, but to have the picture book is always better.  Of course, the flaps in this book make this wordless picture book even more interesting.  All readers can enjoy the story of Flora and Flamingo learning to dance together.



A Post (or a few)
Raising Readers and Writers:  Slice of Life Tuesday, Be True to Yourself  Julie reminds us about the importance of raising our daughters to be strong and confident.

Sharing Our Notebooks:  Lee Ann Spillane, Living Life Twice  Snow days are giving me time to catch up on blog reading.  This post is actually from a few weeks ago, but I always love a peek inside someone's writer's notebook.  Lee Ann shares her collection.  There is a lot to think about here:  art, visual representation, organization, coding, and much more.

A Year of Reading:  New Books in February  Franki recommends books to read in February.  There are so many here I want to read!  Stop by and check them out.

#Nerdlution: The Year of Billy Miller and More

We're into our first week of the second round of #nerdlution.  Today is the first round-up at Michelle Haseltine's blog:  One Grateful Teacher.  Each Thursday participants will link up to share their progress.

Let's be honest, a few days of being trapped in the house because of the extreme cold made this an easy first week.  Here are a few of my DISCOVERIES this week as I read for #nerdlution.


This Week's Discoveries

A Book
The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

Billy isn't sure how his year in second grade is going to go.  He doesn't get off to the best start with his teacher and Emma, another second grader, drives him crazy.  Things at home with his sister, Sal, can be challenging too.  Thankfully his parents always help to pull him through.  Billy loves Papa and Mama and his love for them shines throughout the story.

This is a great story about growing up.  Henkes captures the joys and challenges of being 7 perfectly.  If you haven't read this Newbery Honoree yet, you'll want to add it to your reading list.

A Blog (Maybe a few blogs)
This week I discovered a few posts that made me pause for a bit.

Teachers for Teachers  Pre-Assessment Questions:  Assessment Opportunities:  In this post, Clare and Tammy, authors of Assessment in Perspective, share authentic assessment opportunities that happen as we talk with children.  There is much to learn about what children know if we just ask a question.  This post is full of possible questions to ask as well as suggestions for listening closely to these conversations.

GStevens Blog  Slice of Life:  Would You Rather Fast-Forward Time or Rewind It?   I think we all ponder this question every now and then.  Stop by to see what happened when students were asked their preference.  Their answer may surprise you.  Which would you prefer?

Two Writing Teachers  Writing About Reading in a Writer's Notebook  Two Writing Teachers is hosting a week conversation dedicated to writing about reading.  Across the week several posts about the topic will be shared by the blog authors.  The event will be wrapped up with a Twitter chat on February 3rd at 8:30 EST (more here).  In this post, Stacey shares her thinking about writing in response to reading in a Writer's Notebook.  Her lens of reading as a writer really shapes her responses in her notebook.  Often she is able to spring from a piece she has read into new writing.  So many ideas here!

Can't wait to see what next week will bring!

Round 2: #nerdlution

#NERDLUTION
Ding.  Into the ring we go for round two of #nerdlution.  I took a few hits in round one, but managed to stay on my feet.  I read 50 minutes of fiction most nights.  Each evening I tried to be done with school work as well as day to day chores by 9 p.m. so I could begin reading.  The first few nights I would watch the clock for my 50 minutes to be done; not because I wasn't enjoying the time, but because I felt like the clock owned me.  I didn't really enjoy this feeling and thought about how our students must feel when we give them "assigned times" to read.  After I realized #nerdlution was a bit flexible, I decided to quit clock watching and just read each night.  Before I knew it I was reading for much longer periods of time.

What I Learned
I'd consider myself more of a nonfiction reader, but I was reminded during the challenge how much I miss getting lost in a story.  I had missed meeting new characters and making them a part of my life for a few days.  Reading fiction also gave me a chance to catch up with all my #nerdybookclub friends who manage to read for hours each day and keep up on all the latest books.  Without Karen Terlecky, Katherine Sokolowski, Katie Strawser and Stephanie Shouldis I would have been lost.

During the event I created a "tissue book rating scale."  It seemed every book I read somehow had me in tears before the end of the story.  Here are a few examples:

• The Center of Everything:  4 tissues out of 5 (grandma stories get me every time)
• Counting by 7s:  4 tissues out of 5 (tears for sadness and joy in this one)
• The First Phone Call from Heaven:  2 tissues out of 5 (who wouldn't want to get a call from someone they miss, but….)
• The Book Thief :  5 tissues (I had to leave the room as I was worried I'd wake my husband I was crying so much.)

What's Next
During round one I was enjoying reading fiction, but I was also not entirely happy with my #nerdlution.  While I was getting to know characters, my nonfiction reading pile was growing.  I wanted to read The Power of Quiet, Thinking Fast and Slow, and Becoming Scientists.  I was also missing spending time with the blogs I enjoy stopping by to read and comment.  There are only so many hours in a day and deciding how to use them is a trick.

This time around I want to be able to diversify my reading a bit.  I want to keep growing the number of fiction books I read, but I also need to have time for nonfiction and blog posts.  I'm going to find time to read each day and will continue to work toward being done with everything by 9 so I can curl up to read.  However, some days just don't work like that so I may have to find my time in a different part of my day.  Each week at the #nerdlution round-up Michele is hosting on Thursdays, in keeping with my #olw DISCOVER, I'll share a book and a blog post I discovered in the previous week.  We'll call it my #BooksandBlogsDiscoveryTour.

The Community
Most of all, I look forward to laughing and learning with everyone tweeting about their triumphs and road blocks.  If you'd like to join, stop by Colby's blog to link to the event.  

Maybe Balance is Found in a #Nerdlution

I'm sure you've heard about it.  There's a #nerdlution happening on Twitter.  Beginning in December everyone committed to making some kind of change for the next 50 days.  I was a little hesitant to take on a challenge at first during such a busy month, but I fell to positive peer pressure and jumped in.  Of course, I chose a goal that would bring me joy for 50 days.

It's December.  I didn't choose healthy eating.  It's Christmas cookie season.  I didn't commit to exercise.  I never keep those commitments.  I didn't commit to writing time.  I've gotten much better at squeezing that into my week.  Instead I chose reading fiction.  It seems the perfect goal to allow me to rest and relax each evening.  With one week down I've been reading 50 minutes or more of fiction each night.  Tough goal, huh!?  My friends were quick to offer many new suggestions for my reading so my shelf is quite full now.

Stop by my Storify of the #Nerdlution.  

Enjoy the theme songs for each section (please share other suggestions).

If I've missed your #nerdlution tweet, please

share the tweet url so I can add it.

@CathyMere

As I started my #nerdlution goal this week, there were some things I expected to happen and many more than surprised me.

Here's what I expected:

• to be reminded of how much I enjoy reading fiction.
• to enjoy relaxing with a good book each evening.  
• to be motivated and supported by the community.

Here's what I didn't expect:

• to realize that sometimes carving time out for something I enjoy would actually give me more energy in the classroom.
• to actually get to the gym to exercise.
• to surprisingly find more time to write.
• for the community to continually evolve and grow the challenge.
• to laugh so many times!
• to find such JOY.

Somehow through carving time out for something I enjoy, I've managed to find time to do all the things I should do. It's a little surprising to find balance in this commitment for more time each day.  

Thanks to everyone who is participating for the motivation and support.  I'm enjoying following your journeys and seeing so many people do what makes them happy.  

What? There's a #NERDLUTION Happening?

Nerdlution
I honestly tried to ignore the tweets as I read them between basting turkey and mashing potatoes.  I noticed the conversation between Franki Sibberson, Colby Sharp, Katherine Sokolowski, and Bill Bass grow as others joined.  I still tried to ignore it.   I added whip cream to my pumpkin pie and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

Let's face it, the next few months are busy with extra commitments and preparation.  To add to that, it's winter here in Ohio and the hours of daylight are severely limited.  When I saw this tweet I clicked out of my Twitter feed and started humming a jaunty tune to distract myself:

For days, I pretended not to notice the conversation, but the conversation was growing and I knew my friends were right as usual;  I really needed to try to get some balance in my life.  It would be crazy to make this kind of commitment I thought, as I continued to "sort of" watch the tweets about the upcoming #nerdlution commitment.

Soon the blog posts started rolling into the #nerdlution feed....and maybe I read a few, but still I tried to pretend this wasn't something I needed to do.

• Franki Sibberson is writing for 30 and running/walking for 20.  
• Colby Sharp is committing to writing every day for 50 days.
• Katherine Sokolowski is committing to writing and walking each day.  
• Amy Rudd might be committing to 30 minutes of exercise and 20 of writing at The Rudder....and she is getting up crazy early in the morning to do it.
• Joy Kerr will be reading.  
• Cindy Minnich has made several goals for the next 50 days.  Stop by to cheer her on.

...and the list goes on and on.

Peer Pressure
So maybe I've started to fall to the pressure, but what will my goal be?  I have a million things I wish I would do better:  write daily, stay committed to my favorite blogging events (Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Celebrations), read more fiction, stay caught up on the reading of blogs, comment on more of the blogs I visit, exercise, keep up with my friends....oh, the list goes on and on.

Thinking...

Trying to resist....

Thinking....

Deciding....

Read Fiction
I read a ton of things across my day:  blogs, nonfiction, professional books, news articles, and poetry.  I tend to read it short little pockets of time and choose reading I won't have trouble putting down.  Let's face it, it's hard to put down a fiction book when you are caught up in the story.  School keeps me busy and I have a hard time drawing a line between my personal time and the work I love.  So....I'm committing to reading fiction 50 minutes each day.  I know, you are all jealous of my goal.  I'm thinking finding this time will help me to relax during this busy time of year....and will help me develop a side of my reading life I need to grow.