At War with Robins {SOL 5-05-15}

For the past four years, I have been at war with a robin.

Yes....a robin.

On my front porch, I have an old ladder that I put flowers and baskets on for decoration.  On the top of the ladder, I usually place a large potted geranium.  I love geraniums for their bright and long lasting blooms and it really brightens up my front porch.

Every spring for the past four years, a robin has decided that she loves my geranium too, and decides it would be a great place to build her nest.  Unfortunately, the two cannot coexist.  If I let the nest stay, the plant will die because I will be unable to water it.

Now I love robins, don't get me wrong, (I even had one for a pet when I was seven) but I also can't justify ruining a $20 plant when there are plenty of trees nearby in which to build a nest.

So every day for about a week, I would go out and move the new robin's nest to a tree.  Then I would come home from school, and the robin will have rebuilt another nest in the geranium.  This went on for several days until the robin got tired of building a new nest and decided to find refuge elsewhere.

This year, I was prepared for battle again.

Apparently, the robin was not.

Instead of building her nest in my geranium, she decided to build it on one of the ladder shelves, safely tucked behind a tin bird house.  I laughed out loud when I saw this.

In the spirit of compromise, I have temporarily relocated my geranium to the other side of the porch so as to not disturb the nest.  There are now three eggs in the nest and the momma robin spends a lot of time there.  

I do not want to disturb her important work.

See Every Student

This morning I was reading through my email and came across a message from one of my favorite bloggers, Permile Ripp.

Pernille's blog posts are always thought provoking.  She often says exactly what I am thinking, but am unable to put into words.

Today's post is about those students in our class whom we don't necessarily "see."  You know the ones.  The students who are probably self-motivated, well-behaved, and/or high achieving.  They don't cause trouble, get their work done, and don't demand much of your time.  They raise their hands, participate often, and could possible teach themselves if you would let them.

So I started thinking...Who are these students in my class?  What are their stories? What do they need from me that they are not getting?  Do they know I care about them?

Pernille has challenged her readers to see EVERY student in our classroom this week.  I am taking that challenge because I need to, because my students need me to -- every one of them.

I don't ever want there to be a day when any of my students look back at their time with me and felt like they were invisible.

Because every student matters.

Unrealized Fears {Celebrate this Week 5-02-15}

The day that I had been putting off had arrived.

Six months ago, my dentist told me I need to have a skin graft on my gum to repair an area where the tissue had become thin.  "It won't be fun," he told me.  (Really???  Thanks for the encouragement...)

SKIN GRAFT...just the sound of it makes me want to run and hide.

I put off making the consultation with the oral surgeon.  I cancelled my appointment two times.  Finally, I went.

As time drew near to the day of the surgery, I had built up in my mind what a horrible experience this would be.  Pain...Not eating...Pain...Not talking...

        {Did I mention the pain?}

On Wednesday, I had that surgery and you know what?  It was okay.

I survived.

I made it through.

I didn't feel much pain. (Thanks to modern medicine and a pharmacist husband to made sure I took my meds on time.)

Was it fun?  No.

Could I do it again if I had to? Yes.

As it sometimes is, I had built this experience up into something that it never would become.  I had let my fear take over and control me.  This experience reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Nelson Mandela:

I am glad it is over and I am glad that my fears were unrealized.  And for that, I celebrate.

Sweet Surprises {SOL 4-28-15}

Spring is here!

As I write this, the sun is just beginning to rise and already I can hear the birds busy in conversation outside.  {I wonder what makes birds wake up and begin chatting?}

Last night, I went for a walk.  It was still a bit cool, but I felt that I needed to get some fresh air and sunshine.  I had to keep my jacket zipped, but the cool air felt so good against my face.

I love this time of year because there are so many different shades of green as the world comes back to life.   I'm surprised I don't trip over something as I walk because I'm so busy looking around that I don't pay much attention to what I'm doing.  (As someone who is very uncoordinated, this could cause trouble.)

Luckily, I happened to be looking down when I saw this:

What a sweet surprise!

15 Minute PD {SOL 4-21-15}

If you are looking for some daily inspiration and are an early riser, you need to check out the Twitter chat #BFC530.   (5:30am EDT)

This 15 minute chat is just the dose of daily inspiration I need to start my day.  The topic is different every day and in just a short amount of time, I make connections and gain insights from others around the country and around the world.  I learn something every day!

Today's topic was about the reading and writing connection.  I was able to call on my classroom experience and my knowledge base from working with my local Writing Project to put together about 12 tweets in the 15 minutes.  I made two book recommendations, wrote about mentor texts and connecting the read aloud to writing.  I learned more about RAFTS in the content areas and writing data.

Participating in this chat is early, it's actually 4:30am for me here in the CST, but it is worth it.  It may be a tiny 'slice' of my day, but it carries me through.  It is 15 minutes of professional development every day.

Roots {SOL 4-14-15}

The weather was perfect this past weekend.  Highs in the 60's and sunny skies -- perfect weather for getting outside after a long winter of household hibernation.

I'm excited to see my tulips and daffodils poking their heads up through the earth.  I can hardly wait until they add their beautiful colors to the landscape.  It will be soon.

Spring is also the perfect time to get some weeding done.  I have to laugh when I think that one of the first plants to show its face in the early spring are dandelions.  Those things are invincible!  However, the recent spring rains made the soil just right for weeding.  I crouched down, grabbed the spiky leaves of the dandelion and pulled.  With little effort, it popped right out. I was satisfied.

Next I moved on to the puffs of grass that have made their appearance.  I hate having grass growing in my flowers, but in the middle of summer it is hard to get rid of it because the soil is so hard and dry.  But not now.  One gentle pull will often yield a long string of roots with grass shoots that haven't even emerged yet.  I follow this root for as long as I can, careful not to break it.

In the end, I am satisfied with my efforts.

Celebrating this Week {4-04-15}

I'm glad to be back with Ruth Ayres and everyone else to celebrate this past week.

This week was exactly what I needed...

* I was on spring break.  What did I do?  A whole bunch of NOTHING and it felt great!  OK, that's not necessarily true.  I did do a few things, but they were just what I wanted to do and nothing else. :)

* My son, Ryan, comes home today from spending his spring break in France.  It was a really crazy week for him that began with a cancelled flight and ended with a cancelled flight.  Luckily, this last cancellation worked out in his favor and he will be home about seven hours earlier than expected.  I am really looking forward to having him home.  I have missed him, but I won't miss are those middle of the night text messages because of the seven hour time difference.

* I am also celebrating the return of my daughter's boyfriend, Zach, who was in Spain for 12 days.  Although we all missed him, it was very nice to have my daughter's full attention for those 12 days.  The one thing that I enjoyed the most was seeing how much this relationship has made her mature and mellow out a bit.  Their relationship is built on a strong friendship and that has made a world of difference.

* This week, I also finished reading Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper.  Have you read it?  If not, you MUST!  I loved it so much, I am going to reread it as my read aloud when we get back to school.

* Finally, spring has sprung!  I giggled with joy when I saw these babies pop up in my front yard:

I hope you had lots of things to celebrate this week as well!