Another First Day

My 17th first day of school! Hard to believe. It was smooth and calm, despite a large enrollment. Some of our teachers have 27 children in their rooms. I am impressed once again at the love and kindness I see in all of our teachers. What greater job is there than to love on and teach these sweet children?  Looking forward to a great year filled with learning, laughter and lots of fun!

For The Love of Books

"Reading without thinking is as nothing, for a book is less important for what it says than for what it makes you think" 

Louis Lamour

Such a great week learning about reading. It is a state of mind rather than something we must do. How do we get our students to embrace reading? 

How do we move them to a place of delight and joy when they get to read a book?

What are we doing in the classroom to achieve this goal?

What kind of damage is being done to our children's relationship with reading when we force them to read so they can attempt to answer what some stranger believes is the correct inference for a given passage?

How do we, as teachers foster an environment in our school that promotes a life long love affair with books? 

I believe we have to look past the the results of a test. 

We must allow choice and risk. 

We must allow our students the freedom to explore and get lost within the pages of a story- just for the joy of being lost. 

I believe this is our ultimate goal... 

My PLC

My PLC includes We  Are Teachers because I have found good information about what I do.www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl

The scores are in!!!

So, here we sit, after a year of hard work with an incredible group of students, colleagues and administrators and it all comes down to a set of scores. Our society believes that my work, my school and my colleagues are made or broken by a set of scores. What about my autistic child, who after months of modeling and guided practice, figured out a word on his own using the strategies I have been showing him? What about the child that worked so hard this year  that she blew her IEP goals out of the water? What about the young man that was finally given access to the technology needed to help him manage his severe dyslexia and is absolutely soaring with his learning? What about the child that comes to school day after day, literally surviving his homelife so he can get to school the next morning to eat and be loved? What about the teachers that give of themselves sacrificially everyday to these children so they can learn and thrive? What about the administrators that give unbelievable hours to their staff and school to create an amazing work environment?

The scores are in.
Please look deeper.