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Kate brought us in closer to consider the importance of the tools’ accessibility and their effect on learning. Not only do these tools need to be accessible to the students, but students need to understand how and when to use them for learning.

The young writers sitting in our classroom will rise above the fears and struggles of being a writer, but it will take intentional planning, repetitive teaching, daily writing, and reteaching. Writing is hard work. Students don't become writers because we have writing workshop. Writers become writers because teachers have clear intentions and a vision of what's possible.

As I opened my classroom door Friday I knew we would be writing a poem for Mother's Day. I was feeling a bit guilty about the ease and maybe the lack of thought that I had put into the gift this year. As I switched on the lights and straightened books, I thought about Wonderopolis. I entered Mother's Day in the search box and found a wonder on Mother's Day and an invitation to dive into Writing Maker Space!

As I opened my classroom door Friday I knew we would be writing a poem for Mother's Day. I was feeling a bit guilty about the ease and maybe the lack of thought that I had put into the gift this year. As I switched on the lights and straightened books, I thought about Wonderopolis. I entered Mother's Day in the search box and found a wonder on Mother's Day and an invitation to dive into Writing Maker Space!

Teaching well demands we stay current and try new ideas. There isn't any insurance policy that the newest strategy, book, program, or app will work for all or anyone, but we trust our education and experience, and we do what we know to be best for kids. Brené Brown in Daring Greatly says, Risk aversion kills innovation~ Berné Brown Daring Greatly So embrace the mess, the awkwardness, and all the uncertainties rattling in your mind and do what you trust to be best for the students in your classroom.

Of the many ways I gain an understanding of my writers, my favorite and most valuable is gathering up all the writing and diving into reading ALL the students’ work.

Earlier this month I shared an idea about a writing station (aka: center) for older students.  Another product from Chronicle Books has crossed my desk and has piqued my interest as something that can be used in the classroom.  This time, it’s a poetry-related writing station using Haikubes, which are 63 word cubes that can [...]

Whenever I used to hear the words “Center Time” I immediately thought about early childhood classrooms.  However, that notion changed in 2008 when I created a Poetry Station for my fourth graders.  The Poetry Station was created for students to use during the “morning work” period of the school day.  It was a choice, not [...]

We were fortunate to cross paths into Kevin Hodgson when we were walking through the Convention Center at NCTE this afternoon.  He was leading a Tech on-the-Go Presentation about creating digital comics with students.  When Kevin asked for a volunteer to make a comic, we stepped up to the plate, creating a comic about our [...]

April 2009 Poetry Challenge Gifts Originally uploaded by teachergal One-third of my students attempted the April 2009 Poetry Challenge, which I gave them as an optional, independent activity during the month of April to celebrate National Poetry Month. It was a lot of work in a month that included over a week off from school. However, three [...]

Another thing people’s comments on Ruth’s Post got me thinking about was the idea of CHOICE in Writing Workshop.  I wrote about it on this blog in 2007 after attending a session at NCTE with Fletcher, Johnston, and Ray. However, I never posted my raw notes from the session.  However, in light of what’s on [...]

“Write what makes you happy.”  – O. Henry What wise words from O. Henry! So often we try to inspire our students to write by giving them topics we think will interest them. I know for me, relinquishing topic choice was one of the harder things to do when I transitioned into teaching according to the [...]

Our school is having mini-courses for the kids on three Mondays in May. I signed-up to do handmade card making mini-course with second, third, and fourth graders who are interested. I started creating samples over the weekend: I’m debating how to structure the classes. Part of me wants the kids to just [...]

I am creating a list of writing partnerships for my students’ Literary Essay Unit of Study based on the texts they’ve selected to examine, from the packet of 11 texts I gave them, for their literary essay. Would you believe that only five of the six texts are represented from the packet?!!? I’m [...]

I provide my students with academic choices for a half hour, each morning, during our Morning Work Period. Some read, some write, some play math games, some do flash cards, and some need more options! Since my class LOVES poetry, I decided to create something I’ve been talking about for a LONG time, [...]

A faint coat of dust blanketed the top of my grandmother’s front porch, throughout my childhood. The dust on the front porch, was the central conflict in a war between my grandmother and dust. The front porch became my families stomping ground for several generations, our place where we could visit my grandmother and each other, especially on holidays. My grandmother complained of the dust on the front porch every time we there, using the occasion to draft her family in her dust battles. Her complaining did result in our desire to please her, so she racked up on invitations to mop the front porch every time we visited. Mopping the porch floor was a chore all of us were capable of accomplishing, by the time we could hold a mop.

Since my grandparents bought the house when my mother was ten, the front porch endured three generations of temper tantrums, holiday fights, and beatings by whatever new toy that appeared on the market every Christmas. I wonder how many toy trucks made their way from one side of the porch to the other.

My siblings and I spent a good deal of time on the front porch, or in the yard playing, until we were old enough to graduate to the house. With the exception of a holiday, bad weather, or illness we were not in the house much, a practice I understood with more clarity when I became a grown-up. Of course, we went in the house to eat, and in the evening, however we spent most of our time playing outdoors.

Playing inside was a privilege for many reasons, my favorite being the sound of the front porch door when anyone walked through it. We perfected the ability to recognize the mood of a grown up by the sound of the front porch door when they crossed over the threshold.

If you were inside the house, the sound of the door defined what was going on outside, by the manner in which the door swung on the hinges. For example, if the door swung back quickly followed by silence, you knew someone was in a bad mood. Happiness on the other hand, meant silence, since it meant someone was standing in the doorway talking to someone else on the front porch. I spent much of my young life listening to the sound of a voice shouting, “Close the screen door!” and much of my adult life will be spend enjoying the memory of it.

It will join the phrase, “You are letting in mosquitoes! Alternatively, another favorite expression, “You’re letting the air out the door” letting the air out? I know, I know, I know what it means when referring to a front door, but a porch screen door? The air on the porch is the same air is not it?

One of the best examples, of how you know the mood of a person, by the way they walk through a front porch door, is that of one Christmas when my grandmother invited a guest for dinner. This visitor had been a quest the previous year, where upon she brought an awful tasting plum pudding, the pudding tasted so awful, we took turns excusing ourselves from the table, in order to spit the ingredients out in the bathroom sink. The worse part of this story, is the fact that my grandmother's friend volunteered her fabulous plum pudding again the following year!



And this year, my grandmother insisted, we would not repeat the same rude behavior from her table on Christmas Eve. Consequently, I spent precious library hours searching for the appropriate etiquette one should display when eating distasteful food, or food one cannot stand! It is now comical that my grandmother actually expected us to eat something we found so awful. Moreover, did her friend not realize that the pudding tasted terrible, or did she just enjoy torturing small children and others at Christmastime? I will for the life of me, never understand why she brought this plum pudding a second time, I guess it is just another pudding in the sky mystery!

Anyway, I knew this guest was angry when she arrived that Christmas, because the front porch door snapped back quickly, when she marched through it, her hands full of plum pudding. I was young, so all I remember is the giggling and quick trips to the bathroom, with the exception of the look on my grandmother’s face, when she herself took a bite of her friend’s dessert.

Toward the close of the evening, our guest left in a polite manner, graciously thanking my grandmother, and telling us Merry Christmas. However, her true feelings about the evening were expressed by way of the front porch door. My grandmother's guest took what was left of her pudding, politely smiled, and said, “ Ya’ll do have a Merry Christmas” whereupon she exited out of a slamming front porch door!


The moral of this post is, if you have a front porch door, you will always know the true feelings of your guests, and family members who pass through your front door and into your life. If you don't have a front porch door, it will be harder to tell, however, I suppose any front door can possess these qualities, pay close attention to yours and see if you can tell.

I'm so excited, because I'm the new co-author on A Hint Of Poetry! I cannot believe my good fortune. It seems too good to be true, so much so I have to pinch myself just to make sure I'm alive! I really cannot believe the most impressive poet on the internet, Christy Zutautas selected me to coauthor such an equally impressive site. I've loved A Hint Of Poetry since before I started blogging, along with Christy's other sites, Christy's Coffee Break and Writers Reviews.com


A Hint Of Poetry in Christy's words is ,This is a site about poetry and writing. You will find poetry from around the world, poetry readings, and great writing advice.

I will be writing posts about the art of creative writing in my chosen genre (children's picture books)as well as writing in general. Posts on writing exercises, literary analysis, and how to write a book review, are just a few examples, since there is so much to write! With Christy leading the way I really can't see where I could go wrong!

Come and visit me on A Hint of Poetry where my first post is only moments away. Thank you again Christy and I'm looking forward to working with you!




The above photo obtained from A Hint Of Poetry
Photo provided by Kent Waddington