TodaysMeet and Reading Response

I created a screencast using Camtasia to show how my class used TodaysMeet and Edmodo to record our reading responses to the book The Magician's Nephew.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My beautiful and talented daughter has taken to blogging like me.  Recently, she submitted a blog post The Odyssey. It was published recently. This post was to serve as her present. What a great gift...the gift of her wonderful words.She shared it on Face Book and I decided to share the link of this post today on my blog. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/happy-fathers-day-to-mom  I hope you enjoy the post.

20,000 Page Views!

Today is a grand day!  I reached a mini milestone of sorts. Since I started this blog a few years back, I wanted it to be better than my first blog called www.justwritebaby1.blogspot.com.  I stopped using that blog. (It is still in existence, but I don't post there anymore.)  I wanted the autonomy to post what I wanted without any organization to have ownership of my blog. It was hard to stop posting from my first blog, but I tried to move all the posts from my justwritebaby1 over my current blog. I wish that I could have brought over the members and the page views with me. I had around 54,000 page views when I moved to this blog full time. Now, as of today, I have 20,000 pages views. Not bad!  I feel proud of this number of pages views.  My ultimate goal is to get to 100,000 pages views in the next few years and see where my blogging can go. To you, the audience, thanks for checking in from time to time to read my blog posts. I also want to thank the people who comment as well. Lastly, I want to thank my class. They are my inspiration, support, and a source of ideas for posts. There are others who continue to encourage me to blog. Thanks for your support. I will try to post more often. I made a meme in honor of twenty thousand pages views. Mil gracias!

Blogging

I created this video to motivate my students to blog more often. I wanted them to see their blogs on the big screen. They love to blog. There isn't always the time for it. I think I will have to open up lunchtime for those who want to blog. Sometimes my computers work and sometimes they don't. I need better devices so that they can blog daily. We can't go to the computer lab daily. We will see what impact this video will have on them. I think it will inspire them. That is my hope. Vamos a ver lo que pasa.

Poop Machines

I was cleaning and changing the kitty litter today. It is not a job that I love to do weekly. I abhor having to change the litter. NOT A FAN!  As I was changing it out, I kept thinking that this experience is writing worthy.

I could write about this, I thought to myself.

I always tell my students that writing happens as a result of our environment. There is so much out there to consider. My writing could also include my feelings about changing cat litter. Why can't I write about cat litter and these poop machines? What is stopping me? I have plenty of material. The words are flowing in my mind. I have plenty of material. Starting to stink to high heaven!

Tell the truth, Maureen. Tell the truth, my inner voice pleads.

But other people will think it is too gross or silly. They will say that I shouldn't be writing about changing out cat litter. You are not supposed to be gross,don't ya know? The inner conversation continues.

Yes..no...but the really good reads are the gross ones, I reply more confidently. Writers must tell the truth. The truth the way that they see things. Don't compromise for the nay-sayers.

Okay...that sounds better, I say in agreement.

Now I have decided to let it fly. I don't want those oppositional voices to keep me away from writing what could be a decent piece. I think my students will like it too. There you have it!

Here is my first draft.

Poop Machines

I love my cats. I do. I have three beautiful, sweet, and crazy felines. Love them to pieces, but I DON'T LOVE cleaning up after them. Cleaning up their hairball fiascos, stomach upsets placed nicely on the tile floor, or the kitty litter. Above all, I hate changing out the kitty litter! Hate, abhor, detest anything to do with kitty stinking litter!

Sammy at rest-practicing inertia

I have three kitty litter boxes. I need to start saying cat litter boxes because these once furry, playful balls of energy are adult snoozers now.  The sleep nonstop. Although they snooze, they find lots of time to churn out the poop...in droves. They are full grown POOP MACHINES!

These poop machines have many jobs in my house. They sleep probably 23 out of 24 hours a day. I know...the have it extremely hard. Their lives are full of endless ZZZZs. When they wake of from their thousandth cat nap, they roll over and purr. They stretch out their long bodies and then jump down from the window sill, the couch, the table, my bed, or their kitty skyscraper and search for their prey. They stalk the kitty bowl full of cat kibble. The bowl is very elusive to them. But after 5 seconds of stalking, they pounce upon the kibble and begin to devour the remains.  That hunt takes up lots of energy. They then decide to find a comfy spot to groom themselves for another five minutes. They spit in their paws and wipe their spittle over their ears, nose and head. They love the smell of their spittle and want to spread it all over the place.  After a little while, they might take a nap or charge up the poop machine.

They walk into the kitty condo (cat litter box) and then do their business. When they are done, if they are normal, they cover the remains with excess kitty litter and walk out of the condo refreshed. One of my cats does not do this. No, he or she (I am not sure which one it is) uses the facilities, then leaves their excrement or poop uncovered. I suppose he/she is proud of their production and wants the world to see what a great poop machine they have become. Upon further reading, this uncovering may be due to the fact that one of my cats wants to show the other cats who is the boss. They want everyone to know that they are, in fact, the dominant one. My cats are psychos!

Poop Machine Sammy at Work

Their daily routines consists of these four activities: sleep, groom, eat and poop (in no particular order.) I could add another activity to the list as well. It could then be sleep, eat, poop, groom, and meow at their owner to pet, feed, pet, feed, pet, feed, and entertain them. In the mornings, my three crazies like to sit on my lap and have me scratch them behind the ears and under the chin. They meow to demand more scratches at a time when I am getting ready for work. That doesn't work well when I have my work clothes on and ready. They shed so much.

By the end of the week, the kitty litter gets pretty smelly and in need of a changing. When I change it, I try to look away. I get grossed out by all the poop that has accumulated in last few days. (I try to clean it out daily, but I don't always get to it.) By this time, my cats are in the living room plotting their next visit to a cleaner litter box. When they see that I am finished, they run in acting all nicey-nice. They meow sweet and kind meows. They expect me to give them some wet cat food and to fill up the kibble bowl, which is usually 3/4 full. I don't know what it is about cats and kibble. If the bowl is not filled up to the brim, they react as if there is no food in the bowl. They meow with a harsh shrill, sounding as if they hadn't eaten in a week or more.They like to complain. The food bowl is practically filled. Go figure!

Dominant Poop Machine Sandy

I do love my cats. They are good companions of chill. They like to read with me.

They sometimes allow me to blog. I have to tear one of dominant felines away from me. She likes to stay positioned on my lap. I have to fight her to work on my lap top and read by pushing her off of me numerous times. She keeps coming back with her loud, loud lawn-mover like purrs. It is difficult, but after a while, she gives up and lays next to me.

Poop Machine Suzy the Timid

It is great having cats as pets. They are clean and independent. Not bad at all...except for being feline poop machines. That, and cleaning up hairball problems, are the only downfalls of having cats.


Am I a part of the problem? When I feed them their kibble or wet food, I am perpetuating the poop production problem. There is no way around it. I just wish they could be more like dogs and go outside and do their business. My cats are indoor cats though. I think it is better for them to stay inside and be safe. It is good for them, but more work for me. I do it reluctantly and with much trepidation, but I do it. After all, I do love my sweet poop machines!

Westwood Wild Readers Video

Here is the latest Westood Wild Readers video production. I uploaded it to YouTube to make sure the video quality was superior than on Blogger. The Blogger video's pixels were as nice. Hope you enjoy. I may be revising it one last time. It is fun to create these videos.

Pennies and Poems

Penny and Poems

by Maureen Ucles

Penny 

for your thoughts

Penny 

for a poem?

Not!

I'd expect 

 more

lots more

Poems take time

to think

simmer

compose

lots of thought

writing down the bones

considering

you

the reader

my audience

More and more

thought

What have I wrought?

Words on a line

taking up space

my spare time

for whom?

The bell tolls 

for me

you

and 

others

Penny for my thoughts?

Inflation

Cost of living

insurance

set the score

broke

poor

need a little 

more

Poems for a penny?

priceless entities

hearing

rhythm

message

words and more words

 just write

bring together

very tight

revision decisions

decisions for revisions

for you

Pennies for my thoughts?

Sounds better

Rings true

Working on it

Moving

Deleting

Repeating

Making it 

right

 exposing thoughts

ideas

feelings

not pennies

just for...

 you

Inspired by a Comment

Yesterday, after a day of teaching and a long nap, I looked at my phone for any notifications. Unexpectedly, I saw that someone had left a comment for this blog Just Write Baby 1, 2,3...Go! I have received comments de vez en cuando (from time to time), so that wasn't so surprising. I noticed that the comment originated from one of my students. She had commented on one of my poems. It wasn't any of my poems that I had shared previously in class. It was a poem that I had written for my daughter on her 18th birthday. A few minutes ago, I read the comment. It was very exciting to see that one of my students is reading my blog at home and took the time to make a comment. Wow!  It may not seem much to some people, but it means the world to me. I have been sharing my blog since school started. My students are exploring and using it with Edmodo in class and now I see at home. 

Seeing her comment has made my day. It is not everyday that I get comments on my blog, much less from a young reader. Not a bad way to continue my day. Not bad at all.

Wild Readers

I made a video about my students. They are proud of the amount of reading that they have accomplished the first month and a half of  school.  I plan on revising this video very soon. I need to add a few more students. We ran out of time on last Friday when I was collecting the data and media. I wanted to get it produced to show it to my students. I know they will be thrilled to see themselves celebrated with all their wild reading. The numbers aren't as important as the fact that they love to read and explore the different authors and books. I am proud of them. I would like to track their reading adventures once a month to track. In the next video, they will talk about the books they recommend and are currently reading. Stay tuned!

Bullets and Boxes Revised

I willingly and knowingly dedicate this poem called Bullets and Boxes to Noemi Leon-Garcia. She is a good friend of mine and a colleague. She is the inspiration for this poem. I brought it back because of a Face Book post yesterday. I hope you enjoy!

Bullet and Boxes

I've got bullets and boxes

Chalk full of soxes

Running like fire ants 

all over the floor

next to me

next to the door
scramming for an exit
next door

More stinking

bullets and boxes

How did this happen?

When did this occur?

Did you hear me

Sir? Sir? Sir?

Anyone home?

Next door

Can't believe 

I'm  a 

witnessing

too many bullets

and boxes
such brutality

all over

tarnation

Sony and Cher

do you even

care?

Next door

When you think

it's safe

to escape 

through the gate

Here they come

running, running

running me

down

all over town

shouting

bullets and boxes
boxes and bullets
fists clenched
raised high into the air

seems so

darn, darn

TOXIC

EXPLAIN THIS!
Insanity...

Next door

Put them away

explain it-

nah-

someday

how we're

going, going

 gone

back

back

backwards

Ice Age

far enough

for ya?

Artic vortex

blasting

out my
mind
confusion
contusion

next door

Primal screams

rude, rude

prude

awakening

in the Mesozoic
or...

Cenozoic

Like you

know it--
R-i-g-h-t 

with your

bullets and boxes

seems so untenable

next door

Don't quite

think,
think so

Bro'

whydya

have to go

so postal?

Coastal?

and ruin

a good 

better

and best

thing

ever

with 

all your 

clamouring

hammering

'bout

posthumous

offerings-- 

bullets of info

when you

don't know

where they

go...
not even why

oops!

my bad

lost in the

.....

in the cardboard

perforated

box

box

boxes!

Next door

Slam it shut!

Throw away the key...

I Am From-Young Poet in the Wild

I will be posting, from time to time, some poems and other writing from the young poets in the wild. I decided to post one of the poems because I had taken a photo with my iPevo document camera. I may have others on my phone. I need to import them to my computer, but I always get these warning on my computer that I don't have much memory. I love media and I like to keep it stored on my computer for easy use. I guess I am going to have to buy a portable hard drive for all of my media from my phone. I have some in the cloud, but it takes so much time to figure out which photo I want and to then begin the downloading process.

Without further adieu, here is one of poems from one my young poets in the wild. I know she will be extremely excited to see her work on this blog. I hope you enjoy it!

First Draft

Cat and Dog Video

I used Camtasia to produce this video about crazy cats and dogs. They are little snippets of laughter. The dog and birds photographs hail from 98.5 Sonshine FM from Australia.  The cat drinking water, while laying down, was produced by Guff's videos. The disappointed dog video is from 2GO 107.7. The Sammy video was my video that I uploaded to Youtube. Many of these were shared on Face Book. I want to show them to my class for different purposes. Each part of the video could be used for different purposes. I hope you get a good chuckle!

Why We Write Poetry-What Will Your Verse Be?

I found this video tonight. It has been years since I watched The Dead Poet's Society. I remember watching Robin Williams captivate the audience. I wanted to be one of his students standing on the desk. I was in college at the time. It inspired me to want to continue my educational trek into teaching. Looking it over, after so many years, still bring tears to my eyes and inspiration to my soul. I thought about my poetry and my student's poetry. Poetry definitely can set the mind and heart on fire. I see it changing the lives of many of my students. Many of my students are giving it a whirl. I learn so much about them in their writing and sharing. It is such an amazing thing to walk into my classroom and hear my students ask me, "Can I share my poem today?" I have shared my poems intermittently with them. They like them and it is great to have a captivated audience. I see how poetry has boosted their confidence as readers and poets. What Robin Williams says is true. We all have a voice. What will your verse be?

Chowing Down

I used Camtasia to produce this funny video. I saw this shared video on Face Book. I recorded it in Camtasia and add voice narration. The video came from Veterinaria  Biotechnology on Facebook. I added my voice narration. I am going to show this to my students. I know they will get a kick out of it, plus I would like to brainstorm possible uses in classroom. I believe that they will find more uses than I can imagine.

Today, I showed them some of my videos and posts from my blog. I wanted them to see this, so that they will see some things that they could do in the future. I finally got out my computer today and had them go to Edmodo to respond to some clips, posts, and websites. I know these are small steps, but they are my steps. I know where I would like to go, but it will take some time. My next project will be to create a class on Edublog or Blogger. I would like for my students to start creating their own blogs and start to communicate within the school and globally.

Progress Reports and Shingles

I have been dying to post, but finding the time to do it has been impossible. I had to learn a new system for inputting grades for progress reports. It took me a while, but thanks to my good friend and colleague Noemi, I got it done in two nights. My work day began Monday and Tuesday at 5:00 am and ended at 11:59 am. Needless to say, I was extremely run down. I felt great because I could check that box off of my list. All weekend long, I was compiling grades and get things ready for these two days of progress reporting.

On Wednesday, my lovely friend, Migraine, came to visit on time. On time I say because whenever I am overworked and over stressed, he pays me an unwanted visit. This time was different. Not different because of when and where it occurred. I am used to the onset of morning migraines to meet their crescendo around noon and BOOM I am in for it. Different only because my stomach has been majorly rancid lately. I think I have an ulcer and am getting more tests done to find out the cause of my pain. My stomach hurts like the dickens with not much respite. I cannot take any NSAIDs. There is no pain relief from my migraine at all. I have to just as some people say, "deal." That is just what I did. I suffered through a long afternoon teaching. The kids were very kind to me. I tried to get through teaching some Math and then moving onto DRAs (assessments for Reading) where I could barely see the titles. My vision started to blur some. I suffered through two phone calls from the nurse and dismissal.  My ultimate goal was to get through it all and get home to sleep.  By the grace of God, I did it. I went home and slept from the time I got home until 10:30 pm. I awoke feeling somewhat better. The migraine had subsided to a minor headache. I hoped that the next day would be better.

On Thursday, I woke up feeling a little better. The effects of the migraine were minimal. I prayed that it would just leave me alone completely. When I arrived at work, I felt better. With migraines, the effects linger and could be triggered again, so I was guardedly optimistic. As it turns out, Thursday was quite a lovely migraine free day!  Yay! I did, however, find myself scratching the back of my neck some during lunch duty. I never thought much more about it. The rest of the day went spectacularly well.

On Friday, I was dragging. I was devoid of any energy. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired since I had a sufficient amount of rest the previous two nights. The day went okay and by the time I ended by last after school class, I felt completely wiped out. I felt confused all day because the back of my neck kept itching me the whole day. What was going on? I thought. Did I get bit by a spider or some insect? I remember seeing a little mosquito fly by me at home the night before. The weird thing about this was the itching area felt strange. It was swollen. What the heck can that be? I thought. When I was talking to one of my colleagues, I asked her to look at it. When she looked it, I imagine she winced because she said, EWWW! I thought, What the heck is this? She proceeded to take a photo of it on her phone. When she showed it to me, I was shocked. It was a patch of redness shaped like a photo of comet but eye shaped. In the middle it looked like there was a mini scab. From that patch of redness protruded some red chains rolling down my neck and embarking on a trip to my shoulders. The sight scared me. I thought that maybe I had some kind of MRSA or flesh eating bacteria. I thought about all the terrible things that it could possibly be. I watched plenty  of Monster Inside of Me shows. I had also read much about  flesh eating bacteria. My mom had recently contracted MRSA too. Could it be MRSA? I knew that I had to seek medical treatment immediately, but at 5:00 pm on Friday? I decided to visit an emergency room close to my house.

I went to hospital and within 30 minutes a doctor looked at my neck. They initially thought MRSA or Shingles. Another attending physician accompanied the first doctor that I had seen previously. They concurred on the shingles diagnosis. Shingles? I have shingles? Well, it is better than MRSA, I thought. They gave me a prescription of antibiotics and ointment. The nurse was adamant that I take the meds immediately, even though it was late in the evening. My pharmacy, however, was still open. I was able to start treatment immediately to stop the virus from spreading.

When I arrived home, I researched Shingles. All of my symptoms, leading up to the red rash, were spot on. I had the headache and vision problems on Wednesday. I have noticed the blurred vision, but I thought it was time to get my eyes checked and new glasses. The good thing is that I caught this early so that it cannot spread. I hear it can be very painful. Google images of Shingles was quite gruesome. My neck area is nothing compared to some people's Shingles.

A few weeks ago, I visited Walgreen's. They had this sign up advertising the Shingle vaccine. I should look into this, I thought. Should have listened. When I am finished with this Shingles incident, I will get the Shingle vaccine. I do not want to go through this again.

What causes Shingles? Stress and a compromised immune system. People have told me that progress reports are a monster to get done. I can concur and maybe, just maybe, they cause Shingles. Who knows?  Crazy week!

Egg and I, McDonald's Time Out, and Procrastination-In A Writing State of Mind

All day I have been in a writing kind of mood. I never know when it will hit me, but this week, I have been dying to get to writing.  I have other things to do like grading a thousand notebooks and changing out kitty litter, but for some reason, I just don't want to do them now. Not now. I have lesson plans to work on and I need to go to the store to buy some food for next week. I need to wash some clothes and clean up the house a bit. I don't want to do any of these things. All I want to do is write.

I want to write about straws. I want to write about the lady who refused her food in the McDonald's drive through last night. I just have to tell this story. It has got to come out. I don't know what was wrong with the lady's order, but a young drive through attendant kept giving back the lady's McDonald bag to her. The lady, in turn, returned it back to the attendant. It was like patty cake. I was hoping that they weren't giving her my order. Then after a number of attempts to please this unhappy customer, the attendant sent the poor soul to time out. She had to drive over to the double lined yellow parking area of the parking lot. I saw the flustered teen just point to the time out area. Oh, how I hate the time out area! This area is for people who order something off of the menu. Maybe they want special treatment like ordering eggs with cheese instead of getting the humunga-chunga big breakfast that is carb addict's greatest pleasure. There's so much bread in there to cure world hunger. There is a biscuit and fifteen thousand hot cakes. They have time to make all of that, but if you order just eggs with cheese on top...well...you go to the time out jail and you will not collect the hot cakes or biscuits. They even have dunce cap cones to show everyone what happens when you order off the menu. I suspect that is what happened to this unsuspecting woman. It was dinner time though. I wonder what she dared to order for dinner. Maybe she went crazy and ordered a Big Mac without the bun!  Uh-oh! No, she didn't!  Who knows?   I said to myself in the car, You know, you gotta write about this! I do talk to myself in the car. No one can hear this constant conversation with me, myself, and I. It is fun!  Shhh! Don't tell anyone.

I also want to write about how I am mad at The Egg and I. Yes, I said it. I am mad at The Egg and I and I haven't been over to eat there for two weekends straight. I love the normal people who work at Egg and I. When they bring in someone who quotes corporate lines, I think of The Office and all the red tape and hardship that it causes.  I have been going to Egg and I for about 3 years. I keep that place in business. Every time I have gone there, I order fruit and ask them to not put cantaloupe in the fruit assortment cup. I am allergic to it. Every sweet person that has waited on me has never ever had a problem or even thought of charging me extra for doing this. NEVER! I went to Egg and I about two to three weeks ago. I asked this new waitress to give me a fruit cup without cantaloupe and pineapple. Pineapple has been added to the list of banned substances. I think I have an an ulcer and it hurts my stomach to eat it. She told me that she would have to give me an up charge. I said, What? An up charge? I have been coming here for three years now and I have never been given an up charge. She told me that she had to do it. I was in total shock. Why did they start doing this now? She told me that she had to do it. I told her to forget about it and just to bring me the eggs. Then a new manager lady, one who I had  never ever seen there, proceeds to come over and talk to me more about it. I told her the same spiel. She mentioned the word Corporate. Corporate has told us...I wonder if corporate can do without my business. I wonder if corporate would like for me to go to IHop. I wonder if they even care about loyal customers who bring lots of guests with them to Egg and I.  I can do without corporate and I can do without Egg and I...for now. I want to find a way to write corporate a letter and see if they want to lose me over a few pieces of cantaloupe and pine apple. Why did a few people have to ruin such a great place? The regulars are the reason why I would go there so much. I went there every weekend practically. I loved the ladies who greeted me with smile and said, How are you doing lady? I had lots of conversations with them all. That was a part of Egg and I's charm. It felt like home. Now, with the corporate being brought in, it feels like lots of lawyers in black suits in a sanitized hospital. Not comfortable at all. Sad, so sad!

One of the ladies who works at Egg and I told me she was reprimanded for calling customers honey or babe or sweetie or sunshine. She told me that some anally retentive guy got mad at her for calling him honey. He reported her to the manager. I wonder if it was the corporate manager. It doesn't feel like home anymore. These people are taking the nicety out of my favorite breakfast place. Why? Why?

I guess this is why I have been dying to write lately.  It is my way to vent and get all of this pent up material to fly. I have been sitting on this for quite some time. Phew! Now I feel better. Now onto kitty litter, laundry, notebooks, and shopping. Glad I got that out of the way!

Rainy Days and Mondays...Not Bad At All!

When I was driving to work this morning, these lyrics kept sounding in my head Rainy Days and  Mondays always get be down. This Carpenter song would leave me alone. I wondered what type of day would I have. I left my  house at my normal time. I hoped that there would be no blinking lights, car accidents or high water along the way. I expected some delays...I just didn't know how much. Surprisingly, I arrived at work 5 minutes than I usually do. There was only one car in the parking lot. So far, so good. Things were going well.

I had about an hour or so to prepare for my day. I put on some calm music and forgot about my active board. The evening before, someone had replaced a rather murky bulb with a bright one. Now I could actually use the active board and the students could actually see the board from the back of the classroom. Previously, they could see it only if both lights were off.  The students also had to be within 3 feet of the screen. I am sure they felt myopic. When I turned it on today, I was wowed by the amplification and clarity. My day was definitely upbeat, despite the rainy forecast.

Today I was able to show my students my blog. They kept asking to see it, along with my YouTube channels. I only had time to show them this blog. As I scrolled down, it was evident how much I love to write, and in particular, poetry. I read to them my poem about Making Lemons. It was nice to share my love of blogging and poetry with them. One day soon, I will show them some of the educational videos that I previously made for the Elementary Digital Reading Project. (I feel the spirit movin' me to create a Google Site this year for and with my class. I have been thinking about doing something like this for quite sometime. Now I have the class and the platform to do so. Karen Justl and Angelique Moulton are you listening?)

This may sound rather elementary to some people, but I must confess that today I used  Active Inspire without another person's help. In the past, I had always worked with  teachers who would assist me as I worked with their classes.  Today, all by my lonesome and with nineteen experts, I used Active Inspire. It went great. I used it mostly for Math In Focus-the online version. I think, the more I use it, the more comfortable I will feel. With Active Inspire, it is easier to use. I kept forgetting to "turn my mouse on" as the students kept telling me. Tomorrow, I will talk to them about using the cursor and pen. I asked them, "How could I have a mouse? I don't have a mouse! I have three cats!" "Huh?" one said and then with a short pause, he smiled. "Oh, I get it now!" Tomorrow we will refer to the mouse as the cursor.

To end the day, I finished the book Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo. What a charming book! I have been speaking to the students about how much I liked the book. One girl asked me, "Do you have two copies of that book?" I said, "Nope, but when I finish it today, would you like to read it?" That is the second student who has asked to read it. One of my students went to a colleagues Ludic Reading Library and checked out the book last week. When I gave the interested student the book today, her face lit up. She was so excited to read it. I brought in three new books to school that I received yesterday in the mail. I previewed Kate DiCamillo's new book with the class. Sure enough, just before Ludic Reading, one of my students asked to read it and took it home to read. I just love it! Love teaching! These moments are priceless. When you can put a book into a child's hands and make their day, it is so exhilarating. When I was their age, I hated reading. I don't want anyone to feel that way.

Now I love reading. Someone along the way introduced me to a good book. It was the librarian at little hole in the wall library in New Boston, Ohio. I remember going there in the Summer on my way home from baseball practice. The walk home was hot and the library had the best air conditioning in town, the coldest water fountain, and books that awaited me. I remember finally digging into biographies. The librarian always had kinds words to say to me and gave me lots of fun book marks. I hope to be that person who inspires others to read and write extensively this year.

Yes, I know, we have Math, Science and Social Studies too! We read and write in all of them!

Rainy days? Getting me down? I will leave that to The Carpenters and take my classroom any day. Four consecutive days posting! Not bad...not bad at all!

Writer's Blog...Lack of Motivation

I have been on vacation recently and so I haven't had the time to post more. It is not that I haven't thought about it much, because I have. I continuously search for something great to write. Many ideas have passed through my mind...some good, some not so much. The problem is that I haven't done anything about it. Many great writers continually give advice. They purport that if you want to be a good writer, then you must write daily. You must write and be disciplined to hone your skills. I know this, just like I know that I must eat better and exercise more. The problem is that I must make these things habits. This will be my first attempt to get back to being disciplined. Even though I may not think that the topics that I explore matter much, I must explore and write daily. I will use this blog for that end. I cannot promise to post daily, because I don't want to promise what I may or may not deliver. When an idea hits me, I am going to do my best to write about it on this blog. It can serve as my journal of sorts. Vamos a ver lo que pasa. We'll see what happens.

Jeff Anderson's Visit and His New Book Zack Delacruz-Me and My Big Mouth

I know this is a long time coming, but never late than never, right? I think it is about time that I finally posted some of my reflections about Jeff's visit back in 2014. Thrilled is how I felt when I heard that Jeff Anderson was going share his knowledge and expertise with many teachers and coaches. When some consultants visit, I can take them or leave them. Not with Jeff! Nope he is highly respected and regarded in the language arts community.  We were not disappointed in the least. He had so much to share about expository writing. Because we experienced the writing together, many of the things that he had taught us had a high stick factor. He was engaging, hilarious and nothing but fun!  Those are my kind of staff developments!

I really liked how he showed us authentic mentor expository text. We used these examples and tried them out on our own. This was very engaging.

Jeff Anderson and Maureen Ucles

In addition to that, I loved the idea of power writing. I have used this with my students. We used it the other day with our reading responses. They were so jazzed about it.

Overall, the day was great. I wasn't bored one time and I took copious notes. As I was going through my photos from my phone, I found a few that I want to share. It was an honor having Jeff join us in SBISD and to get to talk to him. He is a great guy and fantastic staff developer. His books are nothing short of fantastic. Now he is an author of a middle school novel. (See below.)

Jeff Anderson's new book to released in August, 2015

http://www.amazon.com/Zack-Delacruz-Me-Big-Mouth/dp/1454914998

 It will be out soon and I will definitely buy a copy to read and share with my students. It's pretty cool to say that I know the author! Pretty darn cool!  Thanks Jeff!

For more information about Jeff Anderson, go to the link provided:

http://www.writeguy.net/

https://twitter.com/writeguyjeff

New Trail of Breadcrumbs Site by Gretchen Bernabei

Gretchen Bernabei has launched a new and improved Trail of Breakcrumbs site called Trail of Breadcrumbs-- Tools for Tracking the Movement of the Mind.  You really should check out her site. It is full of great writing resources!  I took a screen shot so you can see what the site looks like now.

I am going to peruse this site often.  I will post more, when I get some time to do so.   You can also find the site on Twitter at Trail of Breadcrumbs.  Hope you find it as helpful as I always have.