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.

Horsing Around

I looked through some photos on Face Book this morning. I found one that I took years back. My daughter bought these horse masks on Amazon just because. She thought that they were funny and would give people a treat while she wore them. She especially liked to wear them (one was a horse and the other a unicorn) when I was driving and she would tag along. We did get some double takes and  we saw people pointing at our car. Once, while I was pumping some gas, some woman came over to our car and asked to take a photo of Elizabeth "horsing around" on the passenger side of the car. I loved that time and I love the photo that I am going to share. Have a great day and take some time to smell the roses or eat a carrot! It will do you some good! Just ask the horse.

Horsing Around

Silence

Sitting here listening to the cars go by, hearing the chirping of birds, and the ticking of the clock, reminds me that I am  home. The clock ticks on and trucks rumble down Grace Street. It may sound quite noisy, but there is a silence about it. No one is up yet. No pitter patter of feet or coffee brewing. No creaking of old doors and wooden floors. No laughter or yawns. Only silence, my kind of silence.

I woke up quite early, before the Sun began to shine. I had to take advantage of this day. This day full of promise, with a chill in the air on July 2nd. Who would have thought...a chill in the air? It seems that when I come back home in July, I get the best weather. There is a chill in the air that invites me to take advantage of an early morning walk to breathe in Southern Ohio. A time to gather my thoughts as I become captivated by its beauty. The rolling hills are adorned by lush green trees and shrubbery. I love to take in, if only for just a short time.

Being here brings me back years, when life was simple. Brings me back to promise and my youth, when the world was an inviting place to explore. Explore it I have, but now I yearn for solitude, a place to sit and rest.  And now I have become  more enamored with the small town atmosphere, conversations of yesteryear, laughter in the air, and simplicity, sweet simplicity. Here I can calm my heart and soul and breathe in contemplation. I can get away from the ridiculous rat race and traffic--my life always in a rush, rush, rush. Here I slow my pace to reconnect, rejuvenate, and return to family...return to me.

The peace that I feel, wrought with intermittent cars passing, birds chirping, and  clocks ticking soothe my aching soul. This is just what I need. My shelter from the storm... my mountaintop...my oasis...my home-- Southern Ohio.

Give Me A Double!

                                

Waiting
Just a little while

Wondering

‘bout double cheeseburgers

Stacked little burgers

Smaller than the palm

Of my hand

Waiting

Anticipating

Steamed buns

Spirals of onion

Round and round

Old style pickles

Mustard

Cheese

Ready for my

Delectable

Double cheeseburgers

Hmmm!

Grease drippin’

Down my chin

Effortlessly falling

Onto wax paper

Encapsulating

All of the flavor

Hmmm! Hmmm!

 Service with a smile

Precious cargo

Kindly delivered

On a silvery platter

Jewels of delight

Double cheeseburgers

All the way

With fries overflowing

Drenched in brown

Savory gravy

Double cheeseburgers

A cardiologist’s nightmare

But seriously…

What do I care?

My heaven—

On Earth

Hickie’s

Double Cheeseburgers

By Maureen Ucles

Hickie's Hamburger Inn

Reading Is Thinking 2.0 with Stephanie Harvey

Today I attended the first day of the Stephanie Harvey Reading Is Thinking 2.0 Conference. As I walked into the hotel I wondered about all that I would learn. I was excited to learn different ways to use the technology tools to enhance my literacy and cross curricular instruction. I have always been inspired by the work of Stephanie Harvey, so I knew that being here would be beneficial for me and my future students.

Stephanie Harvey

I am leaving a very satisfying position in my district as a former district instructional specialist and as a Lead iCoach (similar to a district literacy specialist) where I worked with curriculum, teachers and schools to share the latest strategies that enhance instruction. I have worked on the district level for seven wonderful years. I have decided to leave that position and join a great 4th grade team at Westwood Elementary to teach. It is refreshing and totally exhilarating to return to my first love, teaching elementary students.   Because of this, being at this conference is truly inspiring.  I really enjoyed a refresher on comprehension, but have learned a lot about how group collaboration must be taught and how it goes hand in hand in teaching all subjects. It will work especially well with project based learning and blended learning. The videos were very informative to watch and debrief.

Stephanie Harvey is no technological pushover either. I loved how Stephanie encouraged us to tweet using the hashtag #RITX2015. She is into Twitter like I am. It is nice to see that!

I had the great opportunity to talk to Sara Holbrook while waiting for coffee. We had a great discussion about writing and teaching poetry. It was nice to speak to a fellow poet. High Impact Writing Clinics. She also blogs too. We have much in common.

Maybe tomorrow I will have another opportunity. Last year I bought her book and have used it some with students and teachers. It is called

saraholbrook.blogspot.com

As if my day could not get any better, I looked at my Twitter notification and read that Katie Muhtraris coauthor of  Connecting Comprehension and Technology is following me on Twitter! Is that cool or what? Please don't say what. We watched a video of Katie in her 5th grade classroom. She uses technology seamlessly in her classroom. I cannot wait until tomorrow's breakout session. Katie will be presenting to my group. I will learn from someone who does this everyday. I will take copious notes. There is so much to learn and it is right in front of me. I expect to walk away with so many ideas of how to blend technology with comprehension study. This upcoming school year, I won't be watching teachers get to do what I love anymore. I will be able to get first hand, extended opportunities and you can bet you bottom dollar that I will take the plunge and do it. I know it won't be perfect, but a great work in progress. Like Stephanie Harvey said today, " I am going to go slow to go fast."

What is my reflection on today? I am still taking it in and processing. I need to sleep on it and let the brain process all of this into my working memory and hopefully arrive at long term memory. It was certainly meaningful. Chances are, as David Sousa stated from How the Brain Learns, if learning is to have a high likelihood to be retained and stored in long term memory, it has to be meaningful (relevant) and make sense. This training is definitely relevant and makes total sense.

Libre-Free

Libre

Words of Freedom-Soy libre

Not to worry, I will add the accents tomorrow. I just wanted to get it out tonight. Blogspot doesn't allow for accents in Spanish.  Disculpe por ahora.

Words of Freedom-Soy Libre

by Maureen Ucles

I can

post what I want

say what I want

expresarme

I can 

let the words fly

off of the page

from my thoughts

pensamientos

locked deep inside

waiting to be released

to be expresada

I can

write what I want

be who I want

not considering you 

anymore

not in the least

I can 

be free 

how I want

no holding back

letting go 

freedom rings

in my ears

en mi corazon

en mi alma

Yo puedo

expresarme

para librarme

demonstrarte

quien soy

Yo puedo volar

alcanzar mis suenos

mis deseos

que tengo dentro

mi espirtu

no voy 

a quedar callada

no mas

no voy a

escuchar sus palabras negativas

no mas

me quedo

feliz y libre

para expresarme

and be me

that I was meant to be

YA

Left In, Out

Left In, Out

by Maureen Ucles

Left in,

Left out

makes me wanna

scream

yeah you got it

just wanna

shout

out loud

AAAAHHHHH!

Makes no sense

not in the least

these decisions

 left in

 mostly, 

mostly... out

Why me?

What have I done?

Left it all on the floor

blood, sweat and tears

but...

but do you care?

not in the least

no time

can't find a crease

in which to fall

tumbling down

like John Cougar Mellancamp

so far

 descending

into the depths

Left in,

Left out,

abandoned
on this barren black top

baking in the cruel Sun

unforgiving
relentless
you won't stop

leave

my thoughts alone

on my last nerve

but why?

What have I done?

Like my dad 

always said

Work hard

put it all out there

things will fall 
into place

not this time

nah

slap in my face

spittle to replace

my feelings, pride, dignity

can't understand

stupid

idiotic

insipid

hideous
heinous
crime scene

Left in...left out
I need to
 let go

forge a new path

I'm
 toast

burnt to a crisp

left in...thrown out

keep quiet

SHHH!

Not a word

rock this boat
Me?
Ima
Scapegoat extraordinaire
nobody

But...

Not givin' in
nunca
jamas

about to

rise above

snatch 

 rebound

two hands

take it up strong

slam dunk

in your face
POSTERIZED!
as I
run down the court
Look ahead
No problem
 Like Old Man Riverwalk
Timmy Duncan
All business
 I master
the disguise
hidden
maybe a little wise
Truth be told
Can't stand to look at you
The utter sight
brings chills down my spine
stomach churns
You're
a polar vortex
frigid
and...
not worth
my time
thoughts
nada

Gonna

flee
this tired, sorry scene
evacuate
confiscate
then
librarme
de este

  stinkin'
disturbance
currently

downgraded from
category five
to a 

tropical wave
or posiblemente
not a cloud
in the bluest
skies
Why?

I'm

gone

steppin'
moving forward
got my momentum
groove's on

No looking back 

Left in?

You kidding me, right?

I'm out!
Hasta la vista!
Adios!

Bye-bye!
Out of here!
See ya!

Lemons and Lemonade-Inspiration in Acidity

Making Lemons

by Maureen Ucles

Lemonade 

sitting by the stand

please come forth

with your acidity

ph factor

so sour, sour, sourful

Lemonade sitting in the sunlight

not too tart

not too sweet

better than Country Time

Hand made

over time

squeezed, squeezed

guts and all

juiced and filled

with zest

Lemonade, Lemonade

how many lemons are you?

Replete with a few seeds

that escaped the squeeze

ice chilling

almost ready

to freeze

while you juice

I muse

peer into...

Lemonade, Lemonade

was it worth it all?

you are gone 

spent

peels thrown in the trash

the blood, sweat and tears?

So many years

yet...

impaled

torn

breached

yet

so

sweet

Lemonade, Lemonade

can you make it here?

Can you make it there?

Does anyone ever

seem to care?

Winds blowing

Breeze showing

Me knowing...

I

like you,

making

Lemonade

Lemonade

giving it up--

releasing the fear

hey,

never know

new frontier

prancing and dancing

seeing 

through crystal prisms

 different 

views

doors, window

closed, opened

my

souls  a searching

me perching

lookin' in

Ain't no sin

Just drinking it up

my life

my lemonade

Ahhh!

Hits the spot!

Boxed Inn No More!

Boxed Inn

By Maureen Ucles

You’ve got me

Boxed in

Cornered in all directions

This place

Reeks of basement mold

Expired packaged peanuts 

and puffy, plastic pillows

Or was that your ego-

rather inflated?

Invading my brain

Contusion

So

Concussed

Withering to rust

Oxidation in

This stinking,

Stifling,

Stagnant

Boxed Inn

Where do I reside?

In your embrace?

No, more like

A chide

Cruel slap across my face

‘cause I can’t find

Anything

In this dastardly,

Dilapidated

Place

Incarcerated—

Cruel and unusual...

Torture

Banished

Ostracized

Tainted

By my original sin

Like

Adam and Eve

South of Eden

North of Nowhere

Descending

Plummeting

Into the depths

From the abyss

To abysmal

Get me outta of this

Horrible

Hellacious

Horrendous

Boxed Inn

Hotel California

Checksd in

No way out

Wanna

Gonna

Tear down

Wailing walls

Crumbling

Piece by piece

Inch by inch

Imploding

Exploding

Onto me

Boxed Inn

Metamorphosis

Reaching

Beyond reach

Grasping

Catching

A glimpse

Light eternal

Gravitating

Encapsulating

The tangible

Surreal

Peace…peace

Permeating

My being

Me, myself and I

Without you—

Outside this

Cruel confinement

Into solemn serenity

Boxed Inn

No more…

Checking out!