It was a fun class today.

"Please gather around the perimeter of the rug."

14 young bodies plopped on the floor around me.  I joined them, with two colors of square tiles. Constructing a rectangle of yellow, I asked, "What's the area of this rectangle?"

Without any hesitation, they each said, "24."

Removing yellow 6 tiles from the center, and replacing them with red tiles, I now asked, "What's the area of the yellow rectangle now?"

"18"

"How do you know?  What's your equation?"

"24 - 6 = 18" Followed by an explanation of why 6 was subtracted.

Another shape appears on the rug, but this time it is not a simple rectangle.

"What is the area of this shape?"

"OH!"

"I did this on Khan!"

"Can I break it anyway I want?"

Students eager to share their learning, talking over which rectangles they formed to solve for area.

Another shape appeared.

"How about this one?"

Students reached in to show each other how they broke it apart.  Murmurs of "that's how I did it too" as different options were shared.

My second graders love math. It is obvious in the way the interact, the way they talk with each other, they way they learn.  They have really, truly, and honestly embraced the idea that mistakes help us learn.  They support each other and willingly share their thinking.  They hold each other accountable for high quality work and behavior.

At the end of the class, we met on the rug again, this time for a game of BUZZ.

"Can we do 6s?"
"No.  Let's do 4s"
"We made it to 60 yesterday then we ran out of time. Can we start at 60 today?"

We started at 1. Made it to 70 before an error derailed us.  When class was over, 14 smiling faces walked back to their homerooms.  And I thought, "That was fun today! I'm glad I am here!"

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity to share a slice of my life.

That is just what family does

"That is just what family does," I told my mother in law.

"Not every family."

How true.  And how sad.

My family - from all sides - is going through crisis after crisis right now.  My brother's situation.  My daughter may need a 4th ankle surgery.  My in-laws.  We are being hit from every which way.

But we have a family that all steps up to the plate.  My eldest daughter, pregnant with twins, brought grandma her new clothes.  My second daughter baked cookies and brownies as a thank you to the nursing staff.  My husband spent the day taking care of his parents while I spent the day, along with my sister, taking care of my brother's issues.  Sunday found many of us -my son, his wife, my husband and myself, a nephew and a niece, Rod's brother -  all gathered at the rehab facility, visiting. Grandma was in her glory.

We all do our part.

"This is what family does."
"Not all families."

OK.  Fine. This is what OUR family does."

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for allowing me share this slice of my life.

Proud

Earlier today, Rod and I sat in the living, listening to our daughter, Lauren, help her friend set up a budget. 

Lauren has had her financial set-backs over the years.  She moved back home a while ago as a means to pay off some bills and get back on her feet.  She has worked hard to live on the budget she and her dad created.  She has learned that the budget works - she has paid off some debts and is able to save money AND plan a vacation.  Budgets work!

Lauren asked her friend all the important questions: What is your goal? What debts do you have?  What do you spend your money on?  Not surprisingly, her friend was not able to account for where much of her money went. Lauren explained that she should track all of her spending for a month, so they could review her habits and adjust her budget, if needed.  She recommended her friend allow her enough spending money to enjoy herself but not so much that she could not save money every month.

Lauren came downstairs to get her budget notebook to share with her friend. Rod told her how proud he was of her; he remarked how much she had learned.

Growing up is hard.  The world is not always a friendly place. Our children are starting their lives with greater debt than my husband and I have ever had, with the exception of purchasing a house.  

Sometimes, as adults, we have to make hard choices - - like moving back home to save money.  I am so proud of our daughter. She has learned a valuable lesson that she is now sharing with her friend.

It's a good life!

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity to share this slice of my life.

If only we could "tutor" each and every student!

I tutor two students each week. I work with one of those students, a 6th grade girl, two times a week. She is quite bright; much of what I do is support and help build confidence. I truly enjoy my time with her.  We have built a good relationship over the past almost 2 years.

Today, both of the assignments she was working on were writing work.  One, a reader's response to a short story, took us about an hour together. First, I needed to read the story to be able to discuss it with her. Much of the time, however was spent pushing her to do more.  The format she was required to use (MELCON) is very specific.  Main Idea, Evidence, Link, Conclusion.  In and of itself, the format is fine.  However, it has been presented very formulaically, using specific sentence starters, etc.  My goal today was to push this particular student to do more than what she perceived as "required."  We have had this discussion several times. Today was the day we needed to put it into action.

"Before we start writing, I want to talk about the story.  I am wondering why the mother felt angry, than guilty, than angry, than guilty. What do you think?"

"Why would the man pretend to be poor and sell apples if, in fact, he has ample money?"

Both of these questions took a great deal of prompting and support.  I believe she had answers but was hesitant to explain her thinking because 1) she was afraid she was wrong or 2) she did not have the vocabulary to express her thoughts clearly.  We talked about these ideas for about 20 minutes, with me prodding with "Why do you think that?" and "Tell me more about that." With time, she was able to express her thinking and support it with evidence.

Finally, it was time to write.  The prompt was based on which idea was she most interested in from the class discussion.  We were able to narrow down two ideas she liked.  We then sorted through evidence, determining which idea she could better support.

Up to this point, the work was similar to work we have done together.  Now comes the actual writing!

"What is your thesis statement going to be?"

"I am supposed to start with the main idea."

"Thesis statement is your main idea. What is the premise of your writing?"

We work best when she can think aloud and I type. As she introduced a piece of evidence, I pushed her to explain, explicitly, how that evidence connected to her thesis statement. This required a great deal of support but that is what I do when I tutor....I offer specific, individualized support.

"How does this connect to your main idea?"

"Don't assume your reader sees what you see. Explain it to her!"

"Why would he do that?"

We did the first two paragraphs together.  As she started the third piece of evidence, I asked her to add the additional support on her own.  I reassured her that the work we were doing was hard and more than she had done in the past but I knew she could do it.    It took time, and some leading questions, but she got there.

This session made me wonder a few things. 1) Why are reader's responses still perceived as a specific, formulaic response.  Shouldn't we welcome a student's thoughts, presented in a way that feels natural to the student? 2)  Wouldn't it be wonderful if every student could get the same individualized support my student got this morning? --I know, they can - if the teacher regularly confers!--3) Why is there so much stress put on doing it "right" and getting a good grade and so little support in honoring the writing process?  Writing is a chore for most students because we don't allow them to experience regular writing just for the joy of it.  

The other day, as I left the library after tutoring my other student, a patron stopped me. He commented that, as a  junior high student, he had been tutored as well.  He still remembers those sessions fondly; looking back, he is able to appreciate the growth surrounding those times with his tutor.

Not everyone can afford tutoring. It is a luxury. However, every student deserves support geared specifically to their needs.  And every student will benefit from a close relationship with a teacher.  I am thankful for my time as a tutor. It helps me reflect on my time with a class of students. Am I giving them the individualized support they need?  Am I getting to know them as well as I know these two?  I hope so!

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for this opportunity to share a slice of my life.

  

Friday Night

Friday Night

Friday after school

I stay late to lesson plan

make copies

organize my room

Then,

exhausted,

I meet my husband

somewhere

for dinner

a cocktail

conversation

This week

A change in plans

Rod has been traveling

all week

So

Off to Jen's I go

to play with Timothy

have dinner

visit

Friday night

home at least

exhausted from the week

ready for the weekend



Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity to share this slice of my life

Tired

Tonight I'm tired.

I don't really feel like blogging.

Seriously considered skipping today.

Here, in Chicago, it is after 9:30.  I left my house at 6:30 AM for school.  Got home at 5, with just enough time to do the dishes and grab a quick dinner before teaching piano lessons til 9:30. I haven't even looked at my grading yet!

So I am tired.

But, when you make a commitment to do something, you do it.  Even when you're tired.  Even when you wish you could have put your pjs on at 6:30 and curled up with a good book.

Other people are tired for way different reasons than me - way more serious reasons that me. Truly, I am blessed to have not one, but two jobs that I love....teaching my little kiddos and teaching my piano kiddos.  Piano students are different than my regular students in that I keep them year after year after year. It is such a different, wonderful, glorious relationship.  I have a student that I taught when she was in first grade.  Then she moved away for a few years.  When she came back to the area, she came back to me for piano lessons.  She is now in 7th grade, and is learning how to box.  How cool is that?  I bet she's tired too; she just left here at 9:30!

So, yes, I am tired.

But I am also super lucky...to be so tired after such a great day.

There could be worse things than being tired.

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity to share a slice of my life.

Grateful for Good Friends

Susanne and I have known each other for years. Our kids are all about the same ages - our two oldest are only a year about, as are our middles.  Our youngest went to school together starting at the very tender age of 3.  Needless to say, we have spent a lot of time together over the years....trips to the Dunes, weekends away, playdates, family dinners.  The list goes on and on.  

As often happens, we lost touch with each other over the years. Nothing happened except life.  Our kids grew up.  They no longer needed us to drive them places. Her kids were into sports; mine were into music.  So we drifted apart.

Last summer, we ran into each other at the community pool.  A place we had spent many a summer hour together when our kids were young.  Delighted to see each other, we vowed to get together for dinner soon.

Tonight - 8 months later - we finally did. It was like we never lost a beat.  We quickly got caught up on all the kids and our husbands.  Talked about our jobs.  Chatted - just like old times.  It was a wonderful evening over delicious food with a good friend.  Because good friends, even when they don't see each often, remain good friends.  

It may be a while before we see each other again...not that we didn't have a great time together.  It's just that we each have lots going on.  We are both grandparents.  We have full-time jobs.  We have family obligations.  But I am sure that, when we do get together again, it will be just like old times again.  And for that I am extremely grateful!

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for the opportunity to share this slice of my life.